Mount Massive. Mount freaking Massive. I wasn't ready to go in there. I absolutely positively was not ready to go in there. I had one flashlight, one extra set of batteries, and, the second I started up the path toward the building my cellphone reception cut off. It was dark, I had no map, no car, and it was starting to rain. And how would I ever be so idiotic as to wander up here?
(20 minutes earlier)
"I dare you," my friend Joseph said to me over the phone as I stood in the dark, shivering slightly from the mountain air.
"I'm definitely not going to do that," I replied, nervously laughing. I clutched my flashlight tighter as I tried to hide the uneasiness in my voice. "Can you please just send Kate down here in a car to pick me up?" I was on Mount Massive, hiking up the road to my friends' cabin. Unfortunately, I had lost my map a mile back, and that hadn't been a problem up until now; I was standing at a fork in the road. The sun was going down (thanks to my late start) and the only thing to distinguish the two paths was the "no trespassing sign" that lay chained across the gate that blocked off one of them.
"Come on, I betcha it's not even real." Joseph said over the phone, "And if it is it's definitely not haunted, just abandoned." He was referring to the asylum that had been rumored to lie atop this mountain. "Just go up there, snap some pictures, and then I promise I'll send Kate down there to get you."
I sighed, knowing I wouldn't win the argument. Plus he was probably right, it probably wasn't real. "Fine," I replied with a huff as I started toward the gate, "But I swear to God if you guys are up there ready to jump scare me I will walk down the mountain again, I don't care how dark it gets."
(Present time)
But it was real. And not only was it real, but- judging by the light flowing from some of the windows- it was certainly not abandoned, like Joseph had said. It was raining now, and getting back down the now slippery and muddy path was probably more dangerous than just seeking shelter in the building. Plus you never knew, maybe the lights were on because some other unfortunate hiker had the same idea?
The main gate was open, surprisingly, though there was no one in the security booth to let me in. Only a red Jeep sat a few feet from the entrance and, in the distance, near the front entrance, I thought I could make out a few other vehicles. As I passed the Jeep, I jumped at the sound of the gates closing behind me. I instinctively ran back, wanting to leave before I got locked in, but they clanged shut as soon as my hand connected with the metal. A shiver went down my spine as I whipped around to see if someone in the booth had done that, but it was still empty. I looked up suddenly and, through the drizzling rain, I could just make out a security camera attached near the top of the small structure. I stared back into the blank lense, half hoping whoever or whatever had made the gate close now felt that I could really see them and was prepared to stare them down until the reopened the gate. I had less confidence than I exuded. Trying to put the camera out of mind, I tried the door to the security booth, hoping to just settle for shelter in there, but to no avail. The rain was starting to come down a little harder now, so I ran up to the front entrance, focusing only on staying dry.
It was only when I turned away from the doors (also locked) that I noticed the cars I'd seen in front of the building were actually large militarized vehicles. I squinted at them in confusion, refusing to let my imagination run amuck, knowing that if I tried to put two and two together (even if my guess was completely off) I would not be getting any sleep that night. More exhausted than scared after a few minutes of doing nothing but staring at the rain, I tried the doorknob again. To my great surprise, it turned, and I found myself looking at the most horrifying seen I had ever laid eyes on. Blood was smeared along the floor and walls and the lobby was scattered with headless corpses. Hallways on the second floor surrounded the upper half of the room overall and glass had shattered, creating a sharp, gaping hole in the middle of the transparent screen. I slowly closed the door, turned around and got the fuck out of there.
Well, that would've been the logical thing to do. No, me being me, I did close the door and I did take a few steps back but did I run? No. Why? Cause I'm kind of an idiot. Also I couldn't because like I mentioned before, the gate was closed. So I proceeded to sit on the steps with my chin resting on my hands, contemplating the pros and cons of going into the building. In the end, I concluded that there were waaaay more cons than pros, but like the genius I am, I walked right in anyway.
As I made my way delicately around the blood and the bodies I found myself murmuring bits and pieces of fairly obvious observations. "Is there a… nope, that's- that's a neck. Nope, there's no head. Okie dokie then…. and oh, shit, yep, there's, uh, yep that's blood…. wow guess he should've quit while he was a head." I caught my breath and put an end to my inappropriate commentary when I saw the body of a man with a head.
Making my way tentatively toward him, I began to notice that he wasn't covered in blood like everyone else. He had a few scratches here and there, and shattered glass lay strewn about him, but he looked more alive than the other people I'd seen here. "Um…" I reached over the broken glass with one arm and did my best to subtlety poke him in the shoulder to see if he was alive- although it ended up being more of a jab, since I was struggling to maintain my balance as I leaned across the glass. He groaned and stirred a little and I jumped back, all of a sudden hoping I hadn't woken him. I waited for a minute and, after he didn't move again, I looked closer at him. His hair was dark and a little messy and his coat was, thankfully, unstained with blood. He held a video camera in one hand, which I thought was a bit odd, but I wasn't about to choose that detail to worry about out of everything I had seen so far. The sound of approaching footsteps startled me so bad I nearly screamed and just barely made it behind the security desk before a figure emerged from a nearby hallway. I tried to ignore the headless body sitting a foot away from me and instead focused on the person in front of me.
Their back was to me, thankfully, but from where I was I could see the bald head (intact) of a chubby figure in a black unbuttoned straightjacket. He kneeled down to the cameraman, who I could tell from his more audible groans was starting to come to. "I...I see," I heard him say, "Merciful God, you have sent me an Apostle. Guard your life, son, you have a calling." I raised my eyebrows and slowly slid farther back into my hiding place. Where had I walked into? After a few beats of silence I dared to peek my head out again, just to jerk it back again at the sight of the man in black looking around suspiciously. "Lord," he seemed to say, "Is it possible that you have sent me another?" My mouth gaped in surprise but I quickly shut it and held my breath until, after what seemed like hours, I heard him walk away.
I got up slowly and looked around to make sure there was no one else around before making a break for the front entrance. I didn't care anymore if I was stuck in the cold, dark rain- nothing was worth this. The blood drained from my face as I jiggled the doorknob, realizing that somehow, between the time I came in and the time I'd overheard that creepy, one-sided conversation, that the door had been locked. I desperately tried the other ones, but got the same result. I turned back around to face the bloody mess that loomed in front of me, and knew that I'd have to find another way out.