"Nancy, what is it you'd like to talk about today?" Dr. Littlefoot asked the small girl sitting in front of him. She stared at him with a blank expression. Her heavy lidded eyes like two orbs of topaz looked, unblinking, at the bi-speckled doctor in front of her. They sat, examining each other for a moment, before the doctor murmured a low "hmm" and scribbled something in his notes. "Nancy, do you know why you're in here?" He peered over the tops of his glasses as he asked her, trying to intimidate an answer out of her. "Nancy, you're in here for monstrous crimes you've committed against other children. Do you recall any of this?" He prodded again as he moved a bit closer to her. She laughed and smiled sweetly up at him, nodding her head in response to his question.

 

"Doctor, I don't think it wise that you be so close to Dollfa.... I mean, the patient." Nurse Hargrave cautioned as she put a concerned hand on his shoulder. "You never know what she's capable of."

 

"Nonsense, nurse. She's completely harmless in that straight jacket. Nothing to be worried about. We're just having a chat." Dr. Littlefoot told the nurse as he looked at Nancy comfortingly. "I don't think you meant to do those things, do you, Nancy? Maybe you are just a misunderstood girl. I think once our treatments of you are completed you will find yourself to be a brand new young lady." He smiled and patted her head. 

​

"Nurse, please watch Nancy. I've forgotten something in my office. I won't be but a moment." Dr. Littlefoot stood and strode swiftly out of the examination room. 

 

Nurse Hargrave looked at Nancy as soon as the door closed. "Poor little Dollface, all tied up in the straight jacket. Are you uncomfortable? Maybe I should bind it tighter, what do you think?" She sneered as she sat where the doctor had sat. "You are pure evil, aren't you Nancy? A demon trapped in a soulless body. How you could even think to do the things you did to those children..." Nurse Hargrave stood at her full height, trying her best to illicit any type of fear in the girl. She snarled at her when Nancy responded to her body language by smiling even brighter at her. Knowing that it was just the two of them in the room together,the nurse let her professionalism completely slip away for a moment as she raised her arm, and attempted to slap the child across the face. For some reason, Nancy Hawthorne really got under Nurse Hargrave's skin. It wasn't really that she had done anything to her, personally, however the crimes she was found guilty of made this little girl a monster as far as she was concerned.

​

Before her hand could withdraw from her attack, Nancy lunged and bit down onto Nurse Hargrave's hand. Blood poured through the open wound where her pinky used to be. Nancy spit the torn finger from her lips and giggled. By all accounts it sounded like the innocent giggle of a happy young girl, yet danced out of the blood soaked mouth of a doll-like maniac. 

​

Nurse Hargrave crumbled to the floor, screaming and sobbing in absolute pain as Nancy sat in her chair, bound by the straight jacket, the soft haunting laugh mocked the nurse's anguish. She languished in the brutality she had inflicted on the old nurse and to taunt her even further sat spitting tiny bits of Nurse Hargrave's own flesh at her, "I think I have something in my teeth." She cackled as she continued to spit the blood and skin from her mouth. 

​

Orderlies rushed in to help the nurse and bring Nancy back to her room, Dr. Littlefoot close behind, "Dear God, what happened in here. I was not gone for more than 10 minutes!" He exclaimed as he stared at the girl being dragged to her feet. 

​

Nancy continued to smile as she passed the doctor, "Perhaps, Nurse Hargrave shouldn't have gotten so close. but then again, what could I do? I'm bound in this straight jacket and completely harmless." She howled with laughter and licked her lips as the orderlies continued to drag her back to her room, the humming of her favorite nursery rhyme echoed down the hallway.

​

After the whole ordeal in the examination room Dr. Littlefoot spent the rest of the afternoon trying to find out anything more that he didn't know about the little girl the press had dubbed "Dollface."

​

"Nancy Eloise Hawthorne

Born April 29th, 1894

Daughter of Nicholas Hawthorne and Bathilda Hawthorne

Sister to Nicholas Hawthorne II, Penny Hawthorne, Andrew Hawthorne

 

Nancy Hawthorne was committed to The Ashlan Asylum on June 13, 1904. She has been tried and found guilty of First Degree Murder, Grievous Bodily Harm, Torture, and Abuse of a corpse. Special circumstances included for all victims of the patient being minor children.

 

June 15th, 1904 - I sat with the patient and begin my observations of her by asking about her childhood before Ashlan. The patient was unresponsive other than singing a childish song cver and over. I must look into this nursery rhyme as it may hold some clue as to this young lady's mind set. Our session was concluded by Nancy asking if I wanted to have a tea party. 

​

June 22nd, 1904 - I have done a bit of research into the children's nursery rhyme that the patient kept singing during our first session together. According to the information I have gathered, what follows is a breakdown of the lines in the song and their possible meanings:

​

Mary Mary, quite contrary - refers to Mary Tudor, nicknamed Bloody Mary (posthumously) for the many Protestants she killed

How does your garden grow - It appears to be alluding to the gardens being cemeteries and growing with the hundreds of heretics she burned at the stake

With silver bells and cockle shells - colloquialisms for the instruments of torture Mary Tudor used. Silver bells being thumbscrews that would crush the thumb between two hard surfaces and cockle shells being torture devices used on a victim's genitalia. 

And pretty maids all in a row - This alludes to two different possible torture devices. One being the original guillotine known as the "maiden" or "maid" when shortened. Another possibility is the Iron Maiden.

 

Now knowing a bit about the nursery rhyme that the patient seems to favor (she sings this rhyme daily- Orderlies report hearing her singing it in her room.) I need to prod a bit more into why the patient favors it so."

 

After skimming through the rest of his entries, he took out his quill and ink to write about his latest examination of Nancy:

​

"October 4th, 1904 - The patient has bitten one of the nursing staff, Nurse Samantha Hargrave. Nurse Hargrave's pinky finger has had to be reattached and she is in the infirmary at Saint Bartholomew's. The patient did not seem remorseful in the slightest and, in fact, seemed to relish in hearing the nurse's pain. I've scheduled a therapeutic ice bath for the patient in a few days. If it seems to react positively with her, I may schedule this therapy routinely."

​

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"Doctor, I have the stimulant ready for Patient 259's Metrozal therapy." Nurse Bard gestured towards a patient that an orderly was leading into an examination room. He walked on an unbalanced gait, spittle dribbling down his smiling mouth. His demeanor changed drastically as he flitted from one mood to another. Happy, then sad, then angry. His facial expressions suggested that he was arguing with some unseen entity. His make believe conversation running the gamut of different emotions. 

​

Before Doctor Littlefoot could respond to the nurse, a young orderly came running frantically up to the head doctor, waving his hands as he approached. "Doctor Littlefoot come quickly. It's Nancy!" He yelled as he gestured for him to follow and quickly turned on his heel to dash back to where he had came from. Doctor Littlefoot kept the orderly's pace as he asked him what was wrong with Nancy. "She's not in her room, sir!" He stopped abruptly at her door and faced the doctor with a worried expression. 

​

The door to Nancy's room was ajar, no sign of Nancy anywhere. He couldn't understand how she could have even escaped her room. The door was padlocked from the outside.The doctor tried to keep his composure, despite his heart racing and a feeling settling into his stomach; something similar to getting punched in the gut. Nancy was dangerous. None of the therapies that they had tried on her so far had any type of affect on her. And now she was loose somewhere in his hospital.

 

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After the first day of work, nothing out of the ordinary had happened. The small crew had developed their own routines for work within that first week and despite all that they had to do with the few crew members that they had, they made things work.

 

It was Monday and the start of the second week at the hospital. The team decided they were comfortable enough in their roles and with the layout of the hospital to be able to work separately from each other. After a brief meeting, they all set out in different directions to accomplish the tasks given to them for the day.

​

Eta sat her belongings down on the information desk in the lobby. She wanted to take some 'before' pictures of the hospital to compare it to the new resort it would be after everything was completed. Doctor Blackwood had informed the crew that after their initial cleaning, they would head up the rest of the teams that would be hired to fully rehabilitate the old building. They all breathed a little easier knowing that more help would soon be provided. After powering on her laptop and checking her cell phone's battery she set off to start her picture taking.

​

She chose a hall at random and started to walk down it, her footsteps echoing with her as she walked. Every so often she would stop to snap a picture with her cell phone's camera. It was after only a few twists and turns down different hallways that she realized that the echoes she heard were from two sets of footsteps. She stopped and looked around her. She was sure she heard two sets of footsteps, but Eta was the only one in the vast corridor. She looked around at the bare walls, trying to make sense of what she had heard. The feeling that she was not alone lingered over her, it was as if someone were standing right behind her carefully watching her every move. She felt the sensation of light fluttery breathing on the back of her neck, the contrast of cold air in the otherwise stuffy building stinging her skin. 

​

She slowly started walking again, her senses on high alert now trying to detect any other motion except her own. As she walked, a slight icy chill traced along her arms raising the tiny hairs on her body and forming knots in her stomach. She had the overwhelming urge to run, to turn back and head for the lobby, but something propelled her forward... As if she was no longer in control of her own limbs. 

​

"Etaaa..." The whisper was faint. One could have missed it if they weren't paying attention. But Eta was paying close attention to everything, and she distinctly heard a girl whisper her name. "Etaaa...." It called her name again this time in a dark raspy hiss. Eta looked around again, The dim light from the dirt caked windows made the darkness of the hallway that much bleaker. Her throat constricted in panic as she tried to make sense of what she was experiencing. She wasn't sure what she was hearing or seeing anymore, trying to rationalize an irrational situation. She wanted to get out of the hallway, to be anywhere else but there. Eta opened the door closest to her and ran in, slamming the door shut behind her. She laid her head on the dark mahogany, beads of sweat had formed on her forehead and she closed her eyes trying to calm her frantic heartbeat. 

​

After a moment, she opened her eyes and turned around. The covered windows made the room almost pitch dark. Eta took out her cell phone and turned on the flashlight. The floor was littered with toys; a broken doll house, rocking horses that had fallen from their bases, little eyeless dolls, and scattered blocks. Eta had ran into the children's playroom. She tried to remain calm as she turned towards the door to leave. She tried the knob but it was locked.  She backed away from the door shaking her head, "It can't be locked, I just came from there." She said out loud, clamping a hand on her mouth as soon as she spoke. Almost as if she were afraid something would respond to her.

 

Her foot hit something solid, and she squealed as she whipped around. The box that she hit fell open and the tinkling sound of a music box filled the silent room. She could feel her heart thudding against her chest as she tried desperately to calm herself down. She bent down and set her phone beside her to close the music box. Light from the phone illuminated it's perimeter and Eta glanced over to the side as something odd caught her eye. Long blonde hair cascaded down at the edge of the glow of light. Eta stopped cold as she looked at the hair, her gaze following the trail of blonde to a crouching figure hidden by the darkness. Her breath caught in her throat as she sat there, staring at the figure who's back was turned to her. She could hear her pulse resounding in her ears like a drum as her eyes stayed locked on the figure. 

 

"He....hello...." She whispered as she sat frozen, staring into the darkness where the figure sat. It slowly lifted it's head from side to side in swift cracking motions, bone crunching noises punctured through the room. It's as if it's neck were dislocated from the rest of it's body. The figure suddenly stopped moving, it's head tilted to one side at an unnatural angle. Slowly, it turned, stopping short so all that was visible was a profile masked by matted hair. The mouth of the figure looked brutally cut into a jagged Chelsea grin as it slowly opened into a deranged smile. The one blue eye she saw opened wide, staring directly at her. 

​

"Have you come to play with me?" It hissed. The figure stood in one fluid motion looking like a marionette doll pulled by it's strings. It started advancing towards Eta, slowly, dragging it's feet and swinging it's head from side to side in that stiff cracking movement it had done when it first started moving. The movements of the figure's limbs stiff and puppet-like. The slices on the side of it's lips making it's smile even more insane as it came closer. It stopped half way towards her and just stared. The sickly sweet smell of decay hit her nose, suffocating her in it's disgusting aroma. The powerful stench made Eta sway on her heels, and she braced herself on a nearby rocking chair trying not to faint. The figure opened it's mouth and the song poured from it's unmoving lips as if it was a music box itself. The melody was hoarse and raspy but she could still make out the lyrics,

​

"Mary Mary, quite contrary

how does your garden grow?

with silver bells and cockle shells

and pretty maids all in a row."

​

The last thing Eta saw before she fainted was the figure advancing towards her.