“Maybe I’ll just scrunch into the doorway,” she said to herself as she clambered back to her feet.
As she stepped on the stone steps she felt a wave of dizziness. She took a deep breath and climbed up the next step. A sudden wave of nausea welled up from her stomach. She promised herself next time she would steal bread and maybe some meat.
At the top step standing before the door she felt a deep seated fear of the house. She had left her the house of her childhood not long ago and ended up in another gang filled house. She had bad memories of houses recently and this one before her seemed the most foreboding of them all.
“It’s all in your head,” she said. “Those other houses had people in them, people who didn’t look out for you. There is no one in there. This will be my house, for as long as I want it. And I’ll look out for myself.”
But she could not convince herself and she took a step away. As much as she tried to reassure herself all was well she could not overcome some deep seated fear of the place.
And then a flash of lightning lit up the house and the huge entrance hall. In that moment Bria saw the hall with only the leaves and twigs scattered over its old tiled floor.
Then there came a boom of thunder and the sudden heavy cold rain. Bria pressed against the partially open doorway and pushed the crack open a little further and then a little further still until she had pressed the door open to its fullest.
And with another flash of lightning showing her there was nothing to fear from this old empty house she stepped inside and as the rumble of thunder and a the freezing rain convinced her that inside was better than being outside on a night like this, no matter where.
“Let’s just wait out the storm here in the hall, next to the open door,” Bria spoke to herself as her mother once had, calm and caring. “Let’s just sit here and tomorrow we’ll take that bike and ride over to the next town.”
Bria looked along the wide hallway as another flash of lightning ripped across the dark sky. Whatever this building was, Bria thought, this was no home. It was too much like an institution. A hospital maybe, she thought. Perhaps a nursing home. Either way she knew she wouldn’t be around long enough to find out. Come morning she’d be out of here and on her way.
Chapter 4
The night was a bit chilly and the wind was strong. The rain pressed in through the open door and inch by inch Bria moved along the hall. All along the hallway were tall openings leading to corridors that went left and right from the wide entrance hall.
The wind and rain pressed Bria further away from the open door. She peered along the first long corridor with a mixture of fear and curiosity. The periodic lightning gave lit it up and gave her a good view, a long corridor with the buildings tall windows on one side. Opposite those windows were tall openings that led deeper into the building.
After an hour or more of cowering in the hallway, trying to stay out of the wind and rain that pressed into the wide hallway Bria moved cautiously around the corner and into the corridor. She sat now out of the wind and rain but at the end of a long corridor that ran right along the front of the building, dark openings opposite every tall window.
With time passing and sleep as far from her mind as it ever had been she inched along the corridor and closer to one of the openings. Her way lit by flashes of lighting she eventually found herself next to the first of these openings.
With a renewed anxiousness Bria peeked around the corner to discover what lay there. Here was a wide and long room with bed frames along either wall, the head of each bed against the wall.
These beds were the large and heavy beds that Bria thought looked more like old fashioned hospital beds than those of some grand and wealthy family. She realized she was not in a stately home with grand furniture and grand bedrooms. Bria realized this was a hospital, a long abandoned one, at that.
Bria counted the beds. There were a dozen, every one stripped to the bare metal. She saw that at the far end of the room there was a small doorway. She looked at that doorway, dark and hollow. Even with the flashes of lightning that lit the ward Bria could see nothing through that small dark doorway.
Even though she was out of the wind and rain and just around the corner from the wide open doorway, a chill shot up her spine. She didn’t need to satisfy her curiosity about that dark doorway at the end of this ward. She would wait here until morning, dry and awake, and leave at first light, or when the rain stopped, whichever came sooner.
“The sooner the better,” she said out loud and tucked her knees up to her chest. “The sooner I get out of here the better.”
She stared up at that tall window and the patterns of the rain lashing it and running down in their many rivulets. She counted raindrops. She counted thunder and flashes of lightning. She attempted to occupy herself until she could leave.
Afraid to fall asleep, she kept her mind active. This wasn’t the sort of place she felt comfortable sleeping in. Oddly enough, she’d slept in a house with thieves and law breakers without fear. She’d slept in the park without worrying for her safety. Here, she didn’t feel safe. She just wanted the rain to stop so she could be on her way.
Soon. It will be clear soon. Then I’ll go.
Chapter 5
Bria woke slowly at first and then with a sudden start. She looked nervously this way and that and tried to remember where she was. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep. The sun was streaming in through the high windows all along the long corridor. Bria moved into the sun and felt its warmth. She wanted to stretch like a drowsy cat, but her sense of unease wouldn’t allow it.
She remembered then that she was sheltering in an abandoned creepy hospital from a storm. That storm had passed and the day looked bright and warm. She climbed to her feet and looked out through the tall window.
The drive at the front of the building was littered with branches and leaves ripped from the trees during the storm. The window was dirty and she couldn’t see clearly. Also the glass had a wire mesh embedded within it and this also made the glass less easy to see through.
Bria took a candy bar from her pocket and took a bite. She would have to ration this. She didn’t know how far the next small town was. It could be a long ride on her newly acquired bike. She couldn’t admit to herself it was stolen. She didn’t like to think of herself as a thief. She knew every item she had ever taken and where she’d taken it from. One day she knew she would return and pay for what she had taken.
The doorway opposite the window that led to the hospital ward had seemed so dark and foreboding during the storm but today it looked harmless enough. She glanced around the corner at the wide room with its bed frames and that small dark doorway at the far end.
She wondered what might be there and if there was anything that might be useful to help her on her bicycle trip to the next town. But Bria didn’t want to venture any deeper into this place than she already had. It was time to leave.
Wrapping the candy bar carefully so the sticky end didn’t pick up any pocket lint held Bria’s attention for a moment more. Finally, with her candy stuffed back into her pocket she turned to the end of the corridor and the wide entrance hall.
Standing there watching her was a man. He wore a dark and heavy coat. Two dark eyes stared out at Bria, eyes surrounded by the wool hat pulled down low over his brow and a huge gray beard that covered his mouth.
Bria stopped in her tracks. Her heart stopped beating for a moment. Her breath caught in her chest. And they stared at each other. And then Bria heard a tap tapping and a scratching. A large dog came along side the old man, its claws tapping and scratching the tilled floor.
“What are you doing in here?” the old man said in a gruff voice.
Bria backed away. She needed to get out of here. The old man and his dog were blocking the way to the open entrance that lay just a few feet around the corner.
“I just...” She stepped back until she was alongside the ward with its small doorway at the far end. Bria glanced towards it. She wasn�
�t going to go that way. “I, um— needed...”
“You shouldn’t be here.” The old man spoke with authority and certainty.
Bria looked down at the dog. A dark hairy dog with a wolf-like mouth. She looked at its brown eyes flecked with gold and green. The dog snarled and then growled and then barked. The loud angry bark echoed along the corridor.
“Get out. Now. And don’t come back.” His words were harsh and his voice was cold.
Bria turned and ran as fast as she could. The corridor stretched forward with the tall wire filled windows on one side and dark entrances on the other. She listened out for the sounds of the dog chasing her, its claws scratching and clicking on the tiled floor. But all she could hear was her breathing, her heart pounding and the old man calling out for her to get out.
“Get out, now! Get out and keep out!” Bria heard his voice falling away as she ran. “Keep out of here, young lady.”
Bria ran nearly the entire length of the corridor. The tall windows went by one by one on her left with the doorways to the wards on her right. She tried to find a way out but each ward was the same as the last.
Each area had the same number of hospital bed frames lined up in the same configuration, and each ward ended with a small dark doorway. Bria didn’t want to find a dead end in that darkness so she ran until it was clear that the corridor ended up ahead and the only way off this corridor was either back towards the main entrance and the old man and his fierce dog or just maybe she could find her way out through one of these wards. She turned and ran into one, heading towards the small dark doorway at the end.
The last ward that led off the front corridor was the same as the others and the doorway was, she guessed linked to the others in some way.
There must be a way back to the main entrance, she thought, but how can I do that without running into that old man? She slowed from a full sprint to a jog and eventually a walk as she neared the small doorway.
She listened, she peered and she approached with caution. But now she was close she could see that this was a small chamber, possibly used by nurses that once worked the wards. Bria stepped inside. The small chamber had another doorway, and this one was shrouded entirely in darkness. No light from the tall windows made it here. Bria back away. She had reached a dead end.
The small knife she’d been carrying since she’d run from the gang was in her hand. If that dog or that old man comes near me... She didn’t want to finish the thought but she wasn’t going to be trapped. She was going to get away, one way or another she would get away.
Bria walked back along the ward to the entrance in front of the tall windows, being as vigilant as she could to watch for anything that might hurt her. She peered around the corner along to the main entrance hallway. The old man and his dog were no longer standing at the far end.
She crossed her fingers and hoped the way was now clear. She could run back along the corridor, around the corner and out through the wide open door, out into the sunlight and away. “Now’s the time.” Muttering to herself she took a step forward.
But then her mind went wide. She was thinking about the questions she didn’t have answers to. Bria didn’t know who this old man was and what horrible tricks he could be capable of. Surely he was hiding somewhere, in one of the wards perhaps or right at the end. He’d be waiting there with his attack dog ready to pounce.
There had to be other ways to escape this place. Bria looked at the window and decided to break the glass and escape that way. She looked along the corridor again the make sure the old man was gone and then she stepped up to the glass and hit it with the handle of her knife.
The knife hit the window and bounced off leaving no mark and making a terrible loud noise. Bria stepped back into the ward and again. She was sure the noise would bring the dog rushing at her.
She needed something heavier than her knife to smash that window. Now she figured out why such an old and obviously abandoned building still had its front windows intact. They were made of reinforced glass with the extra strength coming from the wire that was inside each glass pane. Shaking her head, she figured there must have been a need to keep people in.
Turning back to the ward, she needed something to help her break a window. The bed frames. There might be some part of the steel frame that could make a good hammer and enable her to smash her way through. She worked her way along the bed, pulling at the frame here and there, hoping to free some part of it. And now Bria realized why each ward had the beds arranged so neatly.
All of the beds were fastened to the floor. Bria pulled at each of the beds in the ward looking to pull free a piece of it. The beds had no part that could be removed. They were fixed solidly together almost in one piece, and each bed was fastened firmly to the floor.
Taking a long look down the corridor, she knew for sure there was only one way out. It was the large door she had left open last night. Bria felt the knife in her hand and summoned up the courage to run past that old man and his dog. If she could get out of that front door she’d be free.
She couldn’t bear being trapped like this. It was the same sort of confinement that had caused her to run from home. She wasn’t going to put up with it now. If that old man got in the way of her that would be his bad luck. Bria took a deep breath and readied herself for the fastest sprint she had even committed herself to. She bounced into action and ran.
The end of the corridor was so far away, but she didn’t hear any sounds of the dog or the man. She ran faster and faster. If that old man should step out in front on her he would be knocked aside by the force of her sheer speed. And as she drew closer she felt more and more sure that he was about to step out and block her way.
A few steps to go and she would be at the point where she had slept through the night, curled up under the tall window. And then only another stride and she would be at the entrance hall and the open door.
Bria began to call out a terrifying battle cry as she neared the end of the corridor. The sound of her running would have alerted man and dog by now. She wanted to scare the man and the dog away to keep them from trying to stop her escape and the shout had come instinctively. She ran out into the entrance hall at full speed. She turned to her right and headed towards the door.
Bria skidded to a halt, her fierce battle cry immediately silenced. The large timber doors that she had forced open last night were shut. She threw herself at it and began tugging and jerking at it. It was closed tight.
She took a desperate look over her shoulder as she battled to open the door. She saw the wide entrance hall was empty. The old man and the dog were gone. The hall contained only Bria, a locked front door and the echoes of Bria’s exhausted and frightened cries.
Chapter 6
Bria kicked out at the door with frustration. She tried the door handle, turning it and pulling it. She dug in with her heels and pulled with all her weight. The door held firm. Shut tight. She pushed, kicked and hammered at the door. She yelled at the door hoping to smash it down with her fury.
Bria spun around to face the huge entrance hall. The knife in her hand was held forward ready to meet any attacker. The hall was empty apart from the leaves and twigs that had been blown in by last night’s storm.
A window above the front door let light into the wide entrance hall. There were the two corridors running away to the left and right. Bria assumed the one to her right was the same as the one she had just explored one ward after another with bed fastened to the floor. Further along the entrance hall was another dual set of corridors, again one left and one right. There were four double sets in all, each a tall and wide open arch. At the far end of the hall was an interior door. It was a tall double door that had once contained large panes of glass. These glass panes had long since been smashed, only the wooden frames remained.
Beyond that doorway a corridor that lead away from the main hall. Bria peered into the gloom beyond and saw what looked to be a stairway leading off. If she could reach an upper floor there might be
a broken window, or a fire escape that she could use to free herself from this place. With the knife held firmly before her in tired and sweaty hand she advanced.
Bria took her time reaching the smashed interior door. She looked cautiously along each corridor that ran off the entrance hall. These were not lit by the sun light from the front tall windows but only by a similar window at the far end of each corridor. These corridors had openings along one side, presumably leading to more wards like the ones she had already seen.
“You can do this. You can do this.” She whispered encouragement to herself as she went. She was alone in this mess and she had no one but herself to rely on. She had to keep a positive attitude. “And you may have to find a creative way to get out of here, girl.”
There was no way out through those wards. The only way out was the main door, but that had been shut tight. That stupid old man had probably shut it. He had to be crazy. Bria didn’t want to see him and his dog again but if she did she would demand he open the front door. Why would that peculiar old fool lock it? Unless he knew another way out.
“Forget about that old man. He’s only going to try to hurt you. Forget about him.” Whispering still, she crept back into the building. “If there’s another way out of here I know I can find it. I’ve escaped from worse places than this dilapidated hospital.”
The broken glass of the interior door to the dark corridor beyond gave no signs of movement. No sign of the old man or his horrible, hairy dog, either. Carefully she pushed the door open and stepped through.
Bria moved towards the stairway glancing only briefly into the various rooms and corridors that led off from this interior hallway. There were nurse’s stations with desks. There were corridors leading off into the dark interior of the hospital. There were empty rooms that looked like they could have been waiting rooms. Some were smaller some larger. All were bare save for a few random and forgotten pieces of hospital furniture.
Haunting and Scares Collection Page 3
