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MY EYES FLUTTERED OPEN. I was still lying flat on my back on the examination table where I had passed out. The nurse who had so viciously administered my shot was nowhere to be found. Not only that, but the lights in the room had gone out too. The only illumination that remained was the one bulb in the ceiling that was powered by the emergency backup generators.
I sat up slowly, rubbing my arm where I had been stabbed. It was tender, but there didn't seem to be any lingering effects from the needle. At least I had that going for me! Still, everything about this situation felt odd. I slid off the table and walked slowly to the door of the examination room. It was slightly ajar, so I pulled it open and peered out into the corridor.
The hallway was completely empty. As in my room, only the backup lights were being powered, giving the entire hospital an eerie sort of feeling. I listened intently, but I heard no sounds at all. I did notice something strange though. There was a peculiar aroma floating in the air. It was pungent and reminded me of some sort of sulfuric gas. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. Then something else caught my attention. On the floor halfway down the hall was a dark reddish stain. It started in a large pool, followed by long streaks that trailed down the corridor and around the corner.
Is that blood, I shuddered. Surely not!
I walked out into the hallway and in the direction of the dark stain. Internally, I heard a voice in my head screaming that I should run the other way and get out of the hospital as quick as I could. But there was another voice that was urging me forward, commanding me to figure out what exactly had happened here. And so, rather than run, I walked into the corridor.
It was definitely blood. I knew as soon as I reached the pool that's what it was. More disturbing than that though, was the streaks that led around the corner. It looked as if someone had been dragged, or pulled, away from this spot! I shuddered, imagining what had happened here. I needed to know what had become of the person who was attacked here! So I continued to walk down the hall towards the corner.
Rounding the corner, my eyes fell upon two things roughly fifteen feet ahead of me. The first was the body of a patient. He was clearly dead, but his eyes were frozen open and his face held a look of sheer horror on it. He had a gaping wound in his stomach that looked like it had been caused by a meat cleaver. Above the dead man, floating silently in the air, was a ghost.
I had never seen a ghost before, but there was no questioning that this was one. The figure was partially translucent, and I could see through its body further down the hall. More than that though was the fact that it had no legs! The thing simply evaporated into thin air just below the waist. The ghost was staring directly at me, and I felt frozen on the spot.
UNNHHHGGGG!!!!
Suddenly, the ghost began to float towards me, at an alarming speed! I was no longer frozen, instead gripped with an overwhelming sense of terror. I turned and sprinted down the hallway towards the exit of the hospital. Surely if I could get outside, I would be safe! But to my utter horror, the entrance of the hospital had been blockaded by furniture from the inside, and ambulances had been driven into the glass doors from the outside! There was no escape. I turned and saw the ghost was still floating towards me. I had to get away, and quickly!
I whirled and raced down another hallway. I had no clue where I was going, or if there were other ghosts nearby, I just had to run.
“Hey! Over here! Quickly!” A voice suddenly called out to me from a doorway to my right.
I didn't have time to question the person or decide if it was safe, I simply turned and dove through the open door.