365 Nights of Fear

Night # 90 Please Help Me

This next chilling tale is about a security guard who finds an urgent message for help.

Jerry was working a double shift in the psychiatric unit of the hospital one night. He normally worked the evening shift but tonight he had to cover the night shift as well because Ross was out sick. Walking the halls he understood what Ross meant now. It was a creepier place at night. It got quiet at night so every little thing that made noise you could hear clearly.

As he walked the halls trying to stay awake he noticed a piece of paper underneath the door of one of the rooms. He picked the paper up and read it. "Please help me." He got scared as he read the note thinking the patient was in trouble. He looked through the sliding plate on the door and felt a chill go down his neck. The patient was sound asleep. He stood there wondering how the patient had written a note if he had been asleep. 

He threw the piece of paper away thinking it was from earlier and continued his rounds. He walked the hallway when he started hearing scratching noises from one of the rooms. He listened closely as he pinpointed which room it was coming from. He slowly walked over to the door and looked in. He jumped back as he noticed the patient was fast asleep as well, but that is not the part that scared him. Someone had etched the words, "Please help me", in the wall. 

Jerry did not know what was happening but it was scaring him. He knew that this would be the last time he would cover the night shift. He knew Ross was not lying about it being creepy at night but Ross had never said anything remotely close to what he was experiencing tonight. 

He stood there a moment to let what was occurring sink in when he saw a trail of blood come around the corner. He rushed to see where it was coming from and it led to the room of a patient Jerry had heard of many times in his year of being a security guard. This man had everyone on pins and needles when they had to deal with him. According to the locals who had known him he had been normal pretty much all his life until one-day local authorities were called out. Out of nowhere, he had killed his family and tried to burn the house down. When they questioned him about it he had just looked at them blankly and asked where his family was. They figured for whatever reason he had gone crazy so they put him in the psych ward.

Jerry was not looking forward to seeing the man but he knew it was his job to secure things. He peeked through the hole and noticed that the patient was not in his room. Jerry panicked as he looked all around him. The blood began to disappear as if someone were soaking it up very quickly. He stood frozen to the floor as the door to the man's room opened up. He began to hear a voice but it was not the patient's. "Welcome to the night shift, Jerry." Jerry screamed as Ross took him by the wrist and drug him through the door. "I told you the night shift was creepy. I just did not tell you it was because of me. By the way, you do not have to worry about him anymore. I took care of him just a short while ago. I am done with him and look forward to moving on to bigger and better things. The big question is, Are you ready to be the next patient?

Hours after the incident authorities found Jerry roaming the halls of the ward covered in the patient's blood. When they asked him about it he just gave looked at them blankly and said, "What patient?" Jerry sat in his room humming as the night security guard made his rounds. He slipped a piece of paper under the door and shut his eyes to go to sleep. Down the hall, Ross hid in a corner of one of the rooms as the unsuspecting guard covered his night shift.