Vile Vacancy

Chapter 2- The Unknown

I stood on that street more confused than I ever have been in my life. Where the hell did that deranged woman go? One second she screams like a mad woman, and the next second she disappears into thin air? I had to get to the bottom of all this, and I had to do it without being noticed. 

I was on the back side of the hospital, and I knew I couldn't go through the doors from the front. I quickly got off of my bike and crept up to the hospital's back door. I remember seeing EMTs rushing past the side of the hospital with people on stretchers, and screaming out for help. I looked carefully at the man on the stretcher. He too had a bloody rash on the side of his face, but his rash had gone so deep that I could see a piece of his jaw bone peeking through. What in the world was going on here? What caused all of this to happen? 

The back door to the hospital was locked. I looked around for something to pick the lock or smash the handle in with. I found an old cafeteria knife at the end of the stairwell leading up to the door. I stuck the knife into the door frame and pushed as hard as I could, until I heard a loud crack. The door opened! The back door lead to a morgue.....I know right? Of all places, this is where this stupid door would lead. The room smelled of dead bodies and medical equipment. It was vaguely dark, and I could only make out shadows of objects within the room. I finally found the door to the elevator. I hit the "up" arrow, until it lit up a yellow color. I found myself looking over my shoulder waiting for that elevator to finally get to the basement and get me out of there, that room freaked me the hell out. The elevator doors opened and I ran inside, continuously hitting the "close doors" button, until they finally shut. I could finally take a deep breath of relief as the floor numbers began to ding as I went up each floor. 

I finally made it to the third floor, and as the elevator doors opened....my heart sank. Doctors and nurses alike were running around like they were on drugs, screaming and yelling to one another. Every room was occupied with a patient, and the staff on that floor were in complete chaos. Papers were being thrown, family members of the patients were pacing outside the rooms like they're feet were going to fall off. I remember seeing a male doctor standing in the middle of the hallway completely frozen, and his face showed the look of denial. "Are you okay?" I asked. "Never in my medical career have I seen something so violent and traumatizing as this disease." He answered, stroking his hair on his chin. "Well, what exactly is this disease sir?" I continued, urgently. "I.....I have no idea...." he paused. "But whatever it is, I am terrified for what's to come." I knew things were not going to be okay. If a man with a PHD under his belt can stand in a hallway as puzzled as everyone else, things were not looking good. 

As I passed by each and every single room I could see patients with the same symptoms. Rash on their face, acting like they have gone completely mad. "Hello little girl!!! Want to stick that pretty little finger of yours inside this hole on my face?! AHAHA." An old decrepit man yelled from room 146. I cringed at the thought! What a disgusting and vile old man! I ran to that elevator and got the hell out of there. Who in their right mind would ask someone such a thing? The elevator led me down to the first floor, when the doors opened, two EMTs were boarding the elevator with a gurney of a young woman. Her face was beautiful, her hair was as bright as the sun, and she too had a rash on her face. She was a bit different though, her rash had also spread to her arms and chest as well. As I walked out of the elevator, she grabbed my hand. "Leave. Get out of here before it's too late!" She yelled, grasping my hand. Before I could say anything back, the elevator doors slammed shut. I started to stumble backwards from the shock of what just happened in front of me. As I crumbled backwards I slammed into someone, when I turned around, I saw my brother. "Oh thank God your here Ryder!" I shouted. "Have you seen this disease, and what it is doing to people?" I looked down at the floor and back at Ryder. "Do you think we will catch this thing?" Ryder looked at me more puzzled then ever. "I....I don't know yet, but we need to get out of here before we find out!" 

Ryder and I ran back to our house as fast as we could, we stumbled in the front door and locked it behind us. We could hear a faint noise coming from upstairs, Ryder and I looked at each other in disbelief. "What the hell is that?" I asked. "I don't know, but I think we should go check it out." He said firmly. "Are you crazy?!" I yelled back at him. You see, Ryder would be that stupid teenager in the horror movies to go and "investigate" a noise or thump, I on the other hand like to keep my distance so I don't....you know, DIE! I made Ryder go first, I wasn't about to be the first one slashed into pieces because of a noise. When we finally made it up the stairs, we could see the light on in the bathroom and the door was barely cracked. Ryder slowly opened the bathroom door, and when he did I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My mother was hunched over on the floor, sobbing into her hands. When she looked up at us, a piece of flesh on her cheek was halfway falling off of her face. "Kids go away!!! I don't want you to see me like this!" She screamed. "Mom, what...what happened? How did this happen to you?" I mumbled softly. "I...I went outside to get the mail. I thought it wasn't a big deal. One of the neighbors came running out of his house with blood all over himself. Before I could run inside, he screamed "We're all gonna die!!" with a disturbing laugh, and he spit in my face! I immediately ran inside the bathroom and tried to clean myself off, but when I looked in the mirror.....I had this on my face." She said, as she started to peel the flesh off her cheek. "We've got to get you to the hospital mom, we can't lose you." Ryder stumbled upon his words. "Mom, Bexley and I can't lose another parent." My mother nodded her head, she picked herself up from off the floor and we got in the car and drove to the hospital.