Author's Note: Due to unfortunate events, (my computer being stupid) this story may take a really long time to be put up. I'll put multiple chapters in one upload, so please don't get confused! Please leave comments, questions, or concerns in your review! This is a story I wrote months ago and haven't had the pleasure to post yet!

Chapter One

The dark covered me like a blanket, but brought me chills instead of warmth. The pain from my arms faded. I was used to the pain.

"Hello," a velvet voice called from a corner of the black.

I turned my head towards the smooth voice. What very little light there was in the small room reflected off his eyes. I could see the shine barely, my eyesight was slipping away.

I didn't speak. I placed my head back onto the damp floor. I shuddered as the footsteps came closer. He wants to hurt me, I thought, like all the others did. All but one.

"I'm not going to hurt you," the man cooed, almost as though he had read my mind. The voice sounded oddly familiar, I've heard it quite recently.

I felt my arm being grasped tightly, his hands cooler than the clammy floor. I shivered as I felt cold breath on my wrist. A small prick of pain replaced his hand, not much more painful than the prick of a needle. Being used to the constant pain, I closed my eyes and fell into unconsciousness.

My eyes returned to the present as my mother dragged me by my arm. "Mother, where are we going?" Clouds of dust were upset by my feet and dirtied the hem of my light blue dress.

"Hush, Mary," my mother scolded as she pushed me into the automobile next to my father. She sat next to me, took Cynthia, my baby sister, from my father and slammed the door.

I sat quietly in between them, not noticing when my mother cringed away from me, staring out the windshield. Father drove down country roads, trees in shades of red lined the street. I had fallen asleep as my father drove.

I jolted awake as the car slowed in front of huge brick building. Ivy crawled up the side and threatened to overtake the whole place. The building stood menacingly over the courtyard in front of it.

"Father, where are we?" I asked as he opened his door, slid out and motioned for me to follow. I jumped next to him and he grabbed my arm to tow me along.

"None of your concern," he growled as he pulled me up the long sidewalk to the stairs of the building. Next to the door, a plaque read, "Pennhurst, Est. 1908"

Father pulled me through the doors and lead me to a desk in a shabby, run down lobby. It looked like hospital. A receptionist sat there, smiling hugely, most likely fake.

"Hello, welcome to Pennhurst," she soothed as she looked at my horrorstruck face.

My father replied, "I'm leaving her here, is there any papers to sign?"

"FATHER!" I yelled as I grabbed his arm, "You can't leave me here! I'm not mad!"

The receptionist gave my father a look of pity as she shook her head.

"Mary, let go." My father said sternly, shaking his arm.

"I'm not mad! You can't possible leave me!" I cried, "What would mother say?"

"Your mother was the one who suggested this, now let go!"

The secretary was blonde, and absolutely no help to me as my father struck my face, leaving me staggering until I hit the concrete floor. She dialed a number on her phone, and said "New priority in building 'T'. She'll be staying. Thank you."

I lay on the floor for minutes, until I hear footsteps approaching me. I lift my head to see a doctor with blonde hair, looking down at me.

"Hello," he said in a soft voice, "I'm Dr. Cullen." He reached his hand down and I took it. He helped me up. "And you are?"

"Mary Brandon," I reply as I stare at the doctor's face. He's face is perfect, and pale. Just a shade or two darker than his light hair.

"Hello, Mary," Dr. Cullen said as he nodded to the receptionist. He led me away down a dark hallway lined with doors.

"Dr. Cullen, I'm not insane! This is a mistake! Sure, I have an occasional vision of the future, but I'm not insane!" I tried to persuade him as he opened a door and gestured me inside.

A small bed, a wire bed frame, was pushed into the far corner. A pillow lay underneath it. Dr. Cullen walked towards the bed and picked up the pillow. "I'll get you fresh linen," he said as he stripped the bed of its stained, off-white sheet. He left the room, shutting and locking the door behind him. I sat on the bare bed.

I'm trapped here. Not just the room, but this place. With any luck, my parents would realize the mistake they made and turn back to get me. But they left me here in the first place. Would I want to go back to them after what my father said. "Your mother was the one who suggested this…" My mother is ashamed of my "abilities". Seeing the future. I used to be proud of myself, having a power that no one else possessed, but now I am ashamed of myself, too. If I was a normal 16 year old, I'd be with my family now, helping my mother make dinner as my father came home from work, whistling as he took off his jacket and hat….

The daydreams were chased away as Dr Cullen slipped into the room, carrying a load of sheets. He set them next to me.

"Mary, I don't think you belong here either," Dr Cullen shook his head as he slipped the pillow into a threadbare pillow case.

"Than help me get out!" I pleaded as I stood next to the doctor. He shook his head sadly and started making the bed. One article sat abandoned on the pillow.

Dr Cullen handed it to me. "You'll need to change into this," he said as he backed from the room. "I'll give you a minute, and then Dr Brown will have a few questions for you." The door slammed shut and the lock clicked into place.

I collapsed onto the bed and broke down into tears. This is a dream, I told myself. I pinched my arm, desperate to wake up. This is a nightmare, a horrible nightmare. The only thing I wanted then was to jump from the bed and into my parent's loving embrace. But there wasn't a comforting embrace waiting for me. This wasn't a nightmare.

Author's Note; It's in Alice Cullen's p.o.v. in case you couldn't tell. Well, sort of Alice. Mary Alice Brandon, to be exact.

Pennhurst Insane Asylum was a real place. It operated from 1908 to 1926, so Alice's story happens somewhere between those two years. Pennhurst was shut down due to the fact they couldn't meet patients' needs. This story was going to take place at Waverly Hills Sanatorium until I realize that was a tuberculosis hospital. Google Pennhurst and then you may understand the horror of being trapped in a place like that. Patients were subjected to "treatment", also known as cruel experiments. There was no known way to treat these unfortunate people. Many families dropped off their children who needed special care, who embarrassed them. If you read "Petey", you'll understand better.

I'll have more up soon! Please review!