Ward 48

Prologue [Edited]

Pace quickening, Sven walked briskly around the split, dirty floors of the hospital. Heavy footsteps of his two friends Robert and Nash followed behind like an echo. Confidence was present among Robert and Nash, but something here gave Sven the creeps.

This hospital was abandoned YEARS ago! So why are people being kidnapped here? Sven thought to himself.

The lights of the hospital flickered, and small shadows of dead bugs lay in the fluorescent lighting. Heart pounding, he carried on throughout the hospital. The further you went in, the darker, the dimer, the more peculiar this abandoned hospital became.

When Sven and his friends first stepped in the Orchid Field's University Hospital, it seemed normal, just in need of repairs. Sven looked around. Why would this place be abandoned? Sven thought, This is going to be an easy dare, and I will get that Periodic Table Poster in no time! Robert and Nash seemed reluctant at first, but they joined him. After all, what could go wrong? It's probably just a prank. But, walking further into the strange university hospital, Sven saw why most people avoided this place. Blood stains and saline covered the floor along with some material he could not identify. At one point, Robert found a surgeon's scalpel, and it was stained with fresh blood. The more you explored the creepier this place became. The only thing that confused the think-tank teen even more were the words 'Long live SJW' scratched on every wall.

What does that even mean? Is that an acronym for a person? Or is it some sort of cult? Sven thought.

Sven thought back to when the dare was first introduced, about 5 hours ago. It all started after they finished playing baseball at Bat and Swing.

"Hey guys, did you hear?" Andrew said excitedly while pointing to a newspaper that had a big blaring headline. It read: BOY, 15 KIDNAPPED, showing a picture of the mysterious Ward 48, and a shot of the outside of the crumbling university hospital.

"What are you talking about?" Robert said with an annoyed look.

"It's probably just another prank," Nash said with a sigh.Sven ignored their stupid talking and just concentrated on hitting the next ball. Just before the ball hit his face, Andrew's friend, Sean, suggested the stupidest thing that Sven had heard in a long time, and Sven had heard a lot of stupid things.

"Hey guys," Sean said, looking directly at Robert, Nash and Sven, "I dare you to go in the hospital and manage to not get kidnapped,"

"No way! We're not that stupid!" Nash snapped.

"Are you stupid enough that free lunch for 3 months will convince you, plus a limited edition periodic table poster?" Andrew asked. Robert put his hand on his chin, contemplating the situation.

"Okay, deal. If we come back, you have to give us the lunch, and Sven the periodic table poster," Robert said.

"Robert, but what if we don't come back out?" Nash asked, rubbing his temples.

"We probably will, don't worry," Robert replied. Sven sighed, following his friends, his stupid, stupid friends.

On first sight, it gave Sven the creeps. There were patches of dead, dry grass everywhere and a musty smell came out of the inside. The door looked like it was about to fall off, with scratches too deep to measure. A wood beam was desperately hanging on to its life, just dangling above them. Upon entering the hospital, it seemed like a normal one, with power and everything. But, as they went deeper in, the pale hospital lights looked like shadows of ghosts. 

By the time they got to the intensive care unit, the lights were grasping for a source of energy and Sven had to pull out his flashlight. Illuminating the hallway, Sven, Robert and Nash continued on. The hospital became damper and heavier and Sven stopped, and sworn he could have seen a shadow. He rubbed his eyes and blinked. Looking again, it was still there. Robert and Nash did not seem to notice, so Sven went down that hallway, but the shadow seemed to disappear. All that was there was a dried, stained in blood bone cutter with something that vaguely resembled a human hand. Sven looked a little closer then realized, it was a human hand, dripping with saline and blood-stained bones jutting out of it. He wanted to tell Robert and Nash, but it seems that they already went off somewhere. Oddly enough, their phones were still on one of the trolleys with a bunch of bloodied surgeon's tools.