Scarecrow of 1889
Chapter 36: Admitted in asylum

Chapter 36: Admitted in asylum

The next day in the newspaper, bold words read—Murderer Found Not Guilty, Committed to Mental Institute.

Most of the people were in shock at how Sylvester Crowley was not charged and why the judge had changed his verdict. But then there were those who had witnessed how the accused had tried to attack his lawyer out of nowhere, and word had begun to spread about this unknown illness.

In Reinhart’s residence, Jane held the newspaper in her hand. Her coachman, who was done stacking up the logs of wood inside the living room, noticed her stare outside the window.

"Milady, you didn’t stay behind yesterday in the courtroom," the coachman said softly without startling her.

"My work there is done, Etienne. Mr. Crowley has been taken off his death sentence, and it is where we part ways," Jane replied. She wanted to aid the man, and she had done it. Involving herself with someone who wasn’t truly their own person was something too complicated even for her, especially when she had noticed something when the fight had broken out in court. "The commissioner has given a new case, and I need to visit Southampton."

"I will get the carriage ready, milady," the coachman offered a bow and she gave him a nod.

And while Jane had begun to immerse herself with work to forget the ordeal that had been going on for the last few months, far away from Riddleford and in Scotland, a reputed mental institute stood tall and wide, keeping nearly more than fifty patients on their grounds. The walls were tall and high, with guards.

When they arrived, the guards unchained his chains and took him to his room before locking him there like a prisoner. As if worried, he would attack and kill someone here. He was far away from home... was it even a home now? he thought to himself. He couldn’t return to his previous life. The friends he had made had been blown out, his hard work in his work life had left him, and his sister would one day forget him too... as she had in the past.

In the evening, two older doctors and two interns following them paid a visit to his room. The interns looked at him curiously.

"I hope your journey was smooth and you didn’t have any trouble on your way here?" the oldest looking doctor asked him.

Sylvester shook his head. He had travelled by train from Riddleford the very next day after the verdict was given. He replied, "No..."

As if reading Sylvester’s expression, the doctor said, "You are in a safe place, Mr. Crowley. We alienists deal with understanding the complexity of human minds. We know something is beyond our control, and it is hard to explain."

"Okay..."

"I am Dr. Evan Wright and this is my colleague Colin Hall. These are the new interns, Sasha and Freddie. They are here to help you," the older man introduced himself. So many people... thought Sylvester, feeling like he had turned into an experiment rat. "Dr. Hall will be guiding you from here on, and I will be looking over the sessions and your progress. With the treatment and patience, it should take only a couple of years, though it is often subjective."

But what if he couldn’t be cured? The thought created a dark hole in his mind, filled with despair. Would he be stuck here for life?! Sylvester began to freak out while he tried to keep a calm front.

"Dr. Walsham has already sent us his observations from the sessions you both had. You have only three alter egos, it shouldn’t be that hard," Dr. Wright gave him hope.

"Okay," Sylvester murmured. They were going to keep him locked up here for life... he thought to himself.

"We will talk soon talk again, Sylvester," Mr. Wright informed, and they left him alone with the door locking once again.

Though the night wasn’t hard, it was lonely for Sylvester, as he hadn’t forgotten how he had been called guilty. Even if he got better, people would look at him as if he were the criminal who killed people. He didn’t know how he could live like that.

"You will be okay, Vester. Everything will be okay in time." His sister had said to him as she hugged him before they took him away from there. "And forgive me. For not being by your side all these years."

He could still feel the regret coming from Elizabeth’s words and voice, as if she couldn’t forgive herself. Since the time he could remember, he and his sister had drifted apart after she had moved to Aunt Abigail’s house. He still wondered why.

When morning arrived, breakfast was served in the common room, where the other patients sat and ate. Some of them talked to others, while others sat in the corners, not wanting to converse with anyone. Yet, Sylvester couldn’t help but notice how everyone in here looked normal. Then again... he appeared normal too, until now.

After the meal, he was taken to a room, and he met Dr. Colin Hall. Dr. Hall asked him,

"Did you have a decent sleep, Sylvester? If you have any complaints about your food or stay, feel free to mention them, and I will be sure to make the right adjustments."

Sylvester nodded, "Thank you, doctor." Out of curiosity, he asked, "Have you treated patients with split personality before?"

"I have, Sylvester. I promise to cure you, and hope that in return you will help me too," said Dr. Hall.

"Is it going to work?" there was uncertainty in Sylvester’s voice.

"Yes, it is going to work. We will run therapy sessions and also give you time so that you don’t feel out of place," Mr. Hall stated, leaning back in his chair, and he continued, "Things like these take time. I believe you have been under hypnosis, so it shouldn’t be that hard."

"Yes," Sylvester murmured, and the doctor nodded.

Dr. Hall then assured him, "That’s great. In the sessions, we are going to work on how your alters were created so that we can understand and later work on fixing those traumas. The cause of split personalities is often when a person experiences unbearable pain and the mind creates an alter to protect it."

Sylvester couldn’t imagine what could have happened and he replied, "I don’t think anything happened... I mean I know there are personalities inside me," because people told him.

"The host usually doesn’t remember the trauma, which is exactly what we are going to do. I will be helping you through these sessions to overcome your fear and deal with things that have been left in the past, and I will help you solve it. We will do it together," Dr. Hall stated. "Now, why don’t you take a comfortable position and close your eyes. I need you to relax, Sylvester."

Sylvester took a deep breath before he listened to the doctor’s voice, while cheering himself that this was going to work. They were going to help him. And though he gave himself a pep talk, it took the alienist nearly thirty minutes to put him to sleep.

"Buenos dias, Ricardo," Dr. Hall greeted the first alter. The doctor had taken up Spanish as another subject to study in college, and one of the many reasons he had been handed Sylvester Crowley’s case was because he knew how to speak Spanish. "Can you hear me? Ricardo?"

"Si. Loud and clear," Ricardo responded with a roll of his eyes as Sylvester’s demeanour began to shift.

Dr. Hall noticed Sylvester or Ricardo now taking off his glasses and place it on the desk, while he crossed his legs and leaning against the chair, unlike the worried Mr. Crowley. "I am Dr.—"

"Dr. Hall, it is nice to meet you," Ricardo replied, looking straight into the doctor’s eyes.

"You don’t have to wear glasses?" The alienist inquired because Sylvester’s nose had an evident dent from the glasses.

"What for? If it is for style, then that’s terrible," Ricardo responded in a nonchalant tone. "Also, giving Sylvester the hope that it is going to work, tch. You are wasting your time and should let us go. This is all pointless."

"Why?"

"Isn’t it obvious? Ah, I keep forgetting that all of you don’t know us. Because there’s something that needs to be done. It is never—" Ricardo cursed something under his breath before he went quiet.

"Ricardo?" Dr. Hall called.

"No," the voice had changed to a small boy’s voice and Dr. Hall could tell this was another alter of Sylvester Crowley, one that Dr. Walsham mentioned didn’t appear during the court proceedings.

Sylvester’s demeanour shifted as he responded with a childlike innocence. "No... Is it true that you are trying to get rid of us? Is that why we are here?" The young boy’s voice echoed with a sense of fear and defiance. "Ricardo and Agnes told me what you are trying to do...! WE WON’T DISAPPEAR!"

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