The crack of thunder shook the windows of the Hayne’s Women’s Asylum building on 667 Gates Road. Following that sound came the roar of laughter from patients inside the asylum. “Shut up!” yelled Deputy Batch, the deputy on night duty, “I don’t want to hear a peep out of your revolting mouths.” The women trembled at the sound of the deputy’s voice. This man was a wicked man; they all knew. But, that didn’t seem to scare the patient in cell 13. Her name was Suzanne Rose. She comes from Holmesburg, Pennsylvania and seemingly calm and approachable.

Deputy Batch swiftly carries himself up to Suzanne’s cell. He is not frightened by any of these “creatures”, as he refers to the patients. He wraps his hands around the bars and puts his head in between them. “How are you doing tonight Miss Rose?” the deputy says to her in a sarcastic tone. “Just fine,” snaps Suzanne as she whips her head and looks away from Deputy Batch.

“What’s the matter? You don’t look too fine,” says the deputy in the same mocking tone. Suzanne is not at all pleased by him mocking her. The deputy just laughs at her, “brainless monkey.” Suzanne snaps her neck to look at him and leaps from her bed. She snatches his neck and digs her nails into his throat. “Don’t call me that!” she screams. Suzanne throws Deputy Batch to the ground leaving him there to cough and suffer with the sight of puncture wounds in his neck and blood oozing out. All the commotion leads the other women in the hall to yell, holler and snarl. It was the most frightening noise the deputy has ever heard. They were getting out of control.

The nurses and doctors ran out of their rooms when they heard the disturbance. “What’s going on?” shouted Dr. Dan Wright. Deputy Batch, still lying on the floor out of breath and coughing, tried to speak. Two of the nurses rushed to aid him. “Her…she…attacked me!” said the deputy as he points at Suzanne. She was slouching over in the corner of her cell staring at her bloody fingernails with a look of content on her face. She looks up at the doctor and says in a sweet but shrilling voice, “I don’t have any idea what he’s talking about. I was just sitting on my bed when he came up to the bars and started mocking me.” The nurses looked at her in repulsion. “Get her out of there…send her to the Panic Room,” Dr. Wright ordered four of the nurses. He looked at the other two and demanded that they bring the deputy into care. As the nurses assist Deputy Batch down the aisle, the patients grew wild. “Quiet!” boomed Dr. Wright’s voice through the building. You could hear the patients on the other side of the wall reacting to the horrific yell.

The nurses forcefully drag Suzanne down the hall to the Panic Room. As Suzanne passes each patient’s cell, she sees the fright in the women’s eyes. She wonders why they are so afraid. She doesn’t see any reason to be. But, just when they are about to pass cell 1 at the end of the hall, she figures out why as a chill shoots down her spine. That cell is being occupied by Abigail Compton, who has been sent to the Panic Room countless times (so Suzanne has heard from the gossip in the hall). The second she caught eye of Abigail, she knew she should be afraid of the Panic Room. Abigail has a certain scarred look to her face and an apprehensive look in her eyes as she has seen many dreadful things. Her long, jet black, frizzy hair falls in front of her face only allowing her eyes to peak through the locks. She carries a filthy, gray blanket across her shoulders and clutches the ends of it as it wraps around her. “Have fun,” whispered Abigail.