Kaylee swallowed hard and fell silent for a moment. She had let herself get so carried away by the strange knowledge they had gained that their cover was compromised.

Just as she was opening her mouth to reply, a gust of wind suddenly tore hard at the window. There was a dull thud, a deep, then drawn-out groan that cut through the prevailing silence in the room like a sharp blade. The gas pipes above them creaked loudly, and although no breeze penetrated the interior and the window remained closed, the small lights of the lanterns began to dance wildly. As if invisible hands were gripping them, they hissed almost desperately, trying to fight against the extinguishing.

"What's going on?" A strange feeling made Millicent Clarence shiver, and she wrapped her arms around herself.

From one moment to the next, the room's temperature dropped, and the approaching cold froze her breath. As if an invisible winter veil had descended over the asylum, the panes creaked as frost slowly and agonizingly formed on their edges, painting eerie shapes on the glass.

"What's going on?" Dr. Archer was immediately alarmed and stepped closer to his companion and Miss Clarence.

Kaylee raised her hand with her next breath. A white cloud rose in front of her lips and atomized in the air. "They're coming," Kaylee muttered, repeating the madman's words. It seemed to dawn on Kaylee: There were more of them. This strange gentleman was not alone.

"W-what?" stammered Millicent, immediately jumping to her feet, her features contorted in fear. "Who's coming? I-Is it that man I saw? Is he coming to get me?" Fearful, she grabbed Benjamin's arm, seeking protection.

"Crowford!" he hissed as his gaze slid from the flickering lights and the window back to the young mage. The disguise lost its significance. He didn't have to be a Seeker to know from all these signs that nothing good was happening here.

Like thousands of ants, an icy cold shiver climbed all over Kaylee's body, running through it from the top of her head to the tips of her toes with suspicion and an uncomfortable chill. She briefly gave in to the impulse to tremble as if she could shake off the unpleasant feeling.

"Something's here," she replied, gripping the handle of her walking stick tighter. Dr. Archer reacted instinctively and pushed aside his coat to reach for his revolver.

A loud, shrill scream rang out as if on a silent signal, then another, then another from somewhere. Then, the loud slamming of doors, a clatter and the audible confusion of a fight. A cacophony of pain, agony and sheer panic.

"They often scream in the night... But never like this!" Millicent whimpered weakly and clung fearfully to Dr. Archer, clearly hoping for shelter and protection.

"First of all, it isn't at night and secondly, these weren't necessarily the patients. Doctor," Kaylee didn't take her eyes off the door. Instead, she reached into her coat with cold fingers to pull out a small revolver as well. "Stay with Miss Clarence. I'm going to check."

"You want to go out there? Alone?" Millicent spoke Benjamin's thoughts, giving them a stunned, almost condemning tone.
Kaylee could understand the all-too-human instinct to lock the door and hide behind it. Even small children showed this behaviour because they hoped to be safe from the monsters under their blankets. Unfortunately, reality was not so merciful, and the monsters that lurked in the shadows of this world could not be stopped by blankets, walls, or a simple door.

"Well, if there's something out there, we should go see what we're up against," Kaylee replied, trying to sound more confident and sure of herself than she was. The last encounter with a real, supernatural creature was still deep in her bones. An experience she did not look back on fondly. The last time, Dr. Archer and she had barely escaped with their lives.

Her heart was beating up to her neck. She hated being in the dark, feeling helpless and weak. Kaylee needed to know what was going on out there so she could defend herself accordingly.

It was pure fear that choked her.

Being afraid was natural, normal and appropriate to the situation. In the right measure, fear could sharpen her senses. But Kaylee couldn't allow anxiety to overwhelm and paralyse her. Overcoming fear took courage - and Kaylee was many things, but not a coward. She was a Seeker.

"Don't worry about me, Miss Clarence. I'm perfectly capable of fighting back," Kaylee's lips formed an almost cheeky grin, which seemed to lend her cocky attitude a specific arrogant competence. Only Dr Archer could see that the smile lacked the snide arrogance that his companion usually displayed when she felt she had an advantage.

"Wait here." This time, Kaylee looked her partner in the eye for longer and waited for his approval. When he nodded to her with pinched lips, she hurried to the door. As Kaylee pulled it open, the full extent of the horrible noise flooded the room.

The patients' screams, a wild jumble of meaningless words, a dull pounding as if someone was driving their fist repeatedly against the heavy walls, a shrill, maniacal laugh, and a scattered, dreary-sounding nursery rhyme. It took Kaylee far more courage than she let on when she finally stepped through the archway and pulled the door shut behind her.

It clicked shut. Inside, the walls again muffled the screams, and Benjamin Archer stood protectively between the door and the young woman.

Kaylee's heartbeat increased as her fingers slid to the tie, and she shifted it a little. The soft silk suddenly seemed to sit tighter around her neck than before.

The first thing the Seeker noticed was the flickering light. In the hallway, the flames were also struggling not to go out, but many of the lamps were already out. The threatening hissing of the gas pipes added an ominous undertone to the already tense situation. However, the breeze blowing in her face and howling through cracks in the walls and doors worried her much more.

'Then where is the draught coming from?' Kaylee asked herself instinctively, feeling a sinking stone in her stomach because all the windows in this part of the building were - as she had seen for herself - barred and could not be opened.

Her right hand held the revolver while she gripped the handle of her walking stick tightly with her left. Every breath burned in her lungs and formed small clouds of mist before her lips.

The screeching and laughter noise echoed off the walls in the empty corridor while her every footstep seemed treacherously loud. Her gaze fell cautiously through the door window of one of the neighbouring rooms. Inside, a confused-looking woman sat huddled in one of the corners, swaying back and forth like a pendulum and babbling incoherent things to herself. In the next, a man was screaming hysterically and banging violently on the locked door until his knuckles were bloody.

Inevitably, Kaylee wondered where the orderlies had gone.

"Hello?" she asked into the corridor, more whispered than shouted, trying to convince herself that the tremor in her voice was due to the cold and not her fear. "Sister Enid?" she called a little louder and more firmly. Hadn't the nun said she wanted to wait in the common room?

No answer.

Kaylee tried to breathe calmly.

'Calm down. You fought a damn demon a year ago. Whatever is happening here right now, it can hardly be worse than this.'

In her head, the mage hurriedly went through the spells that might be helpful.

She was capable. She wasn't just Kaylee, after all. She was Kyle Crowford, the master mage. And Kyle Crowford knew no fear!

>>Wham!<<

Just a few yards ahead of her, one of the doors suddenly slammed shut with a loud crash. Kaylee instinctively jumped back and immediately raised her firearm to point it at the empty hallway.

At the end of the corridor, a wheelchair lay overturned on its side. Its wheel continued to turn slowly, adding a repetitive squeal to the horrific symphony of screams and laughter. Kaylee's heart drummed treacherously as her chest rose and fell under the heavy breaths.

"Shit," she hissed softly, flinching as another loud bang suddenly sounded behind her.

>>Wham, wham, wham!<<

Panicked, she turned around and almost fired a shot. One of the doors was slightly open and kept banging against the frame as if guided by a ghostly hand.

'Just the wind,' Kaylee told herself in a harsh tone. A muffled murmur sounded behind the door in question, and the magician summoned up all her courage. She took quick steps to the door and pulled it open.

Kaylee immediately recognised Mr. Hadley's small chamber. The walls were smudged, and the flickering light from the last small flames made it all the more disturbing.

The insane man was sitting cross-legged amidst countless scribbles he had arranged around him like a spell. 

Amidst the crudely painted images of crosses, he muttered one sentence over and over again to himself: "He shouldn't have let them in, he shouldn't have let them in, he shouldn't have let them in..."