There was
absolutely nothing that was going to keep the two of us in that building! We
were screaming with what little breath we had, a stream of cold air
condensation trailing behind us. Our hearts beat in anticipation of the shadow
behind us reaching forward to pull us back.
As we passed through the lobby of the massive
derelict mental facility, a chandelier came crashing down in the dark shadows.
Broken glass shattered about the three story entryway, striking out and cutting
my leg. Pain shot through my body and shook my bones, though not enough to
fight past the adrenaline that drenched my body and charged my legs forward.
The scene that continued to run through my mind
was that of the blood pool coursing down the hallway. Then a voice struck out
of the hallway a screamed like thunder The darkness spoke out, and we obeyed,
bolting like rabbits.
We ran for the safety of the forest road. Our
breath behind us as we burst out of the hospital As our endurance ended several
hundred feet away from the hospital, we slowed our pace, thinking in
retrospection.
A sudden breath of relief; we looked back at the darkened
silhouette of St. Stiles Mental Facility. We walked down the road, beginning to
feel safe. Which soon turned into humor and we began nervously chuckling. The
screaming voice had been terrifying, and jolted our fears into reality, but it
was over and we were safe from the darkness.
“Where was Charlie this whole time?” I asked,
finding it still hard to speak, shrouded in cold and terror.
“Probably too scared to show up,” my friend
said, trying to laugh as well. Considering who Charlie was, a brave and
confident young girl, it would be out of her character to shy away from an
adventure like this.
“If she showed up, she probably went in early and
got bored.” I said, giving her the benefit of the doubt.
A slight sound that stopped our hearts
interrupted us, not much more than a misplaced crack of gravel. The quiet fall night made the sound of
footsteps our only entertainment. Soon
we picked up on it, a walking pattern that differed from our own. It was distant,
coming from the building we had just left.
Listening for the sound behind us, soon we
turned our heads back. Within the shadow of the building, at its base, walking
up the path was a shadow’s movement. Gravel crushing beneath its feet, it
trotted with purpose and direction, right toward us. By the time we could see
the outline of the shadow rushing us with deep glowing eyes, we were already
moving. A new streak of terror pumped out in our stomachs as launched forward
into the night.
The shadows seemed to cling to our clothes. We
pushed as hard as we could, no longer screaming, but focused on escape. No
longer did we feel safe, no longer would we take the chance to recover, we ran
for our lives. Breaking out of the forest, we made it to the car, and without
skipping a beat we continued to my house. To the safety of locked doors and bed
sheets, we fell asleep with the terror in our minds.
Sleep overtaking us, and despite nightmares
chasing us throughout the night, we awoke to a crisp and bright autumn morning.
The sunrise brought a sense of silliness. It had all been too real, but in the
morning we could see that it was an overreaction. There had been no ghost, no
demon, and no evil, only foolish clumsiness and bad timing
I got the paper after it thudded on the door,
opening it to a fright that ran my blood cold. The voice that told us to run,
the scream that had jumped our nerves and sent us flying; wailing back to me,
the blood that ran into the moonlit hallway; running through my mind. As I read on the front page of the paper the most horrifying story.
“Local girl, Charlie Mendez, found dead in
abandoned mental hospital.”
