One Year Later...
"We are standing just outside the site of the soon-to-be-demolished, Saint Vincent Hospital," the female news reporter from Channel 13 said. "Almost a year to the date since the double-murder of Jake Felder and Victor Ramirez, the old hospital has been secured and boarded up for safety concerns, and for the ongoing murder investigation. Investigators tell us, over that period of time, all possible evidence has been taken from this location." The reporter talked over old footage being shown to viewers. "Despite protests from some members in the community, the sixty-two-year-old hospital will be demolished tomorrow. Rumors continue to persist that the ghost of serial killer, David Henry Coleman, known as the Mangler, still haunts the building. Even a full year after the last murders, some say the ghost of Coleman is responsible." The reporter paused as a picture of Coleman was shown to the viewers. "But after the demolition tomorrow, we may never know the truth. On location in Baytown, this is Cynthia Hanson reporting for Channel 13."
The demolition took place the next day. News stations, reporters, citizens and all the kids who were at the party that rainy night, watched from behind the safety barricades. Brandon also watched.
The hospital went down in a heap of concrete, steel, and rubble, without a problem. Most curious onlookers left after it met its fate, but Brandon and a few others watched as crews moved in to remove some of the debris. Brandon found many things to keep his mind off what he saw that night, but he had to see the old building go down for himself.
A large machine with a front-end loader was slowly plowing towards a pile of debris when a ground worker signaled for him to stop. "Stop! Stop!" The worker bent down and began sifting through a small pile of rubble. "What the hell?" he said to himself. "No way."
The big piece of machinery suddenly stopping, and the yelling of the worker got Brandon's attention. He watched as the worker moved a couple of pieces of metal and then lifted a thick, shiny silver chain.
Brandon looked on in horror as he realized what it was. He shouted out loud, to no one in particular. "LOOK!" His eyes wide, he pointed at the worker.
"This looks brand new, no way," the worker said. Then he reached down and lifted the other piece he had found, a sickle. It shined like new, as did the chain. "What the hell is going on? How did this get here?"
Brandon looked on, as the construction worker lifted the sickle and chain high over his head and shook his arms violently.
"Look. I'm the Mangler!" the worker said, as he laughed aloud.
The sunlight reflected off the sickle's blade and shined right into Brandon's horrified eyes. The worker turned his head and looked right at Brandon, but Brandon no longer saw the construction worker holding his tools of murder . . . he saw the Mangler.
That night, Brandon stared at the ceiling in his bed, unable to sleep. With the hospital now gone, he was avoiding the latest text messages from Doug and Kyle, not wanting to share what he saw the night of the murders. In deep thought, he tried to understand his visions of the Mangler, when a knock came at his window.
It has to be them, he thought.
He got out of bed and walked in the dark room toward the knocking. The flash of lightning briefly lit the room as he stood in front of the window. Brandon slowly lifted one of the blinds, expecting to see Doug and Kyle. Another flash of lightning hit, but he couldn't see anyone.
Maybe it was the wind.
He walked away but stopped in the middle of the room when he heard the unmistakable sound of something slowly scratching on the glass. A chill came over him.
YOU ARE READING
"Floor Four" - A Novella of Horror (Haunted)
Horror‘A loud bang was heard from above, scaring the boys. They shined their lights up the stairwell. The sounds of chains rattling on the floor stirred the dust above. Something or someone was up there. Doug, hiding his fear, took a couple of more steps...
