Chapter 60 - The Abandoned Hospital

THNAP, an abandoned hospital, stood on the outskirts of town. Its grimy brick facade loomed over tangled weeds and broken glass. Local kids had used it for urban exploration for decades, a rite of passage built on dares and whispered legends.The rusted gate was pushed open, the metal groaning. Inside, the air was thick with decay and damp concrete. Flashlight beams cut through the darkness, illuminating peeling paint and the ghostly silhouettes of overturned gurneys.A whisper of a story about a blood trail, not human, leading to the hospital morgue, was heard. A faint, metallic scent reached the noses of those exploring.The trail was real, a deep, rust-colored stain leading to the basement and the morgue. The deeper one went, the colder it got. The morgue door was wide open.Inside, rows of empty, steel drawers gleamed. On an autopsy table was a file. The name on the cover was Florence, with a note: They forgot me.The metal drawers began to rattle, shaking the entire room. Thump… Thump… Thump…. A slow, steady rhythm. The explorers stumbled backward.The creak of a wheelchair was heard, seeming to come from behind. A high, reedy voice whispered, "It's the witching hour". The laughter of a child joined it, echoing from the darkened corridors.The explorers burst out of the hospital into the relative safety of the night. The trail of red rust led back to the broken gate. On the hospital wall were three small, hand-drawn stick figures with wide smiles. Beneath them, the words seen in the morgue, written in fresh, wet blood: Don't leave us.