Disclaimer: Everything that you read within this story is fiction. The WWE wrestlers own themselves. Any original characters belong to me as does the name of the mental asylum. No WWE superstars were harmed during the making of this story.

Chapter 3
Dark News

Chris flipped open his cell phone and dialled the photo shoot company's number as Brian flicked his cigarette butt onto the gravel ground, grinding it into the soil. He watched Chris's vivid blue eyes scanning the greying skies while the phone buzzed and buzzed as each ring was sent through.

Brian stared down at the smoking cigarette butt in the ground, eyeing each whiff of smoke as they dissipated into the breezy air. The odd thing was the smoke kept burning into the air, never dying. It was as if someone was sucking at the small cigarette butt, causing the end to stay heated. The sheer sight of the burning embers on the edge of the butt caused a wave of goose bumps to attack Brian's lightly tanned skin. Why was it still burning?

"Bri?"

Brian jumped suddenly at the voice and turned his head to see Jeff, Shawn, Matt and Mark coming up beside him with frowns of interest.

"Yeah…" he replied hoarsely, clearing his throat.

"Chris on the phone with someone?" Shawn asked casually while kicking at some rocks.

"Photo shoot company. They haven't shown up yet and we wanted to know when they were gonna get here." Brian explained as he listened to Chris muttering something into his phone; his voice echoing off the walls of the brick structure.

"That damn company is late for everything. I say next time we use a different one so that we're not stuck out in the middle of God knows where by ourselves." Jeff stated with dark eyes, feeling the light breeze whispering against his skin. Mark nodded and crossed his arms, leaning back against the hood of the van while Matt coughed lightly as the dust around them was thrown around with the growing wind.

Shawn squinted into the clouds and raised a brow, swearing he could already feel light spits of water coming down from the skies.

"Guys, it's getting pretty stormy out here…" he warned, eyeing Brian suddenly. Chris flipped his phone closed and stepped towards his friends with a grim look upon his brow.

Obviously this was bad news.

"So where are they?" Brian asked with a concerned look adorning his baby-face. Chris sighed heavily and stuffed his phone back into his pocket before replying.

"There's a massive storm building out where they are and the flight was delayed."

Groans and moans of irritation and annoyance echoed throughout the yard, hitting the brick walls.

"So how long until they can get the plane to... Where the hell are we anyway?" Matt asked calmly while running a hand through his soft dark hair. Chris gave an uneasy sigh, staring into each of their eyes. More bad news apparently.

"Well it's not that easy. The company decided to pull away from the flight-."

"–Are you fucking kidding me?" Jeff interrupted, his cheeks growing hot with impatience.

"Jeff let me explain. They said they'd wait the storm out and then board a different flight on a different day. There's just too much luggage and equipment to carry around and they need to grab three more people." Chris replied as they all stared at him with angry looks.

"So how long do they intend on stranding us out here for?" Brian demanded. Chris bit his bottom lip and stuffed his hands into his pockets, watching their glares deepening even further. He knew they were not going to like this next bit of news.

"Depending on how long the storm lasts and the length of the flight…along with overnight stays at hotels and a six hour drive out here…probably around three days, seven at max." He explained nervously.

"A week? We are stuck out here for a fucking week…how perfect…" Jeff growled, rolling his eyes.

"So…what do we do?" Shawn asked, ignoring Jeff's growls of annoyance. Chris stared at them with a dark shaded look upon his brow, feeling the wind picking up and blowing his black tee shirt around his caramel skin.

"We can either take a six hour drive back to the hotel and pay for six more nights, which I might add is not in our budget, or…"

"Or what?" Brian asked as Chris swallowed hard in thought. He didn't want to be the bearer of bad news and he knew they'd never go for it…but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"We could stay here…"

All five men stared at him silently for several moments, taking in his shaky words. Stay here? What kind of alternative was that anyway? This building was probably a good one hundred years old and didn't exactly have all the amenities of a five star hotel. Besides, the roof was crumbling and dipping and the floors were full of water damage…not to mention the mould on the walls.

If anything, this place was a cesspool of disease and sickness. Since they lacked the funds to stay in a hotel for perhaps seven days, staying at The Bedlam Manor was probably the only choice they had.

"We have to stay inside an abandoned mental asylum for seven days…" Mark stated in quiet disbelief as they all turned their attention towards Chris again, hoping there was another alternative.

After seeing the helpless look upon his face, it was evident that there was none and that staying here was obligatory.

"Sorry guys..." He sighed while turning around to eye the massive building before them. His ears perked a bit as the guys trampled towards the front French doors, peering inside the dusty old foyer. Brian hung back beside Chris and stared up at the spires, which were extending up into the heavens…seeming to block out the already fading sun.

"You feel that?" he asked quietly, making sure the others couldn't hear. Chris blinked slowly and frowned, swallowing the nervous lump in his throat.

"Feel what?" he asked, unsure of what Brian was referring to. Brian sighed heavily and glanced at Chris, shrugging lightly.

"I don't know. It just seems like ever since we got here…" He trailed off, allowing Chris time to fill in the blanks with his own mind, silently conquering.

"Yeah I know…it's like there's a million shadows staring at us…watching us…taunting us. Every time I look at this place I just get this feeling that our problems are just beginning…" he explained cautiously, hoping that's what Brian was feeling.

The younger man dipped his head beneath the sombre gaze of the structure, shivering slightly as the sun was finally clouded by the coming storm. A small rumble of thunder was heard in the distance, echoing off the surrounding skies.

"This place gives me the fucking creeps…" he muttered, padding off towards the others who were jiggling the old doorknob violently. Suddenly, as if someone from inside had poked it with a key, it creaked open leaving the six men shocked and surprised.

"Okay…I thought this place was always locked…" Shawn whispered, eyeing the door suspiciously. Chris came up behind them and frowned as Matt pushed his hand against the cold wood, creating a wider opening for them all to get through.

"Guess that cop unlocked it for us…" Mark gave him a doubtful look and entered first, and then finally the rest followed into the dim foyer, all except for Shawn who had run back to the van to grab his laptop. Looking around, they soon began to notice that this place was even bigger from the inside.

Up against the eastern wall stood a long row of olive green plastic seats where visitors could sit while waiting for the desk clerk to tend to them…even the patients would sit here to stare out the small barred and heavily locked windows. The front desk was large and possibly made out of some kind of cherry wood or red oak. Each wall that had been a bare white were now stained over the years and peeled a little, showing an off white paint colour that no one should ever use again.

The flooring was absolutely mucky and damp with dried up leaves spewing everywhere. All the moisture from the floor had begun to rot the low ceiling, creating yellow water spots and a rancid mildew smell over the entire building. If the band wasn't already sick from just standing in the dusty foyer, they would be in seven days for sure.

As the guys slowly formed around the oak desk, Chris stood near the wall, observing the graffiti decorations which had been painted probably months, if not years ago. His brow lowered with disgust as he stared at one image that some punk must have painted about anarchy and Satan, telling everyone to worship all that is evil.

Chris's dark eyes reflected the faded red and black paint, now seeping into the walls with the mould and moisture. Shawn rushed back into the building and whizzed past Chris, creating a breeze that instantly woke him from his thoughts. Chris approached the desk as the rest of the guys watched Shawn open up his laptop, turning it on. Ah the wireless web, where would they be without it? Mark frowned a little, wondering what Shawn was doing but didn't have time to ask on account of he had already begun explaining his actions.

"You see, I was thinking since we're gonna all be here for a while…we should dig up some juicy grub on this place!" He explained excitedly, pounding on the keyboard.

Matt lowered his eyes uneasily and glanced at Jeff and Brian who both shared the same nervous expression. Did they really want to know anything about this place? It seemed pretty obvious it was abandoned for a reason…wasn't that enough?

"Shawn…have you actually thought about what you're doing? Its hard enough we have to stay here for seven days…knowing what happened here could potentially ruin this week-."

"–Are you scared Jeff?" Shawn asked with an arched brow, staring into the screen with interest. Jeff stared at him with a clenched jaw and suddenly became aware of all the hard gazes from his friends. Great, they were going to think he was a sissy.

"Uh…n-no, I'm not scared. I'm just…creeped out that's all…" he replied shakily, swallowing hard. Mark gave a small smile, patting him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry man…if the mental cases that were chained up in the basement begin to chase after you, I'm sure Shawn would be happy to stand in their way for you." He explained.

Shawn looked up slowly as Jeff chuckled with Mark, followed closely by Matt. Brian hid his smile and glanced at Chris who did not share their amusement. For some reason, he looked a little distant and distracted away from his friends who were still joking around with each other about Jeff's ridiculous fears. Perhaps there was something on his mind.

"Okay so I found something about this place. Anyone care to take a listen?" Shawn asked, moving his brow up and down with a devious smile.

Chris blinked quickly and sighed, pulling himself back into reality as the voices of his friends echoed around the room with interest. Shawn stared at the page of information and licked his lips, readying himself to read.

"Alright, this is a news article from 1986 when this place closed down. Says here the closure was due to overcrowding and budget cuts, forcing patients out of the asylum and doctors to find new jobs. But as a source says, the budget cuts weren't the only reason why this place closed down."

In November 1986, David Bethlem Manor (known to outsiders as The Bedlam Manor), the massively beautiful mental asylum responsible for the treatment of hundreds of patients was closed down. A source close to the staff says the reason for this closure was not because of the budget cuts, nor overcrowding although those factors did help. The real reason, stated by the source, says that a wide range of violent and brutally disturbing murders had occurred in the building.

Senior staff of the asylum had kept the murders under wraps from the rest of the staff in an attempt to keep the calm while they investigated these murders. It was not until the head doctor at this facility was murdered that the word quickly began spreading throughout the workers and even a few patients who were determined to remain in their rooms under lockdown until the murderer was found.

The manner in which these murders were committed were rapid and messy varying from stabbings in the heart to cut off heads. The most brutal murder had been of the head doctor…his remains strewn all over his office, his head chopped off and squeezed between the bars of his window and his torso strung up by dental floss to the ceiling, allowing the blood to pool around the floor beneath. It is stated that a nurse walking down the hall had seen the blood oozing out from under the door. She fainted at the scene.

Further investigation of these murders concluded that a patient, stationed in room 203 was found crying and shivering…covered in blood after the discovery of his decapitated psychiatrist. This patient had suffered from multiple personality disorder and was suspected of the murder. There are no further details about the patient, nor what happened after the long stream of murders had ceased. Had the patient been executed or worse…released?

Some say after the closure of the asylum, the homicidal patient still roamed the halls and courtyard out back. Others say he hanged himself from the northern spire. What really happened to the frighteningly dangerous patient remains a mystery. Many believe that these murders had caused the closure of the asylum…that and the budget cuts.

Shawn looked up from the screen slowly and swallowed nervously, watching the faces of his friend's pale. Obviously this wasn't the best article to be reading…especially since they were standing in the eerie building, which was becoming darker due to the growing storm. Since the electricity in the building had been drained long ago, they'd have to rely on the sun's light and flashlights to brighten their way through the halls. Jeff frowned and turned off Shawn's laptop, receiving a loud whimper of annoyance.

"Hey man, what the hell? I was still reading that!"

"Story time is over." Jeff replied with a dark gaze. It was evident through the silence that the rest of the band didn't want to hear anymore either.

"So what are you going to do? Break my computer?" Shawn demanded furiously.

"No, I want you to take it back to the van and grab the coolers from our road trip. We should still have enough food and water to last us seven days." He explained while picking up the laptop and pushing it into Shawn's arms.

They all watched as Shawn lowered his eyes with disagreement and proceeded out the front door towards the van. Everyone knew how curious Shawn was but perhaps it was in his best interest to lay off the controversial stories for a while. Besides, if they were going to live here for seven days, they would have to keep the ghost stories to a minimum. Being paranoid and frightened was the last thing they needed.

"I'll go help him. I think we even have some flashlights rolling around somewhere in the van." Matt muttered quietly and stomped outside towards the van to help. Jeff and Mark muttered something about finding a cafeteria to keep the coolers in and disappeared down the hall, leaving Chris and Brian alone in the musty foyer.

Soon, Mark and Jeff's voices faded, creating a thick, uncomfortable silence throughout the corridors. Brian crossed his arms, listening to the water from the ceiling drip into small puddles of mud absorbed into the grout of the flooring.

"Chris, you okay?" he asked quietly, hearing his voice creating a small echo throughout the empty room. Chris stared down at the desk where the laptop had been located and breathed in shakily. All of this seemed a little odd…and slightly familiar. He couldn't remember where he had heard that story from but he definitely had heard it somewhere.

"Yeah, I'm fine…just thinking…" he replied, giving a small smile of confidence. Brian lowered his eyes and shook his head, doubting Chris's statements.

"You seem a little quiet. Are you sure you're okay?" he asked with a low tone. Chris blushed a little at his concern, feeling slightly thankful that his friend cared at all.

"Yeah Brian, I'm okay. Like I've said…this place just screams bad news and it's creeping me out hardcore." He mumbled while looking around the foyer with disinterest.

"Well I guess that's natural since this is an abandoned mental asylum." Brian chuckled, eliciting a small laugh from his friend, who nodded.

"Can't disagree with you there."

"Well, Matt and Shawn are coming back from the van…" Brian stated while looking out the small windows.

"Let's head to the cafeteria and see if we can't cook something up." He finished with a hungry smile.

"I'm there." Chris replied with a smile of equal size as Shawn and Matt treaded into the foyer holding the coolers and flashlights.

"Little help guys…" Shawn squealed as he attempted not to drop all the objects he was carrying. Chris rushed over and grasped the cooler as Shawn sighed with relief now holding the flashlights.

Brian grabbed another cooler from Matt who had bothered to carry two since Joe had complained about being weak.

"Okay guys…let's eat…" Shawn sighed happily and nearly bounced down the hallways because he was only carrying two packages of flashlights. Chris, Brian and Matt stared at each other for a long moment with lowered eyes.

"He's going to be pulling the 'I can't help out I'm weak thing' all week isn't he?" Matt asked.

Chris and Brian stared at him silently and blinked slowly as if the answer was obvious.

"Right…it's Shawn…" Matt muttered to himself and followed them down the hall towards the cafeteria with a crooked smile.

Thanks to my reviewers: Dark Kanenite, Edward's Josie Black and Mosvie 2k8

Loves ya!

Angel
xxx