Behind St. Loraine’s walls

I walked through the dark hallway, flashlight out in front of me. As I neared the room where the whisper came from I froze. Did something take hold of me? What possessed me to freeze? It was the whisper again. This time it had come from right behind me. I darted through the hallway, not once daring to look back for fear of what I would see. I ran until I lost my breath and that is when it hit me. Where was the broken window I had come through? Had I just run in a circle? My question was answered out loud by another raspy whisper. “Yes Casey,” the voice said as if it could read my mind. There was an unforgiving wind that seemingly came out of nowhere. I shined my flashlight and felt for the pocket knife that my dad had given me for protection when I was ten. The room was empty other than me but I had heard the noise I was sure of it. Then I shined the light on the mirror in front of me and I saw him. Well, it. What I saw hunched over behind me could not be classified as human and I refused to hear an argument. It was a pale color. Blood dripping from its mouth and its veins pulsating. It was smiling a terrible smile. Showing every last one of those razors I presumed to be its teeth. The eyes looked to be sewn shut but the eyelids appeared to be transparent. Just as whatever the heck I was staring at reached out to touch me I came to my senses and darted around the nearest corner and saw the window. Had I past it the first time? It didn’t matter. I jumped out of the window without hesitation. I got a good distance before deciding it would be safe to take a glance back. It wasn’t following me. It hadn’t even made an effort to come out of the building. It just stood in the second story window, menacingly waving at me. I turned and ran through the forest. It began to rain but I didn’t stop. Once home I ran up the stairs and locked my door. Next time, I told myself, I would listen to the rumors and stay away from haunted hospitals.

"Hey dude. Got your text, what's the news?" Amy had been one of my friends since 3rd grade and she also happened to be the one who dared me to stay the night at St. Loraine's. Needless to say, telling her that I had chickened out was not an option. "Oh, um I just wanted to tell you that I completed your little dare and it was nothing." "Wait, really?" She asked with a look of both astonishment and disbelief. "Yup, made it through the night without seeing so much as a shadow." I lied. We both stood there for a moment. Finally, Amy spoke. "Well alright, since there obviously isn't anything to worry about it seems like the perfect spot to host our Halloween party." I froze as I let the words she just spoke process in my mind. She wasn't serious was she? There was no way I was going back into that building no matter how much you paid me. For some reason, however, the only words I could choke out were "huh?". "I mean think about it." Amy continued. "We've been trying so hard to find the perfect spot. Neither of our parents will let us have it at our house and all the abandoned houses on the block are gonna be guarded even more than usual. The hospital is perfect!" Ok so maybe she was serious. Seriously out of her mind. There was no way I was going back there. Not for Amy, not for a party, and certainly not for any popularity status. However, once again the only word I could manage to get out was "huh?". "Come on Casey. You said it yourself that there is nothing to worry about. So why not make sophomore year history and throw the most epic party in the very building that no soul has ever dared to go in before!" There was another moment of silence. She looked at me, her eyes begging me to say yes. Finally, I agreed. Amy began jumping up and down screaming yes at the top of her lungs. "Only on one condition." I interrupted. " The party cannot last past three." "What?!" she screamed. "The whole point of a party is to go until you can't go anymore. Your so not supposed to put a curfew on it." "I know." I started. "Its just, you know. Its Halloween and this town isn't exactly known to be the safest place after dark. Plus its a school night and even if my parents are out of town they would go crazy if they found out I spent the night partying in an abandoned hospital." "Alright, alright I see your point." Amy gave in. "The party is over at three. Anything else?" "Nope." I said satisfied. Alrighty then. We have a party to plan and a week to plan it. Lets get a move on." Amy said eagerly as she picked up her bag and headed for my room door.

I woke up drenched in sweat. It was the fifth time this week. I keep having the same nightmare. I'm back at St. Loraine's for the party having the time of my life and then boom everything goes dark and I hear that dreadful whisper again. I look around and suddenly I see that thing again. It starts to chase me and as hard as I try I can never get to the door and escape. I always fall and get dragged back into the darkness before waking up. I switched on my light and looked at my phone. The date read October 31,2020. The day I had been dreading all week. I got up and headed for the shower so that I could get dressed and get to school. I grabbed a pop-tart on the way out the door and locked up behind me. Amy was waiting for me in her usual spot. We rode our bikes to school and the whole way there all she wanted to talk about was last minute preparations for the party. Who was coming, what snacks we were serving, who was bringing the booze.. etc. We finally made it to school and for once I was relieved to be away from her for a while. After school I headed back home while Amy headed over to make sure everything was set. All week her and her older brother Nick had been sneaking in through the broken window and setting everything up. When I got home I headed down to the basement and started filling up my bag with every bottle of liquor in my parents fridge. I grabbed my phone charger, pocket knife, and flashlight and shoved those in their as well. One thing I learned growing up in Chicago is you can never be too prepared. I threw the bag over my shoulder, locked up again, and slowly rode over to St. Loraine's. This was either going to be the best or worst night of my life and I was in no hurry to figure out how the odds were going to play out.

After prepping all day it was finally time to sit back and put our plan in play. Soon enough nine o' clock came and the kids just began to pile through the doors. The costumes were as revealing as you would expect any high schoolers to be. There were shirtless firefighters, nurses in very short skirts, and of course its never a party without the slutty red devil, which was being played by none other than Amy herself. The music got going and the booze got pouring. Soon enough strangers were grinding on strangers and the line to the bathroom was so long people started going outside. I looked over at Amy drunkenly flirting with some guy from junior class. The night seemed to be going smoothly so I loosened up and had a few shots. My friend Brady came over, he'd obviously had a few too many, and asked if I knew the owner of the building. "The city owns the building Brady. This place is abandoned and has been for the past two decades." He stared at me a moment and then laughed. "Then how come some old chick with some funny looking nightgown and a narly scar across her forehead said that we had to get out of her home or we would all "suffer the consequences"?" He said the last part with air quotes as if to mock her. I froze. Either he had way too much to drink or this night was about to get a whole lot creepier. "Dude what the heck are you talking about? What old chick?" "The one in the bedroom upstairs. Dude I must be hammered because I swear its like she came out of nowhere. One minute I'm alone on the floor, next thing I know this chick is crawling towards me mumbling something. Her fingers were so bony and her skin was pale. If I didn't know any better I'd say she was a ghost." I chuckled nervously and sat my drink down. "Look dude so many people know the history of this place. My best guess is someone in a seriously convincing costume is messing with you. Just chill out and enjoy the party." I tried to sound convincing enough for the both of us. When Brady started staggering away toward the beer pong table I made my way up the steps. The whole time trying to convince myself that Brady must've been mixing poisons again and that this old lady didn't exist. When I made it to the second floor the music just kind of seemed to fade until it was silent. I walked the same halls that I had been trying to escape a week earlier. This time I walked through the rooms. They were all as empty as I'd expected them to be. I got around the corner and saw the mirror. The very mirror where I had saw that thing. I stared at my reflection. My costume was my junior varsity football jersey splashed with fake blood. I added some fake scars using some leftover scar wax from my mom's bathroom. Staring in that mirror brought me back to that night. I had arrived at the hospital around seven that night and used one of the rocks on the ground to break a window on the second floor. I climbed the ladder and when I got in I kicked it down and began looking around for where I was gonna sleep. I'd packed a bag full of snacks and drinks to get me through the night. I plugged in my stereo, popped a bag of popcorn, unrolled my sleeping bag and let the night begin. Around midnight I started to fall asleep. That's when I heard it. "Casey." Someone had whispered my name from upstairs. "Hello? Amy is that you?" I called back desperate to hear her voice and hoping I hadn't been unlucky enough to walk in here the same night as a squatter. There was no answer, but I heard the floorboards creaking. I crept slowly up the stairs and began looking around for anyone else. No one else was there. No bag, no shoe, not so much as a candy wrapper. Then I had heard the whisper again. It came from the room at the end of the hall. I was pulled from my flashback by a blood curdling scream. I ran downstairs to see everyone flooding the kitchen. I made my way through the crowd and what I saw made me sick to my stomach. There was Brady. Hanging from the ceiling by his own small intestine. Written on the wall behind him were the words "I warned you." Even worse they were written in Brady's blood. Everyone was panicking and running around. Some trying to find cell phones, some trying to find car keys, and everyone else was trying to get out of the house. To add to the nightmare that was unfolding someone screamed "WHY WONT THESE DOORS OPEN?!" Everyone was frantically pulling at the front and back doors. Neither of which would budge. I grabbed Amy and we bolted up the stairs in a desperate attempt to get to the broken window. Somehow, someone had already gotten to it and boarded it shut from the outside. "Did you do this?" I practically screamed at her. "No what the heck. After Nick and I left the window was just as broken as ever. This wasn't us." "Well were you followed? Maybe someone saw you come back here and told the cops." "No, of course not. We were careful. We took the back paths and hid our bikes in the bushes." She had said everything I feared she would. Which could only mean one thing. Everything happening tonight was no coincidence. We ran back down the steps to rejoin the chaos. No one was getting any service on their phones and try as they might those doors weren't opening. As bad as things looked right now, something told me that this was just the beginning.

TO BE CONTINUED...