The Bowing Gods of Juliard's Hollow

"I never thought them to be pack creatures, Ma'am." Doctor Trinkley adjusted his glasses in his breast pocket. He has been rather fidgety today, not knowing what Madame Vonne-Morristew would think of this unexpected outcome. His thumb absently scratched the edges of the folded letters in his hand.
"It was to be expected. I have been rather absent lately, no wonder they seek comfort in the hands of others. Am I permitted to see them today?"

Doctor Trinkley sought through the papers in his hand. A few he placed on the front desk where they took a stand in the hall. The front hall of Julliard's Hollow's Sanatorium was a church like room with patients and chaos going in and out at all times during the day.
The circle of light that blinded the floor came from the roof where the stairs around the room spiraled up to.
The tower was high and if one looked up there were always patient's looking down at them. Shadow head's glaring judgement down on you. Their identities always hidden by the light blinding oneself. They called it God's Eye Upon Us.

The nurse behind the counter made a few remarks that helped the scattered Doctor. Madame Vonne-Morristew paid no mind. She scanned the room with thin eyes hiding under her hat. There were usual patients. The patients that were always there, sitting by the windows or playing chess. Some nurses simply placed them in wheelchairs, leaving them to vent for themselves. Some new patients getting uneasy by the checkered floor or clutching the dark wood banisters. Madame herself clutched her heart with fear of ending like that. But she supposes she is doing well enough not to.

"Madame? Apologies, they changed rooms last week. We renovated the fourth floor. Once they left they didn't want to return." Doctor Trinkley motions an arm out in front of them to welcome her into walking with him. They made their way to the right hall and up the stairs. "They liked the shared room, even bit one of my assistants with the attempt to get them out. My guess is if we don't remove them now, they might attach themselves to the other patient's."

"Then what stopped you from acting on instinct?"

"My job, ma'am. I need your permission to use the narcotics needed for the act. They are yours in fact now, aren't they?" They walked down the hall past countless of doors. Every door had a patients name and information on the paper pricked on the wood. At the end of the hall, coming to a floor-to-ceiling window they turned right up to more stairs. Madame noted that it had started to rain. No matter, because she came with the horses instead of the car.

"Yes, yes, they are. I must applaud your humble posture upon one of your greatest work, Nicholas." She placed a gloved hand on his arm. The touch warmed Doctor Nicholas' body instantly. Her looks might stone you into a stare, her words might leave you shivering and freezing cold. But the touch of Madame Hecatey Vonne-Morristew torched your brain aswell as your loins.

"I am a mere messenger of God's intentions for life."

At the end of the last hall the stopped in front of a white door. There were a few white doors. No papers on them. No numbers.

"Some might call you a god, boy." As she stopped in front of the door she placed both hands on top of her husband's cane. The silver wolf's head polished by her velvet covered fingers.

As Doctor Nicholas dug in his pocket for the keys he slipped in a moment of imposture and truth. "I don't kill my own creations, or let them kill each other. To them I am God, but I'm also what god has failed to be: a father showing up to dinner with his angels. Could've made them less spiteful. Killing must feel good to god then."

As he finally found the key they entered a small chamber. It was half wall, half cage so the room could be revealed without being in danger.

"And now we wait," Doctor sighed and placed both hands in his pants that made his white coat crumb up. He was proud of his new design of the room. There was a small gate at the back that lead to the outside fields, ofcourse also protected by gates. His designs could be the start of a new generation cures to the mentally insane.
Which he'd always thought was a harsh word, thrown around to easy for adventures women in particular. He'd only met a few people desperate to be released of their caged minds, but most of them were lost in this world, as they played in it differently than the normal setting.

They both face forward, looking between the bushes and trees. The cave in the corner was covered in ivy was one of the three sleep accommodates, but as seen from experience, they could be hiding everywhere.

There was a long silence before Madame spoke again, which was to say there was still a silence. Her voice didn't insult the Doctor's ears as others did.

"Must be hard. To be a young cynic." She whispered to the air in front of her.

"It is."

"Creating such beauty, but keep giving them away. Must be feeling so lonely in a place filled with people."

"What are you implying?"

The sigh that left her was the loudest sound in the cage. "I'm glad that you and my husband are on such good terms. It is truly necessary, your help-"

"Ma'am," the Doctor interrupted. Madame turned her head to look at him, but he had closed his mouth. His eyes were unmoving, big. She followed his look to the two creatures standing in front of the cage. A delightful gasp left her before she lifted her dress to her knees and hurried to the cage wall. Her nose almost pressed to the metal. They were standing two meters in front of the cage. Their eyes stared into hers, going through her and into Doctor Nicholas.

Before she could open her mouth to call for them a creature, tall and thin appeared from the green. It ran with his hands on the ground. Black hair like the devil's hiding his face. Madame moved back as it came charging for her. The cane in her hand fell to the ground. The sound filling everyone's ear. Her dolls didn't move nor made the suggestion they wanted to.
She walked back into Nicholas' arms. He wrapped his arms around her body. Trapping hers to her sides in case she goes bonkers. Why didn't her dolls panic?
The look the creature gave she would never forget.
It was mad, feral.

With cold lips next to her ear the Doctor whispered, "look."

The black haired creature ran to a stop between Madame and her dolls. It's back hunched like a bear, his eyes peeked through the strands like an owl's. The skin of his lips peeled up, revealing his sharp teeth. It looked like it tried to impersonate a smile, but Madame Hecatey knew he was threatening her.

From behind her dolls moved a larger creature than she had witnessed in her life. It shoulders hunched like the other, but not lazily. It looked like a large man. Chest hairy like the rest of him, also blocking his eyes. He raised his arms.

Madame, with fear he might struck her dolls, gripped Nicholas. "Do something!"

"Ssssshh." He tightened her grip on her as she squirmed. But then she stopped, shocked, panicked and lost. The creature behind her dolls wrapped both of his muscles and scarred arms around both of their necks. They didn't seem fazed by the action. Not even as he showed them all his teeth.
"He's asserting dominance," Madame Hecatey thought aloud. With that Nicholas removed his grip. "I had mentioned this was an urgency." He moved to stand next to her. "They have settled in a group dynamic similar to wolves. The front one. A man we discovered under Brotherton bridge a few months ago. We found a receipt with the name 'Andrew', still, no one came to claim him. When we paired him up with Rion, the other, it soon became clear that Rion was the Alpha. We had an expert from America come over, but it hasn't been made public yet."

Madame Hecatey Vonne-Morristew was, for the first time since she was a child, speechless.

"If you'd like we'll restart the whole program, but all their memories and knowledge will be lost. Then again, all that knowledge isn't really put to good use now."

"No."

Doctor Nicholas turned to her. She seemed defeated. Maybe a mother's jealousy.

"Ma'am?" He tried again.

Her jaw clenched before she spoke. "I am not giving up on my girls. Try to reverse this, and if not then I will take them all, but will only pay for three. For the trouble. Contact my husband, Good day, Nicholas."

She picked up her cane and left.

Notes