The girl's name was Nadine, and she didn't know anything about a cult. She was apparently too young to remember, she only knew that they set a fire at one time. Tom walked away disappointed, she already had a boyfriend. Too bad for him, maybe he'd find a better girlfriend at the mental hospital.
The place looked old. They should at least have maintained the place. Chipped paint and rotten wood covered the huge house. Stone steps lead up to wooden doors. Looking up, I estimated the thing had three floors and an attic. The windows were tinted, since I guess its beneath us sane people to look upon the filthy insane.
The door creaked open, scary huh? We were almost immediately stopped by a nurse. She was wearing one of those traditional nurse hat-things, which I thought hadn't been used since the 80's. She was pretty old, and had a nasty look on her face. I hoped she wouldn't be too much trouble...
"What do you want!", she demanded.
"Um... I have my name down for a visitation", I stated. "My name's Dennis Crocker..."
"Yeah, wait right here..."
She went into the room directly across from the door. I had a chance to examine my surroundings. The inside looked worse than the outside. Did anyone ever bother with maintenance in this town? I decided to take a look at the front message board. There was mostly boring crap about long-past events, but one caught my eye.
Warning! Avoid this plant at all costs! White Claudia is a deadly hallucinogen! It has oblong leaves, white blossoms, and reaches a height of 10 to 15 inches. If you find it, please do your community a favor and destroy it!
Things are sure looking up for this town! I'd never heard of White Claudia, and I didn't want to know anything more about it. Let the local health board deal with it, if they're capable of doing anything.
For once, Tom didn't have to get the equipment out of the car. I doubt the doctors would appreciate me going through their hospital with that machine. After all, I told them
I was an author, not a ghost hunter. The radio and camera were sufficient.
The nurse came out with a completely different expression on her face. She actually smiled at me, revealing a line of rotted out teeth. Guess they have a bad dental plan.
"Dr. Crocker sir!", she said with much enthusiasm. "Mr. S told us you'd be coming!"
Ok, that's just too weird. It was time to find out who Mr. S was.
"Who exactly is Mr. S?", I asked.
"Why, he's the mayor. Sworn into office a few years ago after the original mayor died of a heart attack. Come, follow me."
She walked to my left, Tom and I followed. The building was eerily quiet. The only thing I could hear was a metallic creaking, which I didn't like one bit. She opened the door to the Director's Room. It was kind of a small office for a guy who runs an entire hospital. His desk was really messy, covered with newspaper articles, medical books, and envelopes.
He got up to shake my hand, and he had a very solid grip. His skin was cold and sent a chill to my heart. He was clean shaven, but his hair apparently was never cut, or combed caused it stuck out in all directions. He looked to be about forty or so, but his gray hair made him look much older.
"Good day sir!", he said. "I understand you wish to interview some of my patients?"
"Yes, this is my colleague, Thomas Farnwald"
I could see that Tom didn't enjoy being the center of this man's attention. He was rather uncomfortable shaking the guy's hand. I simply must teach him a bit of etiquette when we get back to the university.
"You know, you're not the first people to come here and interview some of my patients. There were some reporters..."
"Yeah, I know, I read their articles. I don't believe that crap."
That comment scared him a little bit. "But its the most logical explanation..."
"I'll come up with my own explanation"
"Ok... Now, only four patients are safe to talk to, and even they can get violent when aroused, follow me."
He lead us through the first floor of the dismal hospital. As he opened the door to the stairs, I could've sworn I heard deep breathing coming from the other side of a nearby door labeled, Medical Rooms.
"Isn't there an elevator here?", I asked.
"It's in the Medical Rooms hallway, and that door is busted. Someone is supposed to be in here to fix it soon, they've been taking a long time."
We reached the third floor landing and walked out into the hallway. Once again, this place was eerily quiet. Right across from the stairs was a keypad. The doctor punched in a few numbers, and loud machinery creaked the door open. We were in the patient's room hallway. Strange groans emitted from a few of the rooms. As I passed by one room, the patient banged on the door. The Director ran over, and banged back. The patient stopped.
He took us to the room of Joseph Barken, assuring us the man was harmless. He looked harmless enough, sitting in a corner, stroking a locket of hair. He was disheveled, and I began to question the sanitation in this hospital.
"Mr. Barken?", I asked.
"Yes... what is it?", he asked in a whisper.
I'd never dealt with the Mentally Unstable before. I'd done a lot of research on them, but never up close. He seemed perfectly harmless. I was curious about that locket.
"Who's locket is that?"
"My daughter's. I've looked all over this town for her, but she's completely vanished..."
"That's too bad, I'm sorry"
"I bet it has her..."
Ok... here it comes. Absolute craziness. What separates me from them.
"What is it?"
"I don't know. It's a monster, an executioner. It's hunting me.."
Poor guy. His eyes were darting back and forth. I could tell he was trying to control himself. Having read about schizophrenic, I knew that he was taking meds. I also knew that they caused a lot of mental distress. Suddenly his eyes rested on me, and they grew wider.
"You're marked...", he whispered.
"What are you talking about?"
"You're just like us..."
I didn't like that. I didn't like that one bit. I was not about to get compared to a nut.
"I'm nothing like you!", I yelled.
"Oh, but you are, you're like all of us. Heh heh heh..."
I slowly walked backwards out the door. He continued laughing, staring at me in a deranged way. Tom had been taking notes the whole time, and the director just stared blankly at me. I swore for a second that he smirked.
"Ok, can we see some of the other patients?"
"Of course. The next controllable patient is Joshua Lewis. Be careful though, sometimes he can become violent."
As he opened the door to this patient's room, I spied to my left another set of stairs. Judging the by the position of the other stairs, I estimated that it lead down to the Medical Rooms. I tapped Tom on the shoulder and whispered in his ear.
"Keep him busy..."
"WHAT!?!"
"Shhh.... I just wanna check on something"
I tiptoed away towards the stairs. I turned my head around, Tom was doing an ok job of keeping the Director's eyes off of me. The door made a bit of noise creaking open, and the Director looked at me. Strangely enough, he didn't say anything. I tripped, and fell through the door, and rolled down the stairs.
I suffered a sharp blow to my head, but still managed to get up. Off in the distance, definitely outside the hospital, I heard the sound of sirens. It wasn't a police or ambulance siren, more like those sirens that go off throughout a city when a hurricane is going through. I found I was on the second floor landing. I went to go open the door, and found it was locked.
I suddenly had a sickening, frightful feeling. I ran back up to the third landing. The door was locked. Not only that, but the Director was on the other side staring at me. I banged, and yelled, but he simply stood there, smiling, and eventually walked away. I knew there was something wrong with him.
Luckily, the door on the ground floor was unlocked. I shouldn't say luckily though, cause I probably would've been better off waiting in the stairs for a few hours. The whole hall was wrecked. Boards stuck out of the floor, the ceiling had a several holes in it, and the walls were covered with chain-linked fencing.
I walked cautiously, with a fear that the floor might suddenly give way. I finally reached the door that the Director said was broken. Well, apparently he was lying, cause it opened easy. What I saw next was the most shocking thing I had experienced in the town so far.
The whole first floor, which I had just been in a few hours ago, was all wrecked like the Medical Hall. It was physically impossible, yet there it was. I guess the radio waves finally hit me. Might as well as ride this thing out.
I crawled through the rubble towards the exit. As soon as I opened the door, a big puff of smoke blew in my face from outside. I thought the whole town was on fire, then I realized that I could easily breath this smoke. I headed outside, and held up my hands. I could see them, so why couldn't I see across the street? That's when I realized, it wasn't smoke, it was mist. Really thick mist.
The place looked old. They should at least have maintained the place. Chipped paint and rotten wood covered the huge house. Stone steps lead up to wooden doors. Looking up, I estimated the thing had three floors and an attic. The windows were tinted, since I guess its beneath us sane people to look upon the filthy insane.
The door creaked open, scary huh? We were almost immediately stopped by a nurse. She was wearing one of those traditional nurse hat-things, which I thought hadn't been used since the 80's. She was pretty old, and had a nasty look on her face. I hoped she wouldn't be too much trouble...
"What do you want!", she demanded.
"Um... I have my name down for a visitation", I stated. "My name's Dennis Crocker..."
"Yeah, wait right here..."
She went into the room directly across from the door. I had a chance to examine my surroundings. The inside looked worse than the outside. Did anyone ever bother with maintenance in this town? I decided to take a look at the front message board. There was mostly boring crap about long-past events, but one caught my eye.
Warning! Avoid this plant at all costs! White Claudia is a deadly hallucinogen! It has oblong leaves, white blossoms, and reaches a height of 10 to 15 inches. If you find it, please do your community a favor and destroy it!
Things are sure looking up for this town! I'd never heard of White Claudia, and I didn't want to know anything more about it. Let the local health board deal with it, if they're capable of doing anything.
For once, Tom didn't have to get the equipment out of the car. I doubt the doctors would appreciate me going through their hospital with that machine. After all, I told them
I was an author, not a ghost hunter. The radio and camera were sufficient.
The nurse came out with a completely different expression on her face. She actually smiled at me, revealing a line of rotted out teeth. Guess they have a bad dental plan.
"Dr. Crocker sir!", she said with much enthusiasm. "Mr. S told us you'd be coming!"
Ok, that's just too weird. It was time to find out who Mr. S was.
"Who exactly is Mr. S?", I asked.
"Why, he's the mayor. Sworn into office a few years ago after the original mayor died of a heart attack. Come, follow me."
She walked to my left, Tom and I followed. The building was eerily quiet. The only thing I could hear was a metallic creaking, which I didn't like one bit. She opened the door to the Director's Room. It was kind of a small office for a guy who runs an entire hospital. His desk was really messy, covered with newspaper articles, medical books, and envelopes.
He got up to shake my hand, and he had a very solid grip. His skin was cold and sent a chill to my heart. He was clean shaven, but his hair apparently was never cut, or combed caused it stuck out in all directions. He looked to be about forty or so, but his gray hair made him look much older.
"Good day sir!", he said. "I understand you wish to interview some of my patients?"
"Yes, this is my colleague, Thomas Farnwald"
I could see that Tom didn't enjoy being the center of this man's attention. He was rather uncomfortable shaking the guy's hand. I simply must teach him a bit of etiquette when we get back to the university.
"You know, you're not the first people to come here and interview some of my patients. There were some reporters..."
"Yeah, I know, I read their articles. I don't believe that crap."
That comment scared him a little bit. "But its the most logical explanation..."
"I'll come up with my own explanation"
"Ok... Now, only four patients are safe to talk to, and even they can get violent when aroused, follow me."
He lead us through the first floor of the dismal hospital. As he opened the door to the stairs, I could've sworn I heard deep breathing coming from the other side of a nearby door labeled, Medical Rooms.
"Isn't there an elevator here?", I asked.
"It's in the Medical Rooms hallway, and that door is busted. Someone is supposed to be in here to fix it soon, they've been taking a long time."
We reached the third floor landing and walked out into the hallway. Once again, this place was eerily quiet. Right across from the stairs was a keypad. The doctor punched in a few numbers, and loud machinery creaked the door open. We were in the patient's room hallway. Strange groans emitted from a few of the rooms. As I passed by one room, the patient banged on the door. The Director ran over, and banged back. The patient stopped.
He took us to the room of Joseph Barken, assuring us the man was harmless. He looked harmless enough, sitting in a corner, stroking a locket of hair. He was disheveled, and I began to question the sanitation in this hospital.
"Mr. Barken?", I asked.
"Yes... what is it?", he asked in a whisper.
I'd never dealt with the Mentally Unstable before. I'd done a lot of research on them, but never up close. He seemed perfectly harmless. I was curious about that locket.
"Who's locket is that?"
"My daughter's. I've looked all over this town for her, but she's completely vanished..."
"That's too bad, I'm sorry"
"I bet it has her..."
Ok... here it comes. Absolute craziness. What separates me from them.
"What is it?"
"I don't know. It's a monster, an executioner. It's hunting me.."
Poor guy. His eyes were darting back and forth. I could tell he was trying to control himself. Having read about schizophrenic, I knew that he was taking meds. I also knew that they caused a lot of mental distress. Suddenly his eyes rested on me, and they grew wider.
"You're marked...", he whispered.
"What are you talking about?"
"You're just like us..."
I didn't like that. I didn't like that one bit. I was not about to get compared to a nut.
"I'm nothing like you!", I yelled.
"Oh, but you are, you're like all of us. Heh heh heh..."
I slowly walked backwards out the door. He continued laughing, staring at me in a deranged way. Tom had been taking notes the whole time, and the director just stared blankly at me. I swore for a second that he smirked.
"Ok, can we see some of the other patients?"
"Of course. The next controllable patient is Joshua Lewis. Be careful though, sometimes he can become violent."
As he opened the door to this patient's room, I spied to my left another set of stairs. Judging the by the position of the other stairs, I estimated that it lead down to the Medical Rooms. I tapped Tom on the shoulder and whispered in his ear.
"Keep him busy..."
"WHAT!?!"
"Shhh.... I just wanna check on something"
I tiptoed away towards the stairs. I turned my head around, Tom was doing an ok job of keeping the Director's eyes off of me. The door made a bit of noise creaking open, and the Director looked at me. Strangely enough, he didn't say anything. I tripped, and fell through the door, and rolled down the stairs.
I suffered a sharp blow to my head, but still managed to get up. Off in the distance, definitely outside the hospital, I heard the sound of sirens. It wasn't a police or ambulance siren, more like those sirens that go off throughout a city when a hurricane is going through. I found I was on the second floor landing. I went to go open the door, and found it was locked.
I suddenly had a sickening, frightful feeling. I ran back up to the third landing. The door was locked. Not only that, but the Director was on the other side staring at me. I banged, and yelled, but he simply stood there, smiling, and eventually walked away. I knew there was something wrong with him.
Luckily, the door on the ground floor was unlocked. I shouldn't say luckily though, cause I probably would've been better off waiting in the stairs for a few hours. The whole hall was wrecked. Boards stuck out of the floor, the ceiling had a several holes in it, and the walls were covered with chain-linked fencing.
I walked cautiously, with a fear that the floor might suddenly give way. I finally reached the door that the Director said was broken. Well, apparently he was lying, cause it opened easy. What I saw next was the most shocking thing I had experienced in the town so far.
The whole first floor, which I had just been in a few hours ago, was all wrecked like the Medical Hall. It was physically impossible, yet there it was. I guess the radio waves finally hit me. Might as well as ride this thing out.
I crawled through the rubble towards the exit. As soon as I opened the door, a big puff of smoke blew in my face from outside. I thought the whole town was on fire, then I realized that I could easily breath this smoke. I headed outside, and held up my hands. I could see them, so why couldn't I see across the street? That's when I realized, it wasn't smoke, it was mist. Really thick mist.