He had retraced his steps finding himself in front of the door marked Phaleg. The ghostly figure was no longer haunting the corridor. In their absence he tried the door again. It was unlocked.
This was the service tunnel he had discovered, underneath the hospital basement.
For a moment it was eerily silent. Almost a complete absence of sound, save from Harry's breathing.
In the distance he heard a noise. The crying and screaming of several children. Up ahead the shadows had started moving around. At first it seemed like a trick of the light. Then he noticed. Small shadowy figures moving toward him.
The noise was growing louder. These childlike silhouettes seemed to be creating the awful sound.
Closer they came. Harry had been mesmerized by the sight of them. He tried to move past them but they changed course and cut him off. They grabbed at him and pinned him to the wall and began to pull him down. His knees began to weaken as they climbed.
The awful sounds of children in pain and distress deafened and disoriented him.
He pressed his eyes tight shut and tried to think.
Think of…
It was hard to think straight.
Think of something.
Think of anything.
Anything to shut out this noise.
They were on top of him now. It was impossible to move. Difficult to see. His flashlight shone through the figures weakly. They surrounded him. Entombed him. He could feel his consciousness blackening around the edges.
Think of…
of Cheryl…
one child…
one girl…
cries out…
in pain…
He was in a greenhouse. What he could see of the white painted metal that made up the structure of this place, was peeling and rusting. Strange orchids filled the trestle tables in neat rows around the space. He also noticed those small, white flowers with the pleasant scent that grew by the lake.
There was no view of the terrain outside the glasshouse as it was covered with an impenetrable vine.
The two doors at the opposite end were secured with a dagger, which had a blade of fair length. The material it was made from was difficult to discern, as the weapon was soiled from years of neglect.
It was fairly hefty though, and looked like it could do some damage.
As Harry yanked it from between the door handles, he was knocked back. There, blocking the entrance to the greenhouse was a beast, with tentacles that resembled thick vines. That was what was covering the glass panels.
It grabbed for him. Stumbling back, he threw a trestle table on to one that was coming from his right. The tentacle flipped the table and continued towards Harry. An orchid flew from his right hand and barely foiled another attempt as the monster swatted it aside.
The first tentacle reached his foot. Instinctively he swung the dagger at it. It took off the tip of the first tentacle, which had just begin to curl around his leg. The blade bathed the room in a brilliant blue light and the tentacle shriveled and recoiled away.
Suddenly he found himself back in the corridor, beset by the phantom children. They squealed and clawed at him. They pulled on his sleeves and his jeans. Climbing up. Engulfing him. He had visions of terrible things happening to them. Shadows of the children they once were. The adults that had beat them, starved them, taught them to continue the cycle of abuse. The terrible ends they had met. It was hard to bear.
He decided to give in.
He let the darkness wash over him.
Everything went black.
When he became aware of his surroundings, he saw warped graying wooden planks on the floor, the walls, the ceiling. Every last inch was covered with graffiti. Knife marks gouged out of the wall over and over and covered with pen made it difficult to decipher the markings.
Harry could make out the odd word: "red book"… "pendant"… and some others that made no sense to him.
In the corner, by a writing desk, the ghostly form of Alessa Gillespie haunted him again. Wearing the blue dress she sat, crying, knees up against her chest. This incarnation was still young, reminding him of his daughter. Instinctively, he moved toward her. Glancing over her shoulder toward him, she disappeared.
At the writing table he saw an unfinished letter. All it contained was the opening 'Dear Claudia,'. Next to the letter sat a small, unusual picture frame containing a photograph of Cheryl in her blue and white check dress. It was not one that Harry had taken but he could see that it was recent. The red coloured frame frame was a circular shape, made up of a snake eating its own tail.
As unsettling as it was, it was an indication that Cheryl had been here and could be near.
In front of the picture was a small ankh on a chain, engraved with the words 'from dad'. Cheryl had picked it out from the jewelry stand at their local flea market for her last birthday. Harry paid for the engraving before wrapping it.
He felt closer to her now than he had since she disappeared. If he could just carry on a little further…
He picked up the necklace and picture and tucked them into his jacket pocket.
The dusty space transformed into a rusty storeroom. Rows and rows of bottles of distilled water and disinfectants suggested that he was back in the hospital.
The water bottles looked too heavy to carry safely all the way back to Lydia and Rachel, if he could even find them again. A packet of jelly beans sat on the shelf nearest a set of double doors. Hoping it was edible, he rolled it up and stuffed it in his jeans pocket.
Carrying on ahead he found a treatment room with a soiled bed at either end. A TV set flickered on a stand, next to the far bed. Underneath was a VCR, blinking 00:00 repeatedly. In the slot was a videotape marked 'lisa care log'.
Harry pushed it in and pressed play. An image of the nurse appeared, illuminating the dark room. At the foot of a hospital bed, wearing the familiar red cardigan, she sat with her head in her hands, still and silent.
She sighed.
Eventually, without moving, she began to speak:
"I don't know what you want me to say…
What is it?
Still has an unusually high fever…
Eyes don't open…
getting a pulse…
but just barely breathing.
Her skin is all charred! Even when I change the bandages, the blood and pus just start oozing through! Why? What is keeping that child alive?
I…I can't stand it any longer…
I won't tell a soul…promise. So please…"
The video cut off and the screen was filled with static.