That's the Spirit

3

3

They were astonished as I relayed what happened in short breaths and shaky tone. No doubt my demeanor confirmed that I wasn’t making this up.

To my surprise, the old man was as surprised as the tour pack.

“I… never heard of an encounter with her before…” god man had replied to my story. “I don’t doubt you saw her and heard her, but I never knew…”

I wanted so badly to text Nina about this. I knew she’d hate me. She’d want me and Brett sprinting for the doorway and driving home in three minutes tops. I couldn’t seek comfort from her. But I had another few problems…

For one, my curiosity wanted to know more about that girl. What happened before? Who is she? What did she want me to help her with? On the other hand, I had the problem of…

“Damn it, Dave. Why didn’t you let me know?!” Brett was furious. All he got was a chill, and I was haunted to the point of a black out. He stomped away and focused on a mirror, hoping to see a reflection.

He’ll does bad things… He’s coming for me… Help…

I shook my head as if trying to shake her from my mind. As I passed the mirror, I didn’t look. I knew, somehow, she’d be standing behind me. I knew she was following me. No one had seen her before… Was I making this up? If she was real, why was it me, alone, that could see her?

Nina: You still alive?

Me: Yes, of course. If I was I’d obviously be haunting you.

Nina: Shut up

Me: It’s the only way I’ll ever see anything from you :P

Nina: Live and maybe you’ll see something.

Me: You’re funny

Nina: The best ;)

Our sarcastic texts gave me some comfort and a small part of my sanity back. The god man was preaching about how we were passing one of the darkest rooms. The negative feeling was strongest in the area we were in. If my mind wasn’t blocked by the image of this girl, I might feel this sensation. That was when I decided to ask Brett if he felt it. I looked around…

Shit. That is all that went through my mind now. Shit. Shit over and over with an occasional fuck. Brett wasn’t with the group. He must have snuck off when I was texting Nina. There are things in the building, and that girl was the least of anyone’s worries. I HAD to find him.

I went back down the corridors. Eventually, I reached the cells. My heart stopped beating for a second or two. The lock was picked; the cell was open. “Brett!” I called out, not really expecting a response. I didn’t receive a response. Just the whistling sound of the draft coming in through ancient windows. I approached the cell and entered. The floor was wood, and in the corner of the room was a hole. The wood was rotted and gnarled. It’s a wonder that the whole floor hadn’t collapsed. This was my only lead to finding my brother though…

I grew a pair of balls and jumped down the hole. It was deeper than I anticipated; about nine feet. I didn’t stick my landing. Rather, I slipped and landed in a pile of wood, thanking the Lord, my God and Savior, that I missed the nails. I quickly got to my feet and pulled out my phone. Nina had texted me again, but right now I couldn’t care less. I switched on my flashlight on my phone and looked around. It was another cell, and the door was open to another corridor. I was in the basement. My brother was not in sight. I was optimistic and thought my brother would be too curious to find a way back up, so I began my journey trying to find where he’d wandered to.

I felt this pressure in my gut. Every inch of my being tried to pull me back up that hole, but I couldn’t go back without my brother. There was an eeriness, a darkness, even, to this place. I could feel the misery and pain, the frustration and anger, the sadness and sorrow of the patients that walked these corridors before me. That’s when I realized… the top floor is just decorated. This is the place it all happened. It was here that the real shit had been done to those poor souls. I was walking through the heart of it.

Then I saw here. She was fully standing in front of me. Although she was an apparition, she appeared solid. At first, I wasn’t able to recongnize her, for the scars were gone from her face. She looked normal, for an impression of someone so tortured before death; however, there was something even more intriguing about her. She looked perfectly sane.

“Why have you come here? You don’t want to be here.” Her voice was shaky, as if scared.

“My brother went down the hole in that cell,” I replied nervously. I had surprised myself by somehow making a complete thought out of those words.

“You should go back.”

“I can’t.”

One minute she was there. Then she was in front of me in a blink of an eye. I opened my mouth to scream as I fell back but no sound came out. The air around me was cold. I sat there against a wall, whimpering pathetically. Her composure, however, relaxed. Her eyes were almost comforting.

“You said your brother came down here? Was he a boy only a bit younger than us?” Her voice had a sort of slight echo to it.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, he is.”

I was surprised at the free control her spirit had. I always thought ghosts and spirits could only replay how they were in their final moments. However, this realization brought no happiness.

She bit her lip. Her eyes looked sorrowful, and I could almost see a tear forming.

“That’s no good…”

I froze. What the fuck was that supposed to mean? That’s no good… I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what she meant. That’s no good… I finally got the courage to ask her.

“What… do you mean that’s no good?”

“It’s your brother…”

“What about him?”

“The doctor took him.”