Sell you a Bridge chapter 134

Arkham Asylum December 13th 2010 2:00 PM EDT

Climbing  out of the car I glanced up at Arkham. The Silver Ghost had been parked  at the old penthouse and we'd driven over from there. I'd expected the  roads to cause trouble but Jim appeared to have made some modifications  to the thing because we drove right through most of the barricades when  we got to them. Arkham itself looked...well, the same. Zee climbed out  after me and stared up at the building. "Well, that place is super  fucking creepy."

I snorted a laugh. "Yeah, I thought the  same thing my first time here. It's like someone spilled a Tim Burton  movie on the world's most authentic haunted house, then tried to clean  up the mess with an episode of Scooby Doo." Everyone stared at me  blankly. "What? I've had nightmares about this place since the first  time I was here, so I've had a ton of time to think about why it's so  creepy."

If it had just been the evil I would have been  able to stomach it, it wouldn't have haunted me. But there was more  there, a sort of unreality to the darkness that made it almost  cartoonish. It was so evil it looked like someone had made it up for a  story, and that made it somehow worse. This wasn't just a place you had  nightmares about, it WAS a nightmare, and anything could happen to you  in your nightmares.

Reggie  squinted up at the building. "You know, I kind of see what you mean.  There's a certain sense of wackiness smeared on top of a whole bunch of  mind numbing terror with just a hint of ridiculous showing through. It's  weird how that somehow makes it even scarier." He turned to Jim. "So  what are the chances we're going to find your satanic side piece and get  the hell out of here before the crazy has a chance to splash all over  us?"

Jim's eyebrows, visible in his human guise with none  of his usual affectations to be seen, furrowed in annoyance. His  mustache twitched slightly as he glared at Reggie. "First of all, Circe  is a Pagan goddess and has no relation to the judeochristian Devil, in  fact I suspect YOU have a better claim to that particular role, given  the company you keep." He flicked his eyes to me meaningfully.

Reggie  looked appalled but Jim just continued speaking. "Secondly, I somehow  doubt the resolution to this debacle will present itself in a clear and  easily grasped manner, hence my current state of dress." He gestured  down to his body to encompass his current outfit, an old style doctor's  outfit similar to the ones I'd seen on doctors I'd passed when I'd last  visited Arkham. His crisp button up and tie blended seamlessly with his  while coat, presenting a respectable image.

We  parked in the staff parking lot this time, and being with a "doctor"  meant the Arkham gate guards didn't bother to question us. We just  strolled right into the grounds as soon as they saw Jim's coat, and once  we were out of earshot I couldn't resist whispering to Zee. "No wonder  so many people break out of this place, their security is a joke." I  hadn't realized the greeting at the gated and visitor protocols were the  sum total of the security in place on my last visit.

Jim,  hearing my comment, shook his head. "No. The security his is quite  adequate for what it is supposed to do. It is simply designed on a  faulty premise." He gestured up the the creepy building. "The creators  of this security system believed that no one would ever want to enter a  place as twisted and evil as this. All the security measures are  designed to keep things IN not bar them from entering. Leaving will be a  much more difficult task than gaining entry."

That  wasn't exactly a comforting though, so I pushed it aside for the  moment. "So, why are you the only one with a costume? I would have  figured given your stealthy nature you would have preferred to remain  out of sight and have the rest of us play dress up, or at least have  these three do it while you and I snuck around." I gestured to Zee,  Artemis, and Reggie, who all looked as confused by this turn of events  as I was.

Jim  shook his head. "Simple. The nursing staff should have clothes on the  premises. The chances of finding an unattended lab coat are much lower,  so I brought my own. As for your question yes, I would prefer to remain  anonymous, but as I am the only one of us of an age to be believed to be  a medical professional I find this task thrust upon me. You'll be doing  the incognito snooping for the group, and Reginald and I will be  infiltrating the staff."

My  eyes narrowed. "See. You just listed three of the people in this group,  but neglected to mention two of the others. What, pray tell, will Zee  and Artemis be doing during our investigations?" Jim looked away  purposefully, facing ahead so he didn't have to meet my gaze, and that  was just about the least comforting action he could have taken. I  stopped, clearing my throat. "Jim. I asked you what the girls will be  doing?"

My  mentor sighed. "Circe will most likely be hiding amongst Arkham's inmate  population, she also prefers to remain female when disguised. While  Reginald and I search for clues amongst the staff, and you lurk in the  dark places of the Asylum, the ladies will be infiltrating the local  environment as inmates. Madame Xanadu and I have created new glamour  charms that should fool even Circe, and with their charisma charming the  inmates should be a snap."

I  glared at him. "You're telling me you want the two of them to go  undercover among the population of one of the most feared mental  institutions in the entire country, mix with villains the likes of which  only appear in a healthy persons nightmares, and expose themselves to  possible attack from an evil goddess? While we what? Look for paper  trails and snoop around in dark closets? Are you fucking high?"

Jim  held his hands up. "Peace, my boy. Your Pride is showing. There are  only a few female inmates, and they're kept separate from the rest of  the population. They'll be in there together and are more than capable  of standing against a few lunatics. As for Circe, her ritual will  require certain conditions to enact. This is a place of great evil and  power but I suspect more will be required. A full moon would be her best  hope, and the next isn't for eight days."

I  pushed down my anger. He was right, I was overreacting because of my  Pride. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply before turning to Zee. "This  is your call. You'll be the one going in. If you aren't comfortable in  any way we can figure this out some other way. He even said he's  guessing, it's possible the full moon has no bearing on the ritual and  you could be walking into some horrible sacrifice."

Jim  looked offended but Zee just laughed, going up on her tip toes to kiss  me lightly. "No. He's right. The theory is sound. Annabel used a full  moon to call the labyrinth, so using another to access it's power would  be the most suitable method. Even doing the ritual here isn't a  coincidence. This is the worst place in Gotham. Maybe this was even why  the Amazon's attacked here during the raid on Blackgate, to give Circe  cover to get in."

I  sighed. I recognized that gleam in her eye. Zee was the most curious  person I knew. She wanted to learn more about this ritual, and to do  that she'd definitely take this stupid mission. Artemis interjected,  waving her hand in my face. "Yeah, hey, hi? I'm here too you absolute  goon. Don't worry though, I'll be fine, and since I'm such a stand up  gal I'll even look out for your honey bunny while we're in there." She  rolled her eyes. "I swear you two make me sick."

I  coughed, flushing slightly. "Please, only the good die young. Like an  Asylum full of nutjobs could do anything to you. Hell ten minutes in  your presence would probably drive them all sane." Her mouth fell open  in offended shock as she stared at me and I smirked, looking away from  my sputtering bestie to Jim. "Ok boss, so how do we get them in there  anyway? I mean I doubt you can just walk them up to the front desk to  register."

Jim  just stared at me. "It's a mental institution, of course I can. Arkham  may be a terrifying nightmare den but anyone check themselves into an  Asylum at any time, if they feel the pose a danger to themselves or  others. With a doctor to smooth things over we can have them inside  within a few minutes, and Reginald can accompany me as my assistant,  riding in with me to work." He reached into a coat pocket, holding out a  hand to deposit rings in each of the girls' outstretched palms. "Your  new disguises ladies."

The  two of them slipped their rings on, immediately vanishing to be  replaced by new women. Artemis became a freckled redhead with a swimmers  build, and Zee shifted into a slightly thicker woman with an olive  complexion. They both however look completely normal, and when I  activated my aura vision even I couldn't see anything wrong. Damn, the  adults in our crew did good work. I focused on my sending stone. "You two can at least still hear this right?"

I  projected the message to the stones of the entire group and the girls  both nodded. I exhaled in relief. "Alright, I'll slip into the place  when you're distracting the guards. I can enter as a shadow." At twenty thousand two hundred plus points I was definitely equipped to make the  trip easily. Once we had that settled Jim and Reggie escorted the girls  into the Asylum and I shifted into a shadow, flowing along the ground  after them.

I watched as my  mentor escorted them up to the desk. "Ah good evening." He leaned in to  look at the name tag of the girl at the desk. "Stacy, what a lovely  name. These two troubled young ladies approached me outside in fear for  the safety of those around them, could you perhaps aid me in getting  them settled?" I slipped past my boss, ignoring his flirting with the  busty twenty something redhead at the desk as I slid under the door down  a side hallway.I had to smirk internally as I saw Reggie and Artemis's  auras surge with annoyance.

Once  I was inside I headed straight for...nowhere. I had literally no idea  where anything was. This was a long terms operation so we had expected  to case the place for a while, which was fine, but I'd expected to have  someone with me. I silently snarled in frustration and began the process  of searching the hallways. My first task was to memorize the hallway  layout, and once I'd done that I could go back and check individual  rooms. We would be here for some time so I had more than enough time to  do this properly.

Jim  had taught me how to case buildings almost first thing when he started  training me, so I followed my training as I glided smoothly down the  halls. It technically cost points but I wasn't in a hurry so it was a  minimal deduction, with my absurd point total at the moment I was in no  danger of stressing my reserves. I took my time, mapping out each  corridor and floor to the best of my ability until everything inch of  the place was committed to memory, and once that was done I began the  next step. Time to break into some rubber rooms.