It was a dare that bought us to the hospital, One night in the institute.

One night.

Desolately harboured by an overgrown woodland, Safely concealed from life.

It was a dare that forced us to stay in the hospital,

Among the remnants of medicine past; Abandoned cots and locks, And decrepit torture devices!

Cruelly harboured devices used to punish the sick, Whose souls are locked in forever.

It was a dare that led us to explore the basement cells, Reeking of excrement, disinfectant and death. We envisaged the screaming lost, Begging for release or understanding.

Carefully removed from decent society to weep alone, Their cries still echo through the rotting halls.

It was a dare that drove us to seek artefacts from old times,

Running from room to room with barely a torch. We saw the restraints that held the innocent inmates, And heard their haunting screams.

Noisily the voices filled our heads and our hair pricked up,

Sensing troubled souls still encaged.

It was a dare that drove fear into our soul, rose our hair,

And forced us to search deeper in the catacombs of history.

We delved into the tombs of the imprisoned, And found a lonely, locked cell.

Fearfully we approached as the voices of the past filled our head,

Pleas blurred and begged from within.

It was a dare that exposed us, A dare that confronted us, And a dare that destroyed us.

Naked in the discourse of geniuses with little

understanding,

We revealed ourselves as many, We revealed ourselves as one. In times gone by, We were tortured. We are trapped, The many souls of one.