by Rick Kueber
“Courageous, huh?” I chuckled.
“That's all you picked up on?” Theo joked. We watched until the eagle took flight again and then disappeared into the distant horizon. We climbed back into the car and zipped down the road with the cool autumn breeze stabbing in through the inch of open window on either side of the car. I pulled my phone out to call Hilary and after a very short conversation we had plans to meet at Hilary and Mike's home to await Mike's return. Once we arrived at the beautiful two story rural home, we were greeted by our friend. We sat in a room just off of the kitchen and burned sage in preparation of the night ahead.
Mike arrived later than expected and the sun was setting on our day. The hopes of familiarizing and searching the Infirmary in the daylight was no longer a possibility. We transferred our equipment into their quad-cab truck and headed out for an unknown that we had long anticipated.
Chapter 4 AND SO, IT BEGINS
It was a chilling night as the quad-cab truck turned off of the main street and onto a narrow, two-lane, country backroad. The clouds were heavy in the blackened and starless sky. Mike drove with Hilary in the front passenger seat. Theo sat behind Mike, meditating as the miles passed and I sat to his right staring out of the window into the barren, lifeless fields as they blurred by in the darkness. The truck slowed as we made yet another turn and remained at an idle pace with the tires growling against the gravel beneath us.
“Almost there.” Hilary said with a tone that could have been fear or excitement, or a combination of both.
“Yeah, it's off the beaten path alright.” Mike replied lightheartedly. My eyes strained through the dark night to see something, anything, that might give a sign of the infirmary being close. Hilary pointed and I caught a glimpse of a pinpoint of light ahead. Focusing on it, the rest of the world slipped away as if I had died and were floating ever closer to the light that so many people who have had near death experiences speak of. As we drew near, I recognized it as a dusk to dawn light, surrounded by large trees. Still a hundred yards away, it called to us like the beacon of a lighthouse on a foggy bay.
The quiet and low hanging clouds let go of a cold and steely November rain as if it were expecting us, waiting to unwelcome us and send us away. Creeping ever closer, I could see the electric blue glow of the metal halide light perched high atop a creosote soaked wooden pole. The faint blue unveiled a small gravel parking lot and a split in the road.
I could see from my back seat perspective that as the road made a slight upward grade, an even narrower drive jutted off to our left just before the lighted trees and in between the road we traveled and the askew lane was a one lane entrance to the gravel lot. The truck slowed to a crawl and slowly made the half turn toward the lot entrance. Without warning, the bouncing headlight beams switched to bright and the towering infirmary peered out from the trees, angry at our late night arrival. The vacuum of darkness in its windows stared at us, taunted us, and seemed to curse our very presence.
The truck nosed into its parking spot near the light pole. This would give us not only ample lighting to begin to unpack some of our equipment, but also offer some security from any potential wandering vagrants or coyotes. We sat silently for a moment glaring out through the trees at the ominous structure that awaited us. A feeling of dread filled the cab of the truck and our spirits were dampened before we ever stepped foot out into the cold misty rain.
“Well... we're here.” Hilary solemnly stated the obvious, if for no other reason than to break the silence.
“That we are.” Theo agreed. I could hear the concern in his voice. “I'm no psychic, but I get the feeling something doesn't want us here.” I had always played the 'third-eye blind' card. It was safer and less frightening to believe that the things I felt or even saw were merely intuition or imagination. It also helped me to properly conduct my scientific investigations and research with little distraction.
“I don't think you have to be psychic at this place.” Mike chimed in. “We definitely aren't welcome. Everyone who has been here says the same thing.”
“True...” Hilary agreed. “I hope the spirits here are active tonight. I think sometimes they 'hide' when someone who isn't afraid comes, just so they won’t come back.”
“Every situation is different, but I doubt they will all be able to hide from me.” Theo said with the slightest of a grin. We sat in the warm confines of the running pick-up while the wind shield wipers slowly tapped out a rhythm, and I prayed the rain would end before we had to drag our electronic gadgetry out into the unshielded vastness of the night. The radio had gone quiet, as did our conversation when the stuttered drag of the wipers alerted us to the ending of the shower. It was time. It was as if some silent alarm had gone off when all four doors opened simultaneously and we all stepped out into the cold night air. I shuttered and zipped my coat up tight to my neck and pulled my sock hat down low over my ears. Gloved hands began to fill pockets with emf detectors, K-II meters, digital recorders, and cameras. I turned on my Mel-Meter and checked the temperature and saw that the emf reading was a flat zero. I powered it down and placed it back in my pocket.
With flashlights in hand, as the adrenaline surged through my veins, we approached the menacing building. Four stories tall, and somewhat U-shaped, the structure seemed to grow larger with each footstep. Mike held the brightest light while the rest of us made our way over the plastic, orange barricade fence that surrounded the property. He followed behind and quickly caught up to us. The tall, dead grasses were drenched in dampness and chilled our feet as we trudged purposefully toward the infirmary with Hilary and Mike taking the lead. The beam of his light shone back and forth searching the exterior brick walls of the building for an entrance.
“There it is.” Mike mumbled to himself and fixed his light on three limestone steps and an old broken down door. The door hung on its hinges and swung ever so slightly in the cool wind like a lifeless cadaver at the end of the hangman's rope. Pulling the door open to one side, Mike redirected his light to the interior and filled the space with a cold glow. “After you... Be careful and watch your step. This place isn't as safe and strong as it appears.”
“Thanks.” My voice was monotone as I passed him in the doorway. Searching around the room we had entered, I saw an opening to the left and another straight ahead. Hilary walked straight ahead and into the next room. Theo and I followed close behind her. The ceiling was a corrugated metal supported by bar joists and had a poured concrete deck above it. I knew this because I had the startling realization that this was not a safe structure when we filed into the area and found the ceiling to be collapsed over nearly one quarter of the large space.
“Something definitely doesn't want visitors here anymore.” Hilary said to us and in the light of my LED flashlight her eyes looked glazed and empty. “We aren't alone.” The words were hollow and cold, much like the room where we stood. The temperature was noticeably colder than it was outside. I retrieved my mel-meter and checked the readings. No emfs were present, but the temperature was a full eleven degrees cooler than it had been outside.
“Not only are we not alone. We are being watched.” Theo added to the unnerving feel of the bedraggled structure. “Over there...” I snapped a few photos as he pointed past a decrepit easy-chair to one of two accessible doorways.
“Really?” Mike shivered. “That's the way we were going to go, and really the best access to the main structure where the inmate rooms are...” His words were slow and drawn out.
“I don't mind going first.” I spoke up. “I only see an empty old building, so to me it isn't intimidating at all. Not yet, anyway.” I tried to make light of not having any psychic abilities and hoped it would help Hilary find the courage needed to pursue this investigation. They all followed as I walked cautiously through the door and into a long hallway that went to my left and right. Mike quickly turned his light to the right and spoke.
“Through there.” It was all he said, but I knew to follow his lead and take t
he hallway to the right and through the open arched doorway at the end.
The opening led us into another hallway that ran perpendicular to the first and we stood in dizzying wonder at the labyrinth that this building had rapidly become. Mike and Hilary flittered their lights around, searching for the correct doorway. Theo and I stood still, soaking in the history and the putrid feelings that oozed from the walls around us, while Hilary and Mike peeked into nearly a half a dozen doors.
“Over here!” Hilary called out. Single file, we passed through the doorway, like a portal to another world, a dark and evil world. Before us rose a winding and twisting stairwell that spiraled up into the open darkness above. A huge window filled a portion of one of the exterior walls with numerous panes of cracked or broken glass caked with what appeared to be eons of filth and spider webs. The floor and the steps were littered with old paint chips that had peeled from the walls and ceiling and scraps of papers that were water-stained and nearly illegible.
“What the hell? I just swept this out a few weeks ago.” Hilary puzzled.
I began to ascend the steps slowly and looking back over my shoulder, I could see the others waiting hesitantly. “Best to let you get to the first landing before anyone else starts up. One at a time, just to be safe.” Mike said as he glanced from Hilary to Theo.
One by one, step by creaking step, we found our way to the second floor of the infirmary. The dimness of my flashlight broke through the dark as I entered the second floor hallway. Eerie shadows, from discarded and broken furniture and decor, danced across the cold and barren walls. Footsteps came behind me, echoing slowly in the emptiness. Theo appeared first, followed by Mike. Hilary stood motionless in the doorway.
“I'm just going to wait out here. I don't know if it’s such a good idea for everyone to be in the same area at the same time, considering the cave-in we saw downstairs.” She whispered to us.
“Good point Hil.” Mike nodded in accord. “In fact, if you guys want to take my light, I'll just wait here too.”
“I have a light, thanks.” I said though mine was far less bright. Looking over to Theo, I raised my eyebrows.
“You guy's keep it, in case you need it. I have one too.” He drew a small penlight out of his pocket and with a click turned it on. The stairs had led us up into the south west corner. The corridor opened to our left into the west wing and straight ahead to the front section of the infirmary. I began to wander from room to room, casually looking in each one to see if anything grabbed my attention, while Theo walked earnestly down the hallway toward the front of the building and its main entrance. I pulled myself out of the third doorway I had discovered and found Theo frozen in his tracks. The light beam, like a saber, stabbed out across from where he stood and into the main entryway and stairwell. I stood my ground and waited for him to make the first sound or move, but the first sound did not come from Theo.
“Click-Tap, click-tap, click-tap” the sound repeated and faded. Reminiscent of a wooden heel and leather sole of an old boot or dress shoe ascending the metal steps, the sound clamored through the air. Though I consider myself a brave soul, I feared what ghastly being might exit the stairs and expose itself to us. I glared forward and heard Theo suck in his breath with a gasp. Seconds passed like hours until, with a sigh, Theo exhaled.
“Wow...” His whisper filled the empty corridor. “Okay. We may need to regroup.”
“Why? What's going on?”...besides the phantom footsteps, I thought as I neared where Theo stood. “I said we weren't alone. That was an understatement. We are gravely outnumbered by spirits, but there is something darker here too... something malicious... something evil.” His words were sharp and hit us all hard. Though Hilary already had known this, she had only now been truly validated.
Our heartbeats quickened and our breaths were deep and swift when the four of us rejoined at the stairwell door. The thoughts, possibilities, and our imagined fears whirred through our heads. We had only just arrived and already it had seemingly been brought to our attention that this haunting was as legitimate as any we had experienced. The other possibility was that an uninvited and unwelcome person had taken refuge in the infirmary, perhaps a homeless man or a drug addict. The thought of another person being in the infirmary was not good, but also not likely.
Our ears strained through the silence of the night until it almost hurt and the annoying ringing began to overcome the possibility of actually hearing an external sound. No sound could be heard by any of us except for the beat of our hearts and eventually the dull ringing. Mike raised his eyes and pointed his index finger upwards. I nodded, understanding that if someone or something were going up the main stairwell, our best bet was to also move upwards. I crept up the steps carefully, but not without a sound. Pausing with each step, I listened for any movement, but heard nothing. When I had reached the third floor landing, I waved my light over the edge to signal the next adventurer to begin their climb. Hiding my light, I walked silently into the open corridors, identical to the layout of the second floor. I kept watch and listened until I was joined by Theo. We each stood guard. I faced north, down the west wing corridor and Theo faced east towards the main entry stairs until we had all arrived on the third floor. Through a series of hand motions it was decided that we would split up and two of us would go in each direction. Mike and Theo took the west wing and Hilary and I began slowly searching the main hallway rooms toward the front stairs. We 59
continued on, searching room by desolate and unremarkable room.
The four of us joined up at the same stairwell after nearly an hour of paranormal detective work that had left us empty handed. One by one we crept up the open, spiraling staircase. Gathering at the top, we separated into our twosomes again and thought it would be best to take the same areas as we had on the previous floor.
*** Hilary and I had chosen to take turns. While one of us entered a room and investigated it, briefly searching for visitors, clues and any unexpected bits of information, the other waited in the hallway and kept an eye and ear out for any sign of our stair dweller. Bit by bit we whittled our way through the main corridor pausing for a bit at the staircase to do a quick evp session in hopes of finding the answer to who may have been treading on the steps or recording these phantom sounds.
After a brief wait and a few questions asked, Hilary and I passed beyond the stairwell and on to the other rooms in the corridor. The closer we found ourselves to the east wing, the colder it began to feel. Crackling debris filled the silent space around us as I entered the last room before turning the corner into the west wing. Following the beam of my light, I peered around the room... a broken bed-frame and weather rotted mattress, scattered pieces of clothing, and empty bookcase...nothing of particular interest to me. I stuck my flashlight into my coat pocket and rubbed my gloved hands together. Turning back, I reentered the corridor.
I raised my hands to my face and exhaled heavily to warm the bare skin of my face with the heat of my own breath. The cloudy steam billowed forth from my mouth, now thicker than before. Hilary turned slowly towards me and I could see her breath escaping her open mouth. Her eyes were empty and yet still projected fear. From one of my coat pockets, I extracted my mel-meter and checked the temperature.
“This can’t be right. This says it's fifteen degrees in here. It was nearly fifty outside.” I spoke to Hilary, but her response made me question if she had, or could, hear me. “We are almost there. Just ahead. They are waiting.” Her sentences were stuttered and cold, lacking emotion and rhythm. “Who is waiting?” I asked loudly. Dozens of thoughts filled my mind. 'Who is waiting' was only one of them.
“What do you mean?” Hilary asked curiously.
“You said, 'They are waiting'. Who did you mean?” I posed the question a second time. “I did? I, I guess I was just mumbling nonsense. I was kind of 'zoning out' in the cold. All I remember thinking was that is seems a hell of a lot colder than it did earlier.” She said, confirming that she hadn't hear a word I had said
.
“It is colder. My mel-meter says it's about thirty-five degrees colder than it was outside. I have heard of cold spots, but this is a bit extreme.” I spoke as I stepped toward Hilary and the corner of the corridor.
Hilary watched as I walked past her, but didn't move, only following me with her eyes. Every step, every inch, towards the east wing was like trekking through the arctic. The temperature seemed to drop with each passing second. Frost quickly grew on my gadgets until my meter and flashlight both refused to work any longer, just as Hilary caught up to me and we rounded the corner. Twenty yards outside of the far end of the east wing was where the dusk to dawn light stood. Its cold light fought its way in through broken windows and slightly ajar doors. We stood still at the corner looking through the east corridor to where shattered bits of light stabbed at the blackened walls and stained hardwood floors, but we began to see more. Slight movement in the darkness caught our attention and I raised my useless gadgets and Hilary raised her camera, afraid to whisper. Shadow figures emerged and multiplied. The frigid cold and fear had us frozen in place. We could do nothing but watch and wonder.
Photos by Hilary Lee
Chapter 5 SOMETHING WICKED
A dozen or more transparent shadow beings filled the corridor. Mesmerized, we watched as a door, just over half way down, slowly moaned its way open, but instead of cold light escaping through its opening, an icy black vacuum exuded from it and into the hallway behind the shadow beings.
“Do you need help? We can help you.” Hilary stammered. “Maddie, are you here?” The black nothingness grew beyond the shadow spirits and blocked out our view of the corridor behind it, filling the space with a darkness that nothing could escape. Though I could not look away from the gathering of shadows, I could mentally feel the icy crystals of frost growing, covering not only the emf meter in my hand, but my gloves as well. The corridor itself began to appear covered in wintery ice. My feet felt frozen to the floor, and the blood turned cold in my veins, growing through my extremities. I wanted to look over to Hilary, but I could not even move my frozen eyes to one side.
