Delayed Departures

by Terri Reid

  She screamed when hands grabbed her.

  “It’s me,” Bradley said, pulling her against him. “Mary, it’s me, Bradley.”

  She scrambled to her knees and locked her arms around him. “Oh, Bradley,” she cried. “Oh. It was so awful. It was so…”

  And then she sobbed again, but this time it was in relief.

  Bradley bent down and picked her up in his arms. “I’m getting you out of here,” he said. “I’m getting you out of here, and you’re never coming back.”

  Chapter Forty-nine

  The farther away from that corridor they got, the better Mary started to feel. She took a deep, shuddering breath and turned to Bradley. “I think I’m okay now,” she said. “I can walk.”

  He shook his head and continued to carry her. “I’m sure you can,” he said, his voice tight. “But I’m not sure I can let you go just yet.”

  She laid her head on his shoulder. “Scared the hell out of you, did I?” she asked.

  She was relieved to hear the surprised chuckle. “Yes you did,” he said. He paused for a few moments and finally asked. “What happened?”

  “I don’t really know,” she admitted. “It was almost as if I was in some kind of trance. I really thought I’d only walked to the other side of the lobby, but when Mike found me, I was lost in the bowels of the building.”

  She lifted her head and looked at him. “Did you hear the scream?” she asked.

  “Your scream?” he asked. “Yeah, I sure did. As soon as I put my hands on you.”

  “No, the scream from the girl who was being tortured,” she said. “Did you hear it?”

  He shook his head. “No, I didn’t,” he said. “We were searching for you, and suddenly Mike appeared and told me you were in trouble. So I just took off running.”

  He didn’t tell her about the panic in his heart and how he could never forgive himself if she came to harm because he hadn’t been there for her. He didn’t tell her about the fear he could taste when he finally found her, curled up in a ball in the empty corridor, or the pain in his heart when she screamed in terror when he touched her. He didn’t tell her any of it. He just pulled her tighter against his chest and protected her as best he could.

  They finally reached the cafeteria in the middle of the building where the rest of the group had ended up. The large, open room had gray walls and gray linoleum floors. Long, white, fluorescent fixtures hung from the ceiling, their once white enamel paint now rusted and peeling. The barred windows were covered over with plywood, and the floor was pockmarked with the metal fittings that had held the legs of the metal tables and serving counters that used to be affixed to the floors.

  “Mary, how are you?” Ian asked, his face ashen with worry. “Can you walk, darling?”

  Mary nodded. “Yes, I think I can,” she said. “But I don’t know if Bradley is ever going to let me.”

  She turned to him and placed a kiss on his cheek. “I’m fine. I’m better. I’m back to being me,” she said. “Besides, I need to understand what just happened.”

  Reluctantly, he put her down on her feet.

  “Here, Mary,” Dee said. “You can sit on this old chair. It’s pretty solid.”

  Gwen hovered close by. “Honey, you look like you’ve seen more than a ghost.”

  Mary nodded at Gwen, then sat on the chair and took a moment to gather her thoughts. “Okay, so while you were all doing something with Ian’s meter,” she began, “I thought I was just checking out the lobby. I had my flashlight down against the floor and the wall so it wouldn’t interfere in the filming. And all I thought I was doing was exploring the area.”

  “And how were you feeling?” Ian asked.

  “That’s a good question,” she said. “I was kind of feeling like I was being drawn somewhere, like I needed to check something out. But, I really did think I was right next to all of you.”

  She looked around, found Mike hovering nearby and smiled at him. “So, I was about to open a door that I shouldn’t have when Mike appeared and stopped me,” she said. “So, now can you tell me what was behind that door?”

  He shrugged. “Yeah, cat’s kind of out of the bag now,” he said. “It was the lobotomy clinic. There were dozens of chairs like the one you saw in that room.”

  Her eyes widened. “That was a lobotomy?” she asked. “But it wasn’t surgery. She didn’t have any anesthesia. They were torturing her.”

  “Ah, the Walter Freeman brand of lobotomy,” Ian said. “I’ve read about them, but never had to see one performed with my own eyes. A ghastly procedure.”

  “What is it?” Dee asked.

  “Freeman, who many agree was a quack or, at the very least, a showman, developed a procedure where the frontal lobes could be reached through the front eye socket by means of a orbitoclast, which was basically a modified ice-pick,” Ian said. “They’d hammer it in, stir things up a bit, and voila, instant lobotomy. Freeman went all over the United States, doing multiple lobotomies a day.”

  “Like that?” Mary asked. “Like what I saw? He did that to people across the country?”

  Ian nodded.

  “I am always surprised at how inhumane humanity can be,” Mary said, shaking her head. “It was awful.”

  She paused for a moment. “But that wasn’t the most frightening thing that happened back there,” she said. She took a deep breath and then continued. “Mike was trying to lead me out, get me back to all of you, when I heard someone call for me.”

  She looked at Bradley. “I thought it was you,” she said. “And, of course, I turned and started to run in that direction. But, once again, Mike stopped me. He told me to listen carefully, so I did. The voice called me, and I realized it sounded like you, a lot like you, but it wasn’t you. Someone else was trying to use your voice to lure me farther into the building.”

  Ian looked over at Mike. “Do you know what it was?” he asked.

  Mike nodded. “It wasn’t good,” he said. “Places like this, with all the pain and grief that surround them, will attract things. Things that feed on hate and pain.”

  He sighed, and then he smiled. “But they’re kind of repelled by love,” he said. “Which is why I knew I had to get the big guy to come and get you. Anything seeing this guy tearing through the corridors to get to his lady, well, would run the other way.”

  “And they did,” Mary said, her eyes meeting Bradley’s. “Once he was there, once I realized it was Bradley, the evil was pushed back.”

  “Okay, now that we’ve had this lovely tête-á-tête, can I get Mary the hell out of here?” Bradley asked.

  “Wait,” Mary said. “Did you get your readings? And did you get some film?”

  Dee nodded. “Oh, yeah, we got some good stuff,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had stuff so charged before.” He looked around the room and smiled at his companions. “You guys really bring the crazies out.”

  “Why, yes,” Mary replied. “Yes, we do.”

  Chapter Fifty

  Within ten minutes, they had packed up their gear, walked back from the cafeteria and were standing in front of the large lobby doors. Bradley had his arm wrapped tightly around Mary’s shoulders, keeping her close to his side. Ian was still getting readings on the EMF, and Dee was slowly taking final footage of the lobby.

  “So, what do you think?” Dee asked. “You think they’re gonna let us out these doors?”

  “I hadn’t thought of that,” Ian said. “They sure did a fine job closing them after us.” He put the meter down on the ground and tugged on the door handles. They didn’t budge.

  “This isn’t funny,” Mary said, hating the panic that was beginning to creep into her heart.

  Dee put his camera down and joined Ian at the door. “You take one door, and I’ll take the other,” he suggested. They both pulled with all their might, but the doors held fast.

  “Mary! Mary!”

  They all froze as the words echoed through the corridor and into the lobby.

  �
�Well, shit,” Dee said. “I didn’t have anything recording it.”

  Ian moved over, standing in front of Bradley and Mary. “I’m thinking we ought to be more worried about defending ourselves than recording our experiences,” he said.

  “Mary! I’m coming.”

  Taking a deep breath, Mary shook her head. “No!” she stated firmly.

  “Excuse me?” Bradley asked.

  “No, they’re not going to win,” she said. “Fear is not going to win.”

  Mary walked away from the door and into the middle of the lobby.

  “Mary,” Bradley said, running after her. “We don’t know what’s coming down that corridor.”

  She nodded. “But I know it wins if I run away,” she said. “It wins if I’m afraid.”

  “Well, dammit, I’m afraid enough for both of us,” he said. “Please, come back by the door.”

  “Mary! Mary!”

  She put her hands on her hips and shook her head. “No,” she said. “I have to do this.”

  Bradley released a groan of frustration. “Fine,” he said. “But I’m doing this with you.”

  She nodded. “That works,” she said with a half smile.

  “Me, too,” Mike said, appearing on the other side.

  “I’m part of the family,” Ian said, coming up on the other side of Bradley. “So, I’m in, too.”

  Ian looked over his shoulder. “Dee, are you joining us?” he called.

  “Hell, no,” he called, picking up the camera. “I’m filming.”

  Mary laughed. “Good for you,” she said, and then she noticed Gwen standing on the other side of Mike. “And don’t worry. Your family is represented. We’ve got your mom on our team.”

  A soft glow appeared at the edge of the corridor, growing larger as the voice came closer. “Mary,” the voice called.

  “Yes?” Mary called back. “What do you want?”

  The movement of the glow halted momentarily.

  “Hey, I really don’t appreciate you stealing my voice,” Bradley called out. “Why don’t you come out here so we can settle this.”

  “Mary.” It called out, but this time it was weaker.

  “You come much closer, and this ghost is gonna whip your ass!” Gwen called out. “Going around playing like you’re someone you’re not.”

  Ian chuckled softly. “You’re outnumbered, and we aren’t backing down, laddie,” he said. “So you’d better be sure of yourself before you enter this lobby.”

  The glow lessened and seemed to retreat.

  “Open the door, or we’re coming down the corridor after you,” Mary called.

  The doors burst open.

  “Thank you,” Mary called, exhaling with relief. She turned to the rest of the group. “Okay then. Let’s go home.”

  Bradley bent over and kissed her. “You are amazing,” he said.

  She smiled and sighed softly. “I’m kind of feeling amazing,” she said.

  Chapter Fifty-one

  “So what did you guys get while I was on my Alice in Wonderland trip?” Mary asked as they drove back home.

  “We got amazing EMFs, and I’m sure we got some EVPs.” Dee said. Then he added with a little sarcasm, “and we got it all on this antiquated equipment.”

  “I think the doors closing behind us is going to be a show stopper,” Ian said. Turning to Dee he asked, “How long is it going to take you to edit this?”

  “Hell, I don’t think we want to edit it,” Dee said. “I think we want to show raw footage. I think that will be a lot more dramatic.”

  Ian nodded. “You’re right,” he said. “That will make a bigger impact, especially for our friend Ollie.”

  “Speaking of Ollie,” Mary said, turning to Bradley, “do we have enough evidence to get a search warrant?”

  Bradley shook his head. “It depends on what Rosie and Stanley found,” he said. “We need to be able to place them at the asylum. At this point, we can’t prove they were even there.”

  As soon as they arrived home, they hurried up the stairs and into the house and found Rosie and Stanley sound asleep on the couch with the footage still running. Shaking his head, Ian let the door slam shut behind him. Stanley woke with a start.

  “Hey,” he called out. Then, seeing who it was, he swallowed his remarks. “I was just resting my eyes for a mite,” he said. “Couldn’t have been closed for more than a minute or two.”

  Rosie mumbled something in her sleep and buried her head deeper in the couch pillow. Stanley leaned over and shook her shoulder. “Rosie, sweetie, you gotta wake up,” he said.

  Rosie batted her eyelids a couple of times and then realized who was in the room. “Oh, welcome home,” she said. “Did Stanley tell you the good news?”

  “Good news?” Bradley asked. “What good news?”

  “We found a truck,” Rosie said. “Just like you said. A satellite truck.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Mary asked, coming around to the couch. “When? Where?”

  “Don’t get too excited,” Stanley said. “It’s a phone company truck. And their guy climbed up on one of the towers.”

  Ian turned to Dee. “I don’t remember seeing any phone lines out there,” he said.

  “And most phone lines are buried,” Dee said. “Especially out in the country.”

  “Where’s the scene?” Dee asked.

  Rosie handed him a piece of paper. “I wrote it down, just like you said,” she replied.

  Dee reversed the feed and moved it to the time Rosie had recorded. Sure enough, a satellite van pulled up on the road next to the asylum, pulling back and parking behind a group of trees.

  “Looks like someone is trying to hide,” Ian said.

  “I don’t even remember recording this footage,” Dee said, and then he smiled. “This is when I had the camera on remote to get some stock footage of farmland. Sven and I were inside with another camera and our meters.”

  “Look,” Mary said. “They’ve seen the camera and are running towards it.” She stood up and walked toward the television screen. “Hey, I know that guy. He’s the jerk who tried to sell me equipment.”

  “Ah, there you are, Dee,” Ian said, “coming out of the asylum. And there our friends go, running away so they won’t get caught.”

  Bradley glanced down at his watch. “Well, I think we have enough evidence to get a warrant,” he said. “The thing is, I’m not sure when I want to pull it on him.”

  Ian grinned. “Oh, well, I’d like to see their presentation first,” he said. “And then I’d like them to sit through our presentation about the asylum with this new little bit we just viewed at the end.”

  Mary laughed. “Oh, I think that will be perfect.”

  Chapter Fifty-two

  “Good morning,” Ian said into his phone the next morning. “This is Sir Ian MacDougal from the MacDougal Foundation of Paranormal Research.”

  Ian looked up and winked at Mary. “Oh, you’ve heard of me,” he said. “I’m so flattered.”

  “He’s heard about Ian’s money,” Mary whispered to Bradley.

  “Well, I’m in town for the conference, and I heard about your new equipment,” he said. “As a matter of fact, one of your representatives stopped one of my associates and shared his card with her.”

  “That ass,” Mary whispered, and Ian nearly choked on his laughter.

  “Sorry,” he said in the phone, shaking his head at Mary. “Just swallowed the wrong way. Anyway, the reason for my call is that I’d like to get together with you at the end of the conference today and talk business. I’m part of the final presentation, but I thought we could meet right afterwards and I could learn more about your products. You can ship to the UK can’t you?”

  “No, I’m sorry,” Ian said with a smirk. “Before the presentation won’t work. I get too nervous before a presentation, and I can’t think straight. But, you know, if you have other places to go after the conference, I’m sure I can spend my 1.2 million dollars on equipment from another
vendor.”

  Ian smiled widely and nodded. “Oh, that would be so kind of you,” he said. “Yes, I’d appreciate it if you could reschedule your other meeting. I can promise you that our meeting at the end of the conference will be life changing.”

  Mary clapped her hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter.

  “Yes, thank you,” he said. “I’ll see you later today.”

  “Great job,” Bradley said. “And now we wait for the next call.”

  A few minutes later, Bradley’s phone rang. He looked down at the displayed number and smiled. “I love when a plan comes together,” he said before he clicked on the phone. “Hi, Sherry. What’s up? Great! They’ve asked for late check out. You are an angel. Thanks so much!”

  He hung up the phone and smiled at Ian and Mary. “The plot thickens.”

  Chapter Fifty-three

  The conference center was packed again as Mary and the team made their way to their tables. As Mary crossed the room, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see the same man who’d stopped her the day before.

  “Can I help you?” she asked, her voice cold and professional.

  “I just wanted to thank you for letting your friend know about our products,” he said. “We have a meeting set up with him after the conference.”

  “Oh, wow, I didn’t know that,” Mary said, crossing her fingers behind her back. “Well, Ian’s a big player in the field of paranormal research.”

  The man nodded. “Yes, I’ve heard about him,” he said.

  “Oh,” Mary said, looking surprised. “I didn’t realize you were in paranormal research, too. I thought you did something else altogether.”

  He shook his head. “No. No, you and I spoke yesterday afternoon about my research team,” he said. “We beta test Ollie’s products.”

  “That’s right,” she said, shaking her head. “Silly me. Why did I think you had something to do with phones? Crazy, right?”