Every town has its secrets. And when whispered in the dead of night, they become stories. Stories that get passed down generation after generation, turning into legends that nobody dare question. At the edge of a town called Amity Park, a ruined building covered with ivy stood like a gravestone. North Mercy. Somewhere along the stories, some of the letters faded out. No coincidence, since the building and its rumored inhabitants showed No Mercy. It was once a notorious psychiatric hospital, teeming with doctors and patients. But the real horror began in the back of the building, where they kept the teenagers and kids that seemed far too young for any type of illness. It was truly a shame that so many died before they could rest at peace. Even after it closed, some believed it wasn't just deaths, but cold-blooded murder. If you grew up in Amity, your dreams would be haunted by that tale - of the receptionist who stayed to care for the patients when no one else stepped up.
It all started with a storm.
Late one night while the hospital was still in operation, the building lost electricity in the midst of a thunderstorm. Storms like this were common, so there wasn't much worry. Until a patient went missing. The next morning, the staff found the girl's body burnt to a crisp, in the woods just behind the ward. While it raised some suspicion, the town was able to chalk it up to a forest fire struck by lightning, which also occurred from time to time. Several months later, another patient was caught in a fire, another storm, another power outage. By now the staff itself was growing weary of the woman who always stayed late, but said nothing. After a third, and a fourth patient lost, they wish they hadn't kept their fears a secret. Four children lost. Hair singed, eyes staring blankly into the pale morning sky. The people of Amity Park refused to believe the deaths were simply a coincidence. And so they arrested the receptionist that worked the graveyard shift, claiming she'd spent too much time around madness, that she'd decided death would be the only way to end her patients' suffering. To add to the horror, she was found dead in her cell no more than a day later, with a bed sheet covering her face, knotted around her neck. Along with her death, she took the truth with her, leaving the town to cook up its secrets, stories, and legends. Within a few short years, North Mercy was closed down. It was left to rot at the edge of town, but the tale of Ms. Penelope lived on. And they say that a woman in red still wanders the halls, her heels clicking against the floor that was no longer linoleum. She follows anyone who dares to enter, sticking you with the calming dose for the more hysterical patients, and drags you outside. You only have a few precious seconds of consciousness, just enough to see her light a match and throw it into the trees. They say she smiles as the smoke swirls around, delighted to put another crazy child out of their suffering. For why would anyone without their own touch of madness enter the asylum to pursue its terrible secrets? Yet there they were, the kids with wide eyes and loud mouths as they dared to step inside. The goth was no surprise, given her interest in the supernatural. But the rest were odd. A jock, a geek, a little-miss-perfect, and the boy who didn't seem to be anything at all. But they were all insane, because everyone knows they'd have to be to enter the hospital where kids just like them had been murdered before.
Yes, I know what you're thinking. Another story?! But I couldn't help it. xD I noticed that there aren't any real ghost stories lurking around FF, which saddens me. So I wrote my own! This does, however, steal heavily from another book, The Ghost of Graylock, so you'll notice the similarities if you've read it. I simply changed the characters a bit and added some more plot to make it more DP style. It'll probably also only be a writers' block story, so I won't update regularly unless people really like it. Anyway, enjoy! c: