We moved around the industrial facility as our movement and voices echoed through the building. I peered into a doorway that opened into a huge space, like a cafeteria, with brown-tiled flooring, peeling white walls, and a crumbling ceiling. Beyond the wide space were several dark halls shooting off the back.
I glanced at Braden. He lifted his eyebrows, gesturing at the dark corridors. But in that same moment, a strange sound traveled out from the darkness, causing prickles to lift on the nape of my neck. It was a high-pitched screeching sound that rose and fell, then faded away.
I turned to Kaitlin. Her eyes wide as saucers, and she shook her head in micro-shakes in a terrified posture of refusal.
“It’s okay, Kaitlin,” I said. “It’s just an old building, like a dining hall. At least it’s not where they did the lobotomies and shit.” I huffed, trying to lighten her mood. But honestly, this place creeped me out, too. It didn’t matter it was the food service building. It still held its own morbid secrets and haunting mysteries.
“I don’t like it in here,” she said. “And that sound. What the hell is that?” She stared into the darkness of the corridors. “It’s like someone’s trapped. Tortured. Just wailing.”
Her words sent chills along my skin, and I listened for it again. The silence calmed me. But then, the eerie sound returned, and my flight response tensed my muscles.
But something else was stronger. The urge to explore. To find whatever it was that drew us here. My mind flashed with images of the dark corridors and what they might hold—more dining rooms, storages, unknown alcoves. Ghosts, even.
Before I realized it, I was across the dining hall, standing at the passageways to the back halls, waving for the other to join me.
I reached through Kaitlin’s elbow as we entered the darkness of the middle corridor. Our footsteps echoed through the deep hall as we crunched across fallen plaster and bits of debris. The light from the glass-block windows faded behind us. Now the only illumination that entered the space was from the edges of the boarded-up windows. I searched for weakness or gaps of light, keeping alert to any possible escape routes.
We moved through the dark hallway, glancing into side rooms, half expecting a ghoul to jump out at any moment. Some rooms had metal tables or sinks, and others held old boxes. The corridor snaked and turned deeper into the building, leading us to random open spaces.
“Check this out,” Nick said.
We gathered at the opening to a side room where he stood and poked in. Everything in the space was shiny tin—a table in the center and counters along the sides, a runner along the ceiling with huge sharp hooks, and a tall spike at the side of the room pointing directly up from the floor.
My heart dropped as I stared at the horrible devices of torture. “What the hell is this?” My voice trembled as I cowered at the doorway.
Nick shined his light around the space, illuminating the shiny metal surfaces, and stepped into the room.
“Don’t go in there,” I blurted. “It looks dangerous.” My voice shook.
“It looks like a butcher’s workroom,” Braden said.
I exhaled for miles. He was right. I’d allowed my imagination to run away with me, losing sight of the obvious. But still, I inched back away from the view of the sharp metal objects, which were likely used to rip carcasses apart.
Leaning back, I gazed down toward a larger space that opened up at the end of the hall. Light glowed in the area, welcoming me closer to it. I pulled on Kaitlin to follow me, and she peered toward the space with a skeptical glare.
We stepped toward the room, drawn by the light, and I turned to the guys. “Come this way, there’s…” But my voice stuck in my neck.
They were gone. Vanished.
“Braden?” I whispered. “Nick?” I clamped onto Kaitlin’s arm. “It’s not funny, you guys. Cut the shit.”
We stood like statues in silence, straining to hear any clue of which direction they’d gone.
“You guys are assholes,” Kaitlin whimpered.
My heart pounded in my ears as I scanned the corridor we’d just come through. We’d taken so many turns, I wasn’t sure I could find our way back. I checked my phone, and it was at seventeen percent. My flashlight was draining it fast.
“What’s your charge?” I asked Kaitlin.
She glanced at her phone. “Three percent.”
“Shit!” I turned my light off. “Let’s use yours until it runs out. Then we’ll switch to mine.”
“Grace…?” Kaitlin’s voice squeaked out of her.
Her lost tone proved she didn’t know what to do next.
“Just stay close to me,” I said. Then I made myself call out, “You guys. Cut the crap. Get back here!” My voice echoed throughout the empty spaces, then bounced back to me with no evidence of where they might have gone. “They’re just screwing with us,” I said. “Come on. Two can play that game.”
I pulled Kaitlin toward the glowing light of the large room. We entered the stagnant space, and Kaitlin turned her flashlight off. There was enough light to see the shadows of items around the room. Broken chairs, overturned trash cans, and parts of a table. In the center of the room was a massive pile of dirty, soggy chunks of plaster and insulation. I stepped closer to it, then looked up. A gaping hole in the ceiling spilled its guts all over the floor, reminding me of the infirm condition of the condemned building.
My eyes followed the strongest beams of light, landing on the boarded-up windows at the rear of the room. As I glanced around to find the brightest glow, my hair stood on end as the familiar screeching sound pierced through my soul.
Kaitlin jumped like a frightened cat. “Jesus,” she screamed.
The sound hit a rapid high pitch that then turned into a slower drone of pain and misery. Like someone being tortured.
My eyes filled with tears of sorrow as a heavy weight pushed down on me—the weight of intense, deep sadness. It filled my throat, making it difficult to speak or even breathe.
Frozen in place, I moved my eyes to the side to see Kaitlin. Tears fell from her open eyes, and she trembled all over.
“I’m trapped,” she murmured.
“What?”
“I can’t move,” she said.
I forced my eyes toward the light from the boarded window, then back to Kaitlin. The heavy weight pulled at my hands, dragging my shoulders down. I fought it, but it was so hard.
“I feel it, too,” I whispered. “Fight it, Kaitlin.”
“But I’m tired,” she said as she slowly dropped to her knees.
“No,” I shouted. “Stay up!” Fighting against the weight of heavy sadness, I grabbed Kaitlin by the shoulders. “Up! Come on. We’re breaking out of here!”
I dragged Kaitlin past the wet mash that had fallen out of the broken ceiling, but the screeching all around us grew louder.
“Grab that trash can.” I pushed Kaitlin toward a pile of debris near the boarded windows.
I rummaged through the broken furniture, then pulled a wooden chair leg out of the hoard. Kaitlin dragged a metal can over, scraping and banging enough to rattle my bones.
“Shh. Don’t give away our location.” I hushed her with my hands, then took the handle of the metal can. I spun it to find the least dented side, imagining curious trash collection guys smashing it repeatedly against a garbage truck to empty its contents, while vying for a glimpse of the lunatics. Then I flipped it over and pushed the strongest side under the window.
I slid a wooden box up to the base of the can, then stepped on it. With the broken chair leg in hand, I hoisted myself onto the top of the trash can.
“Hold me steady,” I said to Kaitlin. “Grab my legs.”
When I stood on the can, it wobbled under my weight. Steadying myself, I felt along the bottom of the plywood board that covered the window. Its screws had come loose from the concrete window jambs, and the entire board flapped outward.
“Shit. We can get out this way,” I whispered. “You first, Missy!”
“I hate when you call me that,” she said as she held the window frame to steady herself.
“No you don’t,” I said. “You love it.”
She rolled her eyes, and I chuckled. Her mother called her ‘Missy’ once, and she’d gone crazy. I couldn’t help but keep it going. Especially at a time like this.
“How am I going to fit through that?” When she pressed the board outward, it opened a few inches.
I took the wooden chair leg, using it to prop the opening. Like a crowbar, I pushed down and watched it wedge the board open, loosening screws halfway up the height of the window. I pulled the chair leg out, then propped the board open with it.
“Just slide through now,” I said. “Then hang from your hands as low as possible…and drop.”
She hopped up to the ledge to peer out. “It’s just grass. That’s good.”
“You got this.” I wove my fingers together, telling her to put her foot in my hands. “I’ll give you a boost.”
Once her foot was cradled in my hands, I hoisted her up farther. She wiggled, her butt swaying from side to side like a stuck animal, and I burst out laughing. My legs crossed to keep from peeing myself, and I worried I’d fall from the can.
“Bitch,” Kaitlin shouted, wriggling non-stop.
I cracked up more as I pushed her out the window. In a slow-motion fall, her weight carried her out the opening and she fell down the side of the building as she clung on to the window ledge.
“Now drop,” I coached her.
Her fingers released. With a thud, she landed below.
“Come on,” she squealed. “Hurry.”
I looked behind me, sure an entity would be hovering, waiting to grab me and pull me into the abyss of insanity. Panic filled my every muscle. The sound of the screeching shot terror through me, and I jumped at the window. I shimmied until I hung at my waist, halfway in, halfway out.
Kaitlin reached for me from below. “Come on!”
Gripping the sill, I pulled my legs up. Something was going to grab my ankle and yank me back in. I was sure of it. And I struggled to get my body out of there. Before I could get a grip, my legs followed me out the window and their weight pulled me off the ledge. I fell with a thud. Right on top of Kaitlin.
She squirmed beneath me, then pushed me off. We searched each other for signs of injury. At the same moment, we burst out laughing. It was a release of terror. And of immense sadness. And tears poured from our eyes from the depth of the laughter and the relief.
“Oh my God,” I babbled. “I can’t believe we…”
My words were cut off from the echoing call of our names from within the building.
“Grace!”
“Kaitlin!”
Chapter 6
Braden and Nick’s panicked voices boomed through the interior of the dining hall. They’d clearly expected to find us cowering in a corner, whimpering for their rescue.
But hell no.
We’d got our asses out of there, and it was their turn to be pranked.
“Let’s go.” I jumped up, grabbing for Kaitlin’s hand. “Let’s get to the green and hide behind a tree. They’ll freak when they can’t find us.”
“I feel bad,” Kaitlin whined.
“They ditched us first, Kaitlin,” I barked. “They deserve a little payback.”
She nodded and allowed me to pull her up, assisting me as little as possible.
We ran around the side of the dining facility and out to the open lawn area. I glanced at the tree that spooked us earlier, deciding to go in the opposite direction. I stopped at the base of a tree that’s branches all pointed upward, leaving no possibility of having ever been used for a hanging.
I pulled Kaitlin behind me. We hovered behind the thick trunk, peeking out for any sign of the boys exiting the building.
“Any second now,” I whispered, staring at the side where we had originally crept in.
Then, as if a bomb detonated in my brain, the sound of a man’s voice spun me around with a shock that loosened my bones.
“Hide and seek?” His voice bounced around in my shattered skull.
“Jesus!” I huffed. “You scared the shit out of me.”
I struggled to regain my composure. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
I pulled in a full breath to try to see straight again. “No, sorry. I didn’t mean to swear,” I apologized. He seemed too proper to be sworn at, and I felt guilty. “You just took us by surprise.”
“Yeah, this place can do that to a person,” he said. “You know, make you jumpy.”
“I guess.” I swiveled toward Kaitlin only to find she hadn’t recovered from the fright yet. Her face was sheet white, and she panted while holding her hand at her heart. I nearly burst out laughing again for lack of any other appropriate response.
“Where are your friends?” he asked, looking in the direction of the dining hall.
“Oh, they’re right over there. Exploring,” I answered, making it seem like they’d be rejoining us any second.
“Well, they won’t find much there,” he said. “Most of the activity happens here, behind you.” He pointed to the row of wards at our backs.
“Activity?” I repeated.
“Yeah. Like paranormal stuff,” he said. “You know, hauntings. Is that not what you guys are looking for?”
My eyes widened with intrigue. “Well, not exactly. We didn’t even know this place existed until today.”
“Really?” He studied my face to be sure I wasn’t messing with him. “Could have fooled me.”
“Hmm?” My head tipped.
What the hell was he talking about? First, he was some scholarly, historical dude. Now he was an investigator questioning our purpose for being there.
“I don’t know,” he added. “Just seems like you might have other intentions.” He shrugged.
Maybe he thought we were there to vandalize the place. Or to break in. He wasn’t far off then. I guessed if he were the groundskeeper, then it made sense he’d be protective of it.
I glanced back for any sign of the guys. Tom seemed nice, but he still was a stranger and creeped me out.
“The wards are worth having a look at. That’s the Excited Ward over there.” He pointed to the building we’d stopped in front of earlier. The one Kaitlin and I’d frozen at.
“Why is it called the Excited Ward?” I asked, gazing at its deteriorating steps and decrepit front entry.
“It’s where the unstable women were sent. And the violent, unruly ones. The ones who had to be strapped to the beds with restraints.”
“That’s messed up,” Kaitlin mumbled.
Tom pointed to the building next to it. “That’s the Convulsing Ward. The epileptics and women with seizures were housed there. They were thought to be possessed at the time, probably.” He turned to the building on the other side of the Excited Ward. “And that’s the Untidy Ward. For women who needed help with…personal hygiene.”
“What?” Kaitlin asked with the corner of her lip raised.
He hesitated. “Women who soiled themselves or made a mess of it. That sort of thing,” he muttered, turning away from our gazes. I was sure he blushed.
“That’s nuts,” I said, staring at each building, imagining the women who would be assigned to each one. “Who made the decisions on where each prisoner would be locked up?”
“Patients,” Tom said.
“What?” I shook my head.
“Patients. Not prisoners.”
“Oh, right. That’s what I meant,” I clarified apologetically. I was a little surprised by his sensitive reaction to the word prisoner, even among the condemned buildings of an old insane asylum.
“The patients would be evaluated by the superintendent at the administration building over t
here.” Tom pointed toward where we first entered the grounds. “Depending on their level of violence.”
“Violence?” I repeated.
“Many of the patients were criminally insane—sent here for murdering their own parents or killing their children. But most were just misdiagnosed and given prescriptions for the most advanced medical practices of the time. You know, shock therapy and lobotomies.”
“That’s actually terrifying,” I interjected. “I can’t even imagine it.”
“Well, you don’t have to. You…” His voice trailed off as shouting came from the other direction.
Braden and Nick came barreling toward us, yelling our names.
“What the fuck?” Nick shouted. “How the hell did you get out here?”
They hurried over to us, panting with frantic expressions strewn across their faces.
“You scared the shit out of us,” Braden said. “Grace,” he panted. “I didn’t know what happened to you.”
As I stared into his wild eyes, guilt washed over me. “What? You guys abandoned us. What did you expect?”
He reached out to touch my hair, but he stopped himself. Again, he reached for my arm, but stopped. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“Yeah, you said that already,” I teased. “But you tried to scare the shit out of us first. On purpose!” I stared at him with accusing eyes.
“It was just a joke,” he said. “We hid in one of the refrigerators, then waited for you guys to turn back and search for us.”
“We were gonna jump out and watch you scream your heads off,” Nick added.
“Well, you should know us better than that,” I said. “We’re more resourceful than you think. If you’re looking for damsels in distress, you should hang out with Cammie and Lauren.”
Kaitlin chuckled. We hated Cammie and Lauren. They got all the guys because they faked being dumb and giggled at every word the boys said. It was infuriating. But they were also known for handing out free blow jobs, so that gave us a little vindication anyway.
Braden rolled his eyes, then scanned the dirt on my shirt and the fresh rip in the knee of my jeans. “Sorry. I didn’t mean for it to go like that.” He glared at Nick, clearly feeling bad for following along with his trick.
The Shuttered Ward Page 5
