[[OOC is located here. If you'd like to join, sigh up there.]]

We're living in the middle of a Purge--it's 1867, a time when vampires, werewolves, and mutants are considered dangerous anomalies. Doctors and holy men make it their mission to amputate the tails of mutants, which, so far, results in 100% death. Superhuman creatures are locked in asylums for study, experimentation, and the viewing pleasure of children and families.

Welcome to the infamous Desperatio Asylum, a nightmare of a stone castle set high atop a hill, surrounded by a deep, murky moat and a fortified wall. To the east, beyond the moat, is a lake with little boats docked at the shore--when the time comes to dispose of the medical waste, that lake turns red. Within the asylum, screams can be heard as the surgeons conduct their cruel and unusual research.

And at the heart of Desperatio, there is a large cage full of crazies--vampires and werewolves, all thrown in together, for observation, dissection, and twisted entertainment.

Is there an escape from the ominous fortress? Or does only death lie at the end of the road for the poor captives?

Ralph awakens to the sound of an ear splitting scream. It echoed throughout the hellhole disguised as an asylum. His nose is immediately greeted with the stench of blood and death. He gets up from his corner clothes stained, soiled, and torn; he walks to the bared cage to look out of his dark, dank home. He lets out a sigh walking to look out of the window.

“Another day, another dozen lives literally down the drain. Sucks to the human race, when I...If I get out of here my rage they will surely hate to meet."

Caroline's eyes fluttered open at the sound of screaming. Her face looked almost peaceful, pressed up against the bars of the cage. She yawned and sat up, red lines streaking her face where she'd just been stuck to the metal.

She hadn't slept like this in ages: judging by the light outside, she estimated that she'd gotten a full two hours of shut-eye. As she glanced around the cramped space, meeting the eyes of some of her fellow captives, among them a young werewolf boy, a weak laugh rose from her throat, and she began to babble, almost incoherently.

"Who did they open up today, I wonder, I wonder? Who did they kill? What will it be then, another tail on that dirty surgeon's wall, another pile of dust on his floor, another corpse slowly reverting to human form with a silver scalpel in its kidney?" She got to her feet and leaned casually against the bars, waiting to stare down any tormentor who came by. Perhaps the children would come by today to throw stones at her, making a mockery of La Moqueur. Oh joy. I can't bloody wait.

"Vittoria! Get your ass in here, now!" called Viktor from the operating room. Vittoria, exhausted and disillusioned from watching the prisoners, dragged herself to her feet and answered his summons, rushing into the room, where she found her lanky, cruel-faced cousin polishing his scalpel. A corpse lay on the ground, writhing in its final stages of death. "Damn these supernatural creatures," Viktor muttered, "always dying before I can have a proper look at them."

"Y-you wanted to see me, Viktor?" asked Vittoria, stepping carefully over the corpse.

"Yes," he said. "While you're on duty today, I'd like you to select me a test subject...preferably one who might be able to withstand an operation. I want to learn about them, not just kill them. If I wanted to kill them, I'd do it."

"I know, I've seen you do it on several occasions," said Vittoria bitterly. "Perhaps...perhaps if you were to use some anesthesia...?"

"DO NOT TELL ME HOW TO DO MY JOB!" Viktor shouted at her. "GET BACK TO WORK, YOU PIECE OF SLIME!" He chased her out of the operating room, throwing a rusty scalpel at her as she ran out, and she kept running until she'd reached the cage. Some of the prisoners could be hostile, but at least they couldn't hurt her from behind those bars. And besides, anyone would be hostile if they were locked up like that.

"Good morning," she whispered, careful not to wake any of them who were still sleeping. She noticed that Ralph, the werewolf boy, along with the mad aristocrat Caroline L'moqueur, were already awake. She gave them each a sympathetic smile.

"Good morning..."

The guard Vittoria said to those who were awake. Vladimir looked up at her through the steel bars in scorn. That damned woman and all those other surgeons caused everybody here nothing but pain and misery... He looked away from the guard. He wasn't getting taken away by the surgeon again. So he laid his head against the wall and closed his eyes, hoping to finally go to sleep...

"Good morning."

A voice, soft and delicate called out. Her eyes slowly opened and she laid down in her pile of hay she'd been given. She was in a small cage all by herself, seprated by a brick wall from the others. This wasnt because the guards liked her, no, far from it. It was for the safety of the other prisoners. Nemesis was heavily medicated and sedated, so at the moment she was calm. But at any time, if the medicine wore off...well, lets just say that some of the screams were caused by her. Nemesis ran her dirty fingers through her tangled red hair and started to play with it. She sat up and was watching the bars, hoping today was the day that they ignored her...and she didnt have to go into the room. She was whispering loudly to herself and anyone who walked by or cared to listen could hear her. Her voice was queit though very femanine.

"She said good mornings to us...is the morning good? Never good to us...baaad mornings for us....always the bad."

Her head twitched and she scratched the side of her face, like a wolf would. Her tourrets medcine was beginning to wear off and if she didnt recieve more soon, the scratching would get worse and she would start pacing.

"Good Morning"

Eve jerked awake at the sound of the Guard she flinched back and looked up at her. She ran her fingers through her long dirty brown hair trying to untangle it. Her eyes narrowed at the female Guared acting like she cared "There are no good mornings for us" She sighed her voice soft and high. She ran her dirty fingernails up and down the cold steel wall scratching at it. She looked around at all the other mutants that were packed in the cage.

"Welly-welly-well, if it isn't the lovely Vittoria, come to bid us all a good morning," Caroline said as in walked Vittoria, her favorite guard to flirt with. It was hard to tell if she was being sarcastic or not. "And a very good morning it is indeed, now that you're here, milady." She returned Vittoria's smile and crossed over to the other side of the cage, to get closer to the guard.

"So, how are you? How'd you sleep, precious? Miss me?" Her hands closed around the bars as she looked down at the young redheaded woman, licking her lips, her wide eyes gleaming creepily.

"Please, don't bother me, ma gentille alouette," Vittoria said to Caroline, stifling an amused grin. "It looks like Nemesis needs her medicine again."

She left the room for a second and came back out, looking irritated (probably from getting yelled at by Viktor), holding a syringe. She walked up to Nemesis's cage and stuck the needle through the bars. "This will be quick," she reassured the patient as she administered the injection. "As long as you don't move, this won't hurt a bit, okay?"

Nemesis saw the needle and backed away to the wall. She was scratching herself and her head twitched a few times. She growled low and got up on all fours. Her nails digging into the stone floor as she shouted at Vittoria

"Leave us be! Needle...Bad! Gives us Pain!"
Dont let her poke us with that....you dont want me to go away...if she pokes you...Ill be gone... whispered a voice inside her head. She responded out loud.
"Legie! Dont go...stay with us."
I will Nem, I'm here, just dont let her poke you with that needle...

Nemesis pressed herself against the wall, her red eyes glaring at Vittoria. She was still growling and she backed herself into the corner. Her eye began to twitch along with her head and she scratched herself more.

"...Alright then," Vittoria resigned herself, pocketing the needle. She didn't want the patient to hurt herself, but she'd feel bad about trying to 'cure' her against her will. Who was she to decide what sanity was? After all, most of the asylum prisoners weren't even crazy. Or, at least, they hadn't been until they fell victim to the surgeons' experiments. "Just, eh...give me a shout if you need anything, okay, Nem?"

Vittoria paced a few times around the room. "These people can be so difficult sometimes," she muttered.

She left once more, and when she came back, she was carrying glasses of blood and a few severed limbs from her cousin's exploits. "Breakfast time," she told the supernaturals, passing the grotesque sustenance through the bars. "If anyone prefers human food, I'm sure there's something in the cellars."

Nemesis relaxed and whispered quietly to herself, scratching her face with her hand.

"Tori called us Nem...Tori being nice?"
Dont fall for it, its a trap.
When Vittoria came back with the food Nemesis grinned from ear to ear.
"Food Time Legie!" she called out as she began to pull away from the wall.
NO! Legion barked in her head, making her stop.
"Leeeeeeegie...Were hungry..."
You can wait it out.
"But...But...We"
SHUT IT! Stop complaining and do as I say.

Nemesis slumped back down and stayed against the wall. Her eyes were staring at a severed arm the Vittoria had. Her stomach growled at her and she folded her arms around it. She was watering at the mouth and she was licking her lips, watching the meat carefully.

He gives Victoria a small smile, as he walks around the vampires to the opening of their cell.
“Viktor giving you hell again?” His soft voice, almost over taken by the others ramblings and objections.
Waiting for her to finish with Nemsis before continuing getting her attention, his eye blue eyes searching her analyzing her body language before speaking.
“I don’t understand why you don’t leave. He will be the end of you; I would hate to see such a pretty lady go to waste, like mother and her greedy brother. Taking her money, abusing her, and ultimately killing her; sending me to this wretched place to live and rot! I don’t belong here miss; you and Viktor know that. He paid you to put me here so he didn’t have to support me.”
Trying to hold back tears that have long dried up, “If you can’t give me freedom, may I have a quill and some parchment?”

Brooke was curled up in a ball, she was small enough that she was almost hidden in the dark corner, she hated this place... It was like a living hell to her, she brushed back her light hair and fixed the ribbon in her hair before curling up again, face hidden, she didn't even look like a person anymore, just like a tiny mass in a corner, she hoped they would just leave her here and let her die. No more torture....

Oh, God.... Please, just let me die.... Please... I want to just die! She thought, even in her thoughts her voice sounded high-pitched with pain.
I want to just die, why won't I just die!?

"Who in this wide world does belong here?" Vittoria sighed. She turned away from Nemesis, after leaving some food in her cage, and approached the boy.

"Yes, I could leave. Of course I could. I've survived on the outside before. I could go back anytime...and live as a whore on the streets..." There was no sarcasm in her tone, more like bitter sorrow.

"And Viktor...Viktor doesn't know anything. Hell, I doubt he can read," she mocked. It gave her satisfaction to make fun of her cousin behind his back, even though she knew she needed him. "I'll be back with that parchment in just a second."

She left a final time, and commotion could b heard from the rooms of the asylum:

"Dear cousin, could I borrow a--"

"WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT BOTHERING ME IN THE MIDDLE OF OPERATING?"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

And then Vittoria came back, forcing a smile, and passed the boy a scroll of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink.

“Thank you Victoria.” Takes the quill, paper and ink.
He sits down drawing a cartoon, first drawing an evil looking being and labeling it as Marry. Drawing another obviously girl figure which wasn’t as ugly as the other and labeled it Contrary.

“Mistress Mary, Quite contrary,”

Under them he drew an oblong circle and using near by dirt and some blood colored it in and labeled it as garden.

“How does your garden grow?”

On the same piece of paper he draws scalpels, and other cutting devices and instruments of torture.

“With Silver Bells, And Cockle Shells,”

Under the lake he drew barbaric figures of angelic figures that had been dismembered, mutilate and lay dead or dying.

“And pretty maids all in a row. Look except here.”

He points near the lake where a forest edge could be seen, figures are seen gathered around the lake.

“Those will be us in the future, the question is what path do we have to take to get there.”
The child, goes on by himself drawing and writing. Leaving the picture near the bars, humming the rhyme to himself.

"Alouette, je te plumerai," Caroline sang under her breath. She took one of the blood cups and drank down half of it, spilling some down her chin and onto her dress. "Best leave some for the others, so they won't be mad," she said, setting it back down. "But who isn't mad, no matter how sane they insist they are?"

Watching Vittoria and Ralph, she ambled back across the cage, where another prisoner was huddled in a ball. She was rather like Caroline, a blonde vampire girl, but she was a lot less lively, and sat in one spot like a pathetic lump.

"Bonjour, ma cheri," said Caroline, prodding her gently. "Brooke...are you awake? I'm lonely," she complained. "Vittoria's talking to the werewolf boy and I'm terribly bored. Terribly, terribly..."

Her sentence structure broke down into meaningless laughter as she sank to a crouch beside Brooke.

Eve got up slowly walking over to the cups of blood grabbing a cup in her fragile hands. She sipped at it carefully and it tasted alright she sucked the rest down throwing the cup back onto the tray and walking around the cage stretching her limbs. She saw a vampire crouching down laughing insanely. This place was filled with crazy people including herself. She walked over to the guard Vittoria "May I ask you something?" She asked her voice soft and her eyes blank.

Brooke looked up, her eyes sad, as usual, she looked back down and was hugging herself, she would never speak to another person, she merely listened to the insane laughter, she was completely sane... But no one could tell, she closed her eyes and let her mind wander, she wished for freedom.... But she wanted death even more.

She just was pleading for death to come soon. Brooke could've looked dead to anyone unmoving, she in fact hadn't moved anything but her head since she came here, she was hoping that she would starve to death soon.

Vittoria stared at the picture, not saying anything. The boy's suggestion of a plan of escape was tempting, but what if they were caught? Which was greater, the risks, or the rewards?

In the middle of her wandering thoughts, she didn't notice one of the prisoners walking up to her and was startled when she seemed to appear beside her.

"May I ask you something?" she asked.

"I believe you just did," said Vittoria. "Go on then, ask away."