The Abandoned House Next Door

An amateur supernatural investigator gets more than what he expected while spending a night in an abandoned psychiatric hospital with his new friend.

The heels of my boots click on the linoleum floor beneath my feet, with every step seeming to echo into eternity before fading into the blackness of the hallway I’m walking through. It’s an interesting phenomenon how nighttime makes everything more creepy and the potential of something hiding in the dark is just enough to put you on edge. It could also be the abandoned nature of the Pacific Vista psychiatric hospital that lets the walls echo with silent screams of former patients long gone. 

Being the mature ghost hunter I am, I did my research before dragging my new friend Eric Deveraux along on this adventure. Pacific Vista  psychiatric hospital closed down 20 years ago after reports of abuse, experimentation, and too many patient deaths including a very publicized patient riot that ended with the suicide of a young nurse who was terrified of what would happen if the patients got her after finding her fiance dead. The only thing they found with her was her nurse's cap and a note saying “I’m sorry, I couldn’t let them get me” Eric and I set up some cameras around the hospital before the sun went down and we decided to split up and try to spook up some ghosts. Armed with a video camera, a digital camera, a flashlight, a headlamp, a small emergency kit and a walkie talkie, I set out into the dark. 

Some abandoned patient rooms, scattered gurneys and wheelchairs are all I come across for the first hour of my investigation. I reach the end of the hallway and I'm greeted by the railing that separates people from falling to their death to the lobby below. Across from the railing are 3 large pane windows that reach up to the ceiling that blends with the black night sky. Beyond the windows is another wing of the hospital and the architecture mirrors the wing in which I’m standing. A movement beyond the glass window draws my eye, and I see a girl? 

‘What’s a random girl doing here?’ 

Maybe Eric and I aren’t the only ones who decided to investigate and try to catch some ghosts. As I have my internal conversation with myself the girl stops and turns to look back at me, as if she noticed me the same way I did her. As she turns to face me completely I notice she seems to be wearing a dress, which would not be my first choice of investigation attire. As she looks at me, she begins to smile as she raises a hand and waves at me. I raise my hand to wave in return, planning to motion to meet me in the lobby so we may meet and discuss our business in this abandoned place. 

“What the f**k?” I whisper to my own voice in my head with confusion, as the reflection of my arm in the window passes in front of the image of the girl. 

How did she get behind me?

 I turn around to face a girl that looks straight out of a horror movie. What looked like the dress I saw her in actually is a tattered and ripped nurses uniform. Her head is bent at an odd angle and the bruises around her neck silently explain why. Her sadistic smile is enough to make my blood run cold and her bright blue eyes tell me I’m probably going to die here. She pushes her hand towards me like she’s going to grab me. At the last minute, I convince my muscles to move just enough that she doesn’t catch me by the throat. I wonder to the voice in my head if I can outrun her and if there is anything else that may be waiting to catch me in the dark. I feel a claw like-hand catch  the hood of my jacket exposing my neck to the cold chill of the night air. Suddenly, I’m in mid air, looking at rotting ceiling tiles and everything fades to black before my body can even register the sensation of falling. 

The first thing I register coming back from the brink of unconsciousness is the pounding in my head and the stars in front of my eyes. Slowly the rotting ceiling tiles come into focus and I jolt up being reminded of the girl I encountered. Looking around, I don’t see evidence that anyone but me has come through here. Only my set of footprints in the dust on the floor from the hallway I came down earlier. 

“I seriously hope that was a f*****g dream” again continuing my interal conversation with myself, who at this moment is also questioning my sanity. 

“Eric, you there?” I send out a quick call over my radio hoping he’s not lying dead somewhere, ripped apart by some unseen force. 

“...” Static. 

“F*****g wonderful, I spent way too much money on these things for them not to work when you need them. Maybe I am crazy, I need to stop talking to myself”. 

Pausing my conversation with my voice in my head I turn around to again face the windows, praying to whatever deity will listen to me that I don’t see this girl on the other side again. 

“What the f**k” This time directing my question to whatever deity is deciding to f**k with me right now, instead of continuing to talk to the voice in my head. I guess I technically got my wish; I don’t see the girl on the other side in the windows again. 

Because she’s standing right in front of me. 

A scream tears out of me as I shoot up from my spot on the ground. I’m in the same damn spot, no girl in sight and this is starting to feel like that happy death day movie. Looking around I find Eric staring at me like I’ve lost my mind, which given how much I’ve been talking to myself may not be that outrageous of a thought.

“Dude, what the f**k happened?”, a very good first. 

“I honestly have no clue, I was hoping you could tell me. I tried to radio you but you didn’t answer”. Now I'm desperate for an explanation, even if the answer is I'm one seriously crazed up fruit loop who bought really s****y radios. 

“I got your call but the talk button on my radio wouldn’t push so I couldn’t reply. You sounded like you caught something so I left the other wing to come track you down. I came down the hall to find you just randomly laying on the ground. I was just about to try and shake you awake when you woke up screaming”. The look of confusion on Eric’s face is genuine as his eyes drift to the window behind me. 

I whip my head around but nothing is there except the reflection of Eric and I. Outside the window, a small light comes shining through to alert us to the start of a new day and the end of our overnight investigation. 

Down at the main reception desk, we start to pack up our stuff when I notice Eric has stopped packing

“Dude, whats up?”

“ Check out this picture, you see that girl? The one with the blue eyes?” 

Before I can even look at the picture, I feel the hair on my neck stand on edge. The picture he’s holding is of the girl I saw. The plaque on the frame describes the picture as the staff of Pacific Vista psychiatric hospital 25 years ago all gathered together with everyones name in order of their position in the picture.

Here goes nothing, “Her name’s Judy Franklin, what about her?” 

“Recognize the name? She’s the nurse who killed herself here right before it shut down”. Before the end of his sentence even registers with me I realize what he’s talking about, I have her picture in my files at home about Pacific Vista. 

“ I need to know more. I’m gonna grab some files from the desk before we leave”.  I roundabout the desk where we left our extra equipment and pull out the top half of a stack of files in the cabinet labeled employee records. Thankfully everything is alphabetical so it’s easy to find hers. Files and the picture frame tucked in my bag, Eric and I part ways for the day. 

The minute I arrive home, I grab a soda and pour the files and the picture out on my bed. A quick study of Judy Franklin’s file tells me she was just out of nursing school and it was her first job. Notes following riots explain how she died by suicide during the riots, had a fiance who also worked at the hospital and was actually killed by the patients in the riots, Eric Deveraux. I quickly give up on finding more on Judy and go back to studying the photograph in the frame. As I'm looking at the staff and the old uniforms, I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Sure enough, one of the orderlies looks like Eric. Third from the right in the top row, my finger follows the list of names on the plaque. Eric Deveraux. The person in the picture is the exact same Eric, right down to the outfit he’s wearing. Thinking back, I met Eric when I first visited the hospital 2 weeks ago, he found me wandering around the grounds and told me most of the story of what happened there for my research file. I never knew anything but his name, not where he lived or what his story was. A quick search of the files and sure enough, alphabetically in order, I find Eric Deveraux on an employee file. Same setup as Judy’s, personal information, employment and education history, the usual. Notes following the riots; Employee Eric Deveraux, deceased. Killed by patients during riot by being thrown from the balcony above the main staircase. Bodies found by police following riots behind the main reception desk. Fiance Judy Franklin hanging from the railing above in an apparent suicide. 

I jump up and open my laptop at lightning speed. A quick search of old newspapers shows an engagement announcement for Judy and Eric, a picture of them together, and their address. 32 Pacific Coast Ave.  ... My address is 30 Pacific Coast. 

At 32 pacific coast ave sits an abandoned house.