“Terminal Ward D†Evie slowly moved the EMF Meter back and forth as she looked around the room, noting the dark ugly staining due to all the rust, water damage and old age. The odors that accompanied the abandoned structure were just as disagreeable the longer she remained, and as she inhaled the ancient past of this horrible place she tried to become numb to it. In her utter discomfort she then looked over at her colleague Ian who was shooting video. “Is this piece of junk really going to find ghosts?†She asked. “It’s not a piece of junk,†Ian scoffed, “it’s a Scifield Natural Electro Magnetic Meter which is the grand daddy of all ghost meters. It cost me a hundred bucks so just don’t break it, okay?†“Fine.†Evie sighed. “Do you think we’ll see something in here?†Ian now looked at her with a smile. “Yep, because we’re in the most haunted ward in the hospital. Are you psyched?†Evie looked at him awkwardly. “Well, I only signed up for this ghost hunting course as research for my term paper on the paranormal. Personally I think ghost chasing is cheesy and to be honest I’d rather be sipping wine in front of the fire at home.†Finished with video, Ian then pulled out a USB temperature logger, an instrument shaped like a thick pen. “Don’t say that. You’ll upset the shadow people.†“Come on,†Evie giggled, “You don’t really think there are shadow people in here, do you?†Ian nodded. “Yep, and they can appear at any moment so keep your eyes peeled.†“By the way, what’s the story with this place?†Evie walked towards the center now. “Right now we’re in Terminal Ward D.†Ian said excitedly. “This hospital was built for tuberculosis patients in 1932 and it closed down in 1936. Most of them died because they had an advanced stage of TB, but they aren’t the ones who haunt this floor.†Ian scanned to his left now. “The spirits we’re looking for are the eighteen who were murdered by Abraham and Joseph Allen and it happened right in this room. It would be so killer to get Abraham or Joseph on film; although some footage of Mary would be great because it’s so rare to capture.†Evie sighed heavily. “I have no idea who those people are.†“I’ll give you history on the brothers first. Joe was an out-of-work, 4’2†circus clown with a vicious personality and Abe was a washed-up surgeon who was equally vile. Since neither could find work the brothers decided to start a traveling carnival and freak show but when they couldn’t find many freaks to join Abe had an idea. He advertised for free health care and surgery to the poor which he performed in a covered wagon behind the carnival but instead of fixing the patients he completely mutated them in order to work in the freak show.†“Gross.†Evie shuddered. “Yeah,†Ian continued, “then one day he met Mary Meadows, a housemaid who caught the flu. She and Abe fell in love so as a result, she didn’t want to leave his side and she went so far as to getting her entire body tattooed to join the freak show. It didn’t take long for her to become the main attraction and the money came rolling in but eventually the entire carnival staff got tuberculosis and was sent here.†Evie’s shook her head now. “How could she love Abe knowing what a monster he was?†Ian shook his head. “She never knew but that all changed once the carnival staff came here. One night Mary wasn’t feeling well so she saw a nurse who told Mary about Abe and what he did to his patients. Stricken with heartbreak, Mary lay in bed and literally clawed at her wrists repeatedly until she bled to death. Since it was dark in the room and she did it so quietly, nobody even knew she was doing it.†“Where was Abe?†“Asleep in his own bed next to her so when morning came and he saw Mary’s drained corpse he went into a homicidal rage and started killing everyone; so out of the thirty-nine tuberculosis patients Abe killed ten and Joe killed eight; all in a matter of twenty minutes.†Evie nodded. “Okay, but why did Joe go off and what did the guards do?†Ian chuckled. “Joe started killing for the sheer fun of it and as far as the guards go, they shot both brothers dead. Then the remaining patients were sent to another hospital and this one shut down.†“So…†Evie began, but then stopped when she saw the thick stream of vapor that came out of her mouth as the temperature in the room suddenly dropped. “Oh, yes!†Ian ran over to where Evie was standing and looked down at the LCD on the thermometer. “We have gone from sixty-eight degrees to a chilly thirty-three! We have our first cold spot!†Evie looked over at him with a sneer and suddenly tore the temperature logger out of Ian’s hands, gripped it like a knife and then slammed it right into his jugular before pulling downward as hard as she could. When Ian’s body fell to the ground in convulsions, Evie then looked down at the grimy floor beneath her feet and a pleasant, warm grin came to her lips as a massive puddle of blood was seeping upwards through the tile; already enveloping her white sneakers. Sinking to the floor she then turned her left forearm over, gazing down at the blue veins beneath her skin. Taking her right hand she then started to rake her long nails repetitively over the inside of her wrist, drawing blood immediately. “Abe…home…†She said in a loud whisper. “Whaaaa…†Ian gurgled at her side. Evie just smiled as she dug her nails in deeper, feeling Mary all throughout her mind, body, and soul. “Stay…Abe…home.†The End hope I submitted this right!! Okay, this story turned into a companion piece to the 3D artwork I submitted. It was an accident but as I studied my art, I was motivated to write the backstory to the piece. The sanatorium itself is inspired by the very real Waverly Hills Sanatorium that is located in Louisville, KY. It's supposed to be one of the most haunted places in the country but to be honest, I'm not going on any of the tours to find out, hee hee. I also had no idea how hard it would be to squeeze a story into 1000 words because I kept going over; but once I weeded it down I liked it so hopefully you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Word count was 997. Thanks! :)