Buried Alive (A Story from The Hermit’s Cave)

In “Buried Alive” a man named Bruce hires a nurse to care for his brother Arnold, who he keeps locked in an upstairs room of the house. And while Arnold bangs on the door of his prison and begs to be let out Bruce explains to Nurse Dawson that his brother’s wife Lenore has just died and that, unable to accept her death, Arnold has been driven out of his mind.

The whole thing is very tragic. Six weeks ago he and Arnold were travelling. It was then that they met Lenore. She was young and beautiful, Arnold fell madly in love with her, and within two weeks they were married. After the wedding, all three of them returned to Bruce and Arnold’s country estate, but a week later Lenore was taken ill.

Bruce tells Nurse Dawson that Lenore suffered from a strange malady and that he and the doctor nursed her together. They never allowed Arnold to see his wife because they feared the disease was contagious and did not want to take a chance on him becoming infected.

Arnold was not present when Lenore died and he does not believe that she is dead. He even claims that he can hear her calling to him. This is the reason why Bruce has been forced to lock him up and it is only the lock on the door that prevents Arnold from going to look for his dead wife. It will be Nurse Dawson’s job to keep Arnold calm and stop him from banging on the door. While she is with Arnold she too will be locked inside the room, but Bruce has provided a buzzer for her to use whenever she needs to be let out.

Arnold asks his new nurse if she can hear Lenore calling to him. She cannot and believes that Arnold is imagining things. However, when a strange woman opens the door and leads Arnold out into the night, Nurse Dawson begins to doubt her employer’s story, but, by then Arnold is following the apparition towards the family vault.

The Hermit’s Cave: Buried Alive

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