Unedited, sorry :( but trust me, you're gonna like this chapter...secrets of the past shall be revealed.

I hope long chapters aren't bothersome.

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Chapter 23: Pennhurst Asylum! Dammit, Julian!

Julian drove fast at first but slowed down when a couple of police cars drove past us. For once, I was afraid of getting caught. It wasn't like I had done anything wrong but still.

Julian's phone rang as we drove past our school. This club had been a forty five minute drive from my house. So, it was going to take a while.

"...but are you sure? I mean we should just go home, now..." I heard Julian say on the phone.

I narrowed my eyes at the foreigner who kept his eyes on the road. "Julian, you have exactly ten seconds to get off your phone. It's against the law."

"Fine," Julian said. I wasn't sure whether that was directed at me or the person he had been talking to. But he did put away the cell phone which was enough for me.

"Julian, what were you talking about?" I asked suspicious.

"What? Nothing," he said quickly.

"We better be headed to my house," I said firmly.

"We need to have a talk, first. Lucas said there was a place near here where we can all take a small stop and have a break," Julian told me. He met my eyes for a second but then turned to face the road.

"Why can't we just talk in the car as we head home?"

"I am terrible at multi-tasking. I need to talk face-to-face. Plus, Lucas said it's a great spot to stop," Julian shrugged.

"Face-to-face talk? You are weird. And never trust Lucas Crowell," I muttered.

"Call me weird, then. As for Lucas, he can be a bit...unpredictable," Julian said carefully choosing his words.

"Whatever. I don't have anything nice to say about your cousin, so I am done talking," I said as I crossed my arms across my chest.

"Brilliant. I can't wait to see what this place is!"

"I can."

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"Pennhurst Asylum! Dammit, Julian!" I exclaimed outraged when I saw the location.

We sat in the car outside the gates of the old, abandoned asylum. Lucas and his group were waiting in their car. No one seemed to want to go inside the building which wasn't a surprise. Me as Bloody Mary had scared Gabe and Jenna. This place was reported to have actual paranormal activity.

"An asylum? Is it closed?" Julian asked confused. His ignorance was the reason why we were here.

"Julian, this building shut down back in like 1987! It was a private asylum a long time ago where the patients were going crazy!" I explained.

"It is an asylum, after all," he said as if it were obvious.

I shook my head in annoyance. "The patients here were mentally ill but they were tortured in here. No one left the grounds. It wasn't until one patient got out and sued this place. Some media guy got through as well and showed people the real torture inside. The owner eventually shut it down," I sighed.

"What's the problem, then? It's empty," he said still not getting the gist.

I bit my lip and replied, "Have some respect for the people who died in here. It's a haunted attraction but stories about ghost sightings and stuff like that has been reported."

"You are not telling me you believe in ghosts, are you?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Julian, I don't believe in ghosts but I do have respect for the poor souls who were tortured here and died. There's even a cemetery here," I told him.

"Oh come on, Cassie. This place seems interesting," Julian said as he opened his car door and gestured for me to come out as well. I just shook my head at his stupidity.

Both of us went out of the car. Lucas and his group eventually gained some courage and stepped out as well. The temperature had dropped a lot.

"Ready for an adventure?" Lucas asked excitedly.

"Yeah," some of the people said in uneasy voices. I said nothing but pulled Julian aside.

"What?" he asked as everyone else started their way towards the building.

"We should go home. I am not being responsible for taking care of any of these idiots after they get scared and stuff," I rambled.

"Are you afraid, Cassie?" Julian asked amused.

"Hell no, but I am being rational here," I replied.

"We are only going to be here for a little bit. Let's go, inside. I've never been to a haunted place," he said excitedly.

Julian started to follow Lucas's group but I didn't budge. Noticing my stubborness, Julian tugged me along by my sleeve.

"I hate you, I hate you, I hate..." I kept muttering under my breath as we went inside the building. While it was freezing cold outside, a different sort of chill went through me inside. It wasn't necessarily freezing but somehow the atmosphere had a chill to it.

"Are there any lights in here?" I heard Jenna ask in front of us.

"There's a lantern, but I don't know how to turn it on," Lucas said a couple of feet away. He stood near the window where the moonlight came in.

"I'm scared," one of girls -either Kelly or Julia- said in a whisper. Because of the silence in the room, we all heard her. Her breath made a little mist in front of her. Glad it was established that the temperature of the room was freezing.

"Why the hell are we wasting time here?" I asked annoyed.

"Because, Evans, it's amazing," Lucas replied. I could barely make out his face in the dark but the arrogant tone of his was conspicious.

"It's stupid," I muttered.

"You can go home then, scaredy cat," said Gabe. He stood barely five feet away from me next to Jenna.

"You shouldn't be the one talking. Remember, 'I'll come back to make you pay, Gabriel Porter,'" I said reciting the lines I had told him when I was Bloody Mary.

That shut up Gabe, fortunately.

"Cassie, come on," Julian said as we separated from the group. I was debating whether I should go with Julian or stay with the majority of the people. More body heat with more people, after all. Someone had to be rational.

"Julian, why the hell are we still here? I want to go home!" I said irritated.

"I just want to look around, and then I'll drop to your house. Oh and I wanted to talk about something," he said in a casual tone.

We were walking down a dark corridor, right now. A little part of me was actually afraid there were other people here besides us. Whether they were alive or not was something I didn't really want to know.

"Talk about what?"

"Our deal," he said immediately. "We are at the friendship aspect. In order for me to truly help you out, I need to...need to get some knowledge."

"Knowledge about what?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"Brandon," he said as we halted to a stop.

I stared at him in surprise. "How- how do you...?"

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Well, the name was mentioned a long time ago when I fully didn't understand what it meant. Then, after a while, I sort of followed some clues and did some research. The people who went to primary school with you mentioned that you had a close friend. His name was Brandon and apparently, you two were inseparable."

"That's all you need to know, Julian," I said quietly.

He started to say something else but I stormed off. At this point, I was completely done here. Julian Aylmer had brought back many unwanted memories of my Brandon. While the foreigner had secretly done his research, it felt like an invasion of privacy.

"Cassie, wait!" Julian said behind me but I didn't listen. Unfortunately, I also hadn't seen where I was going. I ended up to a dead end that had a huge, white door. Something was written on it, however, it was covered with dust and spider webs. It was hard to form out any letters. I think it started with an 'm.'

"Cassie, listen," Julian said right behind me. I turned to face him and snap, but a different sight came into view. Behind Julian, at a distance, there was a cloud...or fog maybe. I could make an outline of a person...the person's back. Observing my sudden change of expression, Julian turned around as well. "Oh my," he said when he saw the sight.

To say I was frightened would have been a huge understatement. "Holy mother of spirits," I said shocked.

"Get out of here," Julian said quickly as he dragged me inside the dead end door and shut it.

We stood leaning against the door, scared.

Today just wasn't my day, honestly.

"We. Need. To. Get. Out!" I said still in shock at what I had just seen.

"Agreed," said Julian looking awfully pale. I smacked the back of his head in annoyance. "Ow, what was that for?" he asked half in surprise and half in pain.

"For dragging me here!"

"I'm sorry," he said truthfully.

"Sorry isn't going to get us out of here, is it?" I asked frustrated as I took a couple of steps forward.

"I know but-"

"It stinks in here," I interrupted as my hand clamped over my nose. My eyes went around the room and took in everything. Julian came to stand near me and seemed to agree with my statement by putting a hand over his nose.

Several huge cupboards type of objects seemed to be attached to the wall.  There were huge drawers with handles inside of that. All of them were a pale white color. There were tables in the middle with medical supplies.

It took me a couple of minutes to realize where we were and what the smell belonged to. It really drained the blood out of my face...not that there was a lot there anyways.

"Julian, I think we are inside a..."

"Morgue," he finished.

It took us only two seconds to skedaddle, not caring if there was a spirit outside waiting for us. But it was just our luck when we found an empty, clear corridor. Julian and I ran to the end of the hallway and stopped to catch our breaths and calm down near a window. Truth be told, I was honestly scarred at the thought of where I was. This wasn't a good, chilling place. It was my own stupidity that I had agreed to come here with Julian. Watching horror movies was one thing but being in a place where people had been tortured and their spirits might still have been here was scary. The morgue was absolutely heart wrenching. My heart tore apart at the thought of actual people still being in there.

I didn't know but right now, I felt like everything was going wrong. I felt so alone, empty, and hollow.

"Cassie, you're crying," Julian said next to me.

It took me a couple of seconds to come back to reality and realize that water was actually coming out of my eyes. "Dammit," I muttered as I wiped my eyes clean and took some deep breaths. He had told me never to cry: it only showed weakness. Never to cry over unreasonable things. But honestly, what was considered "unreasonable?" Memories of him flooded back, making me feel nothing other than emptiness.

"Cassie, are you-?

"Four years," I told Julian.

"What?" he asked confused.

I stared directly at the wall in front of me. All my anger at Brandon was coming out for some reason. Maybe I was missing him or maybe it was all the memories. "Almost four goddamn years, Julian. Almost four! He just left me. Just like that. One day he's telling me to be reasonable and understanding, and the next day...poof..gone."

"I'm sorry, I am not following along too well," Julian said in a low tone.

This time, I met his sky blue eyes. "Brandon Adrian Crowell. Your other cousin. Lucas's older brother. My everything. He was my goddamn everything! You know what he did, Julian? After being with me as long as I can remember, he left me. I wake up for the first day of summer -to hang out with Brandon all day- and he isn't there. Him and his mother just disappear overnight. To where?" I let out a bitter chuckle. "Nobody knows. They are just gone. Why? Nobody knows. For how long? World may never know. Maybe forever. Here I sit waiting for my Brandon to show up again. For me. And guess what? I'm still waiting."

Memories of the laughing, brown haired, green eyed boy came to my mind. He has probably changed a lot by now...if he was even alive.

"He was your best friend?" Julian asked. He seemed to be really careful with his question. If only he knew anything about my Brandon.

"Best friend? What is considered a 'best friend?'" I asked him. When Julian didn't reply, I continued, "Julian, Brandon wasn't just a best friend. He was my friend, family, mentor, savior, and everything. My family has never been there for me. But Brandon...he would never leave me alone until I was fully happy with everything. Every little problem of mine-- he took it upon himself to get rid of it. When I was six, I was bullied severely. As in I had no self esteem, no friends, no family support, no help...just nothing. Jenna took it upon herself to kill me alive, honestly."

"Jenna?" Julian asked surprised.

"Are you really surprised?" I asked a little more calm than before. "Jenna is an attention seeker. Always been, always will be. I don't really give a damn anymore about her. But at that age, I did. As a six year old -believe it or not- I was extremely stupid. No joke. Julian, Jenna bullied me verbally...emotionally. Every night, I cried myself to sleep. Not from that emotional pain but the fear of going to school. I didn't want to see Jenna. She had turned every kid against me in our grade. Nobody wanted to be friends with the social outcast. The goddamn six year old outcast!"

"You could have reported it..." Julain said slowly.

I leaned against the wall next to the window and let out a bitter chuckle. "Didn't I mention I was stupid? I was scared to be called a 'tattletale' or a 'snitch.' Anyways, this continued for a whole year until the next year, Crowells came to town. They joined my school and were really popular because of their wealth. My family wasn't that rich back then, so I wasn't that great to be friends with."

"You're a great friend, Cassie," Julian encouraged.

I looked at him and gave him a sad smile. Then, I shook my head. "Trust me, I know I'm not. However, just like you won't leave me alone now, Brandon wouldn't leave me alone then. The annoying brat approached me this one gym class. I usually hid underneath the bleachers when the teacher gave us free time." The memories of a six year old me and a seven year old Brandon under the bleachers were still vivid.

"Is that where you met?" asked Julian curiously.

"Be quiet if you wanna hear the rest. I might never tell this tale again," I pointed out. That shut him up. "Alright. So yes, that is exactly where me met. He approached me and basically sat by my side that first day under the bleachers. Slowly, it became a routine. Every time we had a free gym period, Brandon and I hung out. This turned into a friendship. Brandon was always by my side ignoring whatever anyone else said. Always standing up for me. He even stopped Jenna's verbal insults. He always stuck by my side. We were even accused of being a couple for a long while, actually."

"Were you a couple?" asked Julian.

I gave him a look. "Brandon and I...we couldn't really have been a couple if it weren't for another idiot. Like I said, I was a stupid kid. I formed a crush on someone else...for a long darn time. That was one thing that prevented my friendship with Brandon from turning into something else. But honestly, I was glad he had been my friend only. No one else could ever take his place."

"That sounds strange. You fancying someone," Julian said looking surprised.

"Did you not hear the part where I told you I was stupid back then?!" I snapped. "That boy was just a stupid crush. I have learned a lot over the years. Especially, after Brandon and his mother decided to flee that one night," I said bitterly.

"But Brandon stood by your side when no one else did," Julian stated.

"Yup, until he figured I could be left alone," I said coldly.

"Cassie, you're not alone," Julian insisted.

"Unfortunately, not. Otherwise, I would be in my house right now. Not having a heart ot heart conversation with you."

"I am glad we had a talk. You still haven't told me everything," Julian said. I refused to meet his eyes because it was true. Julian didn't know all the details. "However, I am still glad to know some things about Brandon. I haven't honestly met him since we were about five when the family came to visit us. But I do remember his personality. A bright, happy child."

"Always," I agreed. There had been never a day when Brandon Crowell was upset. Well, upset on the outside. He never shared anything unhappy with anyone. A good and a bad trait.

"Cassie, I'm sorry," said Julian quietly.

I was taken by surprise. "For what?"

"That..he left you," said the foreigner.

"Sorry isn't going to bring him back."

We stood there quietly for a while, lost in our thoughts. Every memory was refreshed. Julian and I would have stood there for a while as well if only we hadn't heard a scream.

Julian and I ran towards the direction the scream had come from. We ran past several doors and landed in a room towards the back of the building. The whole Lucas group was there near the edge of the room. They were all crowded in one corner against the wall. Julian and I stood in the doorway.

It took Julian and I a couple of seconds to avert our gazes to the reason behind the fear across the teenagers' faces. Two figures stood in white gowns, and long hair covering their faces.

"Oh snap," I said, my eyes glued to those figures. They were laughing hysterically--like insane men. Something seemed off, though.

Julian stood stiff next to me. "It can't be...real." I looked at him and he pointed towards the floor. I looked at the feet of so called spirits. Both wore sneakers.

Interesting.

"Let's scare the spirits, Julian," I whispered. He nodded. Slowly, we crept our ways behind the two laughing males. I saw Lucas's group too scared to even pay attention to us. Bunch of scaredy cats.

Julian and I each picked a spirit and simultaneously put our hands on the shoulders of the two males. Their screams were definitely worth it.

"Did you just scare the ghosts?" Lucas asked as he straightened himself. He got up and made his way towards the two fake ghosts.

"Ghosts with Nike sneakers, apparently," Jenna said pointing towards the floor.

Wow, who would have thought Jenna played the smart one? Ignoring the rest of the people, I focused my attention towards my ghost. I tugged at his hair and wasn't surprised to find a wig come to my hands.

"Nice wig," I said as the stranger turned to me with dropped eyes. I could tell the boys were embarrassed. They didn't seem familiar, though.

"What the hell? Why were you trying to scare us?" Gabriel asked as everyone crowded arounded the strangers.

"We just happened to be here and thought to play a prank on the visitors," the blond boy -one who stood in front of me- said.

"Are you even from this town?" asked Lucas.

Both boys shook their heads. Someone chuckled from the Lucas group. Gabe took a step forward and said, "you guys are the visitors. Are there any more people or is it just you two?"

"We- erm...it's our group of friends," the boy in front of Julian replied.

"Let's go meet them, then," Julian said with a smile.

And there, we all set off. I hadn't even any idea why I tagged along. It was freezing cold and I was feeling homesick. Anyways, the boys' group had their cars parked in the back of the building--probably why we never expected anyone else to be here. Apparently, they had about six or seven people with them. All of them were intrigued by the haunted asylum, thus, came to visit. These two boys had been dared to scare us...too bad we scared them.

True enough, as we reached the back way, a group of teenagers sat out on their car roofs and heads, laughing and joking. There were some beer cans down on the ground.

One of the guys stood with his back face us, talking to the group. "Guys, we should leave soon. Those other people can probably call the cops on us. Underage drinking, breaking into private property, etc etc."

"Oh look, there's a sane human here in a bunch of animals," I said in my normal voice, but somehow, it came out loudly.

All of the people looked alarmed. The tall boy who had been talking turned around slowly just as Julian and I pushed the fake "spirits" towards his direction. The two boys blocked the tall boy's face but oh well.

"You idiots got caught?!" a buffy guy said from the red car's roof.

Annoyed, I turned to Julian. "Can we leave?" I whispered.

He nodded. As we turned to leave, some yelled, "Brandon! Bring these idiots to me!"

Immediately, I turned back to find that tall dark haired boy trying to hide his face. The blood drained from my face.

It couldn't be...him. nope, nope, nope, no way possible. Maybe I heard the name wrong.

"Brandon?" Lucas whispered near my side. He took a couple of steps forward and moved the boy's hands away from his face.

I shifted slightly to get a better view. Upon seeing his face, illuminated by the moonlight, it was indeed clear who it was. His features had matured but he was still...my Brandon.

I blinked rapidly as he locked his eyes with mine.

"Cassie, Cassie," Julian said gripping my arms. "You're shaking!" His concern faded into the background.

My eyes never left those beautiful green eyes I had been so familiar with. Honestly, I had no idea why I was trembling. Slowly, I shook away Julian's hands and made a small walk in Brandon's direction. Maybe I was hallucinating. But he was making his way towards me as well with a pale look. It wasn't until my childhood best friend stood face to face with me that I collapsed.

Last words I heard were, "Cass! Cass!..."

Then, I completely fell into my unconcious.

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Author's note

Any thoughts? Yay Brandon? Or nah?

And you're welcome. Here is Brandon!

Guess Cassie's reaction! First one to guess correctly wins a dedication!!(unless you already got one, then the second one and so on)

PENNHURST ASYLUM IS A REAL PLACE! All the info I mentioned is true! (Trust me it was creepy doing research on this haunted place and writing this at night was even worse)

Talk time!

One psychological experiment (and the biggest one) I did on you guys is Cassandra Evans. Her character, her style, her background, her everything. Your responses towards her really told me what kind of person you were. If you dislike her and call yourself a nice, non-judgemental person- then, I'm sorry but you have issues. You guys all judged her. It's okay, it's normal. Everyone who accepted her are either shipping her with someone, or feeling for her sad story or even getting hyper at her every smile! You guys really do make me happy. Tells me that you are people who are accepting of others!! ^-^ So glad to know you all!!

Remember to

VOTE

COMMENT

P.s. so yeah, I was talking about "The Princess Bride" that was abridged by W. Goldman or something. Not the S. Morgenstein one. That movie was nothing like the book! Book was so much better!!

Has anyone seen Mockingjay Part 1, yet? How is it? I haven't :(

Happy Holidays XD just kidding. But its nice to have these Thanksgiving holidays.