Chapter 19
To everyone’s disappointment, especially Mathis’, the door didn’t creak when they opened it.
A shoulder shove from Ian and the door opened wide, leading into a large entrance area.
Dust and litter covered the floor, and a few broken chairs were on their side, chair legs scattered across the parquet flooring, and there were cobwebs here and there.
“This place doesn’t look like it’s been empty for over a hundred years,” Gabe pointed out. “The dust alone should be inches thick, as it is, it looks like maybe a month’s worth.”
“Maybe it will, the further into this building we go,” Mathis replied.
“Shall we split up? This place is massive,” Cairo suggested.
“Yeah, pick a direction and see what you can find,” Seth said.
“I’ll go that way,” Adrian said, pointing towards the back.
“We’ll join you,” Jamie said, tugging on Ivan’s arm. Olly joined them.
Cairo, Troy, Seth and Gio went to search upstairs while Kevin and Ian went to the left, and Gabe and Mathis went to the right.
Jamie was walking down the back hallways, mulling over the fact that he saw a ghost, not really looking around. “How can I suddenly see ghosts?” he asked aloud. “Ivan, as well as a vampire hickey, did you make me see ghosts?”
Adrian and Olly laughed, and Ivan rolled his eyes.
“No, babe, all you got from me is the hickey.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that was all I got from you,” Jamie replied, grinning at him.
“And I don’t need to hear any more about that, thanks very much,” Adrian said, trying a door handle.
“Me either,” Olly agreed, fake shuddering.
The door opened, and they went inside. It was pretty much empty except for a chair with a doll seated on it.
“Because that’s not creepy or anything,” Ivan muttered.
“Thank goodness it doesn’t look like Annabelle,” Adrian replied.
“No, it’s more like Chucky,” Jamie said. “But a smaller version and without the face slashes. I’m not even going to ask why there is a room with a Chucky doll sat on a chair in a mental asylum.”
Olly shivered. “That’s probably wise. Let’s see what else we can find.”
Before they could move, the door slammed closed, and they heard a sing-song voice. Run, run, as fast as you can, you can’t catch me, I’m the bogeyman.
Jamie stared at the doll, but it didn’t move. His heart was moving, though, it was trying to jump right out of his chest. He turned away from the doll and quickly looked back. “I swear that doll just moved.”
The others turned to look at the doll. The head moved to stare at Jamie, its eyes wide.
Jamie took a step back as the doll’s mouth opened, and it laughed as his head started spinning around.
Ivan moved to the door and tried the handle, but it was stuck. Using his vampire strength, he punched his hand through the handle and pulled the door open.
That’s cheating. A voice from the doll said.
“And somehow, we really don’t care,” Adrian replied, pulling Jamie out of the room behind Ivan, Olly going last.
At the top of the stairs, Cairo and Troy went off to the left, while Seth and Gio went right.
“Of all the things I thought I’d be doing today, searching a haunted asylum wasn’t it,” Cairo said, looking around the corridor.
There were a few pictures on the walls, but most had been removed, leaving behind frame outlines on the paint. Furniture was dotted around, some upright, some lying on their side, broken. If he didn’t know better, Cairo would have thought this place had just closed down.
“Me either, love, but I’m enjoying this,” Troy replied. “I’m also pretty sure that fang boy offered our assistance, just to get me out of the way for a few hours.”
Cairo laughed. “Probably.”
He opened the door to the first room they came to and walked in. It was filled with empty metal beds with straps still attached to them. There were no sheets or mattresses. Ten bed frames on each side of the room, all haphazard.
The room itself was dank, smelt mouldy and damp, with dark spider’s webs over the windows, and in the corners of the room, the wall by the window looked wet, as if the window leaked.
“So this is depressing,” Cairo commented, touching a metal headboard.
“Indeed. Can you imagine being shut in here with other mental patients, or tied down to the beds and listening to the ramblings of the others, muttered or shouted.”
“Enough to make anyone insane.”
Rock a bye baby on the treetops. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle shall fall, and then the bogeyman will kill you all.
“What the hell!” Cairo exclaimed as the door slammed shut.
Troy spun around, looking for where the voice came from. “I don’t see any speakers.”
“I wonder if the others heard that,” Cairo said, walking to the door, but a couple of the beds moved to block his way.
More beds moved, separating Troy and Cairo.
Troy tried to push one out of the way, but it didn’t budge. “The beds are now unmovable.”
Cairo tried to move the ones in front of the door, but they stayed exactly where they were.
Troy tried again, but again they didn’t move. He hissed in frustration.
“Enough of this,” Cairo said. He leapt over the beds and crashed through the door. He turned and looked at Troy. “Coming, babe, or shall I leave you there?”
Troy laughed and jumped the beds and out the door. He turned and looked at his mate. “My jump was infinitely better than yours.”
“Our lives are weird,” Gio said as he walked down the other upstairs corridor, next to Seth.
Seth laughed. “They are, but at least we’re on the weird train together.”
Gio stopped and pulled Seth close. “Always together. I was thinking that when we finally get away on our holiday, we should take Jack. I know it should be just us, but we have a son now.”
Seth touched Gio’s cheek. “Jack will like that, and that will be perfect. I hate that there is all this sadness and fear inside of him.”
“We knew it wouldn’t be all sunshine and roses. But the longer he’s with us, with all our family, he’ll know he’s safe and loved and that sadness and fear will fade. It might take time, because of the whole kidnapping thing, but he’ll be fine.”
“I love you, you know that?”
Gio grinned. “Just as I love you, my Seth.”
Seth leant in and kissed him, before pulling back. Something caught Seth's eye, and he spun around. “Did you see that?”
“No, what did you see?” Gio asked, looking around.
“I thought I saw someone running towards us,” Seth told him, looking around.
Ring a ring a roses, a pocket full of despair. The ghosts are gonna get you, then the bogeyman will feast.
“I don’t remember a nursery rhyme like that,” Gio commented, looking around.
“Me either. Look out!” Seth suddenly pulled Gio close as a ghostly figure rushed him.
The ghost ran towards the stairs and vanished.
“So that was fun,” Gio said.
“It was certainly interesting.”
They heard a door slam and a few moments later the sound of something shattering.
They looked at each other for a moment before running off in that direction and saw Cairo and Troy standing by a room with the shattered door.
“Are you both alright?” Gio asked them.
“We are, old bean. It would seem a ghost wanted to play with us,” Troy replied.
“What happened?” Seth asked.
“We went in there and found a dormitory,” Troy replied. “There were restraints on all the beds.”
“Gah,” Seth said with a shudder.
“The beds started moving around, separating us and blocking the door. I jumped over the beds and slammed through the door,” Cairo told them.
“I also jumped over the beds and out the door. My jump, however, was more impressive as I had more bed to jump over,” Troy boasted.
“We’ll have to have a jump contest when this is all over to see who is better,” Seth commented with a laugh.
“I’ll still win, old bean. We’re also apparently going to be eaten by the bogeyman. Did you encounter anything?
“A ghost, a corrupted nursery rhyme and mention of the bogeyman as well, apparently, he’s going to feast on us.”
“Seems like the ghost reports about this place are true,” Cairo said.
“This is fun,” Seth said, grinning. “Come on, let’s see if we can find said bogeyman.”