Haunted House Tales

by Riley Amitrani

  Dr. Malone Makes Rounds…Again

  Westmore Memorial Hospital

  Westmore, NH

  April 22, 2017

  4 PM

  If she could have found her voice, Jamie supposed she would have cried for help. But then again, if the past had been any indication, the Malone-thing would vanish into thin air as soon as anyone came to her aid. Even Bert it would seem was enough to make the ‘doctor-who-wouldn’t-die’ simply evaporate. At least she had convinced Bert that these ghostly visitors were not all in her head. For now, though, it was apparent that Jamie was on her own. She looked directly at the presence, doing her best to not let on as to just how petrified she was. This latest version of the Malone-thing seemed to have reverted to what Jamie would say was Malone 1.0. If she had not known better, she would have sworn to anyone that the ghost in front of her was a flesh and blood man.

  Though not completely solid in form, he was as close as could be expected, Jamie supposed. You had to look very close to see that there was just a glimmer of the room visible through Malone’s shape. This time around, however, the pretend visage that the former chief of hospital operations presented was long gone. There was not a human on the planet, Jamie thought, that would have willingly allowed this vile, menacing-looking care provider anywhere near them or a family member, no matter how dire the situation. Malone looked as if he had crawled from a musty and mold-infested enclosure, as strips of blackened fabric hung from his tattered and ripped clothing.

  His smile was not one that would encourage anyone to return it in kind. His lips, or rather what was left of them, were drawn back in an almost snarling presence, what Jamie had seen on dogs or other wild animals backed into a corner before attacking. The thing’s teeth were chipped and broken and stained with a mixture of some sort of black and olive-green substance. Great swaths of flesh trailed from his arms and neck, swaying to and from as he moved closer. But worst of all was the smell. Jamie was not sure how to describe it, other than the stench of decay and death. The former eyes that looked just black and dead were now gone. Only empty sockets remained, both of which were filled at the edges with long, yellow-white worms that exuded a sickening slurping or sucking sound as they crawled and squirmed and writhed about the orifices.

  “Jamie…. Jamie…. Jamie….” the Malone-thing said in a slow and hideously unnerving tone. “You just could not let it be, could you? Had to keep poking around, huh?”

  She was not sure what was creeping her out more, his vastly deteriorating appearance or that he knew her by name.

  “I tried to be nice…really I did,” the thing went on. “I offered you the painless way out…the way with no suffering…but I guess that was not to your liking, eh? I offer all my services through two options: the easy way and the hard way. Your choice seems to have fallen with the latter…”

  Jamie shrunk back until she could move no further away from the approaching specter. In her mind, she was hoping Bert would burst through the door at any minute to rescue her…but that was just how it happened in the movies, she thought. There would be no cavalry coming to her aid.

  “So sorry, but I just cannot have the truth about my…compulsion…coming out now. The good people of Westmore have gone to such lengths to bury that part of my legacy, you see. And you seem intent on fucking that all up…” it continued.

  Jamie was reviled completely at this point, but oddly enough it was mostly due to how he said the word “compulsion”. Just an ordinary word, she knew, but his tone and inflection made it sound utterly vile and as if it was just something he had no control over. Before Jamie could react any further, the Malone-thing lashed out, whipping a thick electrical cord around her neck and began to pull it tight. In the split second before it snugged tight, Jamie slid two fingers between the cord and her throat, and that was all it took to save her voice which she suddenly found again. At this point, Jamie was sure she had to take this step even if it meant bringing the whole psych ward down on her. It was that or join Malone and his band of not-so-merry men in whatever pit of hell they were trapped in.

  Her scream did indeed bring the staff running, with Lucy Tanner leading the charge. Perhaps Jamie had been wrong all along about the room being surveilled, or they would have seen what was going on before Malone tried to strangle her. Of course, when Lucy and her staff burst in, there was no one but Jamie there. Just Jamie with a cord wrapped about her neck as she screamed and wailed for help. One again, calling out had sent the Malone-thing back to the ether. Lucy pulled Jamie to the mattress as her two burly attendants from the ward held her down firmly. They quickly removed the cord assuming, as was the most likely conclusion in this ward, that Jamie had tried to kill herself.

  Lucy had the men secure her to her bed with the heavy leather restraints that were common among less cooperative patients on the ward. Jamie was now held fast to her bed, both her arms and legs bound tightly. Lucy, with the attending physician’s approval injected her with another strong sedative so she would not struggle against the binding and hurt herself. Just before Jamie passed out, the last thought she had was that if Bert did not arrive soon, she was dead. If they were not surveilling her room, then the Malone-thing could return at his convenience to finish her off. Though perhaps since they thought her a suicide risk, maybe a camera had been activated…

  ………

  In a bit, Bert returned to the hospital, having finally uncovered the whole truth behind the Malone/ Orleans County Regional Hospital scandal. Jamie had been right. In documents that had been unsuccessfully hidden away, Bert found excerpts from a police report that gave the details of Malone’s escapades that led to his suicide. Never underestimate the volume of material that can be found in school archives, Bert thought. However, as he came out of the elevator and onto the psych ward floor where Jamie was being held, he was shocked at the flurry of activity in the normally quiet hallways. Lucy spotted him and came hustling over.

  “What’s all the excitement, Lucy?” Bert asked as the nurse guided him to an out of the way spot down one empty corridor.

  “We had a suicide attempt, I am afraid.” Lucy said in a quiet voice.

  “Wow…” Bert replied.

  “Bert…” Lucy said as she touched his arm, “it was Jamie. I think maybe we need to have a serious discussion about committing her to a full-time mental facility where she can get the proper treatment.”

  Bert felt his mouth drop open in shock and his legs quiver. This was not right. There was no way Jamie would do that…no matter what. In his absence, Bert knew the Malone-thing had returned. Apparently, Jamie had fought him off again and in their haste the psych staff had somehow interpreted this as a failed suicide. He recalled that each time he or the staff at the hospital had come running from Jamie’s cries, that her room had always been empty. Jamie had done what she needed to in order to survive until he came back. It would seem Jamie called them for help knowing it would be a short-term reprieve from Malone. Bert gathered himself once he had figured it all out and played along.

  “I see…is it possible for me to at least see her?”

  “We just strapped her down and sedated her, Bert. For her own safety. But I guess it would be OK for you to drop by just so you know she is fine now.”

  Bert nodded to Lucy and followed her to the room. She unlocked the door and let Bert step inside. He went to her bedside and saw that she was breathing slowly, but regularly. He bent down as Jamie opened her eyes just a slit, smiling weakly as Bert sat in a chair at her head.

  “Was I right, Bert?” Jamie whispered, trying to conceal her voice from the vigilant Lucy Tanner.

  “On the nose…did he come back?” Bert replied as he smoothed her hair.

  Jamie just nodded weakly.

  “But it was much worse this time, Bert. He’s pissed now. Knows we are close to revealing it all…something about tarnishing his legacy or some such bullshit….”

  “We need to get you out of here. My guess is Malone is trapped, stuck in this plac
e. Once we get away, most likely we will be free of his reach.”

  “Sounds good. But how do we get past Nurse Ratchet over there, and her storm troopers?”

  “Not sure, but….”

  Before Bert could go on, a deafening alarm began to fill the hallway and a blast came from just outside the room, making him startle. Cries of pain and surprise followed and when Bert looked over, Lucy Tanner was down on the floor. In a natural response, Bert ran to the prone nurse. She was breathing, but unconscious, a large gash on her temple. Bert hated to do this, but he knew this was their chance. He ran back to Jamie as all hell was breaking loose on the ward.

  “You with it enough to get out of here, Jamie?”

  “Just get me moving…”

  Bert released her restraints and eased her into a wheelchair, making sure her ankle was well padded and secured. He could see Jamie was much groggier and more out of it than she had let on, but now that she was in the chair, he was sure they could escape. He slid Lucy from the opening in the door, sure that she would get taken care of by the staff. It was not ideal, but Bert knew the longer they tarried, the less chance they had of getting away clean. He wheeled Jamie through the door and looked to the left and saw people running amok as smoke filled the corridor. In a deft motion, he spun the chair away from all the furor as they took off in the other direction.

  He was tempted to break into a dash, but upon further thought Bert was sure a controlled velocity would be more believable…like he was just getting a patient to a safe place. He moved on along down the hall as all sorts of hospital personnel dashed by him in response to the explosion. Jamie touched him on the arm.

  “Think this is Malone’s doing, Bert?”

  He had not even considered that, assuming it was just some random accident on the floor. As he looked up, Bert dodged away just as a fire extinguisher flew by his head, missing him by inches. There was no one around who could have launched the projectile his way. Guess that answered that question.

  “I had not thought of that, Jamie, but I guess you may be onto something. You must have really pissed this guy off…”

  “Eh…I do what I can….”

  Though it was certainly not appropriate, Bert could not help but laugh. He regained his feet and continued on down the corridor. They reached the elevator, but Bert had just not been thinking clearly. All those signs in public buildings about elevators being out of service during fires? Damned if they had not been posted for no reason. All the lights above the elevator door as well as the floor selector were flashing, and a message above the doors read:

  ELEVATOR OUT OF SERVICE DUE TO EMERGENCY—USE STAIRS TO YOUR WEST

  “Guess we’re walking from here, Jamie….”

  “You have got to be shitting me…” she replied, her speech slurred as she talked.

  Bert pointed to the flashing message.

  “It’s just one floor. If I kneel down in front of you, think you can climb on my back and hang on?”

  “Piece of crake…. cake, whatever.”

  Bert locked the wheels on the chair and got in place. Fortunately, Jamie was light, even with her newly attached cast. He felt Jamie flop on top of him and he knew right away she had been more optimistic about what sort of shape she was actually in. Her arms fell over his shoulders and Bert stood, reaching back to scoop her legs onto his hips. He lifted his foot and kicked open the bar on the door and they began their descent to the ground floor.

  Home Free

  Westmore Memorial Hospital

  Westmore, NH

  April 22, 2017

  7 PM

  The emergency lights were flashing in the stairwell as Bert moved slowly down each step, making sure of his footing. The lights were mildly annoying but not nearly as much as the blaring siren that was echoing off the walls of the constricted stairwell shaft. Bert made it down the initial run of stairs with no problem to a landing, where he made a turn so they could descend the last section and get outside. To add to the fun, Bert could hear the approaching sounds of both police and ambulances that had been dispatched from the ER entrance to the front entrance of the hospital. As he repositioned Jamie on his back, the jostling was apparently enough to bring her to a higher level of consciousness. She kicked at his legs, playfully with her one free uncasted heel:

  “Wahoo!! Giddee up horsie!! Ride ‘em cowboy!!!”

  “Wanna take it down a notch there, Annie Oakley?” Bert said as he looked back over his shoulder at her.

  Jamie opened her eyes wider and somehow grasped the situation, through her stupor.

  “Sorry…”

  Bert stepped down and step by step they found themselves on the ground floor. Bert kicked out again to open the door and they moved into the hallway just below where they had begun this trek. As he looked around, Bert spied an unoccupied wheelchair. Just what he needed. They were on the home stretch, now. He shuffled along and positioned himself in front of the chair and plopped Jamie, a bit unceremoniously, but successfully, into the new chariot. He re-secured her ankle and cast and moved to the rear to figure out the quickest way out of the madhouse that the hospital had become in the last few minutes. Paramedics and police and other firemen rushed by Bert and Jamie, not giving them a second glance. As Bert had assumed, he was just a normal person getting an injured patient to a safe place. It was one less task for them.

  Bert checked a map of the floor that was posted on the wall just to his right and saw that though it was circuitous, the route to their left seemed to be the most direct way out. Based on the number of emergency personnel coming from that direction, that seemed correct as well. He spun the wheelchair around and off they moved at a brisk, but controlled pace. Bert had to negotiate a few obstacles such as fire hoses and such, but at this point he saw this as just a minor inconvenience. Jamie bobbled along as the chair jostled her over the lumps. The one positive thing Bert noticed was that she seemed to be coming around more, minute by minute.

  “How you doing?” Bert asked as he got them over yet another length of hose in the corridor.

  “No problemo….” Jamie replied.

  The long hallway was about to hit a T-junction ahead, but before they got there, doors on both sides of the corridor began to flail open and closed, whipping out at them violently. Some were just hanging on by single hinges, while others had blown off their moorings completely.

  “Hang on, Jamie…we’ve got to make a run for it!”

  “Malone again?”

  “Who else?”

  Bert put them into overdrive as he gripped her wheelchair firmly in both hands and began a sprint through the impending gauntlet toward the junction. His timing was perfect as they dodged in and out of flopping doors as miscellaneous contents flew at them from each new room they passed. For the most part, Bert was able to avoid the flying projectiles. A few smaller items such as bed pans, and plastic meal trays, and such bounced harmlessly off his shoulders or caromed off the churning wheels of the chair. Jamie had the presence of mind to lean over and duck down as a few heavier pieces of equipment whizzing from open doors, becoming imbedded in the opposite walls.

  Likewise, if it had not been for Bert’s quick decision to make a mad sprint, he would likely have been crushed between diagnostic carts and the wall. The lights flashed on and off and many began to explode overhead as they raced along, Malone throwing all he had at the couple in desperation. Bert slid them with a combination of expertise and recklessness as he hit the T-junction, the wheels of the chair and his sneakers slipping sideways on broken glass bottles and the various fluids they had previously contained. He slid hard into the wall on his left as his momentum could not be slowed. It felt like hitting concrete, but Bert shrugged it off and regained their forward progress as he saw the door that led outside just ahead.

  At this point, Bert was hesitant to slow down, but the glass doors that led outside were a serious impediment. He guessed that since a lot of the power was malfunctioning due to the explosion, that the automatic sensor
would not be working here either that would throw open the doors as they approached. Just when Bert was not sure what to do, a huge projectile flew high over their heads and shattered the glass in both doors, solving his dilemma. They shot through the opening and they were out of the hospital and standing on an asphalt turnaround. Bert put on his own personal brakes and he and Jamie came to a sudden skidding stop.

  He turned the chair so they could both look back at the disaster behind them. The explosion had apparently spread rapidly throughout the upper floors and as Bert bent over to catch his breath, he knew they had left just in time. Another few minutes, and he was sure Malone would have finished them both off.

  “Had no idea you could move like that…” Jamie said as Bert looked down at her. “Impressive…”

  “Guess you never know you can until you have to….” he replied.

  “From a guy who keeps telling me he is not very athletic…”

  They both laughed. Bert had gotten them out in one piece, but unfortunately on the opposite side of the hospital from where his car was parked. On top of that, there was so much emergency equipment not to mention fire trucks, ambulances, and police vehicles clogging the way, that he was in no mood to wheel her around the building.

  “What do you think of trying to hail a taxi and worry about my car later?” Bert asked.

  “Sounds good, but it may be a real challenge finding a taxi in all this mess…”

  Bert scanned the grounds and their luck seemed to be still with them as he saw the familiar bright yellow image of a Westmore Cab pulling just a few feet away from them near the turnaround. Bert motioned to the driver and he acknowledged them. It would be impossible for the cabbie to get to them, though, through all the mess.

  “We’ll come to you, pal…” Bert shouted.

  The man tipped his cap in appreciation as they set off toward the car. Bert helped Jamie up and into the cab, taking great care with her leg before jogging around to the other side of the taxi and hopping in.