Sue was speechless, her thoughts a jumble. She huddled in her coat, shaking with rage.
“We need to get moving,” Zeke said suddenly, as he pulled on his clothes. “I didn’t get any breakfast yet, and I’m starved. I could eat a horse.”
Sue stared at him in disbelief.
“Come on, honey, let’s go. We can talk about this in the van.” Zeke strolled to the door and held it open for her.
Sue walked toward him stiffly, still in a state of shock. He put his arm over her shoulders, kissed her lightly on the temple, and led her to the van. They crawled inside, and continued down the road. Zeke wanted to hash out the details of what happened, relive it verbally. But Sue refused to talk about the incident, withdrawing into herself to worry about her own mental state. She was still angry with Zeke. But she was angrier with herself. Some part of her had suspected the whole thing was a trick, yet she’d ignored her instincts. She hadn’t even tried to resist. She continued to brood as the tires ate up the Pennsylvania blacktop, carrying her further from the security of home.
Clueless
Will drove steadily, stopping often at gas stations and convenience stores as he continued his search for Sue. He phoned Roxie from the picturesque town of Belle Springs, Vermont, to update her on his lack of progress. “I’ve run across one clerk who thinks she may have seen them,” he told her. “But she wasn’t sure. However, if it was them, then they weren’t in any hurry. The couple she saw was leisurely, taking photos and eyeing the sights.”
“What now?” Roxie asked.
“I get back on the road and keep going south. I don’t know what else to do. Melvin find anything of interest for me?”
“Nope. He’s still searching out abandoned buildings and such.”
“I’ll check in with you later.” Will disconnected.
He stopped in Abbeville for gas and spent the night in a comfortable motel in Wilkes, the same city where Sue and Zeke had stayed just one night earlier.
Hospital Zombies
It took Zeke less than three hours to break through Sue’s cold silence. Somewhere along the way, they had crossed over into West Virginia. As they sped down the winding highway, he sang along with songs on the radio, made fun of commercials, and reached over to give her frequent soft touches and pats. He even made her laugh at some of his silliness. Finally, she could hold onto her anger no longer.
“I knew it. You can’t stay mad at me.” He smiled. “You love me too much.”
She felt her rage melt away. Zeke could think what he wanted, but she did not enjoy the experience in any way, shape, or form. She finally gave in to his attempts to charm her simply because she blamed herself for not fighting her attackers. Zeke was to blame for her rape, but she hadn’t done anything to stop it. On some level, she must have perceived that she had never been in real danger. It was the only explanation that allowed her to retain her sanity.
She wondered if Zeke had told her he wanted her to be with those boys if she’d have gone along willingly, like she had with Ernie. Maybe. She wasn’t sure. But he hadn’t given her the choice. The fact that Zeke allowed her to be with other men ought to feel liberating. She should just relax and go with it. She should appreciate the freedom. She tried to talk herself out of the deep sense of disappointment that squeezed her heart like a steel band. The way he’d tricked her, and caused her such mental distress, would make it difficult to trust him.
One thing was certain: she didn’t need to rehash the episode. “Where to next?” she asked, ready to put the incident behind them.
“You’ll love this.” Zeke slowed the van, searching for a particular turn. “That abandoned mental hospital I told you about is right around here.”
“How’d you find out about it?”
“Internet. Whoa! Here’s the road.” Zeke made a sharp turn into an overgrown driveway, which ended at a partially fallen gate that left just enough room for the van to squeeze past.
The first building on the other side of the rusted gateway appeared to be a small guard shack, the windows broken and its door banging forlornly in the wind. Weeds grew around the foundation and vines crept up into the eaves of the tiny structure.
Little remained of the long graceful drive, except two ruts between which lay a strip of dead field grass. Far to the left of the drive, across the grounds, were several outbuildings. They included an enclosed sitting area with torn window screens, a few crumbling utility sheds, and a large carriage house in a state of advanced disrepair, its once beautiful doors hanging askew on the tracks. Following the curved driveway around a tall stand of trees, they found themselves on a gentle downward slope, and approached the main lawn.
Behind the trees loomed an enormous wooden building, gray and weathered as the others. It combined an odd assortment of architectural features, including soaring towers with arched openings, high windows with broken shutters, layers of second and third-story balconies, elevated galleries, and walkways with broken railings. On the ground floor, a warped door huddled under a slanting portico. Small windows stretched to either side of the entry like a row of lidless eyes, situated at a height impossible to reach. The immense structure did not appear square and true. It was as if it were built deliberately crooked with misaligned edges and corners just short of plumb.
An ambitious poplar had shot past the lower windows before veering into the side of the house, growing through the wall midway between the second and third floors. Clumps of bushes, shrubs, and tall weeds surrounded the base of the structure. The yard was overgrown, littered with shattered fixtures, rotted boards, and rusted bedsprings.
Zeke whistled in amazement as they rolled to a stop near the front entrance.
Sue gaped. “It looks like Hermann Munster’s house, only bigger. And scarier.”
Zeke grabbed the camera and a flashlight from the glove box, opened the van door, and stepped out. “Come on. Let’s go in.”
“I don’t know...” Sue found she was talking to herself. Zeke was already halfway to the building. She pulled on her coat, got reluctantly from the van, and rushed to catch up with him.
Zeke stopped in his tracks as the front door creaked open. From the doorway of the great building, a gathering of bizarre-looking people began to slowly emerge. They stopped in the shadow of the porch and stared wordlessly at Sue and Zeke. Each one could easily have been a patient of the facility, had it still been operational.
“What the hell! Who are they? I thought this place was abandoned!” Sue huddled closer to Zeke’s side and took his arm.
“It’s supposed to be.” Zeke narrowed his eyes. He took several pictures of the group.
They were all extremely thin and appeared sickly, with wild hair and vacant eyes. Each one, male and female, wore a similar pair of loose-fitting white pants with a baggy white shirt. They swayed slightly as if struggling internally for balance.
“Hey,” Zeke addressed them in a friendly tone, his voice bouncing off the edifice behind them. They held their silence. “Odd,” he whispered in an aside to Sue.
He took a few steps forward. “Say something!” he shouted at the figures. They didn’t respond, nor did they move to retreat.
“Let’s get out of here,” Sue said. “These people are strange. I don’t think they want us here.”
“No,” he said calmly. “I came to see this place and we’re going inside. Just walk slowly and hang onto me.”
Sue held back, clinging to his arm. “What if they hurt us?”
“They don’t look like they could hurt anybody,” Zeke replied, a touch of mirth in his voice. “What do you say, freaks? Are you gonna hurt anybody?” he asked loudly. “Just in case you’re thinking about it, I want you to know I have a gun and I’d love a little target practice.”
Sue gave him a sharp glance. She hadn’t seen any gun and he didn’t pull one out now. Hopefully, he was just trying to scare them. The idea sure as hell scared her.
With halting steps, Zeke and Sue approached the building, Sue t
rying to become a part of Zeke, staying as close as she could. But, the figures didn’t move as they passed, didn’t reach for them, didn’t even blink.
A large reception room greeted them as they slipped inside the open doorway, empty except for filthy cots arranged randomly around the edges. Zeke clicked a close-up of the disgusting beds. A thin light slanted in from the high windows, barely penetrating the gloom. Dust and chunks of plaster caked the floor. Across the room, a wide staircase led to the upper levels. Zeke pulled Sue to the foot of the stairs and stared up into murk. The middle section was missing; a gaping hole yawned darkly. Shaking his head in disappointment, Zeke guided Sue down a grimy tiled corridor.
On either side of the hall were various doorways leading to what appeared to be old examination rooms. A file room floor lay strewn with yellowed papers. One treatment room held a sinister-looking narrow bathing tub, long enough to submerge even a tall person. Zeke took several photos of a high-ceilinged area dominated by a chilling contraption fitted with restraints and studded with broken electrical gauges. Thick frayed cords hung from one end and the stained top leaked stuffing.
Sue repressed a chill as they stepped back into the hallway. “I don’t like it here,” she whispered. Looking over her shoulder, she uttered a small cry of surprise. The group of people had quietly followed her and Zeke and now lined the passageway, leaning against the dirty walls as if too weak to stand without support.
“Come on.” Zeke tugged on Sue’s arm. “I want to see the autopsy room. It’s supposedly in the basement.”
Shaking with apprehension, Sue gripped his hand and walked with him. She could hear the soft shuffling steps as their audience followed behind. She pushed Zeke along, trying to hurry him, but he seemed completely unconcerned.
Sue glanced over her shoulder. “They’re following us,” she whispered urgently.
“Who cares?”
I do, Sue thought, but she said nothing.
Passing through a dining hall filled with echoes, leaves, and dust, they entered a huge kitchen, outfitted with industrial-sized appliances from another era, all standing open and ravaged by time and decay. A rear exit revealed a wild lawn scattered with crumbling fountains and cement benches that tilted unsteadily on broken legs.
The sound of scrambling drew Sue’s attention in time for her to catch a quick glimpse of a gray creature scurrying under the stove. A chill settled between her shoulder blades; she could feel the eyes of the silent people on her back as they filed into the kitchen behind her and Zeke.
Inside the cupboards, Zeke found rows of canned food, bottled water, and other items. Sitting on the counter was a propane camp stove and a number of grubby pots and pans. Several grocery bags contained provisions that had yet to be unpacked. “Holy shit! Someone is feeding these freaks. This is strange as hell.”
Sue looked at the group in astonishment, unable to imagine any of them being able to cook for themselves. “Who does it? Where are they?”
“I don’t know, but we better keep our ears and eyes open. Ready to get out quick if we have to.” Circling the room to avoid their followers, Zeke led Sue back the way they had come, through the dining hall, and down a short corridor that ended abruptly at a closed door.
“Here,” Zeke said triumphantly. “I think this is the way to the basement.”
He pushed on the old door and it swung open easily with only a small metallic groan, revealing a wide dark stairway leading down. Sue could hear the rustling of the people behind her as they passed slowly across the dining room toward the now open door.
Zeke dug the flashlight from his coat pocket and switched it on. In its narrow beam, they could make out cracked cement steps leading to a shadowy lower level. They proceeded with caution, stepping lightly, as if the stairs might open up and swallow them at any minute.
“If we’re gonna find it anywhere,” Zeke said. “This would be the room.”
“Find what?” Sue asked.
Zeke turned to her and shone the flashlight under his chin, casting his features into shadow. “The troll.” He gave a wicked laugh.
“Stop that.” Sue swatted his arm and drew a shaky breath.
Zeke went dead still and stared at Sue with flat eyes. “Don’t ever hit me, Sue.”
“I didn’t. I mean, I was just playing. It was a playful slap.”
“Don’t do it again, or you’ll regret it.”
“I’m sorry.” Sue was uncertain whether he was serious, but she quickly reassured him. “I won’t do it again.”
Zeke slowly relaxed and Sue began to breathe again. They continued on down the stairs.
They reached the bottom of the steps and looked around. A row of dirty windows was set deep in the walls near the ceiling. Shafts of weak light filtered through the weeds outside. The first room stretched out on all sides to dark distant walls, one of which had several doors. This area seemed distinctly cleaner than the rest of the property, although it was still in poor overall condition. In the middle of the room were three metal tables with drains in the center; several deep sinks lined the wall next to some tall cabinets.
Zeke turned slowly, taking in their surroundings. “This is so cool. Hey, climb up and lay on one of these tables. Pretend to be dead.”
“Zeke! I can’t do that!”
With a withering look, he turned his back to her and clicked several pictures of the empty tables in rapid succession, the flash sending strobes through the room and temporarily blinding Sue. “Sometimes you really piss me off. You know that?” He walked on without waiting for a response.
With Sue dragging her feet behind him, Zeke strode over and opened the door to the first cabinet.
Stacked along the shelves inside, they found rows of jars containing body parts suspended in formaldehyde. Next to the shelves stood a beat-up table lined with surgical pans and tools, gruesome reminders of the autopsies once performed here.
“Damn! This is way cool.” Zeke clicked more photos.
“It wouldn’t be too bad, if not for them.” Sue nodded at the people lining the walls, watching.
“You know what would be kind of fun? Maybe we should have sex in front of them.” Zeke flashed a depraved grin. “Up on one of these tables.”
Sue was horrified. “Let’s just leave. Please.” Sue grasped Zeke’s arm, imploringly.
“Not just yet. I’m not done here.” He peeled himself away from Sue’s grip and strolled over to the doors, trying each of them. All but one were stuck shut. With a grunt, he finally opened the last one and shone his flashlight inside.
“Come here, Sue,” he ordered, voice low, but thick with excitement.
She backed over to him, keeping her eyes on the crowd against the wall. He grabbed her by the arm and pushed her through the doorway into a dark room. Playing the flashlight over the old brick walls, Zeke grunted in satisfaction when he found a hole in the wall that was about four inches in diameter. Their silent pursuers crowded at the doorway but didn’t enter the room.
“We’re blocked in now!” Sue’s voice held a note of panic. “Look, they’ve all gathered in the door.”
“Forget about them,” Zeke said. “Find out what’s in this hole.”
Sue looked with horror at the darkened recess in the wall. “Me? Well, okay, give me the flashlight.”
“No, just stick your hand in there.”
“Are you serious? There is no way in hell I’m putting my hand in that hole. There could be spiders in there, or a rat.”
“Listen, I’m looking for something, Sue. I read about it online. There’s supposed to be a map hidden in this place somewhere. A treasure map. My hand won’t fit so you have to do it. Now, just reach in and see if it’s there.”
“I’m not sticking my hand in there!” Sue pulled back, but he seized her arm and jerked her closer.
“Put your damn hand in that hole and see what’s in there,” he demanded. “I’m not kidding, Sue. Do it or I’ll drive away and leave you here.” He glanced at the crowd in t
he doorway. “With them.”
“You wouldn’t, would you? Zeke...” A chill rushed down her back.
He took Sue’s arm in an iron grip and forced her hand into the black cavity, ignoring her struggles. She squealed with revulsion and clenched her fist tightly. Other than some wispy cobwebs and fine powdery dust, the hole was empty.
“Well, what’s in there?” Zeke asked, holding her in place.
“Nothing!” Sue cried. “Nothing but dirt and spider webs!”
He released her arm and she swung out at him; her fist connected with his upper arm. “Don’t ever do that to me again!” Her voice was filled with hatred.
Zeke’s response was immediate. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently. The flashlight dropped to the floor in the process and rolled around a little, its light playing across the walls. The only things visible in the blackness were the beam of the flashlight piercing the gloom and the silhouettes of the watchers at the door. Zeke released her as he bent to retrieve the light.
“What the fuck did I tell you? You brainless whore! Don’t. Ever. Hit. Me.” In a state of fury, he threw the light at her. It missed, bounced from the wall near her head, and broke.
“Shit! Now look what you’ve done!” Zeke towered over Sue. He grabbed her and pulled her toward the doorway, cursing her and calling her names. Sue jerked away from him and stumbled, but he caught her before she fell to the floor. She tore free of him.
The ghostly people had vanished, perhaps frightened by Zeke’s rage. The open doorway was a rectangle of light and Sue charged for it, Zeke on her heels. She lurched out of the blackness into the autopsy room, which by comparison looked almost welcoming and safe. Zeke stormed into the room seconds later, his face contorted with an anger he struggled to control.
Zeke Page 16
