Woah! Over 200 hits and eight reviews so far! This story is my most popular yet! And now, it's about to get more popular, because I now present to third chapter to Spooked. Enjoy!
Also, I want to correct a minor geographical error. It turns out that Louisville is not located in the Appalachian region of Kentucky, but the Bluegrass Region, which is fairly flat. The Appalachians aren't very far away, however, by my estimates about an hour or so long drive. So, even though they were talking about the Appalachians in a previous chapter, the story will take place in the Bluegrass Region
Disclaimer: I own nothing relating to Lilo and Stitch. It is copyrighted to Disney.
Chapter Three: Waverly Hills Sanatorium
---
The sun rose bright and early over the Bluegrass Region of northern Kentucky, bathing the hills and fields of bluegrass that give the area its name in a golden light. Louisville, the jewel of the region, was not untouched by the suns illuminating rays. The light reflected off of the glass sides of the cities famous skyscrapers, giving them a shine usually only reserved for gemstones. As the sun rose over the buildings, the city began to come to life once again. Commuters on their way to work filled the city streets with the honking of horns and gave them the appearance of ant trails. At the tiny hotel situated at the back end of the city, the daylight began waking up the guests. The two girls sleeping in room 93 were no different. The light filtering in through the window hit Lilo directly in the eyes, causing them to flutter open. She sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, before getting up and trudging over to the bathroom to get herself ready for the day. First, she grabbed her toothpaste and toothbrush, dabbed a bit of toothpaste onto the brush, and proceeded to brush her teeth. She brushed all up and down her entire jaw line, not skipping a single tooth. She then spit into the sink, and poured some water into a paper cup from the dispenser on the sink. She gulped the water, and sloshed it around in her mouth to rinse out all the toothpaste still in her mouth. She gargled a bit, and then spat the water back into the sink. Her teeth all nice and clean, she grabbed a bar of soap and bottle of shampoo from the counter and got herself ready to jump in the shower.
In the meantime, Myrtle and Stitch were waking up as well. Myrtle stretched and yawned wide, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Stitch stretched like a cat before climbing out of bed and heading over to the bathroom. When he got there, however, he heard the sound of water running. Lilo was in the shower. Stitch turned around to see Myrtle on her way to the bathroom as well, a towel in her hand.
"What's up?" She asked. Stitch pointed to the bathroom door.
"Lilo in shower." He replied. Myrtle nodded.
"Well, looks like we'll have to wait our turn." Myrtle said. Stitch nodded, and they both sat down to wait their turn.
---
In the meantime, Victoria, Yuki, and her parents were already awake and about. Victoria's parents were packing their clothes and toiletries for their camping trip, while Victoria and Yuki sat on the edge of their bed, watching early morning cartoons.
"I wonder if Lilo and them are up yet." Yuki asked. Victoria giggled a little.
"If I know Lilo, she's out colder than a KO'd boxer." She replied, eliciting a laugh from Yuki. Yuki fell into silent thought for a second. For almost as long as she could remember, she had held nothing but contempt for Lilo, Victoria, and especially Stitch, mostly due to Myrtle's prejudiced influence. She could never have seen herself where she was now, as Lilo and Victoria's best friend. When Myrtle had told her, along with her other friends Elena and Teresa, about how Lilo had saved her life and how she wanted patch things over with her, she could scarcely believe what she was hearing, but she went along with it. Now, she was glad she did, as were the others. Her musings were cut short by the voice of Victoria's mother.
"Victoria, could you see if Lilo and them are up yet. We'd like to get going soon." Victoria nodded and jumped off the bed, Yuki following her as she ran out the door and over to Lilo's room, which was right next-door. Victoria raised her fist and knocked on the door. The two girls heard the sound of someone running to the door, before it opened to reveal Myrtle with a typical just-got-out-of-bed look on her face.
"Hi Myrtle. Is Lilo up yet?" Victoria asked. Myrtle pointed to the bathroom, where Lilo was still in the shower.
"Oh, I see." Victoria said. "What about Stitch?"
"Ih, Stitch awake!" They heard Stitch call from inside the room. The two of them nodded. Myrtle gestured for them to come in, which they obliged. As they entered, they heard the shower turning off. A couple of seconds later, Lilo stepped out, wearing an orange colored bathrobe with a matching towel wrapped around the top of her head, much like a turban.
"Shower's free!" Lilo called. Myrtle and Stitch looked at each other, mischievous grins appearing on their faces.
"Tookie buwaba!" Stitch shouted, racing off with Myrtle in hot pursuit. Stitch, being faster than Myrtle, handily won the little race to the bathroom. He stuck his head out of the bathroom door, blowing Myrtle a raspberry before slamming the door.
"Hey, no fair!" Myrtle shouted, shaking her fist at the door. "Your genes are spliced!" Lilo, Victoria, and Yuki burst into laughter as they watched this display. Myrtle just fumed and stomped back over to her bed to wait for her turn.
---
For the guests staying in room 315 of the Louisville Holiday Inn, the morning was a little less chaotic than the one Lilo and Stitch were currently experiencing. The sunlight filtering through the window failed to wake them up, so the honor went to their alarm clock. At the instant the glowing red LED's turned to 9:00, the radio immediately began to blast out the opening notes to Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising". The figure sleeping in the bed next to the clock immediately groaned and pounded his fist onto the snooze button as the song reached "earthquakes and lightning". The figure sat up in bed, revealing himself to be a man dressed in a white t-shirt and navy blue sweatpants. He had a head of scraggly brown hair, deep brown eyes, and sported a goatee that was the same brown as his head hair. Groaning, he stood, stretching himself out and popping some of the bones in his back.
"You hear that, Amber?" He said to his female companion. "It's time to get up." He said before turning around. He noticed that Amber was not in her usual place next to him. It didn't take a genius to figure out why.
'How does she do it?" The man, who's name was Julian Thompson, said to himself with a smile. She always managed to get herself up before anybody else, whether it was back home in Virginia Beach or on the road, and whether she had her alarm set or not. Julian decided pondering it was useless, and hauled himself over to where his other roommate, his best friend Daniel Langford, slept. Julian gently kicked Langford's bed, which didn't even cause him to stir. Julian tried again, this time a little harder. Still, Daniel slept on. Then, Julian got a sly smile on his face, and reared back and brought his foot down right on Daniel's crotch. Daniel immediately woke up with a yelp of pain.
"Damn, Boss!" Daniel shouted upon seeing the culprit. "I need those!" Julian just laughed.
"Well, if you'd haul your tail out of bed I wouldn't have too." He said with a chuckle. Daniel just grumbled and hauled his tired form out of bed. Both of them walked over to the bathroom, only to be greeted by the sound of water running. It didn't take the genius of Albert Einstein to figure out whom it was.
"How the hell does she do it? No matter what, she never fails to get up at least an hour before we do!" Daniel exclaimed. Julian just shook his head, and then knocked on the door. A soft, melodic voice responded.
"I'll be in the shower in a sec!" Amber's voice called. Julian and Daniel were left gaping at each other. She had just gotten up? Such a thing was unheard of!
"Well, can you let us know so we can get ourselves ready?" Julian called. A brief girlish giggle was the response he got.
"Well, I don't mind if you come in." Amber replied sexily. Julian's eyes widened at what she just said.
"What!" He gasped. Daniel snickered at the exchange, whilst Amber giggled again.
"Oh, come on. I haven't got anything you haven't seen before!" She called back with another giggle. Daniel's snickers grew louder at Julian's blush.
"Babe, my modesty is something that I pride myself on!" Julian replied.
"You, modest?" Amber said, with mock shock. "You could have fooled me with the way you acted when we first met!" Julian's blush, which was a first light pink, turned almost beet red, while Daniel began roaring with laughter. Amber joined in the laughter, whilst Julian just burned with embarrassment.
"Did you have to bring that up?" Julian said in embarrassment, remembering the "encounter" they had back in Louisiana. Daniel, by this point, was in tears from all of the laughter, and was rolling around on the floor, just laughing his head off. Julian turned to him with a look of fury on his face.
"Laugh it up while you can, Scruff McGruff." Julian snarled, referring to the full beard that Daniel had grown himself. "I guarantee that you won't be once I land another kick to your teabags." Daniel stopped laughing almost immediately. The silence that came about only lasted about two seconds before Amber chimed in again.
"Okay guys, I'm in the shower now, it's safe!" She called. Julian glared at Daniel one last time before stepping into the bathroom, partially shrouding himself in the steam that was billowing in the room from Amber's shower. Julian closed the door to give himself a little privacy while he got himself ready. He pulled out a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste, and dabbed a little on the end of the toothbrush. Before he could bring the brush to his mouth, though, he heard Amber's voice behind him.
"You know I love you, right?" She said. Julian turned around to see her poking her head above the shower screen, her chin resting in her arms and a loving look on her face. Julian's eyes widened briefly at the sight.
"How are you doing that?" He asked. Amber giggled a little, before pushing a strand of her shining blond hair out of her eyes and pushing herself back from the screen, holding both hands up. It didn't take Julian long to figure the answer out. Amber was using her hidden talent to literally levitate off the floor of the shower. Amber, as it turns out, was possessed of a full set of psychic abilities, including telepathy and telekinesis. Right now, she was using her telekinesis to levitate.
"Whoops." Julian said with a smile. "I totally forgot that you were psychic, though I don't remember levitation being part of the package." Amber giggled.
"Apparently so, because you forgot that my telekinesis allows me to manipulate my own body as well as objects and other people." She said. "But don't worry about it, I forgot that I was telepathic myself." Julian couldn't help but laugh. Whenever they wanted to have a "private" conversation, they would usually carry on telepathically, Amber sending messages to Julian's brain, and then sensing his reply with the same power.
"Forget about it." Julian said, his voice betraying an ever-so-slight hint of a Boston accent, despite his mouth being full of toothpaste. Amber just continued to float in place, her arms once again resting in her chin. "And yes, I do know that you love me. Nothing could make me doubt that." Amber smiled.
"Thank you, sweetie." She said happily. "I'd come kiss you, but like you said you pride yourself on your modesty." Julian gargled some water in his mouth and then spit, before wiping his mouth and then turning to his lover with a smile.
"Well then, I'll come over there." He said, stepping over to the shower. Amber smiled, allowing herself to float back to the ground. She peeked her head out of the shower screen, allowing herself to be taken into a deep passionate kiss. They held their kiss for about two minutes, before a loud knock at the door interrupted them.
"Are you two done in there? I'd like to brush my teeth and shower, you know." Julian and Amber both scowled.
"I get the shower next." Julian said.
"I'll make sure of that." Amber said, withdrawing back into the shower to finish washing up.
---
Lilo, Victoria, Yuki, and Stitch, who had by now finished washing up and dressing, stood waiting for Myrtle to finish showering before heading out to start the day. Lilo and Stitch simply sat on the bed, while Yuki and Victoria read an itinerary that Victoria's mother had written up.
"So, what's the plan?" Yuki asked Victoria. Lilo and Stitch turned and listened with interest. Victoria thumbed back up to the top of the itinerary, holding it so Yuki could see.
"Well, first we set up camp, and then mom wants to go on a driving tour of the county." Victoria read off. "After that, I was planning on going on a night hike through the woods. I heard this area has a lot of Great Horned Owls."
"I've never seen one of those before." Lilo chimed in. Having been born in Hawaii, Lilo had never encountered any mainland bird species, unless one counted the various North American songbirds that had been introduced to the island's ecosystem. Victoria smirked.
"Well, tonight we'll get our chance." She said, folding up the itinerary and stuffing it in her back pocket.
"Gaba owl?" Stitch asked, a look of curiosity on his face. Yuki cocked her head in surprise.
"You mean none of you have ever seen an owl?" She asked. "Haven't you ever been to the zoo?"
"Catching all those experiments took a lot of our time." Lilo cut in. Stitch nodded in agreement. "Seen a couple of honeycreepers, though. Wild ones." Yuki looked surprised.
"I though those were all extinct." She said.
"They might as well be. The zoo said there were only a few breeding pairs left on the island." Victoria said. The rest of them hung their heads, their deep respect for Hawaii's wildlife coming into play. A cough brought them out of their retrospect. Myrtle had finished showering and dressing. She was now wearing a white shirt with pink shorts, and blue sneakers.
"Okay, I'm ready." She said. "I say we hit the road." The rest of them smiled and cheered in agreement, before nearly bowling each other over rushing out the door.
---
The car ride through Jefferson County was, not surprisingly, the most pleasant trip any of them had taken. Once they got on the rural roads outside of the bustling metropolis of Louisville, the beautiful countryside of the famous Bluegrass Region opened up before them like an enchanted garden. The land was awash in forests, painting the landscape a deep green usually reserved only for gemstones. Add this to the perfect blue sky that the summer day presented to them, and you had a picture worthy of a painting or the lens of a skilled landscape photographer. The girls and Stitch, for one, were taken up in the beautiful landscape that stood before them. They all thought the Kauai was beautiful, with its long golden beaches and lush jungles, but the scenery that lay before them could quite possibly be the only place on Earth that rivaled it. They drove around for about an hour, stopping every now and then to take pictures, before turning around and heading a little ways up the road. Shortly before they got to the campground they would be staying at, they stopped at a large rest area to use the restroom. The gang exited their car and made their way into the large brick building. Once inside, Victoria, her mother, and Myrtle veered off to use the restroom, while Victoria's father stood outside the bathroom waiting for them. Lilo, Yuki, and Stitch noticed another room right next to the one they were in, and exhibit dedicated to historic Jefferson County. The three of them decided to go explore the exhibit, and walked over.
The exhibit presented, with pictures and dioramas, the entire history of Jefferson County, Kentucky, from its organization in 1780 all the way up to the present day. Lilo and Stitch were examining a gallery about famous people from Jefferson County, while Yuki was finishing up reading an exhibit about the University of Louisville. As she walked away from the exhibit, she noticed a large photograph of a large, mansion-like building, made of brick and gray, granite like stone, sticking out of a grove of trees like an ancient castle. The building had a solitary tower with four rounded protrusions on each side of the square structure, further adding to the buildings regal atmosphere. Curious, Yuki walked over to the display, and read the paragraph that came with the picture.
WAVERLY HILLS SANATORIUMThroughout most of the early 20th century, Jefferson County was ravaged by periodic outbreaks of tuberculosis. The disease, nicknamed the "White Plague" because of the ghastly white color sufferers became, would spread around the county like a wildfire, wiping out entire households and sometimes depopulating entire towns. The outbreaks were so severe that the local tuberculosis hospital, which was built in 1910 to accommodate about 40 to 50 patients, was often overwhelmed with upwards of 140 patients. Realizing the need for new facility to treat the massive influx of patients, the State of Kentucky approved the construction of new, five-story hospital capable of housing over 400 patients. The new hospital opened on October 17, 1926 as the Waverly Hills Tuberculosis Sanatorium, and was billed as the most advanced facility for the treatment of tuberculosis in the country. The facilities served both as a treatment center and as a research hospital, were doctors experimented with new treatments in an attempt to find a cure for the dreaded disease.
Official records from the hospital have been lost, so it remains unclear as to exactly how many people were treated, and how many died, at the hospital during it's eighty years of operation. Estimates vary wildly, from a few hundred to over sixty thousand. Most experts, however, put the number at somewhere between five and ten thousand.
Following the discovery of the antibiotic streptomycin in 1943, tuberculosis was largely eradicated throughout the country, and the need for facilities like Waverly was greatly diminished. The hospital was closed down as a tuberculosis hospital in June of 1961. It was briefly reopened as a geriatrics hospital in 1962, but was closed down by the State of Kentucky in 1981 due to patient abuse. Since then, the building has passed through several owners, eventually ending up with current owners John and Linda Calloway in 2001. Since acquiring the property, the Calloway's have embarked on an ambitious restoration program, planning to eventually turn the building into a museum.
Because of the building's tragic past, a number of urban legends have sprung up over the years. Some, such as the "draining room", where the bodies of the deceased were drained of their blood before being processed out of the building, or that the 500 foot long tunnel built along with the building was built entirely for the removal of the dead, are untrue. Others, such as the common legend that the building is the most haunted in America, are debatable. One thing is certain; Waverly has become one of Louisville's most well known buildings, and a symbol of the city's sometimes tragic past.
Yuki examined the display further, reading captions about the old hospital, which looked more like a summer cottage than a hospital, and about some of the treatments used to try to cure people afflicted with tuberculosis. One of the descriptions, about a surgical procedure where doctors would remove ribs from a patient to give the lungs more room to expand, made her wince slightly as she read it. If only they had the medicine back then, they wouldn't have had to do such things in order to try and save people. Yuki was brought out of her thoughts by Victoria's voice calling to her. Lilo and Stitch heard it as well.
"Hey guys, it's time to go!" The three of them left the exhibit and rejoined the group. As they left, Yuki told them about what she had seen.
"Sanatorium? Sounds like a place where they send crazy people." Myrtle said. Yuki shook her head.
"The thing said that it was a hospital for something called 'tubercalosis'." She said.
"You mean tuberculosis." Victoria's father said. "It's an infection of the lungs. Back before we had all these antibiotics, catching it was a virtual death sentence." The girls and Stitch listened to his statements with rapt attention. "They built hospitals like that all over the country, especially near cities like Louisville where the disease hit hardest." Victoria's mother looked at him with disgust.
"Could you not be so morbid around the kids?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips.
"What! I'm hardly being morbid!" Victoria's father said in a defensive tone. Her mother simply huffed and got in the passenger in the side of the car. The girls simply shrugged and got into the car, eager to reach the campsite and begin their fun.
---
The ride to the campsite was rather uneventful, considering they had an alien experiment riding with them who had a penchant for mischief. Stitch was rather well behaved, however, even managing to not hold his head out of the window, which would probably have gotten them pulled over by the sometimes over-zealous highway patrol. It was actually an event when they finally drove under the colorful welcome sign, beckoning them to enter the Louisville Campground. The trees on either side of them formed an almost endless emerald green tunnel, set off by tiny shafts of sunlight that filtered down through the canopy. The girls and Stitch were all awed by the scenery, which reminded them of the jungle trails back home. Stitch, who had so far managed to avoid breaking any of the rules of the road, decided now was the time to hang his head out of the window, a little bit of drool dribbling off of the end of his tongue. Myrtle, who was sitting right next to him, winced a little when she saw this. Although Stitch was her friend, his little quirks still got to her sometimes. After hating both of them for so long, she was still getting used to them.
"Ugh." She moaned a little as some of Stitch's slobber fell onto her lap. She quickly wiped it away as the car turned down another dirt road. Little white painted signs with black numbers on them lined the side of the road, indicating the entrances to campsites. The van pulled up to one of the campsites, number 13, and parked in the middle of a clearing in the trees. The only signs that humans had even touched the area was a fire pit in the center of the campsite and two picnic tables off the one side, underneath a large oak tree. The whole gang immediately piled out the car and ran over to the back to unload their stuff. Victoria's father opened the rear door, and the girls and Stitch immediately piled in, sorting out all of their individual bags. Once they were unloaded, the unloading and setting up of the camping supplies and tents began. Stitch had no problem unloading the camping supplies, holding a box of them in each paw, but it took both Yuki and Lilo to carry the tent out, while Myrtle and Victoria both had to carry the last box of supplies, huffing and puffing at the weight of it. Victoria's parents finally offered to carry the box for them, which they were all too happy to oblige. Once everything was unloaded, the gang set about getting their tents set up. Victoria's parents set up the simple green and white dome tent they would be sleeping in, while the girls and Stitch set up a larger, almost house like tent that they would be sleeping in, which turned out to be a rather difficult affair. The thick, pipe-like metal tubes that served as the tent's poles created a jumbled mass where they had piled them, and trying to figure out how they went together made their brains hurt. Stitch, who had been tasked with unrolling the tent and rain fly, managed to further complicate the situation by getting himself wrapped up in the rain fly like a burrito, with only his ears and eyes visible. The girls all gave a collective sigh and were about to give up when Stitch, who had managed to extract himself from the rain fly, found the directions on how to set the tent up. He quickly scanned them, and then gathered up the fly and tent and brought them over to the poles. Stitch briefly disappeared in a whirlwind of blue, and when he emerged, the tent was perfectly set up.
"Tada!" Stitch triumphantly shouted, holding his fists in the air. The girls all smiled and clapped for him, soliciting a bow from Stitch.
The gang helped to set up the rest of the camping supplies, including the propane stove and lanterns, and then decided to play a game of hide and seek. A brief round of rock, paper, scissors decided that Victoria would be it. As she leaned up against a nearby tree counting to one hundred, the rest of the gang scattered, Yuki taking off in one direction and Lilo and Stitch in the other. Lilo and Stitch ran deep into the woods, tearing through empty campsites looking for a good hiding place. They were so preoccupied with their search that they failed to see the form appearing in front of them, until it was too late.
"Oof!" The three of them shouted as Lilo and Stitch collided with the man and went tumbling down into a small ravine. Lilo and Stitch groaned and stood up, brushing the dirt and leaves that had gathered on them off. They then turned to the stranger they had crashed into, who turned out to be a man in about his mid-twenties, with scraggly brown hair, a goatee, and deep brown eyes. He was dressed in faded blue jeans, black and white Adidas sneakers, a red t-shirt with blue old style letters spelling the words "Red Sox" on it, and a navy blue baseball cap with a red old style "B" on it, which at the moment was askew on his head from the impact. Next to him lay a couple pieces of electronic equipment that they couldn't identify. The man groaned as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head where it had struck a rock. Lilo covered her mouth and gasped when she saw what she had done.
"Sorry." She said, shuffling her feet as the stranger stood up, brushing the dirt off of his clothes and fixing his cap. When he noticed who knocked him down, he cracked a smile.
"Don't worry about it." He said, bending down to pick up his things, which consisted of a camera and some kind of gauge-like device. Lilo's embarrassment gave way to curiosity as she looked at the gear in his hands.
"What are those for?" Lilo asked.
"What, these?" The man replied. "Oh, I use them at work. I'm a paranormal investigator." He nonchalantly added. Lilo and Stitch stared wide-eyed in amazement.
"Wow! So you go after vampires and mummies?" Lilo asked excitedly. The man laughed.
"Nope, sorry. No mummies, zombies, or that." He said. "I look for ghosts." Lilo and Stitch stood wide-eyed in amazement.
"If you're looking for ghosts, then what are you doing here?" Lilo asked.
"My team and I decided we needed some fresh air while we worked." He replied. "This is where we're working." He said, pulling out a picture from his right jeans pocket. The picture was of a large bow shaped building on a hill, with the words Waverly Hills Sanatorium written in white letters along the top of the picture.
"That's the old hospital we read about at the rest area exhibit." Lilo said. "There are ghosts there?" The man nodded.
"Supposedly it's the most haunted building in America." He replied. 'Oh, the name's Julian by the way." The man extended his hand for a handshake. Lilo accepted the motion, while Stitch just sat down on his haunches and held his head out to be petted.
"Bark, bark, bark!" Stitch went, trying to put on his dog act. Julian simply stared at him.
"I'll take it this is your dog." Julian said. "If you don't mind me saying, he's the strangest looking dog I've ever seen." Lilo smiled and pet Stitch on the head.
"Yep, he is." She said proudly. "He's a blue ectoplasmic detection dog." Julian just smiled and pet Stitch on the head. He had a feeling that the strange blue creature standing in front of him was not a dog, but he decided not the press the subject. Just then, they heard a voice call out.
"You all can't hide forever!" The voice called. "I'm gonna find you!" It was then that Lilo remembered what she had been doing.
"Oh no!" She said. "I gotta hide, or else I'll lose!" Both she and Stitch then took off to Julian's left, calling goodbye to him along the way. A couple of seconds later, Victoria burst out of the woods, panting.
"Excuse me." She said. "Have you seen anybody come through here?" Julian smirked.
"As a matter of fact, I have." He replied. "She went that way." He said, pointing in the opposite direction Lilo ran in. Victoria thanked him and then ran off in the direction he pointed. Julian simply laughed to himself and went back over to finish preparing his equipment. He had a long day ahead of him.
---
The gang took a break for lunch around noon. They happily munched on cheeseburgers and hot dogs cooked on a fire Victoria's father had prepared earlier, the girls happily relating their day. After lunch, the girls went up to the camp store with Victoria's father to purchase some extra firewood, and then spent the rest of the day playing manhunt with Stitch (who won handily). Before they knew it, dinner was upon them. Victoria's father had prepared a uniquely southern dish, pulled pork sandwiches, which they all thoroughly enjoyed, especially Stitch, who helped himself to half the platter. Once they were finished eating, Victoria's mother unveiled her contribution to the meal, a tasty peach cobbler. The girls and Stitch enjoyed it so much they thought they would get a stomachache from all they ate. Once they were finished with their meal, they all helped to clean up. The parents handled the dishes, while the girls and Stitch patrolled the area for garbage, which thankfully for them, was nonexistent.
"Mom, me and the girls were planning on going on a night hike." Victoria said. "Would that be alright?" Victoria's mother turned and looked at her daughter.
"A night hike?" She replied. "I'm not sure, it's awfully dark out."
"What's the worst that could happen?" Victoria's father chimed in, walking back over to the fire with an armload of firewood. "This is a campground, they'll be fine." Victoria's mother was going to say something when she realized her husband was right.
"Alright, you all can go." She relented. "But don't go to far." The girls and Stitch cheered, and then went over to their tent to gather the stuff for the hike.
---
The gang met outside their campsite a few minutes later. They had gathered some flashlights, extra clothes, and ponchos in case it rained. Lilo had also brought along a notebook to keep track of any wildlife they saw.
"You all ready to go?" Victoria asked.
"Yeah!" The other's cheered.
"Alright then, let's rock a' hula!" Victoria whooped. Lilo couldn't stifle a giggle. She and Victoria were always borrowing each other's catchphrases.
The gang explored the woods for what seemed like forever. Even with their flashlights, hazards presented themselves. Both Myrtle and Lilo fell into gullies along the way, and they twice had to stop to rescue Stitch from a mudpuddle. The journey wasn't all that bad, however. They spotted several animals along the way, each one diligently recorded in Lilo's notebook. They spotted several raccoons, some bard owls, a fox, and even the elusive great horned owl, perched majestically atop a tree and silhouetted by the light of the full moon. After observing the sight for several minutes, they decided to call it a night. But as they turned to head back to their campsite, they couldn't see it. They scanned the trees for any sign of light from their campsite, but all they saw from beyond the beams of their flashlights was blackness. They had gone too far and wandered outside of the campground.
"Oh no!" Yuki said, a good hint of fear in her voice. "What do we do now?"
"First things first, we all calm down." Lilo said, Stitch nodding in agreement. They all took a deep breath, trying to calm their nerves. It was then that Myrtle spotted something atop the hill they were on.
"Hey guys, there's a road up there." She said, pointing to the top of the hill. "Maybe we should go up there and try to flag down a car." The others all nodded in agreement, and began hiking their way up to the top. Once they got up there, all they saw was a beaten dirt road. One thing was for sure; it didn't look like anybody would be coming up there for a while. Still, it was their best option, so they sat down and waited. They waited for about an hour, when a rumbling in the distance caught their attention. They looked to their right and saw the last thing they wanted to see. In the distance, flashes of lightning could be seen. There was a storm headed their way.
"Oh great, just what we needed, a thunderstorm!" Myrtle yelled.
"We need to find shelter. The last thing we need right now is to get hit by lightning." Victoria said.
"Maybe we could go in there." Yuki said, pointing to their left. They all turned and saw, looming out of the darkness, a massive, five-story building with a solitary tower thrusting it's way out of the roof. In the dim moonlight, they could just barely make out the details of the building's shape.
"Good idea, let's go." Lilo said, and the gang made their way over to the building. When they got closer, they could see that the building was made of red brick inlaid with gray stone. The front door was framed with massive stone columns, and when they got up to the door, the saw, on a brass placard, three very familiar words.
Waverly Hills Sanatorium
"Hey!" Yuki called out. "This is the hospital building I read about, the one for tuberculosis." The others simply nodded. Lilo, upon reading the placard, was slightly apprehensive. She remembered what Julian had told her, about how he and his friends were hunting for ghosts at Waverly Hills. Another rumbled of thunder shook the apprehension away. Lilo laughed a little to herself as she thought about how silly she was. There was probably nothing in the old building but cobwebs and dust.
"Lilo, you coming!" Victoria called to her. Lilo looked up. The rest were already at the front door. Lilo nodded and joined them. However, when Victoria tried to open the door, it wouldn't budge. She tried again, and failed.
"Rats, it's locked!" She cursed. "Guess we'll have to find another way inside." The gang searched around the building for at least ten minutes. They found a couple other doors around the back of the building, but they were also locked. They were about to give up when Myrtle spotted a concrete bunker like protrusion coming out of the hill. She directed the other's over to it, and they surprisingly found a large set of metal doors. It didn't take Stitch's supercomputer brain to figure out what it was.
"It's a tunnel." Yuki said. "But what for?"
"Who cares, let's just see if it opens." Myrtle said. Victoria walked up to the doors and pulled on the metal handle. To everyone's surprise, they opened with ease. Victoria pushed the doors open, and they all shined their flashlights down the tunnel. The tunnel was the same slate-gray concrete as the rest of the structure. It had a slight incline, and on one side was a sloping walkway, on the other stairs. The walls of the tunnel were covered in dust and cobwebs. Clearly, whatever it was used for, it hadn't been used in quite some time.
"It looks like a long climb." Lilo said. "But it's the best chance we have." The gang then began their climb up the tunnel, glad to be indoors and out of the coming storm.
They had absolutely no inkling of the hell they were walking into.
Ah, there we go, chapter three done and ready for your enjoyment!
In case any of you all are wondering, Waverly Hills Sanatorium is a real place in Kentucky. You can go and visit it if you want to. The owners (who are not named in this story) conduct periodic tours of the building, to help raise money to restore and rebuild the old hospital. But after reading this, you may not want to. Well, that's all for today. It's almost midnight, and I'm going to bed. Good night everyone, and be sure to read and review.