KEESHA ADAMS

Don’t Turn On The Lights

The dismal story of Dollie and Dim



Before Dim, there was Dollie.



Dollie was a lifelong patient of Redding's Ridge Mental institution, having been surrendered by her parents in the early 70's when they could no longer care for her due to her mental state. It was determined that she suffered from severe Schizophrenia and Dissociative Identity Disorder. At the age of 24, Dollie became pregnant by the head Physician at the hospital. He kept Dollie's condition a secret by hiding her in an unused ward of the hospital. She had no family, as her parents had passed years earlier, and Dollie herself had remained in somewhat of a "dissociated" state since the incident in which she became pregnant, so locking her away was the easiest way for staff to carry on as if nothing had ever happened.

At 7 months of pregnancy, Dollie went into labor and the medical staff were forced to perform an emergency c section, as Dollie was not in the physical or mental state to give birth. Unfortunately, she lost a lot of blood, and did not survive the surgery. As secretly planned, the Dr handed off the newborn to the head nurse in charge. With a nod, she knew what he expected her to do. As she walked through the hospital with this newborn secret in her hands, heading straight to the dumpster in the back parking lot, she found herself crying uncontrollably as she realized she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she discarded the baby in her arms as if it were trash.

At that moment, the nurse decided to head back up to the 3rd floor ward. She took the baby to an unused room and ran to get the other nurses. Together, they decided to keep the baby, in secret, on the 3rd floor. It was completely unused, and the rooms were padded, so they knew a baby's cries wouldn't be heard anywhere in the hospital. The day shift nurses informed a handful of nurses on 2nd and 3rd shift of the new edition and together they made a pact to raise this baby in secret, within the confinements of the abandoned 3rd floor.

Over time, routines fell into place.

The 1st and 2nd shift nurses would check in on the infant, or Baby G (baby girl) as they began calling her, sporadically throughout the day, taking turns with feedings and diaper changes. The 3rd shift nurses however, had a much more involved role in Baby G's life. It was during the nights that the door to her nursery would remain open and the nurses would bring her down to the occupied floors, feed her, cuddle her, and even let some of the patients interact with her, as the presence of a baby brought smiles to faces that otherwise remained blank.

Over time, as Baby G grew, it was noticeable that her verbal development was heavily delayed. Everyone assumed this was due to the long hours she spent alone in silence, waiting for her night moms to come release her for the evening. The nurses noticed that Baby G would communicate, seemingly with herself, in small grunts and chirps. She would carry on conversations, in her own language, and break into laughter and uncontrollable giggles randomly, with no rhyme or reason. This was just part of her personality they would tell themselves. But as time went on, patience for Baby G grew thin with the nurses. She would lash out for no reason, pulling hair and biting. She would bang her head on the door throughout the day, and growl when it was opened for her at night. One evening, two of the nurses observed her staring fascinatingly at a doorknob to a patient's room. "She's not very bright, is she?" said one of the nurses to the other. "Ha, she's about the dimmest little girl i've ever seen!" They both laughed, realizing what an adorable and appropriate name they'd just discovered for Baby G.

Dim. How fitting.



Time went on, and Dim was a rambunctious young girl in no time.

Suddenly her behaviors went from what was expected for someone with her life, to quite horrifying. It started when the night shift nurses noticed that Dim's room light would be off when they went up to let her out. This was odd, because the lights were turned on and off from the outside of the room. Dim also started showing signs of Schizophrenia, refusing to leave her room at night, hugging her knees in the dark corners, and whispering to herself constantly. It got to the point where the nurses were overwhelmed with her behavior. She wouldn't eat, she'd lash out if they tried to remove her from her room, and no matter how many times they changed the bulbs and checked the wiring, her room was always pitch black when someone went to check on her. Not knowing of any other options, the nurses got together and decided to do something they hated the thought of, but felt they had no choice but to do.

They decided to abandon Dim. To stop checking on her, stop attempting to interact with her, or feed her even. After all, she didn't exist to anyone other than them, and if the Doctor found out they had kept her alive this whole time? Well, they were too terrified to think of the repercussions they would face.

So that was that.

The few women who had raised and somewhat cared for Dim, were no longer. She was nothing more than a memory, tucked away in the dark corners of an abandoned 3rd floor room at Redding's Ridge.

Things went back to normal for the staff. Old routines fell back into place. Dim's name was never spoken and the memory of her faded rather quickly, as no one really wanted to remember. For that meant facing the horrible reality of their decisions.

It was over. It never happened. There was no Dim. End of story, right?

Not quite.

Little did they know, one nurse continued to take a single food tray tov Dim's room and check on her.

Every day.

For 9 years.

Keeping Dim alive, and a secret.

On the morning of September 14, 2018, a call came into the local police station. A lady was attempting to visit her mother, a patient at Redding's Ridge Mental Institution, however no one was buzzing her in at the front gate and she could see through the fence that while the parking lot was full, there was no outside activity like normal. Police sent a deputy out to check but he was unable to access the grounds from the gate, so the police dept got in touch with one of the nurses for the hospital, and she met them to input her code and gain entrance. What was discovered once the deputy and nurse entered the facility, was nothing short of a nightmare.

The power was off, however the smell of blood and the wet reflection on the floor was enough to reveal the horror. When the deputy turned on his flashlight, every nurse, patient and security guard were found completely slaughtered. The floors were so blood soaked, the tile wasn't visible. There was no sign of life anywhere. Panic ensued and police cars were flooding the parking lot in no time. But oddly enough, there were no fingerprints or signs of escape. No evidence of a break in, no bloody blades left behind. The only chance at finding who committed such a heinous crime was accessing the security footage.

It took some time for the power to be restored, but later that day amidst the removal of bodies and the mass cleanup, two detectives finally gained access to the first-floor footage. What they saw, both terrified and perplexed them.

Appearing in nothing but gowns, were two women. One was seemingly guiding the other. With scalpels in hand, they walked calmly from one room to the next, appearing bloodier with each exit, as they slowly and silently sliced any throat they saw.

But that wasn't even the craziest part.

When the slaughter was done, the women were seen walking slowly to the entrance of the hospital, where they paused. With a glitch of the screen, the detectives watched in horror as the two female figures suddenly became one, as if she absorbed the other, before calmly walking out the front entrance, with the door closing behind her.

The detectives were speechless! They were in shock and had no idea where to go from there. They questioned the nurses who were not at work that day, and no one had any idea who the women in the video were. All of the patients and staff were accounted for, dead and alive. There was no way to identify the subject (s). Faces couldn't be seen, and with no one unaccounted for, there was really nowhere to go with an investigation.

Information from the public was vast but led to nothing but dead ends. 27 lives were lost, with no clue as to who was responsible. The case went cold but does remain open still today.

But that’s not the end of things.

All of those lonely quiet years Dim spent in that empty padded cell on the third floor of Redding's Ridge? Dim wasn't alone, after all. You see, when she was an infant, her cries didn't go unheard for long.

A mother's love reaches far beyond the realm of the living, and Dollie never left Dim's side. She was there every single day, sitting with Dim in those dark corners, consoling her, loving her and teaching her. Dim couldn't see Dollie in the light, and Dollie knew this. So, she would turn the lights off every day, and raise her daughter from the other side, in the dark.

As Dim grew, Dollie slowly revealed the truth of what happened to her, how she went from being a quiet patient, to a dead secret. How Dim was conceived, and those responsible.

Over time, Dim developed a hatred and anger so strong, that Dollie knew that with her help, Dim could make things right, and avenge both her mother's death and her own life. She promised Dim she would never leave her, and when those who were responsible for her death (and Dim's bleak existence) were dead, she would remain inside of Dim to help her find life outside of that hospital.

When Dim walked out of those doors that morning, she didn't know what she was doing. She had nothing. No clothes, no shoes, no identity, no idea how to function in the vast and scary world she was walking into.

But she had Dollie.

So, she just walked. She walked through the woods for weeks, surviving on creek water and insects. Staying hidden during the day, as the light hurt her skin and eyes anyway and she felt vulnerable when she couldn't see her mother. She walked endlessly, with no idea where she was going.

Then one night, she found where she was meant to be.

At first, Dim was caught off guard by the screams, but she was drawn to them. As she walked closer to where they were coming from, the colorful lights and red ambience caught her eyes. She was fascinated! She crept her way closer, until suddenly she stumbled over a rope holding up large red tent in the middle of the woods. Erratic music played; sounds she'd never heard. People were seen walking in one side, running out the other. She was so drawn to this place, even though she had no idea what it was. She found her way inside, and quickly found a dark nook to hide in. She felt safe. Dollie was within her, whispering to her “You belong here, you’re safe here”.

So Dim stayed. She hid, she observed. She noticed the characters, they're bright colors and wild hair, their scary masks and makeup. They were like her, angry, vengeful, going after everyone who came into their home. It didn't take long for her to become comfortable enough to show herself. She began collecting items from other areas of this place, taking them back to her dark nook in the tent, pinning and tying and lacing it all together, until she had somewhat of an outfit. Similar to the others, but not with the weird neon bright colors.

After all, Dim was never meant to be bright.

Once she had pieced together enough to fit in somewhat, Dim made her appearance. She watched for the right time, waiting anxiously for her first victims to appear. When they did, Dim slowly emerged, head cocked, feet dragging. Silent, nervous, yet suddenly so angry, and hungry for that feeling she had walking amongst the dead back at Redding’s Ridge.

When they saw her, they screamed. So, Dim screamed back, a longer, louder, more guttural scream than anyone had ever heard. Their fear was like fire to her soul.





Dim smiled. Because right then, she knew she was home… for now.