Tuesday, March 26, 2019

"The Angry Spirit of Never Moore" by A. E. Lawrence



COMING SOON



   


The Angry Spirit of Nevermoore
by
A. E. Lawrence

Prologue

Everette Moore had lived a long and fruitful life.  But it was now his time to die.  However, before he sighed his last breath, he signed a will, giving all his worldly possessions to his good friend, Dr. William Dinston, including his beloved mansion, Ever Moore.
Dr. Dinston, a psychiatrist who operated a small insane asylum, converted Ever Moore into a state-of-the-art institution that treated its inmates with care and respect, contrary to the prevailing Draconian conditions of 1840.  His rein continued for seven years until he was thrown from his horse and killed. 
His Operations Director, Frank Little, was not a doctor and was forced to hire a psychiatrist to run the medical aspect of the asylum.  
He finally chose Dr. Henry Willison, who had worked at several state asylums.  What Frank didn’t know was that Willison had been fired from two state institutions because he promoted brutality among the staff and inmates.  And at his last position, he resigned rather than face criminal charges for embezzling state funds
From the moment Dr. Willison took over the reins of Ever Moore, the quality of the care of the patients began to deteriorate.  Within the first year of his supervision, Dr. Willison cut the institution’s operational budget by twenty-five percent.  What no one knew was that he was channeling those funds into his own bank account in New York City. 
The second year was even worse.  Dr. Willison continued to cut the budget and divert the funds to his own account.  The situation got so bad that Frank Little felt he had no choice but to confront the doctor.  What he didn’t know at the time was that the doctor was making deals with the merchants to deliver less than what was ordered and splitting the difference with him.  However, on the morning Frank was to meet with the doctor, he died under suspicious circumstances, and the authorities were never able to solve the case.    
With Little out of the way, Dr. Willison took over the financial duties, as well, and the quality of care at Ever Moore continued to decline.  Employees were fired so new staff could be brought in at lower wages.  And the new hires were usually people who had been fired from state asylums for brutality.  So not only was the quality of care degrading, the patients were subjected to abject cruelty, as well.   After a while, the staff and inmates began calling the place Never Moore because the only way an inmate ever got out was in a pine box.
The treatment at the asylum got so corrupt and brutal that the collective anguish of the inmates of Never Moore radiated out through the stone walls into the night.
As the magnitude of the despair increased, the cries of the tormented began to reverberate through the walls of the old mansion.  The vibrations of the suffering resonated outward until they reached the grave of Phillip Moore.  The agony and pain of the tortured pulsated through the ground and into his casket.  Unable to ignore the summons, the soul of Phillip Moore stirred.  Answering the supplications emanating from the asylum, his spirit rose to seek retribution against those who would defile his beloved Ever Moore.



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 Copyright © 2020 A. E. Lawrence





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