gemmamawdsley

It’s really cold tonight, hard to be its summer here. I’m delighted you are all here and I’m looking forward to our little ghost hunting adventure. Someone suggested that we split into groups, but I don’t feel that’s wise as I know the layout of the place and some of the floors are rotten and dangerous. What do you think of the place so far? The broken windows give it a menacing look, I know and the fading light makes eerie shadows flit across the walls, but believe me, what’s inside is much worse. I told you about the type of patient who was cared for here, the outcasts, and the unwanted.  Echoes of their suffering are said to haunt the rooms and corridors, but try not to panic if you hear or see anything and whatever you do, stay close together. Got your flashlights? OK, let’s go.

Be careful, the steps leading up to the main door are littered with broken glass and bits of fallen masonry. I don’t see the point of a lock, with the condition of the window anyone could climb inside, but the owners insisted. Hold the light on it while I try to open it. Someone give me a hand, its rusted solid. Great, that did it, we’re in. The smell of damp and rotten wood is overpowering and the hallway floor is covered in a layer of dust and dead leaves. The thud of the door closing, cutting us off from the outside world, sounded very final. Let’s move on. The downstairs is made up mostly of admission and doctor’s offices, so our best plan is to start on the first floor. We can come back later to the basement. Keep in by the wall as we climb the stairs; the banisters are broken in places and the wood is likely to snap. This is where most of the wards were, but there are some in the basement. These, I believe were for the most dangerous cases and we will explore them later. Look how the damp glistens on the drab, green walls and there are strange-looking fungi growing through cracks in the floor. Be careful not to slip on them. The corridor here is a maze of old hospital trolleys and broken bits of furniture. It is so dark, even though the sun has not yet set. There are shadows everywhere, can you see them? They move like wraiths in the beam of the flashlights. Christ, that made me jump, a door slammed further along the corridor. Is one of you crying? No, did you hear it too? Someone is definitely crying. It’s down this way, come on. What’s wrong? Some of you are leaving. That’s fine, this isn’t for everyone. Can you find your way out or do you need me to guide you? Ok, see you later.

Our numbers are diminished, but let’s soldier on. There was a doctor working here over forty years ago and he had a reputation for terrible cruelty. Many of the patients had no one to care what happened to them, so he was allowed free rein when it came to some of his more unconventional treatments; well, not treatments as such, more experiments. Was that a sigh, perhaps, one of those of suffered at his hands is listening? This is where we thought we heard to crying coming from. It’s a four bed ward and look’ the covers are still in place. It looks like it was abandoned in a rush.

“Hello, is anyone there?”

The silence is deep as we wait for a reply.

“What, what did you see?”

Something is crawling out from under one of the beds; a black shadow that seems to be growing in substance, taking shape as it crawls up from the floor. OK, back away; this is not something we want to confront. One would expect the spirits trapped here to be those of the patients, but there’s something about this thing, something evil. Don’t run, watch where you’re going.

I expected everyone to be gone when I got back downstairs, but there are still three of you here. Do you want to explore the basement or should we leave it for another night?