THE RAVEN COTTAGE

Join Sal and Cody as they embark on a bone-chilling adventure inside an eerie mental asylum!

It was the year 1994. Kentucky Town.

“Hey Sal, are you sure we are doing this ?”, asked Cody reluctantly while stuffing his backpack with one of the last items from the checklist that the two had made.

“Most certainly”, replied Sal smacking his lips. “Let’s get moving before dawn, get in the car.”

Sal Jones,21, and Cody Richards,19, belonged to the same neighbourhood in Kentucky town. They had known each other now for almost a good part of a decade. Sal loved solo trekking. The hills and the woods really got him going and he made it a point to go trekking in almost every holiday. He was truly an expert in this. Sal was lanky, thin and had every feature that you could imagine for an adrenaline junkie.

Cody, was 2 years younger to Sal. His family had moved to Kentucky town 12 years ago and that is where he met Sal. They have been the best of friends since. Cody was a bit different than Sal. He liked to spend most of his time reading and spending time with his flowers in the backyard. He was chubby and spectacled. He loved spending time with Sal and listening to his trekking stories.

This time though, Sal had insisted Cody on joining him to the trek.

“Now at least, can you tell me where are we headed to”, Cody asked. Sal had promised Cody to surprise him and so, hadn’t revealed the place they were going to yet. They had been driving for 3 hours now and entered the long winding roads of the woods of a forest. Cody asked again. Sal looked at Cody and with a glint in his eye, said, “The Raven Cottage”. Cody felt a chill run right through his spine, his breath got heavier and his heart beat as fast as a it could ever beat. “ARE YOU LITERALY OUT OF YOUR MIND, SAL!!STOP THE CAR RIGHT NOW.I AM NOT COMING WITH YOU.YOU TOLD ME IT WAS A NIGHT TREK.”, shouted Cody, with his eyes literally popping out of the eye socket.

The Raven Cottage was a small scale mental asylum, which was functional until 12 years ago. Suddenly, all the patients of the cottage had mysteriously caught the bubonic plague. Such was the intensity of the fever, that everyone died, even the staffs. So a total of 23 people died, 5 staff members and 17 patients. One of the bodies had gone missing though but that person also had supposedly died. Understandably, conspiracy theories started arising, with people even stating that the place is haunted. Even Police couldn’t identify the reason and the case was closed citing lack of evidence. The Raven cottage has since been abandoned and people usually stayed away from that place.

“Ohh common Cody, it happened 12 years back, now please don’t be a spoilsport and lets explore that place. And maybe we could find some clues too.”

Cody didn’t know what to say. They had come a long way from their homes and knowing Sal, he knew he wasn’t going to budge. So, he took a deep breath and agreed with a sigh.

They reached the place at a little short of 10 pm. The surroundings were eerily silent and the last signs of habitation they had seen was before they entered the forest road. Sal pulled up the car in the driveway of the Cottage.

“It will be fun” chuckled Sal. “Wait, do you realise that this is not an amusement park, with rides and candies and lights. We are right in the middle of nowhere and in front of a haunted mental Asylum, you idiot!”, Cody shouted with a slight tremble in his voice. “Well, that exactly is the fun”, Sal told looking at the establishment in front of him.” “What are you, some kind of a psycho ?”, asked Cody in disbelief.

They had brought enough sources of light with them. Both, equipped with flash lights and also an emergency light, with nimble feet entered the verandah and pushed open the door. The door squeaked, and their light beams pierced the darkness just as a butcher’s neat cut of lamb meat.

They entered and switched on the emergency light and kept it on the table. The room went from pitch black to dimly lit. They also had their flashlights on. The light revealed rows of empty beds and some old worn out blankets and books. The smell was foul and almost nauseating.

“Let’s check the bookshelf at the end of the room. The two started exploring the book shelves. There were lot of children’s books. “Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Tom Sawyer’s adventures, a lot of them. Possibly for the patients.

The Raven Cottage was two storeyed. “Cody, you keep exploring the ground floor. I will go check upstairs”, Sal said. “Are you crazy, I am no ways staying down alo….!” Cody had barely finished his sentence, but Sal had already sprinted upstairs with his flashlight. “I never knew he was this crazy”, Cody thought.

Cody had just finished the book shelf, he heard, Sal from upstairs. “Hey buddy, come here quick, look what I found.” Cody sprinted upstairs to see Sal holding a book. Possibly a diary. “What is it ?” asked Cody. Sal showed him the book and pointed to a paragraph right at the end.

The rain is relentless. I hear it thrumming on the metal roof and running down the broken pipe into the mud, and I moisten my cracked lips with my tongue. I wonder if they’ll bring me food and water. I wonder if they’re coming at all…

“What is it supposed to mean” asked Sal. This was the last thing written by whoever wrote it.

“We probably will have to read it from the beginning to get some clue”, Cody said. “Where did you find it”, Cody asked. “Well, it was racked under a tile. I felt a bit odd while treading across the room at the corner.” There was a room for experiments called the “Chemicals and Experiments Room”, a rare sight in mental hospitals. Sal continued, “I felt some kind of a protrusion beneath. That’s when I looked down. I thought, there must be something under it. I lifted up the tile with all my might. I checked underneath and behold, I called you.”, Sal said “That probably explains why the police missed it.”, Cody replied. “Gosh, I wonder what they did in this room though. Seems fishy to me”, Sal said.


The two started reading the book. It belonged to a girl named Sarah Ferris. Age 17. (As was written on the first page).

12/10/1982

It still feels odd. My family has left me here, even though I am perfectly fine. I don’t like it here. It’s awful. They feel I am dangerous.



14/10/1982

There are 22 of us apart from me. Aunt Maria seems nice. She gave me a doll and read me a story. I want to go home though.



17/10/1982

I feel so frustrated here. I bit one of the Doctor’s arm today and it bled. It felt good. I want to hurt everyone here. EVERYONE.


19/10/1982

Aunt Maria slept almost the entire day. No one was there to read stories for me today. I am feeling dizzy. I probably should sleep. There will be freedom soon.


25/10/1982

I wonder what is the Chemicals and Experiments Room upstairs. Why have they prohibited it for the patients. I need to know. I will one day. And probably that will help me get free from here. I like no one here except Aunt Maria.


1/11/1982

The entertainment period sucks. They make us draw things, listen to music and watch TV. They make us do all of it in the entertainment room. Others seem to like it though. I lashed at the little boy today with a knife. He was crying. I could have hurt him more. They all have thought of me as very dangerous now. I feel empowered by it.



Sal looked at Cody and said, “Boy, this girl looks dangerous”. Probably she was actually suffering from some mental illness unlike what she has mentioned in the book”, Cody replied. Let’s read on and see what we have got.






4/11/1982

Dr. Rosa gave me an injection today since I was behaving violently. I started feeling heavy and I dozed off.

8/11/1982

Dr. Rosa and Dr. Tim spend a lot of time in the ‘Chemical and Experiments Room. The rest of the 3 nurses are with the patients all the time. I wonder who created a mental Asylum in the middle of a forest.


9/11/1982

The feeling of hurting others is growing inside me and I can’t stop it. Probably my family was right to leave me here. I want freedom though.


14/11/1982

The 3 nurses were discussing about the experiment. The only words I could here was green liquid, vaccination, antidote, plague and Scurge. Probably the doctors weren’t just specialised in mental illnesses but also other stuffs. Is it possible though. What on earth does Scurge mean.


21/11/1982

They chained me today. For I threw a stone at one of the nurses today. She bled a lot and I laughed. I wonder how long will they keep me chained.


3/12/1982

They have finally taken off the shackles. My feet ache. I can’t bear this anymore. I am going to kill everyone here.



7/12/1982

I overheard. Dr. Rosa and Dr. Tim speaking about the green liquid called ‘Scurge.’ They have been experimenting it on a box of fleas. It is supposed to infect the fleas with bubonic plague virus. The fleas then supposedly become violent and infect everything it comes in contact with. Also humans. They are preparing some sort of an antivenom kind of substance to use it on real people affected with plague by these fleas, so are creating a virtual environment for it. But Scurge is in it’s developmental stages. Probably, that is why the room is prohibited for all of us . And it is very dangerous now. Apparently, even one drop of it entering human body can activate the virus. I need to have it now. That will mean freedom.



12/12/1982

I somehow need to reach the chemical room and take out the Scurge. Tomorrow seems right. No one seems to be around the room on Sundays. I will take away the Scurge and mix it in the daily food supplies of the Raven Cottage.


13/12/1992

I did it, just as I had planned. They probably will notice that Scurge is missing in sometime. But, there is no way for them to know that it’s in their bodies now. I refused food today citing weakness and slept all the time. Now, I just have to wait for it to work.




14/12/1982

Everyone is already feeling the weakness. The virus will spread eventually in the rest of their bodies, if what I heard from Dr. Rosa is correct. I feel sad for Aunt Maria though.



21/12/1982

They have locked me in the room. It seems forever now. They probably know it was me. The green liquid worked. I feel so happy. I am hungry though.


22/12/1982


The rain is relentless. I hear it thrumming on the metal roof and running down the broken pipe into the mud, and I moisten my cracked lips with my tongue. I wonder if they’ll bring me food and water. I wonder if they’re coming at all…


Sweat trickled down their heads as they finished reading it. Both Cody and Sal sat there dumbstruck. The place seemed even more creepy. “Well Sarah must have died from hunger and thirst then”, Cody said.

Sal shuddered and said, " ‘Might’ have Cody, not must". Cody look at Sal perplexed. Cody's expression changed from confused to full blooded horror. His face had turned to ghastly white.

One of the bodies was never to be found. He remembered.

Both could almost hear each other's hearts beat, as they whispered, "Is Sarah Ferris alive ?!"

With trembling feet, both got up and ran for their lives. They somehow reached their cars, and with a full engine throttle, Sal and Cody raced away.

“So well done detective Cody”, whispered Sal after getting his breath back. Cody did not reply. He still could not believe what just transpired. "Yeah, same to you", Cody replied meekly.

“We have an interesting story to tell the world tomorrow morning then", Sal said.

"But so many questions still remain", said Cody.

The boys hurried out of the Raven cottage with Sarah Ferris’ diary. Cody and Sal produced the diary at the district police station next day. The case was reopened and an investigation with the new clue was ordered. The boys were appreciated but also warned for trespassing into dangerous territories.

Sarah Ferris was found to have suffered from Bipolar disorder. It is a disorder associated with episodes of mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs. Also, it was confirmed that it was indeed Sarah Ferris' body that remained to be discovered.

Doctor Rosa and Tim had discovered Scurge just as their passion for chemistry apart from clinical psychology. They would have seldom known about what it would lead to.


5 DAYS LATER


Cody had just finished his supper. His mom had prepared his favourite steak this evening. He was excited about his new history classes that he had enrolled for the next semester in his university. He took up his half-finished classic, ‘To kill a mockingbird’ by Harper Lee. He lay on his bed to read the rest of the story. He was well over the mad adventure that he and Sal had few days back.

I will finish this by tonight. He thought. The silence of his room was broken by a beep. His pager beeped. Slightly fazed, Cody went to look. He had received a message. His face got filled with dread, his hand quivered with horror. The message read,


“You shoudn’t have stolen my diary. How did that steak taste though ?”


-Sarah Ferris