“Besides wandering the first level of the hospital, is there anything specifically that I’m keeping a lookout for?” Brian had asked AJ.
“Well, it says here that your wandering the level that a little girl used to wander herself. Her name was Bernadette Williams, and she was the young daughter of the well-known cardiologist surgeon, Harry Williams. Says here that he would bring his daughter to the hospital with him almost every day, she would keep the ailing children company and would entertain the elders with her light humor and talkative ways. One day, she strayed into a hospital room which contained a psychotic killer. Somehow, he had lured her in to talk story with him and had promised that if she visited him everyday, he would give her anything she wanted. Being as young an vulnerable as she was, she believed him and had not known anything of his murderous ways. She continued to visit him on a daily basis, sneaking past the nurses that lingered around his room and had lied to her father, telling him that she would be with the sick children when in actuality, she was visiting with this older man. One day, the man had locked young Bernadette within his room and had raped her continuously, continuing to beat her until she fell silent and limp. Later that day, one of the nurses had found Bernadette’s bloody and limp corpse on the hospital bed, and the man was nowhere to be found. Rumors have it that her spirit wanders this level of the hospital, for this is where she used to play and the hospital room on this level was where the nurse found her body.”
“Thanks for the enlightening story Jay…” Brian retorted sarcastically. “This will now probably haunt me for the rest of my life knowing that I’m disturbing their peace… and it’s all thanks to you!”
“Hey, you can thank Howie and Kevin later when you get back! I wasn’t the one who decided to do this! Anyway, people say that she appears in a white gown, a dress that was placed on her corpse for the funeral, and her face is battered and bloody. She is considered the Lost Girl because she is known to follow anyone she comes across. Says here she’s harmless, but setting your sights upon this girl will scar you for life.”
Brian suddenly froze, not wanting to continue on with the mission. What if he came across Bernadette and she decided to follow him, even after this show is done. He couldn’t let her spirit interfere with his life, let alone the life of his family. He slowly continued to walk down the corridor, not turning to see that there was a figure of a small girl standing in each and every dark hospital room he passed. He came to a stop at a large staircase that was near the entrance of the hospital.
He could only stare up at the long staircase in frustration as he pulled his walkie talkie from out of his holster. As soon as he turned away from the staircase, the little girl soon reappeared right behind him, standing on the steps. Her eyes looked like black orbs, hollow and shallow. Her flesh was decayed to a point of no recognition. Her face was black and blue, stained with her crimson colored blood. Her flowing brown hair was strewn across her face, her dried blood causing it to stick to her decomposing cheeks and forehead. Some of her fingers were bent in such an awkward position, and her white gown was decorated with splatters of dried blood… her blood. She slowly reached out her bent hand towards Brian, but quickly withdrew when he started walking away.
“AJ, do you know how to navigate or what? I’m walking in what seems like circles, and I still didn’t come across anything!” Brian complained.
There was silence for a while, and Brian’s heart began to beat faster when he feared that something had happened to them. Maybe they lost contact, maybe those three were only playing games with his mind… yeah, that’s it! They’re known for pulling pranks… they’re probably just ignoring him right now just to get on his nerve and have him scared shitless, well, he wasn’t gonna give in to fear that easily.
“Bri… I… not… vigating… anywhere… supposed to… first level… about it…”
Brian stared at his walkie talkie as if it just had bit his hand off. He slightly turned around in circles to try and get a better reception, but came to a stop when he found himself gazing in the mirror.
“What did you say… you were breaking up and I couldn’t understand one word that you said…” Brian said, continuing to stare at the oval mirror that was perched up on the wall.
“I said that I am not navigating you anywhere… your suppose to investigate the first level by yourself and that’s about it!”
But Brian didn’t respond, he only continued to stare in the mirror that was covered in grimy dirt. The mirror reflected the staircase that was behind him, and even through the grime that covered the mirror, he couldn’t miss seeing this dark figure of something or someone standing at the top of the stairs. Though it was nothing but a darkened black shadow, he could see that it was clearly in the form of the young girl AJ told him about. Bernadette… the Lost Girl.
Right at that moment, he fell speechless at such a sight. Though he couldn’t see her mangled features, seeing a dark shadow of her was enough for him. He continued to stare at the mirror, watching as the shadow slowly crept down the stairs. It didn’t seem to float down or walk down, it simply just disappeared and then reappeared down the next step, slowly appearing closer to Brian.
Brian quickly turned around to look up at the stairs, seeing nothing on the steps. As he continued to face the staircase, Bernadette’s mangled and decomposed face appeared in the mirror behind him. The dried blood was completely gone, exposing nothing but her decaying flesh, cracked and wrinkled, making her appear older than she really was. The black orbs of her eyes were soon replaced with white orbs, staring blankly at the back of Brian’s head, and soon, her pupils rolled up from the back of her head, leaving her staring widely at Brian.
“Alright Rok… time is up!”
Brian had almost jumped through the roof when he heard AJ’s voice unexpectedly cackle through the walkie talkie. He grabbed his walkie talkie and had took a deep breath in hopes to calm his racing heart and panting breath. “Okay…” he replied, hoping that AJ couldn’t hear the trembling in his voice. He began making his way towards the end of the corridor, down to the last room where Howie was kept. He continued to walk down the hallway in silence, little Bernadette following close behind him.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the second chapter, Brian's mission. =)
