Chapter 1: The Car Ride

Jeremy and June are driving to the abandoned Fairbrook Hospital to meet Shane and Kate (Jeremy's friends) to spend the night investigating the paranormal happenings in the building.

   “Jeremy where are you?! You told everyone we would be there at 9.” Shouted a young girl from the bottom of the steps, “Ugh, seriously! We’re already late.”

           “Calm yourself down June, I was just grabbing my bag.” Said Jeremy as he appeared at the top of the stairs. His jet black hair brushed against his brow as he jogged down the steps. “Ready?” June groaned and rolled her eyes as she swiftly turned and headed out the door. “I take that as a yes.” He laughed. Jeremy loved his little sister, but she could really get on his nerves sometimes. “You just want to get there so you can see Shane.”

            “Shut up, I don’t even like him.” She blushed.

            “Nice try. I can see the way you look at him.” He said as he threw his bag in the back seat of his rusted out pick-up truck. “I just want you to be careful. You know he has a history of not treating girls the greatest.”

            “You don’t even know him.” She quickly replies.

Jeremy chuckled and climbed into the driver’s seat, “Right, because we haven’t been friends since preschool.” He stuck the key in the ignition and turned it. The car rumbled but stopped shortly after.

“Oh just great. Now we’ll never get there! You know they can’t start without right? Now they’re going to be pissed off.” Wined June as she slumped in her seat.

“This isn’t my fault! I asked Aunt Brandi if I could get a new car. And shocker, she said not until this one stops working.”

“Well it stopped. Try it again, maybe it will work this time.” Jeremy turned the key again and the truck roared to a start. “Awesome!” she clapped her hands together as her brother put the car in reverse.

“You’re sure you want to go tonight?” June rolled her eyes and gave him a dirty look. “Okay, okay. Just making sure.” Jeremy backed the car out of the driveway and rolled the windows down. “Did you bring the CD?”

“Duh.” she stuck her hand into her backpack and pulled out a broken CD case. “I accidentally sat on it the other day. I’m sorry.”

“Eh, it’s whatever. As long as it still works.” June stuck the CD player and turned it up a bit. The sound of metal music flowed out of the car. The siblings bobbed their head in unison as they sang along with grins across their faces.

After the two had been driving awhile, June turned the music down and looked over at her brother. “Jeremy,” she started, “do you ever think about mom and dad?” he didn’t respond. “I mean, like, I know it’s been almost ten year, and we were both really young but do you ever think about what it would be like if they were still alive?”

Jeremy sighed as they slowed to a stop at a red light. He looked over at his little sister and nodded. “I do. I try not to though. It makes me sad. I love Aunt Brandi and Uncle Kenneth, but it’s not the same.” He looked back at the road and tapped his hands on the steering wheel. “I just want to know if they would be proud of us, you know? Like if they came back today and saw how we turned out, do you think they’d be happy?”

Not a word was said until the light turned green. “I think they would be. We aren’t bad kids or anything. Well, I’m not at least.” She snickered.

“Watch it punk!” Jeremy laughed, “You’re right. We definitely could have ended up a lot worse. Do you think about them a lot?”

“Recently I have been a lot more than I normally do. I think it’s because there’s been so much going on.” She said with a sadness in her voice.

“What do you mean?”

She turned the music off all the way and look at her brother for a minute. “With you getting ready to graduate, Uncle Kenneth’s new job, and everything with Marcia and Blake…” she trailed off.

“You wish they were here to see it all?” he glanced over at her just in time to see her nod. “Well, think of this way. They may not be here physically, but their Spirits are with us. You believe in ghost’s right?” she shrugged. “Well, maybe after tonight you will. I know it brings me a lot of comfort knowing that they aren’t completely gone. Speaking of tonight, are you scared?”

June looked at her feet and mumbled, “Sort of.”

Jeremy smiled, “I don’t blame you. I was terrified the first time I went. It’s really not that bad. Typically nothing big happens. Maybe some foots steps, or an orb. Besides, you’ll have Shane there.” He smirked.

“Jeremy!” she blushed again. “Please don’t tell him. He’ll think I’m weird!”

“I won’t, I won’t. I knew you liked him, though.”

“Shut up.” She giggled. “How close are we?”

“We’re almost there. I’d say maybe, 15 more minutes?”

“Okay, that’s not bad. Have you told them we’re going to be late?”

“Erm, no. I probably should have. Would you call Kate for me? My phone is in my bag in the back seat.” June climbed into the back and grabbed her brothers bag. She started rummaging through it trying to find his phone. “Try the outer pocket.” She unzipped the small outside pocket and pulled out an iPhone 6. “The passcode is 091406.”

June started typing the numbers but stopped after a few, “Wait a minute.” She stared at the phone for a second. “That’s the day mom and dad died.” Jeremy nodded, “So you think about them every day?” he nodded again. “I didn’t know that. Why haven’t you told me?” she looked at her big brother.

He sighed, “I think about them a lot. Yes.” He stopped talking.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry.” He took a deep breath, “Do you know why I started getting into paranormal stuff?” June shook her head. “Because of mom and dad.” He ran his fingers through his thick head of hair. “Shortly after they died, I had a lot of weird things happening. A few years later I was talking to Shane and Kate about it and they told me they’ve had some stuff happen to them as well. We did some research and pooled some money together to buy equipment and that’s how our group got started.”

“What kind of stuff?” she asked, but before he could answer the phone started ringing. “Hello?” June answered it.

“Hey! Is Jeremy there?” said a deep voice

“Oh, uhm, yeah but he’s driving.”

“Who is it?” asked Jeremy

“It’s Shane.” Blushed June. Jeremy laughed.

“Is that him?” asked Shane.

“Yeah, do you want me to put you on speaker?” said June quietly.

“Yeah, that would be great. Thanks, June.” A loud thud came through the phone. “Kate! Be careful with that!”

“Hey dude, what’s up?” shouted Jeremy as he closed the windows to his truck.

“We just got here. We were running a bit late. Miss fancy pants over here had to change her outfit three times.”

“Shut the hell up Shane!!” yelled a girl from the background.

“Ayways, where are you bro? I don’t see your truck.”

“Yeah, we’re almost there. June was just about to call you and tell you we were about 10 minutes out. Are you guys by the front door?”

“Mhm, same place as last month. One of the parking lots lamps is out. Did you bring the extra flashlight this time?”

“It’s in the backseat of the truck, yeah. I remembered the batteries too.”

“Finally! Say, June, I forgot you were coming tonight. Are you excited?” asked Shane with a hint of excitement in his voice.

“I am.” She said shyly.

“Glad to hear it! I can’t wait to show you how it’s done. See you guys in 10?”

“Yes sir! Thanks Shane. See you soon.”

“Yep!” and he hung up.

“Are you gonna fan girl on me?” chuckled Jeremy as his sister put the phone back in the backpack.

“No! Oh my gosh, I don’t even like him that much.”

“Bull crap, you were redder than a tomato, haha.” He laughed and smiled at his little sister, “You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts liking you after tonight.”

June quickly turned to her brother, “What?!”

“Think about it. I always thought him and Kate would end up together but now that she’s with Raymond and he isn’t even upset, I just don’t see it anymore. What other girls do you know who are willing to spend their Friday night in an old abandoned hospital, listens to metal, and doesn’t do drugs?”

June blushed at the thought, “Not many…”

“Exactly. You’re his type of girl. He just has to see it for himself.” After a few minutes they pulled onto an unlit road lined with trees that covered the moon.

“Well, shoot. This is the creepiest road I’ve ever been on.” Said June as she looked out the window.

“It’s not that bad. It just seems scary because there’s no light. You’re not scared, are you?”

“No, not at all. It’s just creepy with the trees and everything.”

“It’s actually really pretty in the day time. The trees are so old and big. You can see deer and turkeys and stuff out here.” He turned his brights on and slowed down a bit. “There’s also a cop car that likes to sit out here. He knows kids come and smoke out here.”

“I never understood the whole smoking thing. What’s the point?”

“I’m not the person to ask, haha.” Jeremy, “Well, here we are.” The truck pulled into a poorly lit parking lot. It had weeds growing in the cracks of the pavement and a broken sign that read ‘Fairbrook Hospital’. There was a big building with smashed windows, spray paint all over, and vines growing up the side. “There’s Shane and Kate.” Jeremy pulled up to the only other car in the lot and turned his truck off. June hopped out and swung her bag over her shoulder.

“About time!” said Shane as he jokingly pointed as his wrist watch.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. You guys weren’t on time either.” Laughed Jeremy as he grabbed his backpack out from the back seat. He gave Shane their typical ‘bro hug’ and Kate her fist bump.

“Are you ready for tonight, June?” said the girl from the phone call earlier.

“Yeah.” She whispered.

Kate smiled and got a bit closer to June, “I was scared my first time too. Don’t worry. These boys won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

“Amen to that!” Shane chimed in. He walked up to the nervous girl and put an arm around her, “You’re in good hands, sister!”

Jeremy shot his sister the ‘I told you so’ look. She shook her head and smiled. “Thank you guys. I am excited, it’s just sort of nerve wracking to think about spending most of the night in a completely dark building that hasn’t been occupied in years. Ya know?”

Kate nodded, “I understand 100%.” She smiled her sweet smile. “You’ll be okay though. We won’t leave you alone and if you get too scared, let us know and one of us will come sit out here with you. Sound good?”

“Yeah, thanks Kate.” June smiled. She then realized Shane still had her arm around her shoulder. She cleared her throat.

“Oh, sorry!” he awkwardly walked away, rubbing the back of his neck.

Jeremy just laughed and gathered the extra flashlights from the back of his truck. “Ready troops?” They all nodded.

 

As they started making their way towards the hospital, Shane got Jeremy’s attention. “So, bro.”

“What’s up?” he slowed down to Shane could catch up.

“Your sister…” he started, “she must be pretty tough if she wanted to come tonight.”

Jeremy smiled while looking at his little sister walking a few feet ahead talking to Kate. “She’s a tough one, that’s for sure.”

Shane scratched his head, “She’s 16 right?”

“Turning 17 in a couple months, why?”

“Just wondering.” Jeremy looked up to catch his friend staring at June.

“You know, she thinks pretty highly of you, Shane.”

His stare was broken, “Really, me? Why?”

“She knows how much you’ve been through and sees how well you handle it.”

“Well, shucks.” His tan cheeks turned slightly pink, “She’s not bad herself. I mean she was only, what, six when your parents died?” Jeremy nodded, “That’s rough, man. Sure turned out pretty good for having to go through that at such a young age. If anyone should be looking up to anyone, it should be me to her.”

Jeremy looked at his friend, “Tell her that. She’s been struggling lately. I guess mom and dad have been on her mind a lot recently. She doesn’t seem to think she’s handling it very well. It would mean a lot for her to hear this from someone other than me.”

“Maybe I will. Hey, do you think if we split up she can come with me tonight? If she’s going to be part of the team I feel like I should get to know her better. Her and Kate are already close, and you’re her brother. I’m really the only one who doesn’t know her well. And what better way to bond than to spend a night in a haunted building?” His face lit up.

“Yeah, if she’s up for it. I’ll ask her later. But dude, if you do, don’t pull anything. She’s scared enough as it is. And you know the rules, no one goes out alone. You need to, no matter what, stay by her side. Do you understand?”

“Woah there, calm down! Why would I ever do that?”

“Shane, you pulled that crap on Kate the first time she came with.”

“That was years ago!!”

“That was last year.”

“Whatever, still! I would never do that to your little sister. You’d kill me.”

“Darn straight I would!”

“Hurry up you guys! It’s already almost 11!” yelled Kate from the front entrance to the hospital.

“We’re coming!” replied, Jeremy, “Just please be careful if you do go with her. That’s all I ask.”

Author's Note

ignore grammar problems unless very bad