Chapter Two.
Magic – Monday night.
I was on Callie’s team with Sunny, Connor, and Freddie.
That was okay with me. Yesterday I’d been very busy examining all the equipment they had.
Again, that was all fine and dandy, but I noticed one thing they seriously lacked.
Protection. There was nothing protecting them from any nasty little ghosts that might pop up. Good job I was here.
Callie had chosen the children’s wing for our investigation tonight, while Jack’s team was examining the second floor in the men’s wing, where shadow people had been seen. Sunny had explained that we’d swap over halfway through the night, depending on what we were getting. I was easy.
“Okay, Harry, we’re heading in. You said there were reports of a child crying,” Callie inquired over the radio.
“Yes, and someone likes to play with a ball. Further knowledge I’ve discovered is that there are alleged to be over three hundred deaths that occurred there.
The information from an investigative team stated the children were half-starved, all pale and weak, and most wouldn’t speak.
It was hard to differentiate between boys and girls because they all had shaved heads to stop lice.
There is also a record of girls being moved to an adult wing as soon as they started their periods,” Harry replied.
“Shit,” Sunny muttered, looking disgusted. I couldn’t disagree. What animal treated kids like that?
“The orphanage was overcrowded and underfunded. Those children knew nothing but misery. They had the most basic amenities, and half the time, they didn’t even have hot water.
Their food was substandard, and many died of malnutrition.
They were the unwanted and the forgotten.
After the investigation, the institution continued for two further years before being forcefully closed.
They reckon there was only one official death record, and a nurse hid it.
Nobody has ever found it, and she was rumoured to have died before she could release it,” Harry concluded.
“Well, fuck,” I hissed. No doubt the culprits were long dead, but they deserved to be exposed for their cruelty. How could they have lived with themselves?
“Did we bring the ball and bear?” Callie asked, turning to Sunny, who nodded. He wore a backpack like mine, but I bet we carried different things.
“Okay.” She took a deep breath and then spoke to the room.
“Hi, my name is Callie, and I don’t mean any harm or disrespect.
I’m aware people have visited and been cruel and horrible.
That is such a shame, and I apologise for their actions.
I want to talk to you if possible. Maybe you can begin by telling me your name,” Callie said and paused. “Or how old are you?”
I watched as Callie posed several more questions, holding out a recorder. Callie waited in silence for a few moments longer and then pressed stop and hit play.
I leaned in, interested in seeing if I could hear anything. I didn’t hear a name, but I could swear I caught weeping.
“Did you all catch that?” Callie asked, rewound the audio, and replayed it. She turned the volume up to maximum, and her voice boomed from it, almost deafening us, but we clearly heard crying.
“That’s a child,” I said wide-eyed.
“Yeah,” Sunny agreed.
Callie proposed a few more questions and repeated her actions.
“Hello, I can hear you weeping. Are you hurt or frightened?” Callie’s voice asked.
“Scared.” The whisper floated in the air, and the hairs on my arms stood up.
“What’s your name?”
“Mathew,” the boy responded. He sounded so young; my heart ached.
“How old are you?”
“Five.”
“Why are you crying?”
“Hungry.”
“Damn,” I hissed, shocked.
“Welcome to my world,” Sunny muttered.
“Magic, would you like to ask anything?” Callie said, and I felt a pang of worry. This was a child, spirit or not; it was a kiddie.
“Callie, he might be frightened of me,” I replied.
“Try,” Callie urged.
I shook my head, but my mouth opened anyway. I asked a series of questions before Callie held up a hand and pressed replay.
“Hi, dude, I’m Magic. I ride a motorbike if you know what one of them is.”
“Vroom,” Mathew said, and I smiled.
“I’d like to talk to you, but I don’t want to upset you. If I ask something that upsets you, say no. That’s okay to say. Did you die here?”
“Hungry. Yes.”
“Why are you still here?”
“Forgotten,” Mathew replied, and we frowned.
Callie paused the recording. “Does Mathew mean he’s been forgotten?”
“Or could Mathew be saying they’ve all been overlooked?” Freddie asked.
Callie shrugged and pressed play again.
“Are you alone?” my voice said, and my jaw dropped open.
“Emily, Joanne, Justin, Mason, Caroline. Jed…” The names continued for about a minute. All different voices and, from what I gather, varying ages. Holy shit.
Callie swapped a stunned gaze with Connor as his expression matched hers.
“There are so many,” I muttered. My heart was broken for the youngsters who were trapped here. Surely there was something we could do? I gazed hopefully at Callie. She’d discover a solution; I was sure of it. If not, I’d break my back to help these kids find rest.
“I have someone with me who can help you cross over to a nice place. Would you like to go?” Callie asked.
“It would be warm there, you’d be safe,” Connor added.
“Lost. Forgotten. Remember. Justice. Punished. Find us. Lost. Darkness.” The words spilt from the recorder.
“Find us,” Connor said. We all turned and looked at him. “I wonder if they were buried here and nobody knew.”
“Seek the proof.” The words floated in the air as an icy breeze rushed by us. A door opened and slammed further down the corridor near the entrance to the wing.
“What the hell?” I exclaimed.
Callie began walking towards the noise when Sunny reached out and snagged her. “Me first.”
Callie glowered at Sunny but let him take the lead. She and Connor followed him, and I chased them.
They entered what appeared to be a nurse’s office and peered around.
The place had been trashed. There were two metal desks, with a broken chair behind one.
A second chair was thrown into a corner.
Paper and debris littered the floor, and paint peeled from the walls.
There was a glass partition, which allowed those inside to watch the ward.
Several filing cabinets stood against the wall, their drawers open and empty.
“Find the proof. The written record, perhaps?” Connor asked while gazing about.
He was answered with a bang, and I jumped a little spooked.
“Are you the nurse who kept the evidence?” Connor continued looking around.
“Seek.”
“What are we seeking? Can you tell us?” Callie inquired. Sunny was checking the filing cabinets.
“These are empty,” he announced.
“If you were keeping a secret record, you’d hide it but keep it close by,” Callie mused. “Connor, what would you do?”
“Under a floorboard or up above,” he replied.
“My thoughts exactly. Except it’s not in the ceiling,” Callie said, pointing above us. There was no ceiling. We could see a mass of pipes and wiring, but the panels had long fallen, and their remains were scattered on the surrounding floor.
“How the hell do we find a loose floorboard in this shit?” I demanded.
“Carefully,” Freddie replied.
“Can you help us? Give us a rough idea of where to search?” Connor called out.
“Search!” the voice ordered, sounding slightly annoyed.
Callie bent to begin moving things around, but Sunny grabbed her. “Oh no, babe, not with the baby. Watch but don’t touch.”
Callie rolled her eyes. “Let’s place the bear and the ball down. Magic, want to come with me?”
“Sure,” I said as Sunny glowered.
I smirked and took the toys from him as he passed them over. “Is there anything special about these?” I asked as we walked away.
“The bear lights up if touched and doubles as a voice recorder. The balls make sounds when played with and also light up. Let’s put them here in front of the camera, which will monitor them,” Callie said.
I placed them back-to-back and returned to the office. Sunny and Connor had cleared the debris into a corner and were checking floorboards.
“It wouldn’t be nailed down. It would be obvious if someone kept ripping up nails. No, I think it’s a loose floorboard, but it’s snug enough with the others that it wouldn’t show up as a hiding space,” Connor was saying.
“Agreed,” Sunny replied, using his boot to tap the floor.
The edge of a board slightly lifted, and Connor’s sharp eyes caught it.
He and Sunny bent down, and Sunny pulled a knife to pry up the floorboard.
It was a struggle, but it finally came loose, and we peered into the hole.
A wooden box covered in dust lay there, just waiting to be discovered.
Connor pulled it out and wiped the dirt away. “It’s an old cigar container.”
“Open it,” Callie urged, and I felt the excitement coming from her.
“Holy shit!” Sunny exclaimed. He glanced over Connor’s shoulder and did as Callie ordered. He reached in and plucked out a piece of paper.
“Whoever finds this,
Know that I am a coward. So many wrongs were happening, and I was too afraid to speak.
Most of my colleagues and the doctors here are murderous, soulless monsters.
The last nurse to try and end this torturous existence for the children suspiciously died.
I don’t want to die. But they will be given justice one day.
I’ll continue to do my best and ease their suffering, but make no mistake, I might not have participated in this torture, but I did nothing to stop it. May God have mercy on my soul.
Nurse Catherine Rawlins.”
Sunny paused as his voice caught in his throat.
“Too little, too late,” I snapped.
Callie nodded. “But those kids can rest now.”
“Not until we find their graves,” I disagreed. “That’s why they’re still here. They’ve been forgotten and need to be remembered. They want justice!”
Sunny stared at me, surprised, no doubt, by my depth of feeling.