Searching For A Home

Chapter 2

Celi made her way to the back of the building, not realising there were in fact a couple of teenagers hiding in the woods. There were five teenagers hidden among the trees. They were watching Celi carefully, using the trees to hide from her. Among the teenagers were Delvis, Joe, Torta, Alex and Wono. The person leading the group was Wono.

"Are we sure about this?" asked Torta. "If we get caught, we're probably going to jail."

"We're definitely going to jail," said Joe. "This is breaking and entering. It's called a crime."

"Stop being so negative," said Wono. "This is going to be fun. The perfect experience for a Halloween night."

"Yeah, but do we have to go to a place that is being guarded?" asked Delvis. "I'm sure there are other supposedly haunted places."

"Because we know this place is definitely haunted," said Alex.

"So you say," said Delvis.

"So I say," said Wono. "Come on, we're losing our opportunity to sneak inside." Wono went forward, sneaking his way up to the asylum.

"Yo Alex," whispered Joe. "How well do you know this guy?"

"Old friend from middle-school," answered Alex. "We recently reconnected. It had been a couple of years. Come on, we're about to get left behind." Alex sneaked off ahead and his friends followed, Torta being in the rear.

Wono was at one of the side doors as the others caught up.

"What now?" asked Torta.

Wono used his shoulder to push it open.

"Really," said Torta. "It was that easy."

"Seems so," said Wono as he went inside. The others followed.

Again Torta was the last one to follow. He made sure to leave the door open by a slight crack. Wono led the group deep into the facility. Torta was falling a little behind, but quickly caught up.

"You seem to know where you're going," said Delvis. "Almost like you've been here before."

"That's because I have," said Wono.

"I hope it wasn't as a resident."

"Not at first."

"Excuse me?"

"That was a joke."

Alex and Joe let out a genuine laugh while Torta gave him an awkward one.

Wono smiled at Delvis who wasn't amused. "I guess it wasn't that funny."

"You said this place is haunted," said Delvis. "How so? What can we expect to see?"

"Ghosts," said Joe. "What else?"

"Oh, there are other types of monsters other than ghosts out there."

"For example?"

"Gargoyles."

****

Celi was making her way back to the front of the building when she heard a rattle up ahead. She ran up ahead and found someone opening the gate. "Hey, hey! Get away from there."

The person opened up the gate which they shouldn't be able to do without a key. Celi slowed down as she reached for her gun at her back. She recognised the person and quickly hid her gun away.

"Papo, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"You said you needed help so here I am." He pointed at her car. "Did you leave your vehicle on, here alone?"

"Yeah, I do that when I patrol around the building. It stops people from sneaking onto property when I'm away."

"I'm sure that works, but the gas. A portion of your check must be going to the gas you waste here."

"I'm only doing this for tonight," she said as she turned her vehicle off. "I don't usually do this. Are you going to bring your vehicle onto the property? Because I need you to hurry so I can go check the cameras."

"Yeah, just give me a second." Papo went to his car as Celi opened the gate wide for him to drive in. After getting onto the property, Celi closed and locked the gate. Papo got out of his vehicle and followed Celi to the guard shack. "Any excitement on this Halloween night?"

"Not as of yet," said Celi as she unlocked the guard shack.

Papo stared at the moon as Celi went to check on the cameras. "It is a very nice night out right now. Perfect Halloween night."

"Perfect for some. Nightmare for others."

Papo turned to look at Celi.

"Shit," said Celi as she slammed the keyboard.

"What's wrong?"

"Some kids got onto the property when I was doing my patrol." Celi had the camera that faced the side of the building on full screen. Papo stood behind Celi, watching the cameras from over her shoulder. They watched as five teenagers snuck inside the asylum. "Damn it."

"Calm down, Celi," said Papo.

"I'll get them out," said Celi as she made her way outside.

"Wait," said Papo as he followed. "Shouldn't we call the police?"

"Not yet. Give me a chance to get them out first." Celi made her way to the front entrance of the asylum and began to unlock the door.

"How were they able to just walk inside if the doors are locked?"

"I guess the one on the side wasn't locked."

"Shouldn't we go through the side then?"

"I rather walk through the areas I know first."

"Understood."

Celi pulled out her cellphone. "Give me a second. I need to take this."

"Right now?"

"It's my son. I need to make sure everything is okay."

Papo gave her a nod as she went outside. Celi dialed her son's number, lying about him being the one who called.

"Hello," said Luisito from the other side of the phone, music playing in the background.

"Are you with your brother?"

"He's here. Want to talk to him?"

"No, I need both of you here now. Four kids snuck onto the property. I believe one of the gargoyles led them here."

"Shit. We're on our way."

Celi hung up her phone and went to join Papo. "Let's go."