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Act II pt.1.

The halls of Massachusetts State Hospital were silent and filled with darkness. But the hospital knew darkness, long before the first brick was laid. There was always something strange, and unusual

about the land it was built upon. Even the Indians regarded the land with both fear and superstition. But none of this history seemed to matter to Derek or Lan, at the moment.

Battered and bruised, the two friends sat on the floor, resting their backs against the locked entrance doors. Derek was tired, his throat ached horribly, and he was dying of thirst. But he did not dare

mention his grievances to poor Lan. Derek knew Lan shared his pain, and no amount of whining would make things any better. He continued to stare at his friend, who was desperately fighting to stay

awake.

"Hey" Derek spoke weakly, "you should get some rest".

Lan looked at Derek, tired and alittle perplexed. He couldn't be serious, Lan thought to herself. Even if she could work up the courage to lay down, the place was nasty. Plus, the few couches in the

lobby that were intact were dirty, encrusted with rodent feces, and they smelled of urine. But Derek gently slipped his arm around Lan, pulling her towards him. She resisted him, weakly, but soon gave

in, allowing Derek to cushion her head and shoulders on his lap. Lan moaned, tiredly, as she closed her eyes, feeling Derek, rubbing her arms, comfortingly. Feeling warm and comfy, Lan smiled. Seeing

her smile, made Derek smile in spite of himself. Although, now, he hated himself more than ever for putting her in danger. Without even realizing it, Derek's hand went from rubbing Lan's shoulders, to

caressing her face and neck, tenderly. Lan, her eyes still closed, moaned.

"Thank you" she murmured as she continued to smile.

Slowly, Lan shifted her position, and she forced her eyes to open. When her bleary vision cleared, Lan, could just barely make out Derek's sad, remorseful expression as he stared down at her. Then,

without warning, Derek slipped his left arm, underneath Lan's head and neck, and gently drew her to him. Lan's breath caught in her throat. She didn't know what Derek was doing, and yet, she didn't

dare fight it. When he lifted her close enough to him, Derek leaned in towards Lan's face, his lips were parted slightly. Lan waited breathlessly, as Derek leaned in, and gently pressed his quivering lips

against her lips. At first, Lan was frozen in disbelief; she couldn't believe that this moment, the moment she had wished for and fantasized about for so long, was finally happening. Derek Barnes, her

best friend in the whole wide world, the man of her dreams, was finally kissing her. Lan lifted her hand, her fingers caressed Derek's cheek before sliding behind his neck, as he continued to kiss her.

Finally, Derek pulled away to look at Lan, hoping he hadn't upset her. In the pale blue lamplight, Derek could see Lan's, eyes, locked with his; her eyes were brimming with affection for him. The two

embraced tightly, resuming their kiss. And they continued to kiss for quite some time. But then, Derek pulled away from Lan and gently separated from her. Lan was confused and suddenly hurt,

thinking that Derek regretted kissing her.

"I'm sorry Lan…I shouldn't have done that".

"What?….oh I see" spoke Lan softly, her eyes were suddenly beginning to tear. Realizing what he said, Derek scrambled to find the words.

"No Lan, that's not what I meant! I mean I…I wanted to kiss you, I enjoyed kissing you, and I'd love to kiss you some more".

Lan's expression was one of confusion, as Derek continued.

"It's just that…just that…" Derek looked into Lan's sad confused eyes. He cared about her so much, and right now, he'd give anything in the world to have her.

"It's just that…I don't deserve to kiss you. Don't you see? This is all my fault. We're in this mess because of me."

Lan didn't speak. She could see the torment in Derek's face. He tore his gaze from Lan, and looked at the camera next to him. Feeling the heat build up inside of him, Derek pushed the camera from him

in disgust. He shoved it with such force, that it slid across the floor, hitting the reception desk.

"God Damn it! So stupid!" growled Derek as he pounded his right fist against the door behind him. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"Derek, stop!" pleaded Lan, putting her hands on his shoulders, squeezing them. "It's not your fault!"

"Oh no?" asked Derek, his eyes glared angrily into her eyes. "If it's not my fault then who's is it?"

Derek's eyes unnerved Lan, and she withdrew her hands from him, cautiously moving away.

"You told me we should have waited for the others, but I insisted we go forward." Derek's eyes became alittle softer, as they started to fill with tears. He looked down at his knees as he continued.

"When I saw you…in the tunnel, being hurt by that…thing…I felt so helpless…" Derek breathed in a ragged sigh. "If anything ever happened to you, Lan…I could never forgive myself." His hands

tightened into fists. "And this…This isn't the first time I've let something bad happen to someone I love…" Derek shook his head in disgust, and let it fall on his knees. Lan, moved up close to Derek,

wrapping her arms around him.

"Stop it Derek, please?" She squeezed him tightly. "Please stop blaming yourself. You didn't know this would happen….It's like you said: 'who ever heard of ghosts attacking people in the daytime?'"

Derek lifted his head up to look at her. His eyes were still misty and filled with self loathing. Lan stroked the back of his neck and spoke soothingly.

"You saved us from Virginia, and you saved me from that black thing in the tunnel. Derek I have faith in you. I know you'll get us out of this. We've been in tight spots before".

Derek's eyes softened. "Yea, I guess…" Derek said finally, "But right now, I think I'd rather face off with an army of Desert Squids and Skunk Apes, than ghosts.."

Lan slid herself closer to Derek, and Derek repositioned himself, so he could hold her in his lap. She rested her head on his chest as Derek slid his arms around her.

"We'll get through this Derek, I know we will". Derek said nothing, instead, he squeezed Lan tightly.

Suddenly, without warning, the entrance doors began shaking violently. Derek and Lan cried out and jumped up simultaneously. They stood frozen, watching the doors continue to rattle, when Derek

finally worked up the courage to investigate the cause. Inspecting the doors and the windows, his eyes suddenly widened and he pressed his hands hard against the windows.

"Madison" shouted Derek, "Please get us out of here!"

Outside, was Madison, struggling to get the doors open. Her small face beamed with hope, when seeing Derek still alive. She also saw Lan rush to the window and relief washed over her.

"Derek, Lan…you're okay!"

All three of them shared a relieved smile, but it soon faded. Madison's expression was desperate.

"The guard's unconscious. I couldn't get him to wake up, so I ran back, hoping I could get back in." She paused for a moment. " I shoulda brought his key ring. I'll go back and get it, may be there's a

key to these doors".

Madison started running down the stairs, but stopped when hearing Derek and Lan pounding desperately on the windows and doors, begging her to stop.

"Madison don't!" cried Derek, "It isn't safe!"

"We were hurt by the Dark Man, sweetie" spoke Lan, "he did really bad things to us. Please don't go back there, it's too dangerous!"

Madison stared helplessly at Derek and Lan. The pale blue lamplight, illuminated their injuries for Madison to see. The little girl was afraid.

"But there's gotta be a way I can help you!" Madison spoke exasperated.

She looked around herself, not knowing what to do. She lived about a mile away from the hospital, and she arrived here on foot. She was too afraid to run home by herself, in the dark. Just then,

Derek tapped on the window.

"Hey Madison, I got an idea." She looked up at him, giving Derek her full attention.

"Okay sweetie…you see that jeep down there?" Madison nodded. "Okay…go in the jeep, Madison. Somewhere, I forget if it's the glove box, or under the seat, but SOMEWHERE, you should find a cell

phone. Find it and bring it up here."

Madison nodded, and scrambled down the stairs, in a flash. Lan and Derek watched as Madison crawled into the jeep and seemed to disappear out of sight. To Derek and Lan, the few short minutes

Madison spent inside the jeep, felt like an eternity to them. They waited with bated breath, for Madison to emerge from the jeep. At last, Madison, exited the vehicle, waving the small black device in

her hand. Derek and Lan, smiled, breathing a huge sigh of relief as Madison raced back up to the entrance.

Before Derek could give her further instructions, Madison flipped open the cell phone, and pressed a button for the menu screen.

"Okay" spoke Madison, "I'm in the phone number section. Who do you want me to contact?"

"Okay" spoke Derek, "scroll down until you come to the last name, Ad…"

"Adler? Nathan Adler?" interrupted Madison.

Derek and Lan were speechless. "Uh…yea! How did you know" asked Derek.

"I know who he is. I see him here all the time, ghost hunting with his friends. I'm calling him right now".

Madison proceeded to punch the 'call button' on Nathan Adler's phone number. As she did this, Derek and Lan turned towards each other and smiled. Relief continued washing over them as they

embraced.

"Oh Derek" whispered Lan, "it's over. We're saved".

"We're not out of the woods yet Lan," spoke Derek, pulling gently away from her.

He stopped for a moment, to gaze at Lan. She was so beautiful, even now, despite the scratches and bruises to her face and neck. He swallowed hard, shaking alittle from nervousness. Derek tried to

make eye contact with Lan, but he felt himself grow increasingly warm. It was now or never.

"Lan" spoke Derek nervously, "what happened between us…"

"Oh…yes?" Lan asked, equally nervous. She felt anxious and confused.

"I…w-would like…that is if you didn't mind…I thought maybe…"

"Yes?" Lan held her breath. For God's sakes Derek just spit it out, she thought to herself.

"I would l-like to…have a relationship with you" Derek breathed nervously, "that is….that is, if you don't mind….but if you don't want to…"

"I want to" spoke Lan quickly, "I want to have a relationship with you, Derek, I've always wanted to have a relationship with you".

Derek finally made eye contact with Lan; she looked so beautiful in the lamplight. He cupped her face in his hands and pulled her into a gentle, loving kiss. Lan closed her eyes and gently wrapped her

arms around Derek's waist, as they continued kissing. Madison could see everything that was happening, through the window as she waited for someone to answer Nathan's phone. Madison rolled

her eyes in disgust and turned her back towards them. Eventually, Lan and Derek pulled out of the kiss, and resumed holding each other.

"Oh Derek" spoke Lan, "you have no idea how long I've waited for this."

"For what" asked Derek jokingly, "us, starting a relationship, or us, getting kidnapped and terrorized by ghosts?"

Lan looked up at Derek, who was smiling, slightly. She cocked her eye at him.

"That's not funny, Derek" spoke Lan.

"You're right, I apologize". Derek continued to hug Lan, not wanting to let her go. He tore his gaze from Lan, and glanced through the window at Madison, who was walking back and forth, with the cell

phone at her ear.

End of Part 1.