Dea Mortem: Short Horror Stories

Laboratory Ghosts

June 13, 2003

Dr. (Data Expunged) Notes

Psych Ward Experiments- Day 52

Experiment Lunatic 23 (L23)

L23 is one of our favorite experiments. It has previously been noted that he often will help us distribute medications when he’s not busy sulking quietly in the corners. He has not spoken a single word in the few months we have had him. All the scientists here are baffled by his sudden outburst beginning at approximately 3:00 a.m this morning. We don’t know what triggered it, but Dr. (Data Expunged) has suggested that it may have something to do with it being “Friday the Thirteenth”. While I have no proof on such trivial sciences, she has suggested that even the moon phases have been connected to the behaviors of most- if not all- life on Earth.

3: 00 am: The subject wakes suddenly and begins to scream and yell incoherent words. He then proceeds to bang on the walls and violently tear at the corners. We believe he was yelling something about “the rotted” something “in the walls*.

4: 08 am: The subject loses interest with his fetish and moves on to wrapping his bleeding hands (rubbed raw from scratching at the walls) in his sheets. He paces like this for the next thirty minutes before screaming for the doctors to come. Already studying his behaviors from behind the cameras- the Graveyard Shift scientists decided not to act on the call immediately, sending for me.

4:57 am: I decide to act on the call, bringing with me a strong sedative to be applied by subdural injection. I also brought with me tools for fixing up his hands and sterilizing the wounded area. When I entered the room, he was back in his corner, sobbing and drawing ‘x’’s all over the floor in his blood. When I approached, he didn’t seem to see me, so I took his hand and began to clean the wound. He simply stopped and stared vacantly at the ceiling for many minutes.

5:15 am: I finished bandaging L23’s hands before the man began to talk. In all the time treating him for schizophrenia, he had refused to say a word. Now, however, he began to talk in an almost desperation. He begged me to go outside- even if it was just outside his room. I often thought of lunatics as mere children- reinforced by the fact that they were our experiments- and that had only intensified as he held his injured hands.

5: 31 am: I brought L23 into my office and brought him some water. I attempted to interrogate him about his morning delirium, but he would not speak. He simply stared at my open door into the hallway without blinking. All the while he seemed distracted and on edge, so I took time to make the short versioned notes of the events.

5: 48 am: L23 has decided to talk to me, but has been very vague. He’s spoken about “the wizard in the walls” and the “silent scientist”, but when I have asked him to elaborate he is either unwilling or incapable of doing so. When I pressed for information a little longer, he turned around and lifted up his shirt. Beneath the white fibers of his laboratory uniform were series of ‘x’’s cut into his skin that had not been there when he had been at his checkup three days earlier. Asking the other scientists later, they had no idea how he received them. They appeared fairly fresh, but could not have been made by himself.

It is now 10:17 am, and L23 has been taken to the infirmary. We are running analysis on his blood samples and doing tests. He has continued to point or stare intensely at corners and doorways. We have also caught him using whatever drawing tool available at the time to write ‘x’’s over the area. We have confiscated each item, but somehow he always ends up with something. We will have him watched closely for the next 48 hours.

3:00 pm: I went to check up on L23 after leaving him with the psychologist for the past couple hours. The psychologist has given no report other than his refusal to cooperate. I fear we might have to use The Room if he does not speak with me. I shall go now.

4:00 pm: I spoke with L23. He feels that he trusts me, although I would not have any clue as to why. In the end, however, I’m glad he spoke with me. He told me that he has been seeing things- terrifying things that threaten the safety of all in the laboratories. He says they are patient, and that they will wait until the time is right to strike. I’ve tried to get more out of him, but he claims to not know any more information. We must cease chase for now.