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Ever since everything with Kanduu, James had been itching for more chaos.
He wasn't quite sure why he felt that way. At the time that all the haunted stuff was happening, he was annoyed and stressed by all of it. But, he couldn't help but feel like a part of it was fun.
If he could re-experience that thrill in a more controlled and manageable manner, that would be great.
He found himself falling down a rabbit hole of allegedly haunted places that were within reasonable driving distance and eventually stumbled across an abandoned hospital a town over that reportedly was extremely haunted.
It made enough sense- It was a hospital, after all. People had definitely died there, and he was far past the realm of skepticism after everything that had happened.
So, he called up Isabella, and they agreed to drive over there the next day and explore.
That night, he packed a few things including an old video camera (he'd always loved the 'found footage' vibe and figured that, if anything crazy happened, he could probably post it online and get a few likes on it), snacks, and water and went to bed fairly early so that he would have more energy for his and Isabella's adventure the following day.
The next day, he picked her up, set the camera running, and drove to the abandoned hospital.
As soon as they walked in, they were met with the stench of dirt, blood, old weed, rubbing alcohol, and a hint of spray paint. It took them both a moment to adjust but, once they did, they began to process their surroundings.
It looked like the inside of any hospital- Carts of supplies out in the hallway, a waiting room, big metal doors, rooms with beds for patients to lie in- But it was clear that it hadn't been used for its intended purpose in years.
There was graffiti on the walls- Penises, gang symbols, the works. James figured that's where the faint smell of spray paint was coming from.
It was rather peaceful and quiet. Too quiet, he felt. Maybe it was because of everything that had happened with Kanduu or maybe it was because the place was allegedly haunted or maybe it was a mixture of both but James felt himself growing a bit anxious and paranoid and suddenly he was holding Isabella's hand.
"You good?" she asked him, trying to remember the last time she'd seen him so freaked out.
"Yeah, sorry" he chuckled awkwardly. "Just freaked out. Don't let go?"
"I won't, don't worry"
James began to calm down a bit after that, feeling somewhat protected by Isabella's hand (even if that was a flimsy protection at best), and the two actually began to have some fun in what they were doing.
At one point they found a staircase where two of the stairs were absolutely filthy and, understandably, neither wanted to step on the gross steps, but they did want to see whatever was on the next floor.
Isabella, being the taller of the pair, easily stepped over the two steps with only a bit of unbalance. James, being decidedly short, was not having the same ease with the task.
"Isabella, what the hell!?" he said, irritated. Isabella laughed at his predicament.
"What!?" she replied, feigning ignorance over the fact that she wasn't helping him. "It's not my fault you're vertically challenged!"
"What did you just say!?"
"Here" Isabella held out her hand to keep him from toppling over as he just barely managed to clear the two steps. He rolled his eyes and they continued on with their fun.
Of course, though, their fun eventually had to come to an end.
As they were looking through some old medical files, they suddenly heard the blood-curdling sound of a woman screaming down the hall. They both went deathly still as they heard the sound.
It was Isabella who first had the nerve to open the door.
As the pair peeked out into the hallway, looking in the direction that the scream had come from, they saw the figure of a pale woman in a white nightgown standing there, facing away from them.
"What the fuck is that?" James whispered. Isabella didn't reply.
The two were forced to watch in terror as the woman thing slowly turned her head. She didn't have eyes, but that wasn't even their biggest concern.
No, her front side was covered in blood, some of which dripped out of her mouth as she took in a breath to scream again.
"Run" James said. Isabella didn't need to be told twice.
They didn't know if the woman had chased them or not, both too afraid to look back, but they eventually made it to James' car and didn't see anyone around the vehicle as they sped away, vowing never to go there again.
When he got home after dropping Isabella off, James nervously checked the video he had taken and was relieved (and horrified) to see that it hadn't simply been a hallucination.
The downside to that, of course, is that what they'd seen was real, and it was just lingering in that hospital.