Chapter 2: Invador

The gang starts exploring the building. Sparks begin to fly as the group splits up. Excitement grows as there begins to be some action. Is it paranormal or not?

   “I’m surprised they didn’t re-chain the door up.” Said Kate as she set her bag down in front of the hospital doors.

“Yeah, no kidding. They must not think people are causing trouble anymore.” Replied Shane as he approached the doors.

“You know, I heard a couples kids at school the other day talking about how they won’t come here anymore.” She looked around, “Something about not being able to get out.”

“What?!” squealed June.

“Oh, don’t worry, sweetie. They probably just got lost inside. We’ve been here so often that even in the dark we know this place inside and backwards. Besides, they clearly got out somehow if they were at school to talk about it.” stated Kate with a smile. “We’ll be fine. I promise.”

“As long as you’re with us, nothing bad will happen.” Says Shane as he opens up the doors. “Ready troops?”

“Ready!” replied Kate, June and Jeremy in unison. Kate picked up her bag and followed Shane as he made his way inside.

“Hey June,” said Jeremy as he motioned her over to him. “Shane wanted me to ask you if you would be okay sticking with him if we split up. He said he wants to get to know you better if you’re going to be around more.”

“He really said that?” she said with a big grin.

Jeremy nodded. “Yeah, are you up for it? Or would you rather stick with me or Kate?”

“No, I’d be okay with him. Unless you don’t want me to.” She frowned a bit.

“Haha, no I think it’s a good idea.”

“Yay! Thanks Jeremy.” She gave her brother a hug and made her way through the doors with her brother close behind.

“Alrighty guys, get your flashlights out. I’m going to shut the doors.” Jeremy turned his heavy duty flashlight on and set it down next to the extra. He shut the hospital doors and turned to the rest of his friends. “Everyone ready for another adventure?”

“You know it!” sang Kate.

Shane nodded. “I think we should do a group sweep through first. Just to make sure it’s safe and there are no kids in here causing trouble.”

“Sounds like a plan. Everyone’s flashlights are working?” they all nodded. “Good. I have extra batteries in case any of them die.”

“Where were those last time?!” said Kate with a tinge of anger.

“I forgot them, I’m sorry. I know it was a stupid mistake! I keep them in my truck now, so it won’t happen again.” Said Jeremy with a guilty tone.

“As long as you have them now.” She sighed.

“So, what do we do now?” asked June.

“Before we started any actual investigating we’re going to walk the building as a group and check it for safety. The layout is great for doing floor by floors. It has two wings and a common area in the middle. So we’ll do two people on each wing then meet in the middle and go to the next floor. Does that make sense?” Shane explained. June nodded. “Great. So, how’re we splitting up?”

“Well, June said she’d be okay going with you, Shane. So you two can take the right wing and Kate and I will take the left.” Said Jeremy.

Shane smiled at June, “Welcome aboard!”

“Thank you, heh.” She giggled.

“Alright! Let’s do this!” said Kate as she takes off for the stairs.

As the group made their way to the main staircase, Shane turned to June. “So, I don’t know how much your big brother has told about these outings.”

“Not much. He sort of liked to keep it to himself.”

“Ah, I see. Well would you like to have an idea of what you and I will be doing tonight?” She smiled and nodded. “Sweet! So basically after we do the security sweep, we’ll tackle one area at a time. Because Jeremy, Kate and I have been here so many time we know where the most activity occurs. So we’ll divide these areas up. You and I will take some, and Jeremy and Kate will take the others. We’ll camp out at each for a while and do some different tests.”

“Will I get to use any of your equipment? Jeremy never lets me touch his.”

“Yeah, I can teach you how to use it. You’ll have to know for future outings.” He smiled at her and then looks at his feet.

“What’s wrong?” She asked him.

Shane stopped walking for a moment and his eyes met hers. “I was told that you look up to me.” June blushed and looked away. “There’s no reason to be embarrassed. I was flattered!”

“I told him not to tell you that, I don’t want you to think I’m weird.” Said June while avoiding eye contact.

He walks up to her and puts a hand on her arm, “Hey,” she looked back at him hesitantly. “I don’t think you’re weird. You know why?” she shook her head no, “Because believe it or not, I look up to you.”

“What? Why?” she said sounding shocked

“Hun, look at what you had to go through! You lost both of your parents when you were only six. That’s enough to ruin anyone’s life, but here you are…” he trailed off and smiled. “You’re an amazing young lady, June. I truly do admire you and how you hold yourself. It’s something else.”

Her face lit up as she looked at his smile. “You really think so?”

He nodded. “I do. Jeremy is lucky to have a little sister like you.”

“It has helped having him as a role model.”

“I bet! He’s a great guy. I’ve learned a lot from him, that’s for sure.” Shane laughed a bit. “Honestly if it weren’t for him friendship I don’t know where I would be right now.” His smile faded.

“I think you would be okay.” Whispered June. Shane looked at her with a twinkle in his eye.

“You guys are so slow, come on!” shouted Kate. The two looked up to see their friends already at the top of the first flight of stairs. They rushed to catch up with them. Kate looked at them both carefully, “Did I interrupt something?” she giggled.

June blushed and Shane shook his head, “Nope!” He looked at June and smiled. “I was just telling her what will happen next.”

“I forgot to, thanks man.” Said Jeremy. “Ready Kate?”

“Yep! See you guys in a few.” She said happily as her and Jeremy started walking down the left wing of the hospital building.

“Ready, Freddy?” said Shane as he started walking towards the right.

June quickly followed. “So what are we looking for?” She said as she pointed her flashlight in front of her.

“Anything unsafe. Like, broken glass, something sticking up that we could trip on, liquid on the ground. Or, people. Sometimes kids like to come and cause trouble here. They’ll write crap on the walls and whatnot. If we see someone we’ll need to get them out, or we’ll have to go. Jeremy and I don’t like doing this if there are other people. We had some issues one time when it was just me and him. It was fine, but we don’t want to put you or Kate in danger.”

“Makes sense. What if we don’t find anything?” she said as she scanned the floor.

Shane shrugged. “Then it’ll be a good night I guess, haha.”

On the other side of the building Kate and Jeremy were making their way down the empty halls. “So, do Shane and June have a thing?” asked Kate.

“What? No?” answered Jeremy. “Why would you think that?”

She laughed. “Did you see the way they were looking at each other? They clearly have feelings for each other.”

“Between me and you, June has had a crush on Shane literally for as long as I can remember.”

Kate stopped walking, “Seriously?!” Jeremy looked at her with a confused look. “Shane was just telling me the other day that if she wasn’t your sister he would have asked her out ages ago.”

“You’re kidding me…”

“No!” she laughed, “This is wonderful! Your best friend and your sister. Man it’s like a movie!”

“I don’t know…” he said quietly.

“What do you mean you don’t know? Doesn’t it make you happy?” she looked at her friend.

Jeremy looked at her and stuck his free hand in his pocket. “Sometimes he doesn’t treat chicks very well. I don’t want him to treat my little sister like that.”

“Jeremy, it’s Shane. He loves you! He would never do anything to hurt you. He knows how important June is to her. He could never hurt her. You know that!”

“Yeah, I guess. I just don’t want her to get hurt. She really, really likes him.”

“I can almost promise you he feels the same way about her.” She smiled and kept walking, “I’m really not seeing anything, Jer.”

“Me either.” He kept walking and stopped, “Wait!”

Kate whipped around, “What?!”

“You don’t think he’s going to try and have sex with her tonight do you?!”

“You’re joking, right?” Kate said sounding annoyed. “He may be a tool sometimes, but he’s not stupid.”

“You’re right.” Sighed Jeremy. They reached the end of the hallway and turned around. “Well, that was fun.”

Kate scoffed, “Yeah and blast. These walk throughs are pointless. I don’t get why we do them.” Jeremy didn’t answer. “You okay?”

“What? Yeah, I’m fine.” He looked at Kate. “Shane never told you what happened did he?”

“No?” she sounded concerned. “What happened?”

“Remind me tomorrow and I’ll tell you.”

“Okay…” she decided to leave it at that.

The group met back in the common area by the old nurse’s station. “Find anything?” asked Shane.

Kate shook her head, “Nothing. What about you too? Find anything that sent sparks flying?” Jeremy kicked her leg, “OW! What the heck was that for?”

“Don’t do that!” he said under his breath.

“Okay…anyways, we didn’t find anything, no.” said Shane as he looked at June.

“It was boring.” She said with a pout.

Shane laughed and nudged her, “It’ll get better.” He winked and looked at Jeremy, who had a slight smile on his face. Shane quickly looked away. “Next floor?”

“I found a few broken bottles in the right wing last time. Watch out for those, guys. I don’t think I got them all picked up.” Said Jeremy.

“Thanks, man. Meet you both back here.” Replied Shane. “Let’s go, June.” And the two started down the right wing. “You have closed shoes on, right?”

“Yeah, why?” asked June as she checked her feet just to be sure.

“Cuz if we do find glass I don’t want you to cut your foot.”

“Makes sense. I’m good though, I have my chucks on!”

Shane laughed, “That makes two of us!” he pointed his flashlight at his feet.

“Holy crap! Your feet are huge!” exclaimed June as she put her foot next to his.

“It’s just cuz I’m tall.” Shane stood a towering six feet 4 inches. When he stood next to June he looked like a giant. “How tall are you? Five feet?”

She giggled, “Five two. I don’t know why I’m so short.” She frowned. “Jeremy is six foot, my mom was five seen and my dad was six two.”

“Well, I think it’s cute. Guys dig short girls.” He smiled and started walking again. He took a few steps and a loud bang came from the end of the hallway. “Did you hear that?”

“Yeah…” whispered June. “What was it?” she looked over at him.

“I’m not sure. Let’s go have a look.” They kept walking further down the hallway until they came across an open door. “We made sure all the rooms were shut last time, huh.”

“Do you think it was a ghost?” said June, sounding scared.

Shane looked at her with a calming smile, “I doubt it. Don’t worry, I won’t leave your side.” They slowly made their way closer to the open door. The bang sounded again and June jumped. “You okay?”

“Y-yeah…” she moved a bit closer to Shane. “Don’t go too far please.”

“I won’t.” he pointed his flashlight at the open door. “Should we peak inside?”

June nodded slowly, “Jeremy would want us to.”

“Good point.” They carefully, and quietly made their way to the door.

June’s heart was racing, and beating faster than it had ever beat before. “Shane, what’s in there?” she whispered as she subconsciously grabbed hold of his arm.

“I can’t see anything.” He whispered back, “I’m going to go in a little bit more. I want a better look at the room.” As he started making his way into the room, there was another bang and June squealed, tightening her grip on his arm. “It’s okay, I’m still here.” He reassured her. They moved all the way into the room, and Shane pointed his flashlight to where the bang came from. “What’s that?”

“What’s what?” Juned asked with a shaky voice.

“There’s something in the far left corner…” he moved his flashlight to the left and a small pair of eyes lit up. “What the hell?!” he yelled.

Meanwhile, over in the left wing, Jeremy and Kate heard Shane’s yell. “Did you hear that?!” said Kate, sounding worried. “That was Shane!”

“Oh no…” said Jeremy as he took off running towards the yell.

“Jer, be careful!!” yelled Kate as she ran after him.

I swear if he lets anything happen to her… He thought to himself as he ran past the common area. “Shane!” he yells hoping for a response.

“We’re over here!” he replies.

Jeremy followed the voice and sprinted into the open room. “What happened?!”

“There’s a raccoon!” said June with excitement.

“There s a what?” asked Jeremy as he caught his breath.

“A stupid raccoon. We kept hearing bangs and went to see what it his. This little guy was crawling all over stuff and knocking it down.” Explained Shane as he pointed his flashlight at the animal.

“Oh, he’s cute!” squealed Kate as she entered the room.

“Yeah, cute until he bites one of us.” Jeremy looked at Shane. “We need to get it out of here. That’s the last thing we need. It could ruin a lot of the tests, or hurt one of us.”

Shane nodded and looked at the critter. “I agree. Any ideas?”

“Jeremy has a pair of gardening gloves in his truck.” Said June.

“They are not gardening gloves! I use them when I do yardwork. They’re the kind that are made so nothing can poke through them. I could go grab them and try and pick it up.”

“I’ll go with you! I want to grab my portable charger out of your truck for my phone.”

“Sounds like a plan. We’ll be back. Keep an eye on the raccoon, okay?”

Kate nodded, “Will do!”

“Let’s go, June.” Said Jeremy as he started heading back towards the staircase.

Once the siblings were out of earshot, Kate turned the Shane. “So, when are you going to tell him?”

“What are you talking about?” asked Shane as he looks at his phone.

“When are you going to tell Jer that you’re crushing hard on his little sister?!”

Shane looks at his friend with a serious face, “Never.”

“Why not?! She clearly likes you too.”

Shane shakes his head, “You’re insane.”

“I’m a girl. I know when girls like guys. And she clearly likes you.” He said nothing. “I think you should talk to him.”

“He would never let me date her, and you know it.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“He has seen my past relationships. Jeremy would assume I’d treat her the same.” He sounded upset.

“And would you?” inquired Kate. Silence. “Be honest. Do you like her?”

He sighed. “Yes…” he locked his phone and put it in his pocket. “A lot. She’s just… different than other girls.” Kate smiled. “I feel like I can be myself around her.”

“I’m sure if you told him how you felt he would be okay with it.”

“Kate, you don’t get it. June is all he has left. She’s the only blood family that he has now. He would never let her be with a guy like me. Even if he know how I felt.” He sat on the ground. “It’s like I told you before, if she wasn’t his sister I would have asked her out years ago.”

“What would you say if I told you I told him this?” she mumbled.

“You did what?! Why the hell would you do that? Oh my gosh. He’s going to freaking kill me Kate!” he groaned and punched the ground.

“Calm down, dude! He was fine with it!” Shane said nothing. “Look,” she started and sat down next to her friend, “Jeremy knows how much you care about him. He is well aware that you would never do anything that would hurt him, or anyone he cares about. That includes June. He has been your best friend since you two were in preschool, Shane. You’re just about as family as his Aunt and Uncle.” Shane looked at her. “Tell him how you feel. You’ve got nothing to lose.”

“Do you think she knows that I like her?”

“I don’t think so. She thinks you’re too good for her.”

He chuckled, “More like she’s too good for me.”

“I think you are both great for each other.” She laughed to herself, “I have been calling you two getting together for a while now.”

“You’re just saying that.”

She shook her head, “I’m being serious! You two hardly know each other but the few times I’ve seen you together, it’s like you’ve been best friends for years. And the way you guys look at each other! Goodness. It’s priceless.” She smiles at him.

Before anything could be said, Jeremy and June returned from getting the gloves. “Back!” said Jeremy sounding winded.

“Did you run there and back?!” questioned Kate.

“Yeah, I didn’t want to waste time. We’re already behind schedule.”

“True. Well, how do you want to do this?”

Shane chimed in, “I think we should shut the door while you’re in there. That was it can’t get out. It seems to be hurt or something cuz it hasn’t tried to run. It shouldn’t be too hard. Once you get a hold of it, we’ll take it outside and get back to business.” He stands back up and checks the time on his phone. “It’s already 11:45, we should do this as quickly as possible.”

Jeremy nodded and put his gloves on. “Ready whenever you are.” He said as he made his way into the room.

“Please be careful.” Said June quietly.

He smiled at his little sister, “Always am!” Shane shut the door behind his friend and they all watched through the window as he slowly approached the creature. After a few attempts, he finally got a hold of it. “Got him! Now open the door so I can get him outside.”

Kate opened the door and they all started heading back down the hallways towards the staircase. “Got your charger?” Shane asked June.

She nodded, “Mhm. I promised Aunt Brandi I would keep my phone on me so I could get a hold of her if something happened.”

“Makes sense. So I just realized, I don’t have your number. You can’t be a part of the group and not be in my phone.” June look over to see Shane smiling at her.

“Would you like it?” she asked getting a bit shy.

“If that’s okay with you.” She held her hand out and he put his phone gently inside. “Just put it in as June, I’ll text you later with my name.” and she did just that.

“Did you hear that?” Kate whispered to Jeremy.

“What? Shane getting my baby sisters number? Yeah, I heard.” He said sounding unamused.

“Oh, grow up, Jer. If they like each other, do you really want to be the thing keeping them apart?”

Jeremy sighed and shook his head. “No.”

“Didn’t think so. Just let it be and see what happens, okay?” she put a hand on his back and smiled.

Once they were all outside, Jeremy carefully let the raccoon go and took his gloves off. “Now that that problem is solved, let the real fun begin!” he stuck the gloves in his backpack. “Shall we?” he motioned for the group to head back inside.

Author's Note

ignore grammar problems unless very bad