Mind's Echo

Eva

"Stupid man. Stupid, chicken-poo man. Too afraid to check out an abandoned building. Gah! What happened to men being brave? Pftt. Yeah, right," Eva grumbled to herself as she trudged down the deserted dark drive which led to Clarkmann Home for the Mentally Insane.

She wasn't supposed to be alone. She was supposed to be making this trek with her fiancé, but, at the last minute, he had chickened out. Driving in the car toward the location, he had told her she was crazy for even wanting to do it. They had fought. She had insisted on being let out.

And he had actually let her out. Pulled over and opened the door for her himself. Angry, and a little hurt, she had called his bluff and gotten out. Then, he had climbed back into the car and roared away as she stood there and stared in disbelief.

"Stupid jerk," she growled, looking around at her quickly-darkening surroundings. She tried hard to repress the shiver that raced up her spine.

She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone, checking again to see if it worked. Nope. Dead as dead could be, which completely baffled her. She had made sure to charge it before leaving the house. She would never head out into the middle of nowhere without a fully charged phone. That would be stupid. And she wasn't stupid like her stupid fiancé.

As she rounded a bend in the road, she spotted a fire blazing. Her steps faltered and she squinted, trying to discern what was going on in the distance. Is that ...?

"Hello?" she called tentatively.

There were people sitting around the fire. Two people. Maybe they had phones that worked. She moved closer to them, her shoulders relaxing when she saw that it was a guy and a girl. She nervously pulled her long red hair over her left shoulder and smiled a greeting. She shoved her phone back into her pocket.

"Hi. Um. I was just ... Well, you see, my ... um ... my fiancé, kinda ... well, he dropped me off at the road and took off. Stupid jerk." She shook her head and waved her hand in dismissal. "Anyway, would either of you happen to have a phone that works? I need to call someone to pick me up."

The guy shook his head, and the girl smirked.

"I'm sorry," said the guy. "Both of our phones are dead."

Eva stared, her mouth falling open. "Are you serious?"

The girl snorted. "No, we're joking. You know, just to tease you, a perfect stranger. Yes, our phones are dead. I'm guessing your phone is dead, too."

Eva bit her lip. "Well, yeah, actually it is."

The guy narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "That's interesting ..."

"That's fucked up," said the girl, poking at the fire with a frown on her face.

Eva plopped down onto the log next to the girl. "Um. Well, my name is Eva."

The guy nodded a greeting. "I'm Alex, and this is Shelly."

Shelly tossed a quick, strained smile in Eva's direction. Eva looked around, gazing up at the spooky facade of the dilapidated insane asylum.

"Well, I would say it's nice to meet you, but considering the circumstances ..."

Alex gave an uncomfortable laugh. "It's not exactly a friendly social setting, is it? Doesn't really call for the usual niceties."

Eva shrugged. "Not really, no. So, what are you two doing here?"

After Alex and Shelly took turns explaining their presence, Eva offered her own.

"I was supposed to be coming out here with my fiancé. I wanted to check it out. I've heard some very spooky stories about this place. I love scary stuff. I'm really into ghost hunting and all that jazz. Anyhow, at the last minute, the jerk chickened out, so ..." she shrugged, "here I am."

"You're welcome to hang out with us," Alex suggested, smiling kindly.

Shelly nodded, her smile a little warmer this time. "Definitely. The more the merrier. This place is beyond creepy."

Eva lifted the collar of her light jacket. She had been considering hoofing it back into town, but it was at least 10 miles away. The road leading back to it was not a well-known route, either, so that meant the chances of catching a ride were slim. Her best bet was to probably see the night through with these two strangers. She heaved a sigh and stared into the fire.

"Thanks. I guess I will."