Haunted Hospital

by Marty Chan

They all fell silent and listened hard. Li pointed her light down the dusty corridor behind them. No sign of anyone.

  Priya yawned. “Nice try, Xander. Using a portable speaker to bounce sound around the place. Bit of a cliché, but not bad.”

  “I’m not using a speaker here,” Xander said.

  “I used the same trick in the cemetery,” said Priya.

  Li’s eyes widened. “All those cracks I heard were from you? That was so freaky!”

  Priya held up her phone. “Sorry. They were just some sound effects I found online. I think the one we’re hearing now is something called ‘ghostly moans.’ Am I right, Xander?”

  “I swear it’s not me,” Xander said. “I mean, yes, I was using the speaker, but it’s set up in room 176, not here. Maybe it’s another stray cat.”

  “It doesn’t sound like any cat I’ve ever heard,” Li said. “Are you sure this isn’t part of the game?”

  “I’m not making this sound. Honest.”

  Priya crossed her arms. “Drop the innocent act. You’re trying to freak Li out.”

  Another moan.

  Li scurried over to stand beside Priya. “Maybe we should go,” she said.

  “No,” Xander said. “The mission is just starting. It’s an old hospital. The walls or the ceiling are shifting.”

  Priya pushed Li away. “Ow! Your fingernails are digging into my skin.”

  Xander peered down the passage. No sign of anything alive. Or dead.

  “Text Omar,” Li said. “See if he’s okay.”

  “Good idea,” Priya said. “Ask him if he can hear anything.”

  Xander grabbed his phone. It was 9:07.

  Where are you?

  There was no reply. Not even the three dots on the screen to indicate that someone was typing. Xander waited for a few more minutes, his leg twitching. He thought he was the one who was supposed to do the scaring. Not the other way around.

  “Well?” Li asked.

  “He’s not replying,” Xander said. “Let me try again.”

  He typed another message.

  Dude. You okay?

  No response.

  “Maybe the cell reception in here is bad,” Priya suggested.

  Li checked her phone and shook her head. “I have full bars. Let me try calling him.” She tapped her screen and placed the phone to her ear. They waited.

  “He should have answered by now,” she said, lowering the phone. “Where could he be?”

  Xander tried not to assume the worst. But one thing was certain. Omar was missing.

  Chapter Six

  Li drummed her fingers on the top of the rusty gurney. “Why isn’t he answering his phone?”

  Priya placed her hand on top of Li’s to stop her nervous drumming. “Relax, Li. There could be a number of reasons he’s not answering. We might have cell coverage here, but the wing he’s in might be shielded.”

  “I’m sure he’s okay,” Xander said. Then he shouted down the hallway, “How’s it going, Omar?”

  No answer.

  Li said, “What if he’s trapped or hurt? Remember what my mom said about all the water damage? A piece of the ceiling might have fallen on him or something.”

  “The areas I marked off for the game looked pretty safe,” Xander said and then stopped. “Unless he went down one of the halls that was taped off.”

  Li and Priya looked at each other. They were all starting to freak.

  “Phone him again,” Priya said to Li. “Maybe we’ll hear his ringtone.”

  Li did. They strained to listen for the familiar da-DA, dun-dun-dun DA da.

  They thought they heard something behind them. Xander shuddered. Li clutched her phone.

  “Game’s over,” Priya said. “We have to find Omar.”

  “Yes,” Li said. “We can’t wait for him any longer.”

  “We never should have come here,” Priya added.

  Xander glared at her. He wanted to remind her that they had all agreed. Instead he said, “I’m sure he’s going to be all right.”

  “Where did you send him?” Li asked.

  “Room 176. Down that way.”

  “Let’s go.” Li sprinted down the hall, switching on her phone light to illuminate the way. “Omar! We’re coming,” she called out.

  Xander shot a look at Priya. “Well?”

  “After you, Crypt Keeper,” she said.

  They rounded the corner, and Xander caught up to Li. “The room’s down this way.”

  His headlamp felt warm against his forehead, but not as hot as his cheeks, which burned with frustration. How had the mission gone off the rails so quickly?

  The light bounced off the walls, revealing something he hadn’t noticed earlier. Several red slashes marked one of the doors. He slowed for a second, concentrating his beam of light on the strange markings.

  Li gasped. “Is that blood?”

  “No, it’s all part of my mission setup,” Xander lied. He didn’t want the others to know he wasn’t in full command.

  “You sure that’s not Omar’s blood?”

  “Yes, I’m sure,” he said, swinging his headlamp away from the marked door. “The room’s down this way.”

  He crept ahead.

  A definitely moan-like sound came from behind them. Xander spun around. No one was there. Li instinctively crouched into a defensive fighting position.

  Priya patted her shoulder. “It’s okay. Relax.”

  Another low moan.

  “Spooky moans we can’t identify are NOT okay!” shouted Li, her fists clenched. “It’s the ghosts! I know it! What do you want from us?” she asked, turning around and addressing the empty hallway.

  No answer.

  Priya shot Xander a look. “Are you messing with us?”

  “This is not my doing,” he said. “I swear.”

  “Omar’s probably pulling a prank on us,” Priya told Li. “I’ll bet Xander put him up to it.”

  Another moan from the darkness.

  “That doesn’t sound like Omar,” Li said. “Besides, how could he get behind us?”

  “This place is a maze,” Priya said. “He could have found a way to loop around. We’re onto you, Omar!”

  No answer. They waited for several moments, which felt like forever in the dark hallway. The moaning had stopped. For now.

  Xander pointed ahead. “Room 176 is right over here.”

  They hustled toward the room. Xander’s hand trembled as he pressed his palm against the door and pushed it open. He dreaded what or who might be inside.

  The room was empty.

  Li peered over Xander’s shoulder and asked, “Where is he?”

  Xander leaned back to check the room number on the wall beside the door. It was 176. He glanced inside again.

  The bed was in the middle of the room. The chalk message was on the wall above the bed. He lowered himself to the floor and peeked under the frame. The portable speaker sat on the dusty floor just where he had left it.

  He retrieved the black box, turned it off and stuffed it into his backpack.

  “I knew you were messing with us,” Priya said.

  Xander shook his head. “This is the only one I planted.”

  A moan came from outside the room.

  Priya shot him a look.

  “I swear this is the only one,” Xander said.

  “Maybe you’re getting Omar to use his phone to scare us,” Priya said accusingly. “Phone him again, Li. Quick. If he’s nearby we’ll hear the ringtone.”

  Li dialed her phone and waited. The first few bars of the Star Wars theme sounded down the hallway.

  “Omar!” Li said.

  “I knew it,” Priya said.

  She stepped out of the room and scanned the corridor. The theme song started over. Her headlamp swiveled from one door to another as she advanced toward the sound. Xander and Li were only a few steps behind her.

  Priya got as close as she could to where the sound was coming from. She glanced around. On the floor, tucked
behind an open door, was Omar’s phone. She knelt down and picked it up. The caller ID showed Li calling.

  Li grabbed the phone from Priya’s hand. “He would never leave this behind. Not for anything.”

  “Maybe he’s in one of the other rooms,” said Xander. “We should split up and search them.”

  Priya’s eyes widened. “Haven’t you ever watched a horror movie? You never split up! We stay together.”

  “Okay, okay, but we need to check all the rooms.”

  “Then let’s get started,” said Li. “Omar! If you can hear me, say something!”

  “Leave this place,” a ghostly voice moaned.

  Xander froze. “You both heard that, didn’t you?”

  Priya nodded. Li shone her phone light down the hall. No sign of anyone.

  “Leave now,” another ghostly voice moaned.

  “They’re all around us,” Li said.

  A chorus of voices. “Leave this place.”

  “I think maybe we should listen to them,” Priya said.

  “We can’t leave without Omar,” Li said.

  A rhythmic beating of metal on metal echoed in front of them. Xander backed up, keeping his light trained on the passage in front of him.

  “Return to the home base,” he ordered.

  “What about Omar?” Li asked, refusing to budge.

  Priya grabbed Li’s hand and hauled her back. “If he’s smart, he got out of here already.”

  The beating got closer. A shadowy figure emerged from one of the rooms down the hall. At first Xander hoped it might be Omar, but this figure was too short. Another figure emerged from a different room. And a third appeared from yet another room.

  “Run!” Xander shouted. “Now!”

  He pushed the girls ahead as he broke into a full-on sprint. The chorus of ghostly voices shouted behind the trio.

  “Leave! Go! Never return!”

  Xander sped around the corner. At the nurses’ station, three gurneys had been stacked on top of each other to form a barricade.

  “This way!” Xander screamed as he scrambled to the room with the window they had entered through.

  “Xander, wait!” Priya called.

  Xander couldn’t hear anything other than the sound of his own panicked breathing. He crashed into the room, zipped toward the window and squeezed through the gap. Then he streaked across the lawn to the metal fence.

  He looked back at the haunted hospital, resting his hands on his knees and sucking the crisp air into his burning lungs.

  Priya finally caught up to him. “Didn’t you hear me calling you?” she said.

  He panted for air. “No. I…was…too busy trying to save us.”

  “Us?” Priya said, raising an eyebrow.

  Xander straightened up. “Hey. Where’s Li?”

  “That’s what I was trying to tell you,” Priya said. “She ran off.”

  “Where?”

  She pointed back at the dark hospital.

  “You mean she’s still inside?” he asked.

  “Yes! She said she wasn’t going to leave Omar behind.” She looked down for a moment before continuing. “Xander. You know what we have to do. We have to go back.”

  Chapter Seven

  Xander stared at his friend in disbelief. “Priya, why didn’t you grab her?”

  “You don’t think I tried?” she shot back. “And what about you? You ran out of there so fast I’m surprised you didn’t leave your sneakers behind.”

  Xander couldn’t look Priya in the eye. “Well, never mind who did what. We have to figure out what to do now.”

  “I know exactly what we’re going to do.” She pulled a phone from her back pocket. “We’re calling the police.”

  Xander grabbed her wrist. “Wait. Not so fast.”

  “Our friends are inside, Xander. Who knows what’s happening to them right now?”

  Xander pleaded with her. “Think this through for a second. What are you going to tell the cops? That ghosts are in the haunted hospital? They’ll just laugh at us. And then they might charge us with trespassing.”

  “No they won’t.”

  “Imagine you’re a cop listening to this story,” Xander said. “ ‘Officer, we were sneaking around the haunted hospital, and some ghosts grabbed our friends. Can you save them from the spirits?’ After hearing that, would you want to help?”

  She lowered her phone. “I guess not. What do you suggest we do?”

  “To be honest, I don’t have a clue.”

  She glanced at the building, then back at her phone.

  “Even if we did call the cops, it would take them forever to get here. We need to figure out a way to—hey!” Xander called after Priya, who was racing toward the building.

  “I’m going back in!” Priya shouted.

  “Wait for me!”

  Xander caught up to Priya at the window entrance. She climbed in. Xander followed, lighting the way with his headlamp. He wasn’t crazy about being back inside. He sincerely hoped they found their friends before the ghosts found them.

  Priya snapped on her lamp as they stepped into the hallway. The gurneys were still stacked beside the counter at the nurses’ station. Xander remembered the stories he had read about poltergeists—bratty spirits that liked to move furniture around and knock on walls. He wondered if they had rearranged the gurneys. Could they also grab people?

  “It looks like the ghosts don’t want us to go this way,” Xander said.

  Priya veered toward the unblocked hall. “The last time I saw Li, she was running this way.”

  Priya jogged in the direction of room 176, but instead of turning the corner, she headed straight toward a set of double doors.

  “I think she was going toward the children’s unit,” she said.

  Xander raised an eyebrow. “How do you know where that is?”

  Priya swung her headlamp at the sign on the wall. Children’s Unit. A green arrow pointed in the same direction she was going.

  “Good eye,” said Xander.

  Priya pushed the double doors open and crept toward the large counter at the crossroads of four intersecting hallways. She noticed traces of footsteps in the dust.

  “Li must have gone this way,” she said, pointing to the left.

  She jogged down the corridor, Xander following close behind. He peeked over his shoulder for any sign of ghosts. There had been no moaning since he and Priya had sneaked back into the hospital. He started to wonder if they had imagined it all earlier.

  “Looks like she headed for the cancer ward,” Priya said.

  Xander thought for moment. “How do you know this place so well, Priya?” he asked.

  Ignoring his question, she whispered, “There’s more than one set of footprints.”

  Xander peered down. She was right. Multiple footprints marked the tiled floor.

  “Maybe Li got turned around and retraced her steps,” Xander suggested. “Or Omar.”

  “Or someone else is here,” Priya said. “And not a supernatural kind of someone.”

  “You’re sure some of these footprints are Li’s?”

  Priya shrugged. “I can’t be sure of anything right now, but this is our best lead.”

  They slid along the wall, following the trail of footprints. It was clear now that there were at least six different sets. She turned to Xander, her lamp light shining directly in his eyes.

  “Do you think someone took her and Omar?”

  Xander shrugged. “I don’t—”

  Suddenly something grabbed Priya’s shoulder. Xander yelped. Priya spun around.

  Li stepped out. She squinted against the glare of Priya’s headlamp. “It’s me,” she whispered as she shielded her eyes.

  Priya pulled Li close and hugged her. “We thought we’d lost you.”

  “I thought it was you,” Xander said, acting like it was no big deal to see her there.

  “Yeah, that’s why you screamed like a five-year-old,” said Li.

  “I did not.”


  “Did too.”

  He changed the subject. “Why were you hiding in that room?”

  Li motioned the two to step into the room with her. “It’s safer in here. They shouldn’t be able to find us.”

  “Who?” Xander asked.

  “I followed them to this point, but I thought they might have heard me, so I slipped into this room to hide.”

  “Who?” Priya asked.

  “Are they ghosts?” asked Xander.

  Li shook her head. “They seemed real enough to me. I don’t know who they are, but they’re definitely not ghosts.”

  “Oh man, this is my fault,” Xander said. “I should never have pushed for the haunted hospital. I’d settle for the boring old cemetery right about now.”

  Priya looked at him. “It wasn’t that boring.”

  “Sorry,” he said.

  “But where is Omar?” Priya asked Li.

  “I don’t know. But I’m sure the people I followed have something to do with his disappearance.”

  Xander inched closer to his friends. “Where did they go?”

  Li pointed down the hallway.

  “We have to find them,” Priya said.

  “Turn off your lights,” Li ordered. “We don’t want them to see us coming.”

  Xander and Priya snapped off their headlamps. Li tapped her phone screen and covered the soft blue glow with her hand. Xander couldn’t believe this was the same girl who had jumped at the slightest noise in the cemetery. She was calm and focused.

  “You two ready?” she asked.

  Priya nodded.

  Xander choked out, “Yes.”

  “Then let’s roll,” Li said.

  Chapter Eight

  Li led Xander and Priya toward the end of the dark corridor. She hugged the wall until she reached an intersection. She peered around the corner. She motioned the others to follow. Her phone lit up chairs stacked in front of a set of double doors. On closer inspection Xander noticed a narrow gap through the blockade of chairs.

  Li put a finger to her lips, signaling for silence, then slid between the chairs and pushed one of the doors open. Xander went next. He bumped into a chair, making it scrape across the floor. He froze.

  “Shhh!” Li hissed.

  “Sorry,” he whispered. He squeezed his arms tight against his body and inched toward his friends.