Chapter 3: The Attack

While the gang is investigating the old Fairbrook hosptial, things get all to real for Kate and Jeremy.

“Hey Shane, can I talk to you for a minute.” Asked Jeremy as the group of four were heading back to the building.

“What’s up?” Shane replied, as he slowed down so Jeremy could catch up.

“How’s June holding up?”

“Pretty well, actually. The raccoon gave a bit of a scare but other than that she’s a pro!”

“I knew she’d do well.” He smiled. “Still want to stick with her while we split up later?”

“I think so. It’s going well and she seems to be enjoying herself.”

“I figured.” He stopped for a moment. “So I was talking to Kate earlier.”

“Yeah, man about that…” Shane started talking but Jeremy interrupted him.

“I know you like my sister.” Shane looked at the ground. “And I know she likes you too.”

“She does?” questioned Shane.

“Yeah, she has for a while.” Jeremy smiled, “I know you would be a great couple.” His smile faded, “But it makes me nervous. I’ve seen how you treat girls.” Shane shoved his hands in hoodie pockets. “Gabby? Dude she was heartbroken after the way you treated her. Or Samantha? I’m pretty sure she hates you. I just don’t want my sister to end up like them.”

“I know. And I feel bad about them, I do. I just never felt the same way about them as they felt about me. It’s different with June.” He smiled a bit. “She’s so different than other girls. She’s strong, independent, smart, mature, and sweet…” he trailed off. “I know I probably sound gay right now but she’s seriously amazing. I know I really don’t know her but man do I want to.”

Jeremy stared at his friend, then looked at his sister. She was laughing and talking with Kate. She looked the happiest she had in a long time. When he looked back at his friend, he was staring at June with the biggest smile on his face. “You really like her, don’t you?”

Shane forced himself to look away and at Jeremy. “I really do. If you let me, I will treat her like she’s a queen. I can promise you that. But if you really don’t want me to be anything more than a friend, I will respect that. You’re my best friend and I won’t throw that away over some girl.”

“Watch it, Shane! She’s not just ‘some girl’, she’s my little sister.” He smirked.

“You know what I mean!”

Jeremy laughed and gave his buddy a smack on the back. “Go for it.”

Shane looked at him in shock. “Seriously?!”

“Yeah, she’s happy around you. I just want to make her happy. I am begging you though, DO NOT hurt her or I swear on my mother’s grave I will end your life in the most painful way possible.”

Shane drew a cross over his chest. “I cross my heart. I will never, intentionally hurt her. You have my word.” His face lit up.

“Good.” Jeremy smiled. “I never thought I’d see the day. My best friend and my baby sister.” He laughed. “Kate is going to flip.”

“She’s such a girl, man.”

“No kidding, haha. I wonder if she’ll start bringing Raymond along.” Jeremy scoffed. “She better not. Or I’ll be the fourth wheel to my own group!”

Shane laughed, “That would be amazing! We have to find you a girlfriend, bro.”

“Nah, I like being single.” Jeremy put his hood up and turned his flashlight on as they walked through the doors of the hospital.

“Jer, you look like you’re going to rob the place.” Joked Kate.

“It’s cold out, I didn’t bring a warmer jacket.” He said as he zipped his hoodie up.

“Aunt Brandi tried to give you one. You told her ‘it’s April, I don’t need something warmer.’ Haha” giggled June. Jeremy shot her an annoyed look. “I’m just stating the facts!”

“Siblings. I’m glad I don’t have any.” Said Shane and he pulled his phone out to check the time.

“Dude, you know you’re wearing a watch, right?” said Kate giving him a weird look.

“It’s easier to read a digital clock. I’m too lazy to read a wrist watch. It just looks good.” He showed June and she laughed.

“It’s a nice looking watch.” Shane winked at her and looked to his friends who were both rolling their eyes. “What?”

“Oh, nothing.” Kate smiled and pulled her EVP recorder out of her bag. “Are we ready to start this thing?”

“Right! I was going to say that. It’s already past midnight. We have a lot of ground to cover before the sun starts coming up.” Said Shane as he pulled his hand drawn map out of his pocket. “So, last time we focused mainly on this area.” He pointed to the old ER and looked at June. “Come take a peak. I’ll show where stuff normally happens. We’ll let you pick where we should camp out.”

“Okay!” she said with excitement and she peers over the map.

“As I was saying, this is where we focused last time. We had to all stick together because we had an odd number. I’m glad you came along, now we can cover twice as much ground.” He moved his finger to the second floor, right wing. “This room is my favorite. We’ve had a lot of creepy stuff happen in here. It’s room 207. We’ve had the door shut, footsteps in the room when none of us are walking, EVPs session that turned out great.”

“What’s an EVP session?”

“Electronic Voice Phenomenon. Basically we use a special recorder like the one Kate has.” she handed it to June so she could see. “We stay in one spot, room or section and we basically ask questions. The EVP recorder picks up things we can’t hear in real time. So when we go back over the sessions later, we can hear talking, noises, all sorts of stuff.”

“That’s awesome!” June handed the recorder back to Kate.

“It’s pretty great.”

“We actually have an extra one that you can use, June.” Said Jeremy as he dug through his backpack.

“Really?!” she sang with excitement.

“Totally! You’re one of us now, sweetie!” said Kate as she gave her a high five. “Now show her the rest of the spots so we can get started.”

Shane nodded and points to an exterior wall. “This window here, in room 119 is notorious for having figures standing in, or walking in front of it. We have to go outside for this one.”

He glanced over at June to find her studying the map. “What’s this one?” she asked as she pointed to a big red “x”.

Jeremy quickly answered, “We don’t do that one anymore.” He looked at Shane.

“Yeah, erm, things stopped happened there.”

“Oh, okay.” She sounded disappointed.

“This one however!” Shane quickly changed the subject. “This one almost always has stuff happen.” He pointed to a room labeled ‘nursery’. “We’ve had crying, children laughing, what sounds like mother voices on the EVP recorder. I think you would like this room, June. It would be a nice transition into the world of ghost hunting. It’s not the scary kind of ghosts that people think of. It’s almost a, what would you call it guys?” he looked at his friends.

“Calming.” They said at once.

“Yeah, it’s like a calming feeling. Like there’s a baby in the room!” he smiled at June.

“Can we start there, then do something scarier?” she looked into his eyes and her stomach started doing flips.

“Of course.” He grinned and looked back at his map. “Let’s see.” He looked at it for a while and finally decided on a spot. “What about this one? It’s pretty creepy in there.” His finger was on a room labeled 222.

“What happens in there?”

“June, I don’t know if you want to do that one on your first try.” Said Jeremy. Kate and Shane looked at him. “What? It’s scary in there.”

“Would you be okay if you saw an apparition?” asked Kate.

“Like, actually seeing a ghost?” she sounded unsure.

Shane nodded. “Yeah, sometimes in there we see the figure of a little girl holding the hand of a man that’s all black. It’s a lot different than the nursery. The feeling isn’t calm, and it can get pretty freaky. But you wouldn’t be alone. I would be with you the entire time.”

“If you don’t want to, sweetie, you don’t have to.” Said Kate with a serious face.

June looked at Kate. “Well…” her eyes moved to her brother who didn’t seem so pleased with the idea. She then looked at Shane, “I say let’s do it.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to get too freaked out then never want to come with us again.” Said Jeremy as he looked at his sister.

“I’m sure, Jer. I’ll be okay. Promise.” She gave him a reassuring smile.

He gave a deep sigh and shook his head a few times. “Okay, if you’re sure. Just make sure you don’t leave Shane’s side.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about that.” Kate said under her breath.

“Kate! Knock it off!” said Shane. “Let it be, man.” She smiled at him and walked away.

“Am I missing something?” said June sounding confused.

“No, Kate is just being stupid.” He snapped.

“Okay…”

“So! You guys will take the nursery, and room 222. Anything else?” said Jeremy trying to rid the air of awkwardness.

“Can we do the window too?” asked June.

“Sure, if you want to.” Said Shane with a smile. “Should we do that one first?” June nodded in agreement.

“Okay, so you two take those three. Kate and I will take the rest.” Jeremy picked up his flashlight and backpack. “Meet back here at 4:30?”

“Sounds good. Text me if you need anything.” Said Shane as he folded the map back up and stuck it in his back pocket.

“Yep. See y’all at 4:30, right here.” He turned to Kate who was leaning up against the railing to the stairs. “Ready, Kate?”

She grabbed her bag and nodded. “Born ready!”

Jeremy followed her up the stairs. “You know you don’t have to make things awkward for them.”

“That’s not what I was trying to do. I just want to give things a little push.”

“I already talked to Shane. I told him if he really likes her that much then he can go ahead and ask her out. It’s in his hands now.” Jeremy stopped at the top of the stairs and turned to Kate. “Just let things be. When the time is right he’ll make a move.”

“How’re you handling it?” Kate gave her friend a concerned looked. Jeremy shrugged. “He’ll treat her well, you know he will.”

“I sure hope so. I just want her to be happy and I know he does that for her. I honestly haven’t seen her this happy in a long time.”

“Neither have I. They can relate on a lot of things. I think they’ll be good for each other. Maybe June can whip him into shape.” She laughed.

“Hah, maybe. I really thought Shane would end up with you.”

“What?”

“Oh come on, like you haven’t thought about it.” Jeremy started making his way up the second flight of stairs.

“No, I never did.”

“Really? Marcia and I would always talk about how great you two would be.” Kate didn’t say anything. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t like to talk about her.”

“No, it’s okay. I just haven’t thought about her in a while.”

“She’s doing well, you know.” Kate looked at Jeremy. “Her and Blake are really happy together.

“I know they are. I just wish she would have told my parents and I. They didn’t take it very well when they came home and found the note.”

“I can’t imagine that was easy. I know your mom called Aunt Brandi as soon as she found out. You guys didn’t have any idea they were thinking of running off together?”

Kate shook her head. “Not a clue. We knew they wanted to get married, but my parents were sure they would wait until Marcia was done with school.”

“At least she didn’t drop out or something.” Said Jeremy, trying to say something comforting.

“Yeah, that’s true. In the note it said she’d come back at the end of the summer. I’m sure she didn’t want to come right away in case people were upset.”

“That makes sense. Do you think you’ll talk to her at some point? Give her a call or something?”

“She’s called me every day since mom called her the day she left. I haven’t answered once. I deleted her number from my phone so I would stop seeing her name pop up when she calls.” She sighed sadly, “It doesn’t help much. I still know it’s her.”

“I’m really sorry, Kate. Can I do anything?”

“No, not really. Can we not talk about it anymore?”

“Yeah of course. If you ever need to talk though I’m here, okay?” She nodded and the two kept walking.

It was silent for the next several minutes until Kate blurted out, “I broke up with Raymond.”

“What?! Why?!”

“He just wasn’t right for me. I didn’t get the respect that I was looking for in a relationship.” Jeremy just stayed quiet, not sure of what to say. Kate kept walking and shoved her hands in her pockets. As they walked in silence, her brain was racing a thousand thoughts a minute. She started thinking about when she first met Jeremy and how she smiled at the way his uneven bangs lined his forehead. She pictured the way he kept his sister so close to him, as if he was protecting her from something. Kate remembered going home that night and having her parents explain what had happened to her new friends parents, and how they would be staying with Brandi and Kenneth. The heartbreaking feeling she got 10 years ago was back. I can’t imagine how he feels. Losing his parents at such young age. She thought to herself. “Jer…” she started.

“Yeah?” he said, relieved that the silence was broken.

“I’m really sorry about your parents.”

“What?”

“I was just thinking about how it was hard for me to have Marcia leave. I can’t imagine how difficult it was to have them leave and know they won’t be coming back. And to have to help June through it all. I don’t know how you did it, but I applaud you for it.” she stopped walking and turned to Jeremy. “I’m really lucky to have met you.” She put her arms around him and didn’t want to let go. The smell of his cologne made her mind go blank. He slowly put his arms around her in return. She smiled and closed her eyes for a moment before letting go. She backed away and looked at him. “Sorry, that was out of nowhere.” She cleared her throat and moved her hair behind her ears.

He smiled and awkwardly rolled his sleeves up. “Nah, it’s okay. I needed that. Thanks Kate.”  She smiled back and they kept waking.

 

Meanwhile, Shane and June were making their way to the front of the building. “Do you know where you’re going to school, Shane?” asked June as they walked towards the front door of the hospital.

Shane nodded, “Yeah, I do.” He looked over at June and smiled, “I’m going to Georgia State.”

“That’s just right here in town!” she said, sounding a little too excited. “I mean, oh that’s not far.”

Shane laughed. “Yeah, I didn’t want to go too far. I like it here anyways. Plus I can save money and live at home.”

“Sounds like you’ve thought it all through. What are you going to major in?”

“I think I’m going to double major in psychology and business. I want to start my own paranormal investigation group. I love doing this and would kill to do it for a living.”

“You would be good at it.”

“You think so?” he said proudly.

“For sure!”

“Well, thank you.” June nodded and smiled at him. “Have you thought about where you want to go? You’re a senior next year.”

“I was thinking either the College of Charleston or the University of Georgia.”

“If you go to College of Charleston, will you let me come visit you?”

She looked at him. “I would be sad if you didn’t.” she smiled a little.

He turned away and smiled. “Good, I’ll be there.”

It was quiet for a few moments before June broke the silence. “Shane?”

“Yeah?” She stopped walking and he turned around to see her. “Are you okay?”

“Thank you for asking if I could come with you.”

He grinned “It was my pleasure!” They finally approached their destination. “Here we are!” In front of them was a solid brick wall covered in vines and graffiti. The windows on the lower level were all smashed in, and most of the upper level as well. The trees on the hospital grounds were casting eerie shadows across the abandoned building. The sound of frogs and crickets filled the chilly spring air. Shane looked over at June who was shivering slightly. “Are you cold?”

“Maybe a little bit.” She said as she put her hands in her sweatshirt pocket.

Shane took his hoodie off and handed it to the shivering girl. “Here, I don’t need this.” He said with a smile.

“Are you sure?”

He nodded. “One hundred percent. I’ll be fine without it.”

“Thank you, Shane.” She giggled after putting it on. The sleeves were way past her hands, and the bottom of the hoodie fell at her knees.

Shane laughed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I guess it’s a little big, huh?”

“It’s warm though!”

“Good! Now, we’ve got some ghosts to find.” He kneeled down next to his backpack and started going through it.”

“What are you looking for?” asked June as she kneeled next to him.

“My polaroid and infrared cameras. We’ll use them to try and capture the figure people see in the window.”

“Have you ever caught anything on camera?”

Shane shook his head. “Not yet. I’m hoping we do tonight.” He pulled the polaroid out of his bag and handed it to June. “Would you like to use this one? It’s easier than the inferred.”

“Sure!” she said as she hopped to her feet. “Do I just take pictures of the window?”

“Yep, just focus on that window there.” He pointed to the window of room 119. “Just take as many pictures as you want, and hope to catch something.”

She snapped one. “What does that one do?” she asked, looking at the camera Shane had pulled from his bag.

“This beauty is one of my favorite tools.” He turned it on and showed the screen the June. “See how it’s a bunch of different colors?” she nodded. “Why don’t you hold it and point it at me.” He backed up a few steps.

Her face lit up when she looked at the screen. “That’s awesome! You can see where you are. Is it red because your body heat?”

“That’s right! So by pointing this at the window, we’ll be able to record and see if there’s a change in the temperature.” He took the camera back and hit a few buttons. “Alright. We’ll be here for a while so we can sit down if you’d like.”

June took a seat on the cold ground and took a few more pictures, as they printed out she waved them and placed them carefully in a pile. “What was Jeremy talking to you about earlier?” she looked over at Shane while waving another picture.

He didn’t say anything for a minute. “Oh, just bro stuff.” He flashed a smile at her.

“I see.” She sounded a little disappointed. The two of them sat in silence for a while before someone said something. “I think I’ve got something!” said June with excitement. She waved the picture around.

Shane tried to grab it but she was too excited to stop waving it. “Woah there cowgirl, calm down and let me take a look!” he laughed.

“Oh! Right, sorry.” She handed the picture to Shane and he examined it for a while. You could clearly make out the brick of the wall, and the broken window. Inside the window there was a faint outline standing off in the right corner. Shane looked up from the picture and at the window. There was nothing. He looked back at the picture and squinted.

“Hey, could you go in my bag and find my glasses?” he said still squinting at the picture.

“I didn’t know you wear glasses.” She said as she started digging through the backpack.

“Well, I don’t really tell people unless I’m comfortable with them.” He stopped staring at the photo and looked at June. “You won’t tell anyone, right?”

She gave him a weird look. “Of course not!” she handed him the glasses case.

“Thanks, hun.” He slipped them on and went back to staring at the picture. He was focusing so hard on trying make out what was being outlined that he failed to notice June was sitting there staring at him. “You know, this is actually pretty solid.” He said. Shane looked up from the picture and his eyes met hers. For what felt like minutes, the two just sat and stared at each other. There was nothing but the light of the moon shining down on them, and the sound of nearby pond. Neither of them wanted to say anything, in hopes the moment would last. After several moments of silence and staring, “You look beautiful.” June blushed but still couldn’t look away. “I’m serious.” And just when he was about to reach out and grab her hand, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.

“What’s wrong?” said June, as she came back to reality.

“I thought I saw something in the window.” He climbed to his feet and offered a hand to help his companion up. She gladly accepted and stood next to Shane following his gaze.

“I don’t see anything.” She said huddling a bit closer.

“I don’t either. But I swear I saw something walk across the frame of the window.” He subconsciously grabbed Junes hand and started walking towards the wall. Too afraid to say something, June let it be and followed him close behind. “There was literally someone standing right here just a minute ago! I swear!” he said with frustration as he dropped her hand and examined the window above him.

“Are you sure it was that window?” she asked as she looked around.

He stepped back and counted off in his head. “Yeah, this is the one. It’s always this window. Room 119.”

“Was your infrared camera rolling?” she said, hopeful that it would help.

Shane whipped around and smiled at her. “June! You’re a genius!” he ran back to their backpacks where he had set his camera up on a tripod. “Yes! It was rolling! That means we caught it!”

“Sweet!!” she said as she peered at the screen. “Can we watch it over right now? I want to see it.” Shane nodded and set the camera in playback mode. The two of them sat anxiously waiting to see what crossed the window. “There it is!!” squealed June as the shape of a person quickly walked across the window.

“Pardon my French but holy s**t!” He jumped up and ran his fingers through his hair trying to process what he just saw. “This is the greatest shot I’ve ever gotten!” June stood and smiled.

“I’m proud of you!”

“June, thank you so much!!” he threw his arms around her and swung her around. After he set her down, she looked at him in shock. He stepped back awkwardly and mumbled, “Sorry.”

She smiled at him and rubbed her arm, “It’s okay.” She giggled and picked her camera up. “Should we get any more shots or move on to the next site?”

Shane watched the clip one last time and took another peak at the picture. “I think we’ve got some pretty good stuff here. We could move on to the next site if you want.” June nodded and picked her backpack up. “Shall we?” said Shane.

“Okay” she said with a grin as she started heading back inside.

 

While Shane and June were outside studying the window, Jeremy and Kate were up on the second floor in the ICU unit. “Does anyone really know why the hospital shut down?” asked Kate as she set her bag down on a bed.

Jeremy shook his head. “I don’t think so. My Aunt told me it was because they had so many citations. Which makes sense I guess.” He tossed his bag next to Kates and scanned the room with his flashlight. “Where should we start?”

“I think we should started in Room 293.” She said as she looked down the left wing of the hospital. “There just something about that number that’s sticking out for me.”

“Kate…” Jeremy started.

“What?”

“That’s the room that Shane and I refuse to go in anymore.” He sounded nervous.

“Why don’t you guys go in there anymore?” he didn’t answer. “Well, okay then. How about, the nurse’s station? We got some good EVPs last time.”

Jeremy nodded in agreement. “Maybe we can focus on getting some answers.” He said as he grabbed his bag and walked out to the nurse’s station. They both pulled up a rusty old chair and sat down. Kate set her flashlight down and turned it off. They were now in the complete dark. The only thing they could see was the red flashing light of the EVP recorder. “Ready?” asked Jeremy.

“You know it. I’ll start.” She said as she adjusted herself in the chair. “Is there anyone here with us?” Other than the distant sound of crickets, it was silent. She waited a few moments before asking the next question. “Did you die here?” While she was waiting to ask the next question, there was the faint sound of footsteps coming from the left wing of the hallways.

“Did you hear that?” whispered Jeremy as he slowly stood up. Kate nodded and turned towards the sound. “Is that you walking?” Moments later, the sound came again. “Maybe we should go check it out. There could be those kids in here.”

“Let’s go.” Said Jeremy as he picked up his bag and started walking towards the footsteps. Kate grabbed her stuff and followed after him. “Stay close to me. Do you have your flashlight?”

“Yep, right here.” She whispered.

“Ask if anyone is there.” He said quietly.

“Is there someone here with us?” No response. “Should I turn the light on? Make sure there isn’t anyone here?” she said quiet enough so only Jeremy could hear her.

“I think so.” She turned it on and scanned the hallway with it. “I don’t see anyone.” He said.

“Neither do I. And I didn’t hear a door open. Do you think the EVP caught it?”

“Gosh I hope so. We almost never catch the footstep on recording.” As soon as Jeremy stopped talking, the footsteps started again, but this time, they were right next to them.

“Jer, they sound like they’re walking right next to us.” Said Kate as her voice started shaking. She reached for Jeremys hand to find him doing the same thing. She gave it a squeeze and held her breath. They started up again.

“It sounds like they’re going in circles around us. Doesn’t it?” he whispered.

“I don’t like it.”

“Are you still recording?”

“Yeah. It’s getting all of this.” She said as she took a step closer to her friend. The footsteps stopped.

“I don’t hear them anymore.” Whispered Jeremy, afraid he would jinx them. Kate moved closer to Jeremy and looked at him. “Are you touching my right or left hand?” he asked.

“Left, why?”

He stared at her and swallowed hard. “There’s something touching my left hand.” His heart started racing. His mind went back to the night a year and a half when he and Shane had come here for the first time. His palms started sweating.

“What does it feel like?” she asked nervously.

“Like someone is holding my fingers.” He kept his eyes locked on Kate’s as he tried to stay calm and as still as possible. The footsteps started again, but this time they were louder.

“Jeremy, if someone is holding your hand” she took a deep breath, “and there’s footsteps that means there’s two of them.” Within a second of making this connection, Kate’s flashlight started flickering. “What the hell.” She said as she dropped it. Despite the loud thud, the footsteps kept going. Jeremy forced his hand away from whatever was touching him and pulled Kate closer to him. “I wish this would stop. I don’t like when they touch us.” Said Kate as a tear formed in her eye.

Jeremy held her head to his chest and gently stroked her hair. He knew how terrifying it was to watch someone you care about go through something like that. He was picturing Shane’s face when they were in room 293. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.” He whispered into her ear. “Just close your eyes. It will stop soon.” They stood like that for nearly 10 minutes before Kate started shaking. “What’s wrong?”

“My leg, it’s burning!” she cried in pain. “Please make it stop!!” she begged.

Jeremy let go of her and kneeled down by her leg. “Can I look at it?” he asked. Kate just nodded with tears rolling down her face. He gently lifted up her pant leg. “Oh my God.” He whispered.

Author's Note

ignore grammar problems unless really bad