“That’s not a place for normal people. You don’t understand the terror of the place, this is not to protect them but to protect you. Weak-minded people will be converted by these people in Area A.” The chief nurse warned. “Even for the staff, we are not allowed to stay in Area A for more than 5 minutes. What is it that you want to know? In any case, I can assure that none of our patients has escaped, that’s impossible.”
I smiled, “Well, we can find that out on our own. Captain Zhao has come with the warrant.”
The chief nurse rolled his eyes. “Then why did you waste my time? Let’s go.” Even though I had spent almost a year at this place, I had not been to Area A before. This hospital was split into 3 areas, A, B and C, with decreasing levels of security. A patient like me was from Area C!
The patients in Area B would not harm others but they would harm themselves, they had self-mutilation desire. They required special treatment. However, with good treatment, there wasn’t any problem.
The patients in Area A, as mentioned before, were devils in human skill. Most patients here were psychopaths. There was a patient who claimed that everyone wanted to kill him so he needed to kill others to be safe; there was a patient who believed his destiny in this world was to kill 8000000 people before he could reach samsara. Dong Xing City was a metropolis, there were several mental hospitals, but this was the only hospital that looked after these heavy cases. The patients treated in Area A would be violent towards others so most of the time, they were closed inside individual rooms. Their rooms didn’t have any metallic objects, the meals wouldn’t have bones and the utensils were soft. After each meal, the staff would check the utensils to make sure there was none damaged or missing. Other than meal time, these patients were strapped to the bed. They were only allowed to look at the ceiling.
We walked towards Area A. Area A was at the deepest part of the hospital, it was very far from Area B and C. There was even a large iron gate separating them. Outsiders needed the director and the chief nurse’s permission to cross this gate. We had obtained the director’s permission and the chief nurse was coming with us.
The large gate behind us slowly closed. I noticed that every guard here had an electric baton and wore metal helmets. After crossing the gate, one had to walk a distance before one could see a building 3 stories tall. This place housed these serious cases. The building itself was grey in color and the walls were mottled. It looked quite old. The red paint on the wall—Dong Xing City’s Second Mental Hospital was peeling.
The chief nurse explained, “As you can see, this building is aged. It has been here since Dong Xing City was built. This is the city’s first mental hospital. This is the original building.”
There were several sentries around the building. The walls were not just concrete walls but had electric wires as well. The security here was really high. We pushed open the door and entered the building. A small transmission room was placed to the side. There were several guards posted there. They all nodded when they saw the chief nurse.
On the other side of the transmission room were rows of CCTV. From them, we could see everything that happened inside the building. I counted carefully, there were 20 monitors so there should be 20 patients here. I glanced about and realized some of the patients were tied to the bed, while others could move around in their small rooms. Gu Chen asked, “Not all of them are tied to the bed?”
The chief nurse checked the monitors and answered, “Of course, as police, you’ve seen perhaps as many deranged people as we do. But we are more professional when it comes to diagnosing their mental state.” The chief nurse pointed at a monitor and explained, “Even though patients at Area A have serious violence tendencies, there is gradation among them as well. Take for example, these are the 8 rooms on the first floor.”
We followed the chief nurse’s pointing finger. None of the patients on this floor were tied to the bed. They could move freely inside their rooms which were around 10 cubic metres. The rooms also had a toilet. I looked closely at the monitors, hoping to draw some clues about the killer from these people.
I looked down the row of monitors. Some had their heads lowered and sat motionless on the bed like a statue. Some faced the wall, occasionally laughing and crying. One stood beside the toilet with his penis in his hands. It was impossible to tell what he was doing. There were only 2 female patients on this floor. One was fully naked, rolling around on the floor; the other was sleeping facedown on the bed so I couldn’t see her face.
These people’s actions were inexplicable and they scared people away. However, they didn’t look like they were harming themselves.
The chief nurse continued, “This row is for the second floor.”
We turned to look. The rooms on this floor didn’t have toilets. Some were tied to the beds, others were moving around freely. There were both male and female patients. Some struggled against the binding so hard, their faces were red. One slammed his head heavily against the pillow but the pillow was soft, so it did no damage. Those who were not tied to the bed mostly sat there quietly. It was quite impressive.
When I moved my eyes downwards, I saw 4 CCTVs and they corresponded to 4 different people.
They were doing 4 different things.
There was a man who was tied to the bed, the straps were so tight, he could barely struggle. The patient glared at the camera. He shouted something at the camera but we couldn’t hear him. However, we did notice that his teeth were all black and every tooth was sharpened like a canine.
The chief nurse made the introduction. He pointed at the man, “This man killed a family of 8 when he was young. The reason was after he was bitten by a bat, he believed he had transformed into a vampire. He needed blood to survive but one night he bit his family to death.” The chief nose pointed at the man’s mouth, “The teeth are grinded down by himself. He would grind his teeth every day, it often injured his own lips or tongue. Whenever he grinded his teeth, the gums would get so bloody. Last time, a nurse was tasked to feed him but she was accidentally bitten by him. She almost lost her hand. Last time, I even saw him bite a hole through the iron bed.”
“What about her?” I asked. This was a woman even though her hair was shaved. She too was tied to the bed. However, instead of resisting, she looked extremely sedated.
The chief nurse warned, “This woman might look quiet but if you ask me, she’s much more dangerous than the previous man. When she was first sent here, she didn’t show any sign of psychopathy. She is a very good disguiser. Last time, she managed to sneak poison into everyone’s food supply. If not for the eagle eye of the canteen worker, perhaps you’d be dead already.”
I shook my head. “What about the child?”
The chief nurse sighed and began slowly, “Speaking of which, this child is the scariest child I’ve ever met. The boy knows how to play to others’ pity. He might look young but he’s more demented than most adult. There was one time when he saved a date pit from lunch and tried to kill the staff that came to clean up the plate with the sharpened pit. Thankfully, the guards stopped him in time. Anything can be turned into a murder weapon in his hands.”
Captain Zhao suddenly cut in, “I’ve met a child like this once, but he’s already dead.” I looked over and Captain Zhao’s expression was severe as he glared at the boy. There was sadness in his eyes. I wondered what kind of memory this boy had evoked in Captain Zhao.
However, the most eye-catching people on the monitors was not these people but an elder who looked so polite and gentle. In the last screen, we saw something completely different than before.
An old man about 50 sat behind a table. An English book was placed before him, we couldn’t see the tile. Next to the table was a large bookshelf with many books. Most of them were in English but there were Chinese titles too like Zhou Yi, Lun Yu, the Understanding of Human Psychology. The selection was eclectic.
From the screen, I also noticed the old man’s room was much larger than the rest. I was confused. This elder didn’t look like a mental patient but like an established scholar.
I joked, “I have no idea you have footage of the hospital director’s room.”
The chief nurse scolded, “Stop joking. This is the scariest patient at our hospital. None of the staff dares to enter his room.”
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