I had made it back unnoticed. Unfortunately, my heart hadn’t gotten the memo. It was trying its best to shoot out of my chest, but luckily for me, it was failing. I bent over, doing my best to catch my breath. I was good at many things, but absolutely zero of those things involved running.
Although, I don't think what I just did technically counted as running. Wheeling? Gliding? Rolling? Whatever it was, it still left me breathless as I fumbled my way out of the chair and dropped down onto the floor mattress.
"Guys, I'm sorry I tried to send you away. You can come back now," I called out.
I know I had been wishing for peace and quiet, but now that the ghosts were gone, I had to admit that I kind of missed them. I was even a little worried about them.
My body shivered. There was definitely something else off about this room besides the missing ghosts. It was cold. Way colder than before I'd left.
The low for the week was supposed to be in like the mid 70's. I reached up toward the vent, but there was no air blowing. That was odd. So if there was no natural reason for this cold, that meant something else was happening. This felt like Ravenwood medical all over again.
Oh shit, was that when the vengeful spirits had shown up? Come to think of it, the ghosts were missing from that hospital too. So, maybe it wasn't the hospitals fault it was so cold. I should probably take that one star review down. Also, I probably owed that nurse an apology, but lets be honest, she kind of deserved it for her attitude.
It probably wasn't doing me any good to worry. The ghosts were already dead.
"I hope you're all safe. If you helped me get out of there, thank you," I whispered.
I'm sure it was all a coincidence. I tried to get comfortable. I was hopeful that once I was I would be able to get my mind off things, but as I fumbled around, my foot hit something hard and plastic. I reached down and grabbed the object. It was both rectangular shaped and fairly heavy.
There it was, my laptop had found its way back to me. Finally, something had gone right! I scooped it up and flipped it open, pressing the power button. The battery was still at one hundred percent. I wondered if it ever drained. This laptop might be haunted, but it was hands-down the coolest part of this power.
I pulled up the readme file and typed in “monster” into the search box. Two hundred and forty-seven results popped up. Wow, that was more than I had anticipated. I scrolled through the list while keeping an eye and ear on the door. The doctor could walk in any moment, so I had to be ready to react.
Alright, lets see here, almost all of the references were from before the 1950s. That's interesting, that was around the time this place first opened. There was something off about that fact. I mean, did monsters just stop existing? That seemed extremely unlikely.
However, none of the recent entries seemed to mention anything about real monsters. So something must have happened, right around the time this place opened its doors. I had no idea what that something was, but I hoped to find out.
Let's see, was there anything that talked about monsters unironically? All of the new stuff seemed to be the owners just calling themselves monsters. That was concerning, but not really helpful.
I kept scrolling. Here was something, it was written by a person named William Walker. I chuckled. That sounded like a marvel comic book character name with the double W's. His first passage was from a time just after the Japanese had bombed pearl harbor. It felt like I was peering into a piece of history.
I moved to the passage and began to read.
> “One number. That number was two hundred and forty-five. It was a number I shall never forget. That was the number drawn on February 13th, 1943. That was the day my oldest brother got drafted to war. It was also the last time my family would ever see him.
>
> With each letter he sent home, his mind seemed more lost. We all thought he was slowly going insane. But now, it all makes sense.
>
> The family, myself included, had pushed him away after he was dishonorably discharged. Where I come from, there was no greater shame than letting your country down. My family had no choice but to abandon him.
>
> A week ago, they found his body in an alley next to a homeless shelter. it was too late to tell him that I loved him.
>
> Out of all ten siblings, I was the unlucky one chosen to go through his supplies. In it was this book. If you're reading this, you of all people should understand what happened next.
>
> I shall do my best to make up for failing him.
>
> - William Walker, May 19th, 1944”
So he was not a soldier, but his brother was. As the oldest in my family, and someone with this power, I felt for the older brother. I couldn't imagine my family ever disowning me like that, but I guess it was a different time. Either way, it was sad that not one of the ten siblings kept in touch.
The guy in the book before him was named Percy Walker. That must have been his brother. Percy had written about getting the book from a soldier in his unit who had lost his life. That was horrifying to think about!
Sure, a mental hospital was not the most ideal place to be with this power, but that was nothing compared to a battleground. I couldn’t imagine having this ability while people around me were brutally dying. There must have been so many ghosts out there.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to read up on his story. Instead, I pulled up Williams' first passage that mentioned monsters. This looked to be exactly what I was looking for.
> “I can’t believe I am writing this down. No, I promise I’m not crazy. But tonight, I saw a monster.
>
> I was six whiskeys deep at some dive outside town, drowning out the ghosts. I had discovered that alcohol weakens our connection to the other world. A fact I had frankly abused over the last few weeks.
>
> Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
>
> The owner of the bar kicked me out, and I found myself slumbering among a bed of trash.
>
> That was when I saw her, a woman alone, moving with a strange kind of confidence. It was dangerous for a woman to be out at night without a man, especially on this side of town.
>
> When I focused closer, I realized she wasn't actually alone. She was surrounded by these things I couldn't comprehend.
>
> I soon learned why she wore such a confident smile. A man stumbled out of the bar. She walked up to him and kissed him. I figured she was simply a lady of the night. That would have explained the confidence.
>
> But then he stood there frozen. That was when something about her changed. Her face rippled into a hideous spider-human hybrid. She tore out his heart, leaving his dead body on the ground, and then strolled off like it was just another night.
>
> Apparently I wasn't the first person in the book to write about a monster like her. The previous owner called them black widows. That seemed fitting. I’d barely accepted that ghosts were real, but monsters like this? I don’t know if I can handle that knowledge.
>
> - William Walker, June 3rd 1944”
“Monsters were real,” I whispered, just to hear the words out loud. I had already started to suspect that fact after seeing the Assholes face, but to see someone else write it down made it really hit home.
Fuck this! I was hoping this was going to be some “Dead like me” ghost helping gig. That was something I had learned to deal with. I hadn’t signed up for this shit. Plus, why was I the first person with this gift to deal with monsters in over forty years? That was shit luck.
I agreed with William on his last sentence. I too wasn't sure if this was something I could handle. But unlike him, I was in too deep now. I had no choice but to keep pushing forward. Hopefully this would be my only encounter.
Ok, so this spider woman didn’t sound like whatever nurse Asshole was. She was more in the rotted flesh category of monsters. I searched for similar terms, but the book returned no results.
Alright then, Williams story it was. Maybe there was a clue in here that could help me. I read on, trying to make sense of it all.
> “News had spread around town about a trucker that had gone missing. He was the third one that week. All three had found their way to me. They all had missing spots where their hearts should be. It was terrifying. Unfortunately, they won’t leave until I help solve their murders.
>
>
>
> I went to the library and read stories on spiders, plus whatever I found in this book.
>
>
>
> One thing constantly mentioned in here was that all monsters had a weakness. The key was to find that weakness and exploit it. That sounded simple enough.
>
>
>
> That’s when I came up with a plan. Where I grew up, if you wanted to kill a spider, you sprayed it with vinegar. If this woman was really some black widow / human hybrid, maybe vinegar would work on her as well.
>
>
>
> There were tons of these scary spirit looking things around town that seemed drawn to a singular spot. Thanks to them, it made it easy enough to track her down.
>
>
>
> She was at a new bar, waiting for some drunk prey to stumble out to their doom. Tonight, that someone was me. She approached, reached up to kiss me, then panicked and whirled in pain as the vinegar around my lips burned hers.
>
>
>
> I pulled out a bottle and sprayed her. She collapsed to the floor, her face rippled into that terrible spider form. She slowly writhed in pain, until it just suddenly stopped. Her face transformed back to human, and that was the end of the black widow.
>
>
>
> It was also my first kill. The men she had taken prior disappeared. I felt no sadness for what I had done. I helped those spirits move on.
>
> - William Walker, June 11th, 1944
Turns out William had a way with problem-solving. He’d gone back to the bar to face her, armed with vinegar. So the moral of the story was that all monsters do have a weakness. Now I had to figure out what nurse Assholes was. I doubt it was vinegar.
A noise outside caught my attention. I slammed the laptop closed and slid it under the mattress. My heart pounded again. I stretched out, trying to look like any other eloper.
Just as I settled, the door creaked open. Dr. Klanderman’s voice was there, along with someone else’s. It sounded like a woman’s voice. But she didn’t sound like any staff I knew.
I forced myself to stare at the wall ahead as the woman approached. “Is this him?” she asked. Her voice was oddly stern.
“This is him. We’re pretty sure he’s one of them. I … I did good, didn’t I, Wyatt?” Dr. Klanderman stammered.
I felt a prickle of dread. Wyatt? What the hell? Was this the same Wyatt? It couldn't be. All I knew for sure was that she terrified Dr. Klanderman. That wasn't good news for me.
She leaned in closer, studying me. I held as still as possible, doing my best imitation of the other elopers. Her eyes lingered for a long, uncomfortable moment.
Holy crap, she had two vengeful spirits next to her. She must be related to whatever Wyatt, or the man I thought was Wyatt, was up to. Maybe their partners.
“I’ve seen him before,” she said.
Dr. Klanderman flinched. “You… you have?”
I froze. I had never seen this woman in my life. She must have me confused with someone. Before I could blink, she’d grabbed Dr. Klanderman, slamming him against the wall. I glanced in their direction, careful to not move too quickly.
“Is this some kind of joke? A trap?”
Her face was inches from his now, and in her hand was what appeared to be a silver blade that was pressed to his throat. I watched in horror as Dr. Klanderman’s face rippled, revealing a decayed, twisted version of himself. It looked exactly like nurse Assholes face did during movie night. Luckily I had seen hers earlier in the evening, or my cover would have been blown.
“Tell me, Matthew,” she snarled, “why was this boy at my safe house the other day? Who have you told?”
“N-no one! I swear! I would never betray you, Wyatt.” He was shaking, looking like he’d break any second.
She pushed the blade harder, but no blood trickled out. Still, he screamed in pain as the blade touched his neck.
She released him, smoothing her jacket as he slumped to the floor. “I’m sorry, Matthew. Maintaining these personas gets… difficult. Sometimes it makes me a bit paranoid” She stepped away, and Dr. Klanderman scrambled to his feet, wiping at his neck.
“I swear on my life, no one at Cottonwood has said anything,” he panted, eyes wide with fear.
She turned, her gaze landing back on me. I felt my pulse quicken as she leaned over. “I believe you, Matthew. But somehow this one and his friend knew where I was. That’s a problem for me. For all of us.”
She walked over and studied me with chilling, calculated eyes. They were eyes that looked eerily familiar, with her pupils almost overtaking her eyeballs. They looked almost identical to the little girls eyes I had seen running out of that warehouse. Maybe they were on the same drugs.
“Luckily, it looks like he’s already taken care of, ” she said, turning back to face the doctor,
“I can confirm,” Dr. Klanderman said quickly. “We’ve completely modified him. He won't be a problem for you anymore.”
“Great job,” she said, straightening. “Once we pull this off, your kind will be able to feed freely, instead of playing doctor."
"That would be amazing! Sneaking around to feed is less than ideal."
"We're almost there my friend. First, we have the cop to deal with.”
"I already have the a man on it," Dr. Klanderman replied.
"We'll then, it won't be long until our plan is back in motion. For now, I'll plan to lay low."
The two of them left, closing the door with a quiet, final click. I lay there, staring at the ceiling, my heart started pounding again.
Who the hell was that woman? I felt awful, taking Naomi to that warehouse had put her life in danger. Now someone was coming after her. I had to figure out how to warn her.