The Dark

by Hollis Jay

Imagine a building encased in history. You are standing at its doors, massive and stone. They open with a thick echo. Your feet support your frame on the cold ground. You walk inside and instantly feel a certain uncomfortable quiver in your stomach. You could swear that someone is standing right behind you-right next to you-staring from above. You turn and look to your left, right and towards the looming staircase in front of you. Nothing. Everything in you says to leave, but common sense gets in your way and you tell yourself to walk ahead. “The Dark” is based upon a true story-slightly fictionalized. In 1832, The Saint Francis of Assisi Orphanage opened as a hopeful and legitimate resource for unwanted and orphaned children. The orphanage was maintained and organized by the priests and nuns of the service. Donations to the church outfitted the orphanage with its supplies plus with its medical provisions. But, after five years the outpour of orphans became overwhelming and so, the church had no choice but to open up its facilities to the mentally impaired as well. The frustrated and mostly rich families with mentally or psychologically challenged relatives or children were only happy to fund the orphanage in exchange for a place to drop off their unwanted problems and release themselves from embarrassment. During a period of time, when mental illness was an unknown factor-the orphanage became an unholy mixture of women, children and men-without any separating walls. Soon, a doctor was brought into the mix and experiments began to be conducted. But, in 1932 Sister Mary Catherine changed everything. She set the asylum on fire and burned it to the ground. Sixty-eight of the eighty children perished in the fire. Not many patients made it out alive and Sister Mary set herself aflame without telling anyone her reasoning. Now, almost eighty years later, all the secrets of the asylum are going to be revealed and nothing will ever be the same again.

76 pages, Paperback

First published January 4, 2015