The doors opened with a hiss and he watched the passengers file out. No, no, no, not that person . . . He was starting to get nervous. What if she didn’t come? What if she had changed?
Truth was, she had changed. She looked better than he remembered. Her hair had grown out and she smiled at him the second she stepped off the bus. A little bit of dark magenta glowed on her cheeks and lips. Makeup. She had put on makeup for him.
“Hey,” she said, joining him on the curb. She had a single carpet bag, torn at the edges, and she wore a summery yellow dress with dragonflies skipping across it in turquoise.
“You really showed up,” Ricky said, taking her bag.
“So did you.”
“We, um, have to walk a ways to the subway stop. I don’t have a car or anything like that,” Ricky said shyly. “I wanted a better welcome, sorry.”
Kay smiled, blushing, and leaned in, taking him by the arm. “You got a place for me to sleep?”
“Uh-huh.”
“A bite or two? Maybe a Coke?”
“Got that, too,” Ricky said, leading her down the block and back to the big, beautiful green expanse of the park.
“Records?”
“Don’t insult me,” Ricky teased. “Of course I have records.”
Kay nodded, and it seemed like she was saying yes to it all—the city, him, this new freedom. “Mmhm. Then this will do just fine. We’ll do just fine.”
This book was a challenge for many reasons, and without a doubt, the first acknowledgment goes to Andrew Harwell, who was so unbelievably patient and understanding during this process. Working on this series with him has been beyond what I could have imagined, and none of it would have been possible without him. His loyalty, generosity, and vision have been the driving force behind the Asylum series, and he deserves more praise than I can eke out in this little paragraph. Basically, he’s the best, okay? Kate McKean has been in my corner during this process, too, ever supportive, knowledgeable, and energetic. When I am just about at my wit’s end with a project she’s the upbeat voice keeping me on track. The team at HarperCollins has believed so firmly in this series that they also must be recognized—the editors, artists, and publicity mavens have turned out beautiful product after beautiful product. It’s a joy seeing what they come up with next.
The NPR story on Howard Dully and his experience with lobotomies was a major point of influence and inspiration for this story. There are also many callbacks and nods to Doug Wright’s amazing play Quills, which I would be remiss in not citing as an inspiration.
My family and friends are always nothing short of amazing, and that becomes crystal clear whenever a stressful deadline rolls around. They put up with an embarrassing amount of venting and griping, and bless them for still wanting to be around me at the end of the day. Mom, Pops, Nick, Tristan, Julie, Gwen, Dom—I’m eternally grateful to all of you for being inspirations in my life. To Anna, Katie, Michelle, Jess, Taylor, and Jessy—you ladies are coming with me in the apocalypse, I claim you all now, because a more badass squad of women has never existed. Thank you for dragging me out of the house or listening to my problems, thank you for putting up with my first-world problems and keeping things in perspective for me. When I was just about at my breaking point on this one, Brent Roberts reminded me that it’s just a book and that I would survive it. Your family was very patient with me while I worked over Thanksgiving, and for that I’m extremely grateful. Thank you for the playlists. Thank you for listening. Amoowa ekla teeket.
Finally, I have to acknowledge the real-life inspirations for this story, namely the Atascadero State Hospital victims, who were treated abominably simply because they were different. I urge everyone who reads this novel to educate themselves on the atrocities committed there in our very recent past.
PHOTO CREDITS
The images in this book are custom photo illustrations created by Faceout Studio and feature photographs from actual asylums.
PAGE TITLE FROM THE COLLECTION OF
here, here Girl ghost
Textured background Clayton Bastiani / Trevillion Images
Naoki Okamoto / Getty Images
here Doctors performing surgery Everett Collection / Shutterstock.com
here Patient bed Kelly Young / Thinkstock.com
here Surgical needle Laborant / Shutterstock.com
here Brookline James W. Rosenthal, Library of Congress
here Dark stairs descending hraska / Shutterstock.com
here Patient
Stains on gown Lario Tus / Shutterstock.com
siloto / Shutterstock.com
here Surgical room Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-D4-21254
here Ripped paper
Drawing STILLFX / Shutterstock.com
Faceout Studio
here Operating theater surgery Everett Collection / Shutterstock.com
here Disturbed patient Wikimedia Commons / Dr. H. W. Diamond, On the Application of Photography to the Physiognomy and Mental Phenomena of Insanity, The Photographic Journal, July, 1856. 2003-5001/2/24914
here Filing cabinets Benjamin Haas / Thinkstock.com
here Surgical tools Grisha Bruev / Shutterstock.com
here Operating theater Everett Collection / Shutterstock.com
here Uneasy patient Wellcome Library, London / Wellcomeimages.org. V0029705EL
here Portrait of the Warden Ysbrand Cosijn / Shutterstock.com
here Man under operation Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-D4-21255
here Doctor ready to operate Everett Collection / Shutterstock.com
here Patients and nursing staff in a room Wellcome Library, London / Wellcomeimages.org. L0015465
here Operating team during surgery Everett Collection / Shutterstock.com
here Fund-raiser dinner party Wikimedia Commons / Unknown photographer. Live on the 4th of April, 1936. Cocktail party, Budapest. Black tie. Schaffer Fotószalon.
here Patient being held down Wellcome Library, London / Wellcomeimages.org. L0074938
here Surgical room OFFFSTOCK / Shutterstock.com
here Outside of house 1000 Words / Shutterstock.com
here Operating room Wellcome Library, London / Wellcomeimages.org. L0028124
here Bed with restraints Rikke68 / Thinkstock.com
here Eerily dark hallway Ingram Publishing / Thinkstock.com
here Eerie hospital hallway Tonkovic / Thinkstock.com
here Patient cards
Old paper
Stack of cards
Handwriting badahos / Shutterstock.com
worker / Shutterstock.com
Oleg Golovnev / Shutterstock.com
Torrey Sharp, Faceout Studio
here Haunted figure Lario Tus / Shutterstock.com
here Asylum patient Wellcome Library, London / Wellcomeimages.org. L0074958
here Shadowed figure walking Anki Hoglund / Shutterstock.com
here Blurry figure in hallway Petr Klempa / Shutterstock.com
here Insane patient Wellcome Library, London / Wellcomeimages.org. L0074949
here Restrained patient Alvaro German Vilela / Shutterstock.com
here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Floral backgroundJomwaschara Komvorn / Shutterstock.com
here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Vintage postcardKarin Hildebrand Lau / Shutterstock.com
here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Photo cardval lawless / Shutterstock.com
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p; here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Tiled floorAndrea Astes / Thinkstock.com
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo by Greg De Stefano
MADELEINE ROUX is the New York Times bestselling author of Asylum, which has sold into nine countries around the world; its sequels, Sanctum and Catacomb; and the Asylum novellas: The Scarlets, The Bone Artists, and The Warden. Madeleine is also the author of Allison Hewitt Is Trapped and Sadie Walker Is Stranded. A graduate of the Beloit College MFA program, Madeleine now lives in Southern California.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
BOOKS BY MADELEINE ROUX
Asylum
Sanctum
Catacomb
Escape from Asylum
The Asylum Two-Book Collection
Asylum 3-Book Collection
The Scarlets
The Bone Artists
The Warden
The Asylum Novellas
House of Furies
CREDITS
COVER ART:
GIRL © 2016 by Clayton Bastiani / Trevillion Images
TEXTURE © 2013 by Naoki Okamoto / Getty Images
PHOTO BORDERS © 2013 by iStockphoto
KEYS © 2013 by Dougal Waters / Getty Images
DOCTOR © 2016 by Everett Collection / Shutterstock
COPYRIGHT
ESCAPE FROM ASYLUM. Copyright © 2016 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.epicreads.com
* * *
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016936053
ISBN 978-0-06-242442-6 — ISBN 978-0-06-249015-5 (int.)
EPub Edition © May 2016 ISBN 9780062424440
* * *
16 17 18 19 20 CG/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
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Madeleine Roux, Escape From Asylum
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