No Trespassing

by Rachelle Jarred

  “All three of y’all need to take a chill pill,” Marvin exclaimed as he got off his bike and leaned it against the gate. You all are upset, scared, and acting crazy. I can understand that, but you all going back and forth arguing is not gonna help find Sammy any sooner. Just relax. We cannot go in there with our heads all over the place. We do need to hurry up, though, before Willie chops up Sammy.”

  “Marvin’s right, you guys. Well as far as us needing to calm down. Definitely not the chopping up Sammy part,” Parker uttered as he gave Marvin a crazy look. “We need to settle down and get our minds right. We need to be on the same team right now.”

  “I know Sammy is our friend and all but, I just want to go home. I don’t wanna be here at all. This is dangerous you guys. And what if we go in here and Sammy’s not here? What if Willie whatever his name has decomposed Sammy’s body and waiting for us to come back?” Melody rambled.

  “Wow, you have a very active imagination, Melody,” Marvin said, clapping.

  “Oh, shut your piehole, Marvin,” Melody snapped at him.

  “Look, Mel, we can argue back and forth until the sun comes up, but at the end of the day no matter how much of a chicken I may be, I have to go in there and at least see if my best friend needs my help. Now, are you coming or not?” Parker asked.

  She looked Marvin’s way and rolled her eyes at him. He just snickered at her. She then looked back and forth between Parker and Patty before reluctantly telling them yes.

  They all gathered together and were walking to the steps when Patty stepped on something hard. She shrieked at the crackling sound. She jumped behind Parker and he turned his flashlight on.

  “It’s Sammy’s cell phone,” he said, picking it up and examining it closer.

  “Is that blood on it?” Melody asked in a trembling voice. Tears from fear started to form in her eyes.

  “Looks like it,” Parker replied.

  “I was hoping you weren’t gonna say that,” Patty said.

  “Let me see that,” Marvin said, taking the phone out of his brother’s hand. “This blood is still a little fresh.”

  “What does that mean?” Melody asked in a panic.

  “It means Sammy is in trouble and he needs our help,” Parker responded.

  “See, I am so out of here,” Melody said walking back out of the gate. She made it to the corner before the others caught up to her.

  “Where are you going, Melody?” Patty asked, grabbing her by the arm.

  “I’m getting out of here, Patty,” she replied as the tears started to stream down her face. “And if you all had brains you would leave, too.”

  “You can’t just leave, Mel,” Parker said.

  “Oh? And why not? Because you want to prove yourself?”

  “Not only that, but I want to help my friend. My best friend.”

  “That is such crap, Parker, and you know it. Sammy is gone and we cannot change that,” she said as she started to cry hysterically.

  “You don’t know that for sure, Melody,” Parker said, pushing Patty out the way and grabbing Melody by both of her elbows.

  “Let me go, Parker,” she said, trying to wiggle out of his grip.

  “Not until you think more rationally. This isn’t just my fault and it isn’t just Marvin’s fault. We all came here, as a group, and none of us checked to make sure we left this place together. You need to get yourself together and get your head on your shoulders. We are not leaving here again without Sammy; I refuse to. Now, if you wanna leave, then leave. We don’t need you here if you don’t wanna be here,” Parker said angrily as he released his hold on Melody and pushed her away. Luckily, Marvin was there to catch her from hitting the ground when she stumbled backwards. Parker walked back to the abandoned hospital, grabbing a flashlight out of his bag.

  “Are you okay, Melody?” Patty asked hugging her friend.

  “No, I’m not. I’m upset, and hurt right now. I have never seen Parker act like this before; especially not towards me.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean,” Marvin agreed. “Parker’s under a lot of pressure right now. On top of him not knowing if Sammy’s okay, I think he has finally reached his breaking point with people walking all over him.”

  “Fine time to reach a breaking point,” Patty said, sucking her teeth.

  “Exactly,” Melody agreed. “And I don’t have anything to do with that. I have never walked over Parker, and I never plan to do so. He has really lost his cool. I’m just so confused right now.”

  Just as they silenced their conversation, they noticed Parker walking back, carrying the backpack of supplies. He sat the bag down on the ground between them.

  “What’s in the bag, bro?” Marvin asked.

  “Supplies,” he said bluntly. He looked at Melody. “Look, I’m sorry how I acted a few minutes ago. It’s just that I thought we were all friends, and we’re supposed to look out for one another.”

  “We are friends, Parker. You know that,” Melody said, sniffling and wiping her face.

  “So, are you in or not?”

  “I’m in,” she replied hesitantly.

  Parker gave both Patty and Marvin a flashlight. He handed Melody hers and hugged her tightly. As he was pulling away, he paused and kissed her on the cheek. Without making eye contact with her, he squatted back down into his bag. Melody stood there in awe. Patty looked on as a smile crept upon her best friend’s face. Marvin pulled the neckline of his t-shirt over his mouth and smiled.

  “I think we need a plan,” Melody said, squatting down to eye level with Parker.

  “That’s not a bad idea,” he said, looking into her blue eyes. She smiled.

  “Hey, lovebirds, can we get this show on the road?” Marvin said, interrupting their staring contest. “It’s already after midnight. That means we don’t have much time before the sun comes up. Also, don’t forget dad is knocking this place down as soon as the sun rises.”

  “He’s right, you guys. That is a big building and there’s no telling where Sammy could be if he’s still alive,” Patty chimed in.

  “There is no ‘if’,” Parker said, standing back up. “He is still alive. I’m sticking to that until I am proven otherwise.”

  “Way to stay positive, Park,” Marvin said, slapping a hand on his brother’s back.

  “So, what’s the plan, Parker?” Melody asked.

  “Well, like I said, we have no choice but to go in there and find Sammy.”

  “No, duh, Parker,” Patty said, rolling her eyes.

  “My only thing is: what if that guy, Wilbur McNair, is still inside?” Melody asked.

  “It’s Willie McNair,” Marvin chuckled.

  “Who cares?” Melody shot back.

  “I doubt he’s inside, Mel,” Parker said. “This place is abandoned, remember?”

  “Yeah, Melody,” Patty agreed.

  “You guys cannot say that. We thought that yesterday, too, and looked what happened.”

  “That could’ve been a rat or something,” Marvin asked.

  “Rats don’t have big hands, Marvin,” Melody said, placing her hands firmly on her hips.

  “Geez, can you two just quit it?” Parker yelled. “Melody, maybe it was a rat. Maybe it was a person. Or, maybe it was just all in your imagination. Who’s to say exactly what that was? All I know is that I am not leaving here without Sammy, and that’s final.”

  “Don’t you raise your voice at me, Parker Wilson,” Melody yelled back at him.

  “Sorry, Mel. I’m just getting frustrated.”

  “Does it look like I care about your frustration? That is no excuse to be rude and disrespectful to us; especially when going in there was your bright idea anyway.”

  “It was originally Sam and Pat’s idea.”

  “Hey, don’t put me in this,” Patty said in defense.

  “Well it was,” Parker replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

  “Doesn’t matter, Parker,” Mel
ody said, pointing at him. “it was your idea to come back here. If it wasn’t for you and your lack of self-confidence, we wouldn’t even be in this mess, and Sammy would definitely not be missing.” A brush of silence fell over them as they looked at each other with guilty stares. “Look, I’m sorry, but it needed to be said.”

  “I’m glad you look it at that way,” Parker said, walking away. Melody grabbed him by the arm and stopped him in his tracks.

  “I didn’t mean it like that, Parker. I told you before, you don’t have to prove how brave you are by doing something as stupid as this. It was dangerous coming here the first time, and now, because of this stupid idea, one of our friends are missing. I’m hoping he is in here. Did you even think this through before you decided to come the first time?”

  “No,” Parker replied, lowering his eyes to the ground.

  “Exactly my point. Like I said before, if you were thinking rationally, we wouldn’t be in this predicament. All in all, it doesn’t matter who’s fault it is. The only thing that should be on our minds is the fact that Sammy is missing. Right now is not the time to be playing the blame game. We need to find Sammy and get him, and ourselves, out of here in one piece. Okay?”

  “Okay,” they all said in unison.

  “Wait,” Patty said. “What are we gonna do about protection?”

  Parker reached into his bag and gave Patty the crowbar. She whacked her hand with it to test its durability. He handed the baseball bat to Melody and she gladly accepted it. He grabbed the screwdriver and pushed it deep into his pocket. “Is everybody ready?” he asked. The two girls nodded their heads and they headed back to the hospital.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa. What about me?” Marvin asked.

  “You have to get your own weapon. I didn’t pack enough for four people, only three. Sorry, bro.”

  “That is selfish, Parker,” Marvin said as he looked around until he saw a loose pole hanging from the gate. He went over and jiggled it until it came apart. “I’m ready now.”

  The four walked back up to the gate and stood there once again. They were as ready as they would ever be. They all took a deep breath. They all turned on their flashlights as they headed inside the abandoned hospital for the second night in a row.

  Chapter Three:

  Search and Rescue

  “I

  t smells more awful in here than the last time,” Melody said, covering her nose with her sweater.

  “It smells the same to me,” Parker said, shrugging his shoulders. He flicked on his flashlight and the others followed in tow.

  “Wow this is sick,” Marvin said, scanning the room with his flashlight.

  “It does smell worse than before,” Patty said, walking closer to the group.

  They were standing near the receptionist desk as they looked around at the many rooms that lined the dark hallway.

  “Where should we check first?” Marvin asked Parker.

  “Not sure, honestly. Let’s look over there first, I guess,” he said, pointing into the darkness. The others followed behind him as he headed towards one of the rooms. They walked into the room that had a number 13 outside of the door.

  “Stop walking so fast, Parker,” Melody said. She walked a little quicker to catch up to him. She grabbed his arm and locked it in hers. She was determined not to let him go or leave his side by any means.

  “Would you look at this mess?” Patty said. She was shining her flashlight across a bed. She pulled the corner of the sheet and examined it. There were blood stains splotched all over it. She dropped it as soon as she saw cockroaches and ants crawling on the underside of it. She placed her flashlight on the bed again and scanned it all the way up to the pillows. There were more splotches of blood along with hair strands and maggots. The hair strands looked as though they were ripped right out of someone’s scalp the way they appeared.

  “This place is gross.”

  “Tell me about,” Melody said. She was standing between Parker and Marvin as they searched through hospital cabinets. “What are you guys looking for, Parker?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. I guess clues about what happened here,” I responded.

  “I thought we were looking for Sammy?”

  “We can do both, Mel,” Marvin responded.

  “Don’t call me that, Marvin.”

  “Lighten up,” he replied back.

  “I will not lighten up. We need to do what we came here to do. If you guys are gonna be in here trying to find clues to an unsolved mystery, count me out. I did not come here for this,” Melody said, stomping her foot.

  “Calm down, Mel,” Patty said, walking over to her. She grabbed her by her arms. “Look, we are going to find Sammy, okay? It wouldn’t hurt to know what happened here.”

  “I guess,” she said.

  “Or, you can just leave if you don’t want to be here, Melody,” Marvin chimed in.

  “Who asked you? If you think I’m walking out of here this time of night by myself, you’re crazier than I thought,” she said, rolling her eyes at him.

  “I was joking,” he laughed.

  “But I wasn’t,” she shot back.

  “Hey, guys, look what I found,” Parker said, momentarily breaking up their feud. They walked over to where he was. They surrounded him as he shined his light inside of a closet that was behind the hospital room door.

  “Is that a bloody axe?” Melody asked with a quivering voice.

  “Yeah, I think it is,” Parker replied, reaching for it.

  “Don’t touch it!” Patty yelled as she grabbed his arm and pulled it back.

  “Why not?” he and Marvin said simultaneously.

  “Because it might have some disease or something on it.”

  “I highly doubt that,” Marvin said.

  “Well I don’t,” she replied, folding her arms across her chest.

  “I don’t doubt that either, Marvin,” Melody said. “Even though you don’t think it does, you could be wrong.”

  “Well, if it’s been here for 45 years, I don’t believe that a disease or whatever would still be on it. There is no possible way that there could be.”

  “Well, do what you want,” Melody replied. “Don’t cry to me when your hand falls off or catches an infection and needs to be cut off,” she walked back over to the other side of the room.

  “Me neither,” Patty said, walking away and joining Melody.

  “What about you, Parker? You’re with your big brother, right?”

  “Sorry, Bro. I like both of my hands right where they are.”

  “You guys are a bunch of wimps.”

  “Call us what you want,” Patty said. “At least we won’t have to worry about having to get our hands chopped off, or something if it gets infected.”

  “Just from one touch? You little kids are silly,” Marvin said, waving them away.

  “Okay, don’t believe us. Don’t say we didn’t warn you,” Melody said as she and Patty peered out the window.

  Marvin moved his flashlight back across the axe again. On second thought, I better not, he thought to himself.

  “What are you guys looking at?” Parker asked Melody and Patty as he joined them at the window.

  “Nothing, really. Just looking outside for comfort, wishing we were out there. Well, at home in our beds, anyway,” Melody said, looking at her watch and seeing that the time was nearing 1 a.m. “It’s getting late, you guys. We need to find Sammy, and fast.”

  “She’s right,” Patty said in agreement. “It’s 12:55 in the morning and we haven’t even began our search. We have to stop fooling around and I mean now.”

  “You’re both right. The demolition is gonna probably be here right at the crack of dawn. Come on, guys,” Parker said, leading them back into the lobby. “Patty, you check that room,” he pointed to the room next to the one they just exited. “Marvin, you check that room. Melody, you can look in there, and I will look over there. Make sure to look ar
ound thoroughly for Sammy and we will meet back here in about ten, maybe fifteen, minutes.” Without any arguments, the four went into their designated room in search of Sammy.

  Patty walked over to room 14 with her flashlight illuminating the way for her. She pushed on the heavy door and listened to the spine-tingling creaking as it opened all the way. It hit the wall behind it and she slowly entered the room. There were two beds in here; they were flipped over, and so were a few crash carts that doctors used to revive people. Using her flashlight, she walked further into the room. She moved the door and checked the closet for Sammy first. She opened the door but nothing was there but some clothes hanging up, and some cobwebs. She closed it again and walked over to the bathroom. The same as the closet, nothing was there.

  “This is such a waste,” she said aloud to herself. She walked over to look on the other side of the beds. As soon as she walked past the first bed, laying on the floor was a skeleton. It was brown and covered in cobwebs and worms were playing through its bones. She quickly ran out of the room and ran into room 11 where Patty was.

  “Aahhh!” Melody screamed when Patty grabbed her from behind. She swung her fists and accidently hit Patty in the chin.

  “What was that for?” Patty yelled, grabbing her chin.

  “Are you crazy, Pat? Why on earth would you scare me like that? Are you just trying to give me a heart attack?”

  “No, sorry. I didn’t mean to but I got scared.”

  “Scared of what, Patty?” Melody asked as she paused.

  “I found a skeleton in the room.”

  “Really, Pat? A skeleton? You almost killed your best friend over a bag of bones?” she asked sarcastically before bursting into laughter. After thinking it through, Patty realized that it was ridiculous and joined Melody in laughter.

  “I don’t care what you say, I’m not going back in there. I’m staying right here with you, Mel.”

  “Cool beans,” she replied.

  “Have you found anything that might lead us to Sammy yet?”

  “Nope. The only place I haven’t checked was the bathroom and the closet.”

  “Well, I will check it with you, then.” The two girls walked close together as they entered the bathroom first. As they both used their flashlights, they saw that there were no clues there, so they headed over to the closet.