Work Text:
Another working day over, another “case”, as Haddie liked to call them, solved. Today, she went to a local, abandoned book shop, as requested by some of her listeners, and discovered the usual. A flood of negative emotions but no crack between the worlds which would cause an overlap. Maybe some upset customers but no place where terrors happened. It was a good call though, intense and at least the building was beautiful. Not perfect but she could make a story out of it.
Since “Ravage of the Abyss” first aired, she has been flooded with ideas of places she could visit next. Even if she and her management were more than welcome to new ideas and suggestions, the bare flow of messages slowly became overwhelming.
Yet now that she got all her material, it was time to look for a new project. Finishing uploading the audio file on her PC, she switched to her email program and took a long sip out of the cup of tea which was placed right next to her on the table.
‘Better take care of that flood now before it drowns me. I can still cut and edit the material tomorrow when I have more time and concentration’, she mused while critically observing the annoying number popping up right above the small symbol.
“80 unread messages”
Fucking great.
She sighed and began scanning the reference lines. In the last few month, she got a good sense in finding trolls and attention whores. It didn’t happen often but was more than bothersome.
“Detected hot…” No.
“Lonely ghost wants to know..” No.
“Strange anomalies in the woods.” Interesting but more likely to simply be a slightly stronger breeze at midnight. Not really the content she was looking for. Maybe she can come back to it later. Saved.
“Paranormal evets at the Crotus Prenn Asylum” Okay, that caught her attention.
Curiously, she opened the Mail.
“Hey Haddie,
I am a long-time fan of your podcast! I love all the work you invest and the truly unique ability you have. Sometimes I get the impression you are not from this world.
Sorry, back to the topic. I always considered my hometown to be a boring place with a clean history but it seems to turn out it is not. In the last days, various people including myself hear strange noises from the abandoned asylum. A few brave men tried to find the source of the screeching noises as they call them, without any success. The sound only occurs at night and rumours spread around that this place is cursed.
Digging a bit around, I found out the place was shut down because a nurse killed a few of her patients. Maybe some of the bad energy manifested into the real world and you can feel or track it down to the root. Sounds crazy, yet I think this might make a great story and offer some reassurance for the people living here. If someone can find a solution or reason for this nightmare it is you!
I love you!”
Haddie smiled fondly and shook her head. The enthusiasm of that stranger was adorable. Still, the story left a bad taste in her mouth. Like the wood mail, it sounded more like the plot of an horror movie and not a real paranormal occurrence. Normally, they manifested far more subtle. Ever dark rooms, bone deep coldness which never left, the hair on your neck starting to rise for no particular reason. Fear, anxiety, feeling monitored…
She closed the mail but decided to mark it. Saved as well. Who knows. Scrolling a bit down, she suddenly stopped.
“Horror at Crotus Prenn”
“Abandoned Asylum – weird noises”
And there were even more. The PC screen still emitted light and should leave a feeling of comfort, yet the light seemed threatening. Her heart began to pick up speed and goose bumps run down her neck and back. The world faded and she stared into white hospital sheets.
As soon as the sensation came, it left again. Haddie was baffled. That never happened before. Now invested, she hastily scrolled to the bottom and witnessed at least another ten E-Mails regarding that topic. A short gaze into them painted a similar picture as the one she read in the beginning.
Maybe there indeed was something up with that place. An excited grin spread across her lips. Finally some action, something new. What will she find in a place which managed to give her an overlap from thousands of miles away?
The cup of tea was long forgotten and already cold as Haddie took another sip. She couldn’t care less, the rush of adrenaline still running through her veins.
‘Crotus Prenn, give me another week and I will come and reveal your secret.’
Exactly one week later, Haddie stepped out of the plane and absently munched on a bun her brother bought her. The memory and surprise still left a warm smile on her face. It was a small gesture but meant the world to her.
Against her expectations, Haddie had no problem to navigate through the foreign streets of Sweden. A lot of signs and orientation marks were translated into multiple languages and the inhabitants more than kind. Ask them for advice or direction and they were happy to answer all your questions and even engaged into a short conversation.
So it was no wonder she found her hotel in no time. Cute little place. Cream coloured walls, small and cosy rooms with heavy blankets and more pillows than you can count, a fireplace down in the dining room… Her management truly surpassed her expectations and she almost felt bad. How much did this place cost? The longer she thought about it, the more she realised she didn‘t want to know.
As the time passed and all of the equipment was unpacked and neatly placed on top of a large desk, Haddie couldn’t bare the calmness anymore. Her nerves were on fire with the constant promise of an astonishing adventure. A short look out of the window told her it was late noon. Still enough time to stroll through the city. Yet, she didn’t know what to do with herself.
A knock on the brown and heavy looking wooden door snapped her out of her thoughts. Carefully, she opened the door and met friendly brown eyes sparkling with excitement.
“Ah, hi, hey… I am sorry this is awkward,” a young and delicate looking woman stuttered.
“I saw you at the reception and I couldn’t stop to wonder, aren’t you that podcaster?”
Haddie was baffled. Usually no one knew her or better how she looked like.
“There are many podcasters but I am one, yes,” she answered plain and in the same moment cringed.
’Perfect answer… Now you sound like a shy school girl.’
Hearing the other girl chuckling nervously, Haddie figured she might just be mirroring the other’s behaviour. The restless energy emitting from her was truly infectious.
“I know, sorry again… You know what. Let’s skip this part. I am Lucy.”
She offered her a hand and smiled warmly.
“Haddie Kaur but I think you already know that.”
The other, Lucy, just nodded and continued, this time in a more calm tone.
“I am certain you are here because of the horribly creepy events in the abandoned asylum. A few friends of mine told me that people have begun seeking out help. Well, not really help but someone who can figure out what’s going on. Someone brought in your name, started writing emails and now here we are. Others didn’t care about us. I am glad you do. If you want you can come down with me to a nearby café. I know a few people who know more about the events than me and I though a short first impression of the topic might be helpful.”
It indeed would be helpful. Not only could it help her giving an idea on where to start searching but also if there might be lurking threats. Abandoned places pull a lot of shady people into their spell.
While staring in front of her, she slowly realised that her gaze might come off as annoyed or even angry. A handful people told her she had a ‘resting bitch face’ if she drifted to far away into her head space.
“Good call! Give me five minutes and I will be there.”
Haddie smiled and tried her best to show that she in fact was thrilled and didn’t try to just be polite.
“Of course! Take your time. I will wait in the lobby. Oh and by the way, I am not some freak who stalks you. I actually work her as some kind of assistance from time to time.”
Lucy waved a short good bye and disappeared without giving her an opportunity to answer.
The door fell into the lock with a silent ‘click’ and Haddie began searching after her notebook and Dictaphone.
Exactly five minutes later, she stepped into the lobby and searched after the now familiar face. She had a thing for memorizing new facial features, names and layouts. Her teachers always loved it and it came quite in handy during some situations.
“Oh, you are already here?”
The voice directly behind her almost made her jump.
“Ah shit. Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Don’t apologise please. I am more than grateful you are willing to help me. Moreover, this wasn’t the worst scare I had.”
“I can imagine. I believe the job can be really scarry sometimes.”
Lucy signalled Haddie to follow her and both stepped out of the building, heading down the street in a calm pace.
“You all give me too much credit. Actually, it is not that much of a deal. I visit places with a strange and thick energy and discover their ugly past. I can just track down where horrible things happened, not actually communicate with ghosts or cure haunted places. What I receive is knowledge. Knowledge I share with you via my podcast. I admit some stories sound more spine-chilling than they actually were.”
That was only half the truth. In the beginning visiting the places left no huge impact on her but as the time passed, events got more extreme. What was a soft flow of dark energy slowly turns into a fog like thick essence. What were static sounds turned into voices growing louder every time. Still, nothing managed to make her back off a challenge. The mystery called her and some day she will most likely lose herself in this siren like call.
“Don’t! I would shit my pants if I had such an ability. You take to less credit. You are amazing and thriving with passion. I respect that.”
Haddie blushed and pretended to observe one of the small boutiques across the street.
Lucy on the other hand didn’t seem to notice her embarrassment and happily continued asking her out about all possible topics surrounding her podcast.
The café was only a few blocks away from her hotel. As they stepped to the door, Lucy pointed at a small table where a group of three was already waiting for them, telling by the way they smiled and looked into their direction. Honestly, Haddie shouldn’t have been surprised. The city was small and ten minutes probably more than enough to coordinate and attend a spontaneous meeting.
As if smelling her surprise, Lucy promptly introduced her to the group.
“Haddie, that are my friends Vinnie, Adrian and Robin.”
They all waved enthusiastically and Haddie awkwardly waved back. She enjoyed the attention and was happy people liked her work but the whole setting felt a bit… She didn’t know. Off? Was this the right term for the heavy feeling in her stomach? For a moment the bright and warm colours of the room faded, the noise calmed down and almost reached a static sound, yelling and screaming into her ear. It was a paraoxon but she found no better words to describe the change in atmosphere.
“You want to sit down?”
Four pairs of concerned eyes met her gaze.
“Sure. Sorry, I let my thoughts wander off for a moment. Seems they drifted too far away from reality”
She offered a little smile which was thankfully accepted by the group. They started talking again and buried her under information.
The asylum was abandoned due to a nurse who went nuts and started killing patients. She already knew that. What was more interesting came as the conversation continued.
“Actually, that is only partly true,” Robin started and shortly looked over to Vinnie who nodded encouraging. She had to be insecure and shy with strangers, Haddie noted. In school she was also the quiet kid, keeping to herself and starting to scream at random times because overlaps showed her horrible events from the past. ‘Hell Haddie’, her classmates called her. At first, no one believed her but that changed with the time when she was in better control of her ability and revealed secrets only a handful people could know. Her now management became aware of her, as she started sharing her experiences which the world which helped her open up and accept herself as she was.
“No one really knows what happened to the nurse who committed the crimes. She was identified as Sally Smithson but that was all what managed to surface. Shortly after the incident, the asylum continued the treatment of patients for another year or so before it was shut down.”
“I know that doesn’t sound special at first but listen further,“ Adrian took over after Robin visibly struggled to find the right words. “The process almost happened overnight and all eyewitnesses disappeared so most of the tale is incomplete and can be just a good story. I expected it to be a bad horror story as well until the weird anomalies started to occur.”
“Damn, get to the point,” Lucy rolled her eyes at the played dramatic of her friend.
“Yes, sorry. Basically, the asylum was shut down since the inhabitants reported strange noises and paranormal activities. First, cups fell down on the floor. Then, medicine disappeared. Shortly after, a few patients and nurses started feeling strange sensations on their body. Some explained them as short and almost gentle touches, some described them as painful, making them unable to breath or as a heavy weight on their chest. Since the phenomena occurred by nearly all the staff and patients, new, long-time, didn’t matter… The building was closed for safety. After that, nothing happened ever again. People call it the curse of Crotus Prenn. Scary shit, I can tell you.”
“I also heard that last month, shortly before the screeching started, the building actually was planned to be torn down. The works stopped after one of the workers died in an incident. No one knew what happened. He was just found dead in a lunchroom. No soul dared to visit the place after that. Not even vandals,” Robin basically mumbled the last few words, visibly horrified.
“Gosh, I heard that too! I can’t believe I forgot about it.”
Lucy smacked her palm against her forehead in annoyance.
Suddenly, all eyes were on Haddie again, who suspected that the group wanted her opinion.
“You are right, it sounds like a good horror story, something people made up to sooth their minds and explain the terrible events that happened. Yet, as you said, no one knows the full history which is why I am here. Thank you so much for your insights, now I know I don’t have to be afraid of some lunatics running around the building and being a potential threat.”
“You really want to go in there alone?” Robin blurted out.
“Chill, she is a professional and a badass.” Adrien smiled and looked at Haddie as she was some kind of goddess.
“I can reassure you, I will be fine! If you want I can give you a shoutout in my podcast and give you a first and exclusive insight. Of course I will credit you too.”
The four exchanged excited gazes and nodded almost unison.
“Thanks for your time, I really enjoyed it. Maybe we will see each other again! And please be carefully and stay away from visiting the place yourself. If what you just said is true, we don’t want more accidents.”
Haddie grabbed her jacket and waved as a good bye. Heading out of the door, she reflected on what she had heard. Too good of a story to be true. She almost didn’t believe a word. Almost because the hair on her neck was still tingling in a sense of danger and something dark lingering around the corner. What if this time she didn’t channel the bad energy of a place but out of the remnant of a person? If this truly was some kind of ghost or unrestful soul, this little trip could be a lot more dangerous than she originally anticipated.
The next morning came way too early for her taste. Annoyed and half-asleep, she tried to turn off her alarm and succeeded after the third attempt. Embarrassing. Her mind wandered to her brother and how comfortable he probably felt under the heavy blankets in their apartment. Damn, how she missed them and her comfortable bed. To be fair, the one the hotel offered wasn’t the worst she ever slept in but simply not the same as her own. What was past her thinking as she came up with the brilliant idea to visit the asylum in the early noon already?
‘Go study the layout before you begin your investigations at night. It might be helpful in the end.’
Sometimes Haddie hated her desire for preparation and perfectionism. With a groan she slipped out of the covers and disappeared into the bathroom where a set of new clothes already awaited her. While taking a hot shower, she slowly realised how cold Sweden was compared to Quebec. Maybe she should buy a warm scarf and protection for her ears. Or did she remember to bring a beanie?
Turns out she did. Unfortunately, the grey material was extremely thin and more of a fashionist addition than something shielding her head from the cold. It could be worse though.
After finishing her morning routine, Haddie carefully closed the door to her room, cautious to not accidently wake someone up. The hotel was incredibly silent and almost gave her the impression it was as abandoned as the asylum she was going to visit. Luckily, the silent noises from the kitchen and foyer reassured her this place was animated. As soon as she stepped a foot into the dining room, a staff member waved her to an empty table.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t plan to eat here. I guess I will grab something on my way, I am in a hurry.”
Haddie almost felt bad but thinking further it was bullshit. She paid for the service, not the other way around.
“Ah, I see,” The waitress pointed to her heavy rucksack and filled water bottles. “I don’t want to hinder you from whatever you have planned but please, at least make yourself a sandwich or grab some of the fruits. You can eat during your journey. That is absolutely no problem. If you tell me what you want, I can even prepare it for you while you check out.”
“You would be my lifesaver if that is possible.”
“Of course it is. Otherwise I wouldn’t have offered it.”
With that words she wrote down Haddie’s order and disappeared into the kitchen. Just a small piece of bread with some cheese and an apple. Not too complicated. Using the time efficiently, she handed over her keys to the receptionist. Better to leave it here than loose it on her way. She had learned out of her past mistakes. The key was barely out of her hands as the waitress returned with a small package and pressed it into her now free hands.
“So, here is your order. I took the liberty and added a Lussekatter. You can’t leave without trying our speciality. We only serve it on Mondays, so consider yourself lucky you ran into me.”
The lady winked and hurried back into the kitchen, only to rush into the dining room fully packed with dishes shortly after. The receptionist laughed at Haddie’s baffled expression.
“You can indeed feel lucky. Usually, she isn’t that kind. Probably it is just the fact that most of the restaurant is still pretty empty and she just came back from a vacation. Korea, not really my first choice but she wanted to see some sort of popstar sing. The early bird catches the worm I guess, or better avoids the house dragon in your case.”
The young woman just nodded and offered a short smile before heading out of the building. She didn’t know what else to say or do. Why did everyone treat her like a celebrity? What did her management or Jordan tell the hotel?
Absently munching on her sandwich, she scrolled through her phone but found no new news or knowledge which could help her. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the bus approaching and looked at her clock in surprise. Almost five minutes to early. Maybe today was indeed her lucky day.
She climbed up the steps an chose a place in the front. The bus started to move and the landscape rapidly changed from a modern yet small city to an endless sea of green fields and beautiful forests. For a moment, Haddie regretted to only have booked for such a short time span. What she would give to just discover the beauty of this country. Her dreamily thoughts stopped as the surrounding changed again.
The warm and brightly green coloured trees were replaced with dead, grey tree stumps covered in a thick fog. What happened here? To her shock, the bus stopped at a small sign signalling a bus stop. In the distance, she spotted a large tower looming over the treetops. That has to be the asylum. Perfect environment. Maybe a virus infected the woods or the location simply was built here to avoid costs. Hastily, she grabbed her bag and rushed out of the bus just in time before the doors closed. The air was even colder than in the city and almost felt like it was drizzling. Luckily, a clearly noticeable path lead her into the woods or better what was left of them.
The lack of lights made it hard to see above one metre and created an uncanny feeling in her stomach. If something or someone was lurking behind a bush, a tree or a ruin, she would never see them coming. Subconsciously, her hand wandered to her portable Dictaphone and pressed the power button. The device let out a soft beeping noise which calmed her storming mind. Not only was the audio recorded now but a hidden transmitter shared her location with the matching program on her PC at home. If something went wrong, Jordan or someone else was able to check her last location and additionally had access to the audio.
After Haddie fell down a ravine and broke her leg, her brother insisted to install more safety programs to reassure she came home safely or found help when she needed it. Right now she was more than grateful about it.
“Ok, I am standing in front of the building now. Honestly, it looks as I have expected. A few ruins, mountains of rubbish but mostly intact. Well, there are a few holes in the building probably from the earlier attempts to brake it down but I have seen worse. The windows are broken but it seems to have happened a long time ago.”
Carefully, Haddie dragged her palm over the frame.
“There is quite a lot of dust and the edges of the splinters lost their sharpness. It should be save to enter the building. Nevertheless, it most likely is the best if I put on some gloves. Just in case.”
She reached inside of her bag and pulled out a pair of working gloves as well as a flashlight she clipped on her belt. With a bit of run-up, she pulled herself over the broken window frame and inside the asylum.
“Update, I am in the building now. I didn’t recognise a door but I assume it is looked from the inside anyway. Maybe I just approached from the wrong side. Still, it is always good to know a second way out. Perhaps I should mark the spot.”
Said, done. A small red band was placed on the frame, fixed around a metal pole. The bright noon light was enough to enlighten the long corridors. Weird. Wasn’t the fog blocking all sources of sunlight before? Haddie closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. Controlling her breath and listening deep inside of her, she tried to sense any strange or dark energy. She opened her eyes again. Nothing. Weird. She had the feeling she will use that word a lot more during the course of the day.
Usually, her senses tingled as soon as she stepped a foot into the desired building, place, field, location etcetera at whatever time. Well, at night the energy was stronger but nevertheless there was still… something. Simply something and not a void. That was what she felt. A void. No good energy but neither evil. The place was static. As it wouldn’t exist. Weird. Damn, she needed to stop using that word.
Mindfully and hyper aware of her surrounding, the young woman walked through the building, sketching the layout and prominent markings on a blog she brought with her. There were stairs leading up to the next floor, close to where she entered as well as a basement and patient rooms. From time to time, she noted down a few notes or made comments and observations for her listeners, already collecting material she can work with later. To her disappointment, she found absolutely nothing. Not even a slight hint of an overlap, no strange shadows or phenomena, no living beings, no notes, folders… Nothing.
The only thing she collected from that first trip was a never leaving coldness in her body. The hair on her neck was tingling in a sense of alarm and goosebumps left an uncomfortable sensation on her skin. First signs of something but not enough to draw a conclusion. The feelings could as well be a consequence of her nervousness and creation of her mind.
She returned to the bus stop and sat down on a near field. She didn’t plan to take the next ride back home but wanted to get some distance to reflect on her first impression. Now it was time to eat the rest of her breakfast and wait for the evening where hopefully more would happen. If not, she had no other choice but to come back the next day. If that next day was a disappointment too, she had no alternative but to leave. Her management was incredibly supporting but they expected results. They didn’t cover a non-accruing trip which lasted more days than necessary.
While the buses passed by, a few travellers gave her weird looks but decided to stay silent. Good for them. The sun began to sink and soon the world was painted in red and yellow colours. Lilac clouds and the fading light created a beautiful skyline but Haddie wasn’t paying attention. She packed her stuff and made her way back to the asylum. She didn’t want to go through the forest when it was already dark.
Good decision as it turned out. By far she had underestimated how fast the night shrouded the forest in pitch black darkness, arriving only shorty before the last shimmers of the sun disappeared behind the tree-tops. As she expected, the view of the asylum created a whole new ambience. Now, the void inside of this place was replaced with an almost nauseous feeling which couldn’t be compared to anything she has ever felt. Normally, the energy turned into an uncomfortable or uncanny feeling but mostly left her indifferent. This time, the sensation nearly knocked the breath out of her lungs.
With every step, the feeling got stronger to a point where Haddie had to stop. Her hands wrapped around her stomach and she gulped down a clump forming in her throt. Suddenly, the world closed in around her and left her exposed to an unbearable and shrilling scream. It almost sounded like someone got their insides carved out. As the scream started to fade she realised she was the one screaming. She opened her eyes she didn’t remembered to close and let out a wave of shaky breaths. Sweat pearled from her forehead and the icy wind made her shudder. The almost overbearing sense of panic overtook her mind and she fell to her knees.
‘Calm down girl. It is not real! It is. Not. Real!’
Taking conscious deep breaths and feeling the fixed ground under her fingers slowly calmed her down. This was intense. Despite her better knowledge she started to chuckle and straighten up again.
“You,” she pointed at the now dark hole of a building, ”You are a bitch. Don’t pretend to be harmless, I now know what is lurking inside your evil mind.”
Of course the building couldn’t answer or understand her. In fact, referring and speaking to overlap causing places as they were people always gave her a sense of security. She can’t defeat a stupid construction but she can defeat a person.
For the second time this day, her hand switched on the Dictaphone and grabbed the flashlight on her belt. Additionally, she also booted up another device being able to capture noises which weren’t audible for the human ear but can be transferred and decoded later. Most of the time, it showed nothing special but this time she had a deep feeling in her stomach promising her the results wouldn’t disappoint.
Right as the device was turned on, she heard it. The sound everyone was speaking of, the distant screeching. What a weird noise. It sounded like a long and painful scream just a bit twisted so it became almost unrecognisable. Carefully, she moved closer to the abandoned building, this time without causing another overlap. To be honest, Haddie expected to feel something in the night but didn’t think the difference would be that massive.
Another scream, closer and more loudly. She ducked behind a destroyed wall and scanned the environment for any type of movement.
‘Come on. Give me something. A figure, a shadow, a monster…’
Nothing. As if hearing her cry for action, the noise detector she clipped on the outside of her bag began to move. Her eyes opened in surprise. The fear rise up in her again. There was something in the air. Something she couldn’t hear. But her device did. The lines visualising the sound almost looked like an ECG. A heartbeat. A heartbeat of something beyond her understanding. It wasn’t hers. Her heart beat much faster, cheered by the sense of panic and horror in her veins. Just as Haddie expected to slip into a flight reaction, everything went quiet again. Her heartrate returned to its usual pace and the adrenaline slowly stooped setting her blood boiling and tingling, leaving her exhausted and absolutely helpless at what just happened.
At this point, any sane human would have turned around but not her. She is Haddie Kaur, self-proclaimed investigator of the abyss and doesn’t back away. As silent as possible, she shared her experience with the Dictaphone, her future audience, while monitoring the noise detector.
Suddenly, she heard something else. Were that footsteps? She immediately stopped her movement and listened closer. Jap, definitely footsteps, very light, almost unnoticeable as they didn’t want to get caught, and they were coming closer. Was this the moment of truth? Haddie’s hand wandered to the flashlight she had turned off out of reflex and positioned herself right behind the wall. She hold her breath.
Right as the steps, or better the person belonging to them, turned around the corner, she jumped out of her hiding place and in a rush of adrenaline threw the flashlight at the figure in front of her. Other than she’d expected, the attacker wasn’t a monster but a young girl holding her nose and eyes glaring at her with a hot fire. The flashlight fell to the ground with an ear-splitting sound.
“Are you fucking crazy? Wait don’t answer. This is an asylum what was I expecting…,” the stranger spitted out furiously.
“I… I am so sorry, I expected you to be someone, something else,” Haddie tried to apologise.
To her surprise the girl actually started laughing.
“What? Did you seriously think I am the monster of Crotus Prenn? The screaming thing which scares away adult, strong men and is on a murder spree? I am sorry to disappoint but I am not. Who are you anyway? I have never seen you before. This is a small town, we know each other.”
“I am Haddie Kaur,” she said, voice neutral and kind. Offering the stranger a hand, she continued. “I am here to investigate the asylum. Sorry again for the… unfortunate introduction.”
The other woman grabbed her hand and accepted the peace offering.
“Oh, you are that podcaster. Before you ask, small town. We know everyone and everything, as I already said. I am Nea.”
Only now Haddie became aware of the spray can in the other woman’s hand.
“Wait, did you plan to vandalise this place? And you tell me your name?”
Nea just shrugged.
“Well, yes… It doesn’t matter if you know my name or not. Everyone knows I do these things and occasionally use me as a scapegoat to mask their own little activities. So if you want to report me you need a bit more proof. At least one thing the police is good for.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Good. I would hate fighting such a pretty girl like you.”
Haddie blushed and tried to pull a response out of herself but the sudden laugh escaping Nea made clear she didn’t expect an answer.
“Don’t shit your pants, I was joking.”
Shortly before she had the chance to join the banter, her neck started tingling again. The feeling of fear hit her in the stomach like a truck. Concerned, Nea turned towards her.
“Are you okey? You like a corpse.”
Even though Haddie tried her best to answer, she couldn’t. The world went black, swallowed by a thick fog which swirled around her like a storm. She felt like falling. She actually was falling. On her way down, flashes of human faces screaming in agony or fighting for their life flickered in front of her as well as monsters or humanoid creatures chasing after them. In all this chaos and flood of emotion, spider like tentacles attempted to grab her. Whispering filled the air. A woman. At least the voice of a woman.
“You will be mine…”
An agonising pain stung through her shoulder. She screamed and fell to the ground. A soft hand touched her back and tried to help her stand up again.
“Should I call an ambulance? Haddie, answer me! Please!”
The voice sounded distant but managed to slowly cut through the flood of pictures inside her head.
“No, I am ok.”
Breathing. Painful breathing near-by.
“But we should g…”
Screeching out of breath, a figure appeared next to Nea out of completely nowhere and swung a bone saw directly at her neck. With inhuman reflexes, the other girl managed to rise her shoulder in a protecting movement the blade hit instead. Blood splattered over the ground and directly in Haddie’s face. Nea screamed in pain, yet was surprisingly composed. She grabbed Haddie’s arm and with remarkable strength pulled her up from the ground. Exchanging a terrified look, both women broke into a sprint, sticking close together.
They didn’t know what that creature was or where they were going but that didn’t matter right now. Surviving did. Haddie’s blood rushed through her head and almost sounded like music. Twisted and horrific but music nevertheless. Her noise detector was freaking out and the world around her threatened to swallow her mind again. The only thing keeping her in reality was Nea’s steady grip around her arm, stabilising her unsteady movement. Blood soaked through her shirt but she figured the other woman didn’t feel the pain due to the adrenaline rush.
She risked a sight behind her. The screeching sounds continued but made a few pauses filled with rasping breath sounding uncomfortably close to a hurt woman or possibly a nurse? THE nurse. Now she knew what was going on. Fuck, she knew it from the beginning. She should have been more carefully, more prepared. The creature wasn’t a monster, well yes, but mostly she was the manifest of a human spirit. Some kind of a ghost, hunting for blood. She was right with her theory. The overlaps didn’t come from the place but from the inhabitant, the person. This was the reason why she felt a void where should have been something. She felt the presence of something evil, which was hidden in another dimension, not manifested in the real world yet. The signals reached her in a way she couldn’t interpret and now it was too late.
Additionally, whatever send this creature wanted to hunt her down. Wanted to drag her into wherever the monster, Sally, came from. She killed the workers, she caused the phenomena during the night, during the time the asylum was still used and thriving. Sounded completely made up but was the only possible solution.
Solving this first problem, another arose. How do you escape a supernatural, teleporting monster? The voice of her brother haled through her head.
‘If you cross paths with a predator, leave their territory. They are defending what is theirs. Deny them their influence by fleeing to a place they hold no power over you.’
Of course! They needed to escape the building, the asylum. Like the dark energy, the nurse was also bound to this place. Otherwise she could have simply left and moved into the city or another state. Turning a corner, Nea dragged her behind a few fallen boxes. At first, Haddie was confused but soon understood. They couldn’t outrun her, so they needed to brake line of sight.
Their follower now turned the corner as well and passed without recognising them. The dark light didn’t allow Haddie a good look at the figure, yet she was almost sure the nurse was wearing bed sheets with a headcover. Bed sheets she already saw at home. Or was this a white but torn dress? Didn’t matter. She was also floating which meant no footsteps signalling her approach. Great.
The noise detector started to show static again and Haddie hesitated. Was the device signalling the ghost’s presence? By all what had happened today that wouldn’t be surprising.
“Nea, we need to leave the area around the asylum. As soon as we leave the source she gains her energy from we will be safe.”
“No shit Sherlock. The more interesting question is, how do we do that?”
The words were venomous but probably not dedicated at her. Holding her shoulder and shuddering slightly, Nea was most likely only biting back the pain and beginning of a shock. Without a comment, Haddie reached in her rucksack and pressed a pack of painkillers into the other’s hand and began looking around. Painted in darkness, it was hard to see any kind of detail.
“I know this sounds mad but I need to switch on my flashlight. I mapped this place earlier today but to find a way out I need to recognise details I can’t see in this light.”
Another look at her noise detector told her the area was clean.
“You have to trust me. This thing will tell me when she is near. It will move. Maybe you can monitor it.”
To her surprise, Nea only nodded and carefully took the monitor into her hands.
“I guess I have no other choice. If we split up we are as good as dead. Well, I presume you being the last thing I see wouldn’t be the worst but I prefer to leave this place nevertheless.”
Even in this situation she offered Haddie a mischievous grin. Despite her better knowledge, she had to admit she started liking the other girl. This was how you get shit done.
“That is the spirit!”
Switching the light on, she took a sharp breath, expecting to have a bone saw against her throat the next second. Nothing happened and the monitor showed no movement. Good. Seeing the large stairs heading to the next floor, Haddie nearly started to cry in relief.
“What is it?”
Of course Nea didn’t know. How could she.
“Well, I kind of broke in her. I couldn’t find any doors, so I came in through a window I marked with a red band. It is only a few corridors to our right, so we ran in the right direction. Not even five minutes and we are out of here.”
“I call that luck. See, I always tell people it has a reason why I bring a salt pouch wherever I go.”
“You always run around with a salt pouch?”
“I do! It is supposed to increase the luck and watch where it brought us.”
Haddie shook her head in disbelieve.
“Hey, I can give you one too when we are out of here.”
“I will consider it.”
The monotonous answer suggested that in fact Haddie wasn’t even close to accept the offer and just wanted to be polite.
“Now let’s go before she decides to come back. We also need to call an ambulance as soon as we are out of here.”
To her surprise Nea just shrugged and opened her mouth with a playful smirk.
“If you want to say ‘don’t worry it’s just a scratch’ or ‘I prefer you to be my nurse’ I will leave you right here and then.”
Pouting, Nea closed her mouth again and hastily followed the other woman. Haddie has already started moving, not even checking if she was following.
“Hey wait for me! Don’t leave me! I am fine if you hit me, I kind of like that, but…”
Suddenly, Haddie grabbed the troublemaker, put a hand over her mouth and dragged her in a dark corner. Offended, Nea wanted to protest but stopped any attempt as she saw the reason for her abrupt action. The motion detector started to move again. The lines weren’t as thick and, can one say loud, as before but announced the presence of their murderous follower.
Sharing a concerned look with Haddie, both took a decision. There was no cover nearby. The window was just a corridor away, right behind the next corner. Not even five metres. Now or never. Making sure the motion didn’t come any closer, both women stood up and broke into a sprint. No figure in sight, yet the hair on Haddie’s neck started moving again. Faster. The way into their freedom was already in sight.
Hearing Nea’s pained grunts from behind her, she took another decision. Haddie stopped and protectively moved behind the other girl who seemed to get the clue. Without stopping, Nea vaulted through the window and immediately moved away so Haddie had a free path. Just as her hands grabbed the cold window frame, she felt an icy hand on her collar, pulling her backwards.
White, torn bedsheets didn’t hide the identity of the person who caught her. Why did she catch up so fast? Before she could process the thought, her back was pressed on the ground and slim but strong fingers started chocking her out. In panic she tried to hit her attacker but nothing seemed to work. The whispering she heard before grew louder again.
‘You will be mine. Join us.’
Just as Haddie saw the world fading around her, this time in the promise of no awakening, she saw a bright light. Was this the grim reaper welcoming her? No, it was just Nea blinding the nurse directly in the covered eyes. Now that she thought about it, it will end in the same result. To everyone’s surprise, the killer screeched and moved her hands to cover her… eyes. With a short but strong kick to the chest, Nea send the nurse flying backwards, away from Haddie who jumped on her feet again.
“Come on, before she stands up again!”
Once again, Nea vaulted first but suddenly Haddie stopped. This time hindered by something else, something sinister and beyond everything she knew. The world went black again but this time she was still in control, still standing on her feet. The noise stopped and all feelings of something lurking in the shadows disappeared.
“Well played. I am looking forward to our next meeting.”
The voice behind her was nothing she has ever heard before, well not before a few minutes. It was the same that spoke to her during her last overlap, even though it was slightly different back then. Human but also the most inhuman voice she knew. Slowly turning around, she caught the last glimpse of a faceless woman covered in black robes before giant, spiderlike tentacles pulled her away. She blinked and stared right into the ruins of the asylum. No nurse, no signals, no overlaps, nothing. She didn’t even feel the void. Just nothing. As it should be.
“Haddie fucking Kaur! You swing your ass down here or the monster doesn’t need to kill you because I will do it first!”
Nea’s screaming ripped her out of her thoughts.
“She is gone.”
“What??”
“She returned to were she came from. I don’t know what any of this means but she won’t return. I can feel it.”
Not really believing a word, Nea looked up at her sceptical.
“Did she choke out the last braincell you own?”
“No, but she almost did.”
Haddie swung herself over the frame and landed next to Nea who offered her a hand to stand up.
“You are by far the strangest person I know. Does that happen often at your job? If yes, you could have warned me.”
“Actually not. What brings me to the point, why were you even here and why did you blind her? She wore a covering. It should have been useless.”
Nervous, Nea touched her neck and looked down.
“To be honest, I got upset and wandered off. I wanted to spray something and rub a huge ‘fuck you’ into someone’s face. I heard of the horror stories here, so I wanted to show how cowardly everyone in this village is. Now I know the story was in fact true, so I am very glad you showed up. Also, I don’t know why I blinded her. It was just a guess. Feeling the weight of the flashlight in my hands, I just kind of went for it, like it was natural, like if I have done it so many times before. I believe we both experienced emotions we can’t explain today.”
Haddie just nodded. The explanation didn’t make any sense, or wouldn’t if this wasn’t a special situation.
“Do you want to share your experience with me? I can make you a special guest in my podcast if you want. I already have a few but I can bring out this episode as some kind of special edition I guess.”
“I would be honoured. But only if you give me your number and an interview in a café. You are really cute and I don’t say that because we nearly died. I mean it. ”
Laughing and chatting, they made their way back to the bus stop and talked about god who knows what, all while a dark fog was swallowing the building and leaving no evidence it ever existed. Professionals would later add it to the mystery around Crotus Prenn but never find an answer.
At home, already editing the material, reading mails and answering Nea’s messages, Haddie was haunted by the drumming sound of a heartbeat, a heartbeat her noise detector showed that day but provided no records, no proof. Almost as if something deleted the data stored on the little chip. She heard it when she slept, when she worked, when she just existed. She never told her brother about her near death experience, neither authorities or her followers. The asylum simply was another abandoned place covered in a deep and evil energy with a mystery unsolvable. Since the screaming sounds stopped, soon no one remembered the event and felt safe again.
Haddie didn’t. Since that day, the feeling of coldness and something evil never truly faded. Something was watching her. Something inhuman and between worlds. It was thrilled, waiting for her. She could feel it. With her continuing adventures, the events only grew more and more threating. Nothing was physically harming her like in Crotus Prenn but the call got stronger, the overlaps worse and worse. After another month, Nea disappeared without any warning, leaving her heartbroken and desperate. People whispered she might just have run away but Haddie knew better.
It was coming.
Packing her rucksack once again for a visit in the Alps, she couldn’t stop the feeling that she soon would share the fate of all the people, places which disappeared or were haunted. It all lead her back to one source, a source which’s feeling was all too familiar now. The people weren’t gone, they just got swallowed. Swallowed by something evil. Evil she got gifted to track and feel in her soul. Shouldn’t this ability protect her? Yet, she couldn’t stop the feeling that soon she will pay the price for her ‘gift’.