“Do you know what’s going on here?” The braver of the two women asked.
The woman who began questioning me was very beautiful. She was of Hispanic descent, and I could see that she had a thick accent from her native country. She wore a slimming light blue button up shirt with rolled up sleeves. Her pants were tight fitting and as white as snow. Her shoes were sneakers like mine, except they were completely white as well. She seemed to be constantly chewing her tongue though, which may have come from her nervousness about the current situation. She didn’t seem like the type that got scared easily. Her eyes sort of had this defiant and independent edge to them.
“Not really,” I said with a frown, “I woke up in a room with no memory of who I was, except for my name, with another guy named Lee in another bed. We tried to escape this place by going to the front entrance but that didn’t work out so well.”
“What happened?” The other woman asked, “Was all that screaming from you two then?”
The other woman looked very young, probably no older than eighteen. Her skin was as white as ice and her blond hair was almost as white. She was short and mousy looking. She wore a yellow t-shirt with a picture of a female singer on it with long blond hair screaming into a microphone. She had jean shorts on and sported red and white Converse shoes. If I had to sum this woman up in one word it would be: wispy.
“There’s some sort of freak creeping around the first floor with a bag on his head.” I explained, “He’s some sort of psycho or something. He chased me and Lee along with two others we didn’t know. One of them was a young kid no older than you.” I pointed at the wispy woman. “During the chase we started running through the stairs and I got separated from the others. I hid on the seventh floor. I got cornered and almost got killed myself before the younger guy showed up roaming the halls yelling for help.”
“What’s your name, fella?” The guy in the suit asked.
“Me? I’m Michael.” I said as I crouched down up against a set of drawers. Reliving the events of earlier was taking a bigger toll on me than I thought.
“Well I’m Salvatore, but you can call me Sal.” The man said, “This is Selena,” he indicated toward the Latina, “and this is Barbara.” He said indicating toward the younger woman.
“Good to meet you.” I said with a slight smile, “It feels good to not be alone anymore. This place is a madhouse.”
“You got that right.” Selena agreed.
“What’s your story?” I asked looking at Barbara, “Did all of you guys wake up in the same room too?”
“Barbara and I did.” Selena answered, “We woke up on the ninth floor in a room where they take X-Rays.”
“I woke up on this floor in a larger examination room.” Sal said.
“Were you alone?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Sal nodded, “but the door to my room was wide open.”
“By the sounds of things, everyone here has woken up with someone else in the room.” Barbara surmised, “I find it strange you were alone. Considering the fact that the door was wide open when you woke up, maybe whomever your “partner” was left you as soon as he woke up.”
“That’s very possible.” I nodded in agreement, “But I find it strange that someone would just leave an unconscious person alone in this kind of situation.”
“Maybe they went looking for help and when they came back Sal had already left?” Selena suggested.
“That’s probably what happened,” Sal nodded in agreement, “I mean as soon as I woke up; I looked around for a bit until a phone rang and some croaky voice told me to head to the ninth floor. That’s where I met these two gals.”
“After that we were on our way to the first floor when that siren went off and we heard screams coming from the first floor shortly after.” Selena explained further.
I took it all in and contemplated all the new questions I had to the slim answers the three had given me. Whatever was going on, I was probably safer with these three than all by myself. I was concerned that Lee may be in trouble. It was now that I first began to doubt the voice on the phone as well. Obviously whoever it was on the other end of the line knew more about what was going on than I did, but why did it send me here? I had no connection with these people until I stumbled across them looking for Lee, because the voice had told me this was where I would find him.
“What do you guys know about the voice on the phone?” I asked after giving up on pointless guessing.
“Not much, fella.” Sal shrugged. “I’ve only ever spoken to it once and all it did was say to go to the ninth floor for help.”
“I’ve never spoken to it.” Barbara said almost downcast.
“I only spoke to it once and all it told me was ‘one down, seven to go’.” Selena said.
“Do you know what that meant?” Barbara asked.
“I got a pretty good idea.” I said grimly, “I got that phone call almost immediately after that kid got axed by the freak with the bag on his head. I believe that there were originally eight of us in here, and if I count you three, Lee, the guy with Lee, the kid, and myself that only makes seven, but if Sal did have a roommate that would make eight.”
“Which means somewhere in this hospital are at least three other people.” Sal deduced.
I thought a little bit more about the voice and remembered when it first called Lee and me on the twelfth floor.
“Oh, do you guys have anything in your pockets?” I asked suddenly amazed I hadn’t asked earlier.
“Huh?” Sal uttered as he thought about it, “Now that ya say so, I don’t think I ever checked.”
Everyone dug in their pockets. Sal pulled a plain red matchbook out of his suit pocket. Selena pulled a playing card out of her back pocket, and Barbara revealed a small glass vial, no wider than a quarter and no longer than the length of a double A battery, with a slip of paper neatly rolled inside it.
“How did ya know we’d each have something in our pockets?” Sal asked as he regarded the matchbook with surprise.
“The voice told Lee and me to check our pockets when this all first started.” I explained, “Lee had a picture with the words ‘avoid cold places’ written on it and I have a dollar bill that says ‘get to the basement’ written on it. I’m assuming your items may have writing on yours too.”
Selena walked over to me and showed me her playing card. It was an Ace of Clubs. Directly under the large clubs symbol were the wordsBEWARE THE SIREN! written in the same bold lettering that was on my dollar bill. I now knew that the writing on my dollar bill was no coincidence or graffiti.
“Considering the siren went off right before that axe guy showed up, I’m assuming those two are related somehow.” I stated.
“Perhaps the siren is a warning of some type?” Selena suggested.
“Mine just says ‘basement’.” Sal said showing off the word written on the inside of his matchbook.
“What about you, Barbara?” I asked looking at the wispy girl.
Barbara removed the small slip of paper from the tiny glass vial and handed it to me. SAFETY IS AT CHAPEL was written. I showed it to everyone else. Barbara’s message made the most sense out of everyone’s as it explained why the chapel was important.
“So where do we go from here?” Sal asked after pocketing his matchbook.
“Well I’m no leader,” I evaded quickly, “We have two slips of paper that say head for the basement and one that says plainly that safety is at the chapel. I’d like to know what’s so important about the basement.”
“Why?” Selena asked skeptically, “If the chapel is where it’s safest to go I say we all make our way there. From there maybe we can figure out a plan to get the hell out of here.”
“There’s no sure bet that the chapel is actually any safer than here or anywhere else.” Sal replied, “I’m guessin’ that once that siren goes off again that freak show is gonna come lookin’ for us. Maybe there’s somethin’ in the basement we can use, or maybe there’s a path out of the basemen
t that leads to gettin’ the fuck outta here.”
“Well we’ve got a problem either way.” I pointed out, “We have no idea where the chapel is located, unless you guys saw signs for it?”
The other three all looked at each other and shook their heads.
“Okay, so we’d have to find it first.” I continued, “The next problem we have is that if we want to go to the basement, there are three basement floors, so whatever it is that we’re hinted at finding, could be on any of those floors.”
“So what do you recommend then?” Barbara asked in a frustrated tone.
“Well the first floor should have an information desk somewhere that explains which floor is where, and I’m almost certain there’ll be a sign up there that explains where the chapel would be located.” I explained, “I’m thinking you guys could sneak down there and check that out.”
“With that thing walkin’ around waitin’ to chop our heads off? Are you nuts?” Sal asked incredulously, “No fuckin’ way, fella. That ain’t for me!”
“And what do you mean ‘you guys’?” Selena asked with narrowed eyes.
“I’m heading for the basement.” I said flatly, “I’ll go as far as the information booth with you guys, but then after that I’m going to continue on my own if I have to.”
I felt stupid. I couldn’t understand why I was forsaking safety for some mystery. Obviously I was curious about what I might find down there, but at the same time, there was just something off-putting about the chapel that I didn’t like. It all felt too easy. Besides, what at the chapel was going to stop that guy with the axe? I had to go with my gut on this one.
“Are you sure that’s wise?” Barbara asked, “I mean, what if that axe guy comes back?”
“I’m betting on him coming back.” I said, “In fact I have no doubt that we’ll be seeing a lot of him in the very near future probably. I’m tired of being reactive though, it’s time to be pro-active and make a move. Either check the information booth or spend a couple of hours at least searching each floor for a chapel. It’s up to you guys.”
I got up to leave to show I was done talking. Just as Selena was about to say something the siren went off. We all gripped our ears until it stopped. If my estimations were correct, our axe-wielding friend would be making his way around the first floor right now.
“Aw fuck…” Sal groaned with his eyes closed with dread.
“Time to make a decision.” I said, “What do you guys want to do? He’s not going to stay on the first floor for long.”
“Fuck it, let’s go.” Selena said angrily.
Chapter Three: Descending Into the Heart of Darkness
I quietly poked my head out of the doctor’s office and walked out after seeing the coast was clear. Selena followed quickly behind. Sal grumbled to himself for a second before following quietly. Barbara watched everyone leave and stood quietly for a few moments before finally following suit. She looked behind one last time of the once-safe office before quietly running to catch up to the rest of us.
It didn’t take long for me to notice that the air had gotten cooler immediately after the siren had gone off. It wasn’t exactly a blizzard, but it was noticeable. The air in the staircase was no different. The trek down to the first floor was smooth and easy, although my main concern was more about getting out of the first floor than in it.
Upon reaching the first floor, I noticed that the stairs did not continue to the basement. This meant that access to the basement had to be somewhere else on the first floor. I didn’t like the idea of having to find another section of the first floor as it was already hazardous navigating through it. I guessed it would make sense for the information desk to have its location though. Hopefully it would be near a main stairwell in case I needed to make a quick getaway.
“Why don’t we just make a break for the front entrance?” Selena whispered to me when we reached the first floor, “If that guy is roaming around looking for us, he won’t be able to prevent us from just walking out.”
I shrugged and nodded in silent agreement. It made sense after thinking about it. Perhaps there would be no need to search the basement or investigate the information desk. Of course I had my doubts, but this was too good of an opportunity to pass on.
I cracked the door open and looked around while Selena whispered her idea to the others. Once again I found myself walking blindly into the lion’s den searching for the elevators. It took longer than last time as we were trying to make as little noise as possible. I didn’t hear anything, but then I remembered how quietly the man with the sack on his head snuck up on us last time. It sounds cold-hearted and selfish, but I half-wished that if he did sneak up on us he would catch us from behind instead of from the front as that would mean I would have more of a means to escape since I was leading the group. I didn’t want any of us to die, but I knew that I wanted to survive even more.
Upon reaching the elevators I noticed that the air had gotten slightly cooler, but not as bad as I remembered as when Lee and I made our first trip to the front entrance. The blood trails were still there, and I thought I could even make out the newest trail made by the twenty year old kid’s corpse. I peeked around the corner and found no killer waiting for me this time. We all quietly followed the bloody trail and occasionally stopped to listen for activity or the sound of an axe being dragged. It didn’t take long, but we reached the front entrance. The double doors were large and wooden with brass door knobs. I still hated the fact that there were no windows anywhere that I had been so far. It would’ve been nice to know what was outside.
To my left I found the information desk. It was built similarly to the nurse’s station Lee and I found on the twelfth floor. Behind the desk was a large white plastic board with each floor’s information. I wished I had Lee’s map or the time to memorize it, but we were on the move. I saw the chapel was located in the maternity ward on the thirteenth floor. Access to the basement floor stairwell was located on the other side of the first floor next to the snack/gift shop.
Selena prodded me in the back with her fingers telling me to continue onward. We reached the front door in a matter of seconds. I gripped the door handles to the double doors and yanked with all my might. The doors remained firmly shut. Apparently this was another set of doors that were only able to be opened by my friend with the fire axe. I remembered his large set of keys and figured I’d have to find a way to get the keys from him in order to get out of this place.
Suddenly a loud alarm went off, similar to a school bell, for several seconds. The noise echoed throughout the entire building. I had no doubt what it probably meant.
“The asshole locked the door and wired it to set off an alarm if anyone tries to go through it!” I quickly explained to the others.
“Aw fuck,” Sal swore in alarm, “We gotta get the fuck outta here, now!”
“What’s that noise?” Barbara whispered.
A quiet ding was going off every few seconds. At first I wasn’t sure what it was, but then I looked over at the elevator and saw that the floor indicator was lit up and counting down from nine quickly.
“It’s the elevators.” I hissed, “The chapel is on the thirteenth floor, we have to move!”
As the elevator neared the first floor we scattered. Sal and I ran to the right for cover while Selena and Barbara scurried off to the left. Once we were quietly secreted behind a wall several yards from the front door, I poked my head around the corner just barely to see if Selena or Barbara were still around. It didn’t look like they were sticking around.
I heard the elevator signal go off and then heard the doors creak open. Within seconds I heard the heavy pitter-patter of feet near the front door and then I saw him, but he looked very different this time, so different in fact I wasn’t sure if it was the same person or not. This time he was wearing a scratched black leather jacket along with urban camouflaged trousers and black army boots. He had surgeon’s gloves on that were covered with some nasty brown glop on them. Instea
d of a sack this time, he had a shiny black hockey mask that was severely cracked and damaged in the bottom right hand corner. A black hood was attached to the back of the mask to cover the back of his head. This time around he was carrying a baseball bat with nails stuck in it too, instead of the fire-axe from last time. I didn’t understand why there was such a change in costume, but I couldn’t have cared less at the moment. I just wanted to see what his move was after realizing we were gone.
The man looked around and walked out of my view for a few moments only to return again. He glanced over at a wooden and plastic chair to his right and suddenly began to violently smash it with his bat in frustration. Once again, I heard no words come from his mouth except for the occasional grunt that went along with him swinging his bat down onto the chair again and again. While this was going on I heard a door close far off somewhere else on the floor. The man immediately stopped what he was doing to listen. I held my breath and signaled to Sal to stay as quiet as possible. After a few seconds the man wrenched his bat out of the chair he had demolished and began to immediately run in my direction.
I immediately pulled my head back from the corner. I looked around for a place to hide but saw nothing for several yards. We were officially screwed. His footsteps drew nearer with every second. I pressed myself up against the wall and saw Sal do the same. We didn’t dare breathe. Suddenly the man ran right past us. He was full on sprinting while holding the baseball bat with his right hand around the middle. After about twenty seconds we heard a door yank open and close.
“He musta heard Selena and Barbara take the stairs.” Sal suggested as he got up, “I hope those two manage to keep outta his sight.”
“Me too.” I nodded in agreement, “We better move before he gets back.”
Sal and I crept along the walls and stayed as low as possible just in case our hunter returned to search the ground floor. Upon reaching the gift shop I noticed the door to the small shop was open. The interior walls of the gift shop were all glass, so I could see that no one else was inside. Upon the sight of candy bars and beef jerky my stomach began to growl. Apparently I wasn’t the only one as I saw Sal looking longingly at the food. I had no idea when I had last eaten but it had been several hours since I had been in this hospital and I wasn’t even sure when I last ate before then.
Run & Hide Page 3