Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, enough said.
Thoughts spoken to or heard by Edward will be italicized
Chapter 2: Arrival
Rosalie's POV:
I sat in the front seat of Emmett's jeep, listening to my husband regale us with the history of Meyer's Sanitorium. It was a hospital built in the early 1900's for long-term patients, such as those suffering from tuberculosis, or for people with physical or mental deformities. There had apparently been a lot of mistreatment of the patients, and although most people died due to disease there were several who died due to the abuse they suffered at the hands of the 'doctors'. There had also been experimentation going on to help find cures for different diseases, but the methods were crude and most patients died from these supposed treatments. The hospital was finally closed in the 1960's due to structural damage and had remained empty ever since. The amount of people who died was never really known, but many were buried on the property. Due to bad keep up though, many of the bodies were in unmarked graves.
According to Emmett and the entire small town of Meyers the place was haunted by former patients and staff. The story that hit me the most was the one regarding a young girl named Judy. This girl had apparently been born to a patient who died while giving birth to her. Since Judy had been born with some kind of mental handicap, and since she had no other family the child had basically been raised in the hospital. When Judy was six years old though she was playing ball in the hallway and when she went to chase after her ball she accidentally fell down the stairs and broke her neck. Rumor was that the little girl still wandered the halls of the hospital, and that it was not uncommon to hear a little girl's laugh or the bouncing of a ball.
Another story Emmett regaled us with was of the murder of two nurses by a male patient named Edward.
"Anything you'd like to confess, dear brother?" Emmett asked with a smirk, and I swore I could hear Edward roll his eyes.
Anyways, the story was that this murder took place on the third floor in room 313. Edward and his wife had been admitted as patients, but his wife had died shortly after arriving. In a fit of grief and rage Edward had brutally stabbed two nurses to death before hanging himself. Apparently, if you visited the room you could hear the screams of the women before hearing the maniacal laughter of a man.
The third story he told us was regarding a fire that had broken out on the top floor where the patients suffering from tuberculosis were kept. The fire had spread so quickly that most the patients and staff on that floor had not made it out alive. The floor had since been rebuilt but it was said that you could still smell fire, and that the temperature was hotter up there. It was also said that at times you could actually see the fire, and that you could hear the screams of those being burnt alive.
The final story he informed us of was regarding the underground tunnel that had been created so staff could remove bodies from the hospital without patients seeing. It was a dark and creepy tunnel that no one from our school had apparently ever seen it due to the fact that the door leading down to the tunnel had been bricked over. So how did they know it was dark and creepy, I thought with a roll of my eyes. Anyways, Emmett was adamant that we explore this tunnel and take pictures so we could lord it over the idiotic students of our school. Sigh, my husband could be so juvenile.
"This is where things get really creepy," Emmett remarked with a wicked grin. "According to Allen from school there is a portal to hell in the tunnel that demons travel into and out of our world through!" he announced, visibly excited.
"Demons?" Bella questioned, and I snorted at the unease I heard in her voice.
"Yep," Emmett responded joyfully, "and the story goes that these demons wander throughout hospital physically assaulting anyone who dares invade their domain. Allen swears on his life that he was shoved into a wall, while Missy says she had her hair pulled several times."
"Hey Alice," Edward asked curiously, "Can you tell if we're going to see anything?"
"No can do Edward," the pixie promptly replied, "but that doesn't mean we won't see anything. I figure I can't see things like ghosts since I've never been one. Y'know, kind of like I can't see the wolves because I've never been one," she explained, and I just rolled my eyes.
"You can't see anything, because there's no such thing as ghosts Alice," I said exasperatedly.
"Come on babe," Emmett said with a frown, "try to have a little faith. You never know, you might be wrong." I just shook my head at him, but refrained from speaking as we had finally arrived at the hospital. I stared dispassionately at the five story red-brick building, noting the bars over all the windows. A flicker of pity flashed through me for the former patients. This place looked more like a prison than a hospital.
The sun had just finished setting and we were currently standing outside the doors of the asylum. I withheld an irritated sigh. The things I did for my buffoon of a husband. This was such a stupid idea. I mean really, ghosts? Yeah right! And I can't believe I let Alice talk me into wearing these clothes! Bella was right, we all looked like we were about to rob somebody.
I glanced at Emmett, my irritation softening at how excited he was. He looked like a little boy on Christmas morning, I noticed with a fond smile.
"Alright team leader," Alice stated as she also gazed at Emmett, "lead the way." Emmett puffed his chest out as he gave a serious nod before walking up to the front doors and shoving them open. "Camera on," he ordered and Alice immediately turned one of the night vision cameras on and began to record.
Staring straight into the camera Emmett began to speak. "Hello to all my loyal fans!" he shouted, and I could hear my siblings snorts of amusement. "My name is Emmett Cullen and I am the leader of the coolest ever ghost hunting group, the Cullen Paranormal Society! We are here on Halloween night at Meyer's Sanitorium to see whether we can capture some evidence of supernatural activity. Will we hear Judy's laughter? Will we hear the maniacal laughter of Edward or the screams of the innocent nurses he savagely butchered?" he questioned passionately. "Or perhaps we will encounter the evil spirits that haunt these grounds," he stated with a creepy smile.
"Let's do this," he then stated as we trooped inside behind him. Sniffing around, I wrinkled my nose at the mustiness.
"Nobody else has walked in here recently," I remarked, the others nodding in agreement. We then placed a chain lock around the door so no humans could get in and disrupt our investigation.
"OK guys, listen up,"—Emmett began to say before being cut off by the sound of running footsteps from the floor above us. We all exchanged wide eyed stares before Jasper gave a slightly forced laugh and said, "Relax y'all, some kids probably crawled in here earlier through a window or another door." A few laughs escaped our lips before Emmett told us, "There are bars on all the windows guys, and the only other entrance is locked. This is the only way a human could get in, and we would've smelled if any humans had been through here recently."
"I'm sure it's just humans," Edward announced confidently. "Kids can be pretty ingenious when it comes to breaking into places." We all exchanged looks before nodding our heads in agreement.
"I dunno," Emmett said with a smile, "I think we just heard our first evidence of ghosts!"
"Whatever," I remarked dismissively, "so what were you saying?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, well what I was saying is that we should wander around for a little while all together, but after that we should split up into three groups. Now don't get excited there Jazzy boy," he said with a knowing look, "cuz you're not going to be with Alice. I know better than to send you couples together. So, the groups will be Jaz and Rose, Ali and Ed, and Bell and me."
"Oh great," I heard Bella groan as she leaned her head on Edward's shoulder. I wasn't particularly fond of splitting up either, but at least I wasn't stuck with know-it-all Edward.
"The feelings mutual," Edward muttered as he gave me a mild glare.
"Come on Jasper," I heard Alice whine, "this is going to be fun! When we finish I swear I'll make it up to you," she whispered to him in a seductive tone, and I smirked when I saw Edward shudder in disgust. Jasper on the other hand looked mollified for the moment as he nodded his head and gave Alice a peck on the lips.
"Alright love, I'll put up with all this nonsense for you," he murmured.
Emmett gave them one more second of privacy before flicking on his flashlight and lighting it up under his face. I rolled my eyes at his childishness. "Flashlights on and cameras out," he ordered. "Let's get ready to take some pics. If anybody hears or sees anything, you let me know."
I withheld another irritable sigh as I turned on my useless flashlight and pulled out my digital camera. Emmett was so going to owe me for this. I exchanged a glance with Jasper who shared my feelings, noting exasperatedly that Edward and Bella were actually beginning to look excited. Ugh! They didn't really believe we were going to see anything, did they?
Edward's POV:
I ignored Rose's unpleasant sighs as I held Bella's hand in mine. I didn't think we would find anything paranormal, but this little adventure sure beat watching scary movies at home for the umpteenth time. I glanced over at my love to see her readying her digital camera to take pictures. She gave me a smile which I returned. I could see the curiosity and excitement in her eyes. I had a feeling she really believed we would see or hear something.
Following Emmett deeper into the hospital, I rolled my eyes as I turned on my flashlight. I honestly could not understand why Alice felt we needed these when we could all see perfectly fine in the dark.
"From now on no talking unless absolutely necessary. I don't wanna miss anything because you're all chatting," Emmett declared, and I once more rolled my eyes as I heard Jasper and Rosalie cursing Emmett with their thoughts.
We began to walk down a hallway, and I took notice of the peeling paint, cracked floors, and broken furniture that had been left behind. There was also tons of carvings and spray paintings all over the walls from the multitude of kids who'd come here over the many years. I walked over intent on carving mine and Bella's name into the walls when I once more heard running footsteps from the floor above, this time followed by the bouncing of a ball. What the fuck?! I thought as we all froze in place.
"Did you guys hear that?" Emmett whispered excitedly. "It's Judy!"
"There has to be a human up there trying to play a prank on us Emmett," Rosalie announced with confidence, although I could hear a flicker of doubt in her thoughts.
"Well there's only one way to find out," Alice stated matter of factly, "let's go upstairs and check it out." We all quickly acquiesced and set out to find the nearest staircase. Bella gave me a nervous look so I wrapped a reassuring arm around her.
Do you really believe there's a human up there? Because I don't. We would've caught their scent by now, Bella thought to me. I bit my lip before giving a confident nod. It had to be a human because what other excuse was there? A ghost? Please, there was no such thing! Bella gave me a doubtful look, but she looked less nervous nonetheless.
When we finally reached the stair case, I gave a mild frown as I noticed no footprints in the dust, and no human scent. There had to be another staircase, I told myself.
Once at the top we glanced down the deserted hallway and saw no one. "So, does anybody hear or smell a human?" Emmett whispered with a knowing smirk.
It has to be a human, I heard Jasper stubbornly think as he took a few steps forward, using all his senses to find the human he believed was up here. I too used all my senses, but came to the same conclusion I had upon arrival.
"I don't know about you guys, but I don't smell, hear, or see any trace of a human," Bella stated nervously, and I nodded my head in perplexed agreement. There had to be a rational explanation.
Somebody has got to be playing a joke on us. If this is Emmett's idea of a practical joke, I'm going to kill him! Rosalie thought angrily, and I immediately became pacified. Yes, this had to be Emmett's idea of a joke, but as I scanned his thoughts I was surprised to find he was as perplexed as us.
"Emmett, I swear to God, you better not be playing some kind of joke"—Rosalie began to rant before she stopped speaking as we for the third time heard running feet. We immediately all focused our gazes down the hallway, but saw nothing. The pitter patter of little feet was headed straight towards us, and I could hear from everybody's thoughts that they were willing themselves to see or smell someone, but we all got nothing. All of a sudden the running feet were joined by the sound of a bouncing ball, and we were all caught off guard when we saw an actual ball bouncing down the hall towards us. When the ball finally reached us, we all moved away from it as though we were afraid what would happen if it touched us.
"Holy shit!" Emmett exclaimed. "You all saw that right? You got that on camera?"
"Yes! Yes, I got it!" Alice answered back, her voice a little higher in pitch due to the nerves she was beginning to feel. For my part I rubbed my eyes before just staring at the ball, which had now stopped with a bewildered look.
I was brought out of my reverie when Bella walked towards it and reached down to pick it up. "Don't touch it!" I hissed, but Bella just gave me an exasperated look before picking up the ball. She moved it around in her hands before bouncing it up and down a few times. "It's real," she whispered.
"Emmett, please tell me this is your idea of a joke," Rosalie said anxiously as she turned towards her husband. Emmett looked at her in surprise before shaking his head. "No Rose, I had nothing to do with this."
Is he telling the truth? Rosalie asked as she looked at me, and I nodded my head as I noted no deceit in Emmett's thoughts. I wasn't surprised as I knew Emmett would never lie to Rose when she was in this kind of mood.
This can't be real, this can't be real, this can't be real! I turned towards Jasper, who was staring at the ball with wide eyes while chanting those words over and over in his head. I would've laughed out loud if I wasn't chanting the same thoughts in my head.
"Let's do an EVP session and see if we can contact Judy," Emmett suddenly announced and everyone but Alice stared at him as though he had grown a second head. "Come on you guys! This is what we came here for! Don't tell me you're all scared! I mean, really, what the heck can a little ghost girl do to us? We're vampires!" he shouted boisterously as he flexed his arms. We all exchanged glances as we registered his words before slowly nodding her heads. Emmett was right. Whatever the hell is going on, there was no reason for us to be afraid.
I took the few steps separating Bella and I, watching as she slowly set the ball on the ground. Her face still had an astonished look to it as she turned her head towards me. "I can't believe this," she mumbled, and I gave a shaky laugh as I ran a hand through my hair.
"Shh you two, I'm about to start," Emmett called to us as he turned on his tape recorder. "I am speaking to whoever has been running down these hallways and playing with the ball. Is your name Judy?" he asked before pausing for several seconds. "Did you fall down these stairs?" Pause.
"Please don't be afraid of us, we mean you no harm," Rosalie suddenly announced, and Bella and I stared at her in surprise. So much for not believing, I thought as I scanned her thoughts for her sudden change of heart. Ah, I see. Rosalie is such a softy when it comes to children, even dead ones it would seem.
We paused once more at Rosalie's words before jumping slightly when we heard the giggle of a child.
"That's it, I'm searching this floor. You guys stay here while I make sure this isn't just some hoax," Jasper announced before racing off.
"Rewind the tape recorder Emmett, I want to see if we caught anything," Alice urged, Rosalie, Bella, and I nodding along in agreement.
Emmett complied before pressing play. "Is your name Judy?"
Yes.
"Oh my god!" Alice shrieked before Emmett clamped his hand over her mouth to cut off her shriek. My mouth was hanging open in shock as both Rose and Bella had their hands over their mouths.
"Did you fall down these stairs?"
Ball…Will you play with me?
That poor child! Rosalie thought, and I noted that she had tears in her eyes.
Holy crap, I can't believe all the stuff we've gotten so far, Emmett thought in happy surprise. This is so freakin awesome!
At this point Jasper arrived back looking decidedly unsettled. He was letting out waves of unease causing us to all feel a little jumpy.
"What happened Jasper?" Alice asked in concern as she rushed to her mate. "Did you find anything?"
"I, uh…," he stammered before taking a steadying breath. "I didn't find any trace of a human, and no radios or microphones left behind. I was startin' to make my way back here when I felt—when I felt somethin' tuggin' on my pants," he stated, and we all looked down at his pants as though we were going to see what he was talking about.
"Are you sure you didn't just catch it on something," Bella ventured only to cringe at the glare Jasper directed her way. I immediately stepped between her and him and gave him a low growl in warning. She was just trying to help, so there was no reason for him to glare at her like that.
"Sorry Bella," Jasper mumbled after a minute. "Yes, I'm sure my pants didn't catch on anything cuz I checked. It felt like a, well like a little kid was tugging on me to get my attention, but when I looked down there was nuthin there," he explained before rubbing a hand over his face.
We all stood in stunned silence as we absorbed everything we had experienced so far. Thoughts ranged from totally excited, to freaked out, to in denial. I wasn't sure what I thought, but I definitely wanted to investigate more. Just because we didn't find any sign of human presence here didn't mean there weren't any on the other floors, or that they hadn't left behind speakers or pranks meant to scare whoever came after them.
"You know what guys," Emmett suddenly stated, "because of how much stuff we've experienced I think it's time we split up. Bella and I are going to take the underground tunnel. I want Edward and Alice to take the third floor, don't forget room 313," he reminded us, and I rolled my eyes at him. Of course we wouldn't forget. "And I want Rose and Jasper on the fifth floor. All four of you can meet up on the fourth floor when you're done. One person videotape everything while the other takes pictures. Use the voice recorder as well. Under no circumstances," he said, suddenly looking stern, "are you guys to play pranks on each other. We're doing serious work here, so no messing around, understood?"
"Got it Emmy!" Alice shouted while the rest of us just nodded our heads.
"Cool!" he responded with a wide smile. "Now, turn your radios on to channel 3. Contact me if you get anything good or what not. Take as long as you need," he said before looking over at my nervous wife. "Let's go Bells!" he shouted as he wrapped an arm around her. She threw me a pleading look, but I just stared back in sympathy. There was no stopping Emmett when he was in one of these moods.
"Come on Edward," Alice stated as she took my hand. "I'll videotape so you take pictures," she told me as she turned on our radio. "Let's go see if we can get in contact with your namesake," she announced excitedly as she led the way up the stairs. I withheld a sigh as I looked back at Rosalie and Jasper, who both looked unsure of what to do. I knew from Rose's thoughts that she wanted to stay on this floor while Jasper wanted to search the entire building for any sign that someone was playing a prank on us. They exchanged resigned looks though before following Alice and I.
"I'll videotape," Jasper said, so Rosalie sighed as she said, "I'll take photos then." When we reached our floor we bid them farewell before stepping out onto the third floor. Here goes nothing, I thought.
A/N: So, the investigation begins! What'd you think of Judy? A lot of the stuff that has occurred or will occur our stuff I've read about, seen on TV or just made up myself. Pretty much just compiled all my knowledge and compacted it into one story, so a lot of stuff is going to be happening in the next few chapters.