After the End (on pause)

Chapter 1 - 6:00 pm

Chapter 2 - 5:00 pm

The frozen December ground crunched beneath my feet as I approached the looming building. Dread seized my gut as realization of what I was about to do finally washed over me.

I was going to spend the night alone. In an abandoned asylum for the insane. With no cell phone.

In other words, I belonged in the asylum myself if I actually believed I would emerge from this night unscathed. I took a deep breath, craning my head upwards toward the brim of the roof. Beyond that, I could see the sun already setting in the dull winter sky. The building alone would give anyone the chills. It was large and imposing, with two wings which jutted out from where they combined at the front. Five stories tall and made of brown brick, there was nothing particularly scary about how it looked. It was the feel the place emitted. The hair on my arms rose and my skin pricked from goosebumps as they emerged. I let out an involuntary shiver and turned towards my "friends" in the idling car behind me.

"Remember, we'll come inside at 6 o' clock tomorrow!" said gabby cheerily.

"And we'll be camping the entire night so we'll know if you escaped," Maria said calmly with an air of satisfaction. In that moment I wanted to be sick. What kind of friends would force someone into a possibly life altering situation. I took a deep breath to calm my temper as I turned toward the building that would hold me captive for the night. The wind picked up slightly, rustling my waist length auburn hair in the process.

I sucked in a deep breath as I began my slow walk towards the doors. Walking, I felt as though I was in a tunnel; my destination seeming so far away yet arriving much too quickly. Before I knew it, my warm breath fogged the still shining mahogany doors. It seemed strange that a mental hospital would have such nice doors. I expected something much more clinical; steel maybe. Then again, the purpose may have been to provide the patient with a false sense of security before they stripped them of their confidence in their life up to that point.

As I raised my hand to the dull golden handle, I realized I was shaking. Whether it was from fear or the cold, I couldn't be sure, but I grasped the handle as quickly as possible to hide the tremble from my sight. I spared one last glance at the outdated black Honda idling under a streetlight. Somewhere inside of me knew I would never forgive them. For what, I was not yet sure.

I lifted my thumb to the lever that would open the door to the point of no return. Literally.

"Just go in already!" screamed the two at slightly staggering times. I huffed in irritation and pushed down on the lever as I threw my weight against the solid door. It immediately swung in, sending me toppling to the dusty floor. I let a breath of frustrated air leave my lungs, causing a puff of dust to float into the air. It was strange that the door was just left open when the police wanted to prevent trespassers. I didn't sit and ponder it for long, however, as the door was slammed shut by the cold gust. Groaning I stood up and brushed my dirty palms against my faded jeans to clean them. My shallow breath soon filled the cavernous lobby. It was quiet, eerily so, as I stood for a moment to observe my surroundings.

Surprisingly, the place was beautiful. Rundown, but beautiful all the same. I clicked on my LED flashlight and swept it over the floor. Below the layer of grime, the tile was colorful and laid in an intricate diamond pattern. It consisted of three side by side large diamonds connected at their point by smaller diamonds. The larger were layered in shades of oranges and yellows, the smaller in blue and white. The color combination was strange but worked to create a harmonious mosaic. Twin staircases framed the hallway that faded into darkness beyond them. The stairs were straight in design, but complicated in detail. The treads were a black material that looked like wood, the risers a scrolled design in black and white. The newel resembled a clock tower painted in white. The wallpaper was peeling and had over time become a faded pink; only interrupted by the white chair rail and wainscoting. This followed along the ground floor and continued along the stairs.