It was deep within the catacombs of a lost race of
people that I had found myself lying, shaking, crying to myself in agony. They say they found me lying in a pile of
garbage outside, but I cannot remember any of it. But, let me tell you my story, and maybe then
someone will believe me.
I had begun working in a mental hospital in December
of 1976. I was working my way through
law school, and they had just so needed a full timer, with flexible hours. I was happy to oblige, and my dear friend
Julius worked there as well. I worked
third shift, the endless nights that dragged on called my name when I was not
there. But the pay was fine, and fine
was what I needed to pay off the enourmous debts I had undertaken to complete
school.
I worked trash, and cleaned floors when I was alone
(most of the time). Although it was hard
to stay awake, there was always something unsettling about working alone, in
the cold basement of that putrid hospital.
It was built in 1919, with funds from the local millionaire who had made
his riches off of tobacco crops. By now,
it was falling apart, and the tobacco industry had long lost its hold on my
city. Most of the walls were a slimy
yellow color, with mold growing in almost every corner. There was a different smell for every 15 or
so feet. My break room had a neutral
smell, however, the farther down the main hall, the more obscure the smells
became. When passing the kitchen, the
wafts of cooking food came through my nose.
Passing the garbage chutes smelled as good as one could imagine. But at the end of the main hallway, where the
lights were a litter more dim, the paint a little more chipped-there was the
most peculiar smell of them all. When you got to the end of the hallway,
and approached the large locked door, a fishy
smell was overwhelmingly nauseating.
Why it smelled like this, I have no clue. No one ever went into the room, or left as I
saw- not even once. I always wondered
what it was for, but I always avoided it when I could.
On one particular night, Julius and I were eating our
canned soup lunches alone, inside the break room. We had discussed the usual sports and women,
but today he seemed off. He never
smiled, even with jokes that I made. I
asked him what the matter was, and he seemed to be surprised.
”The matter, you say?
The matter is this- Just this morning, precisely at 2am, I got off the
southern elevator, you know, near the room no one goes in? And that smell, that fish smell, god it was
powerful! I could barely breathe, much
less stand around. But I wondered to
myself, what the hell is in there? What
the hell is making that smell? So I
tried to open the door, but it was locked.
Tight, I tell you! A crowbar may
help get in, but I couldn’t find one around here. Tomorrow, I’m bringing one in, and going in
there myself! I must know!”
Julius seemed completely unaware that he was screaming
now, and my spine lit up with electricity at his last shout. My friend was probably not getting enough
sleep, or too much. I smiled, and walked
outside for a moment. As usual, the
hallway was dead silent. It was usually
only me and Julius here tonight, but I swear for a moment I saw a pair of red,
beady eyes staring down at me from the very end of the hallway. My feet turned into useless bricks, but only
for a second. I quickly dashed back into
the breakroom, now perspiring profusely and shaking. Julius laughed maniacally, which did nothing
to help my nerves. I spent the rest of
my night inside that very room, ignoring my duties for the sake of my life.
I had the next day off, and was saddened to hear that
Julius was admitted into the hospital that very day. I stopped by on the 4th floor to
see him around 10pm that night, before I began working. He was laying in bed, laughing again as if
some comedian was on his television. But
he was alone, and the caregiver told me he had not stopped laughing since they
found him lying in the basement earlier that morning.
“Hahahah!
Hello, old friend! How are you?
Have you met the new groundskeeper?
Great fellow! Gave me a pack of
smokes for free! He did, honest! Have
you talked to him yet, pal? He said hes
waiting on you downstairs tonight!! Hahahah!
He’s a funny one, that man!”
I slowly backed out of his room, shaking my head in
disbelief. Julius had been just fine
yesterday, as far as I knew (besides the excessive sweating). I told the nurse to take extra care of my old
friend, slipping him a crisp 10 dollar bill.
As I walked down the smelly stairwell, wait- the
stairwell never smelled. In fact, it was
usually the best smelling area in the basement.
What was that? I sniffed. Fish. I straightened up, looked behind me, and
wondered if I should leave and never return.
But, Julius had been known to indulge in the newer, fashionable
drugs. Maybe he was just having some
fit, induced by some drugs he had never experienced? That was it.
No need to worry, it was a simple basement. I had probably just seen some elevator lights
last night anyway.
Most of my night went swell, fast even for a third
shift job. The garbage was barely
running, and we had cleaned the floors the night before. I mostly sat inside the breakroom, reading
the newspaper and wondering when it was time to leave. I sighed.
My watch read precisely 2am, and suddenly the
disgusting stench of the sea wandered inside the room once again. It was overwhelming, and smelled rotten. I was very reluctant to go outside the room
to see where this mess was coming from, but I was on the verge of falling
asleep, and as mankind always does-I was curious.
I peeped outside the door, to find the entire hallway
in complete darkness. My spine lit up
once again, and things became even more odd.
My breath had become illuminated, and the temperature had dropped at
least 50 degrees. I was to the point of
shivering, and I knew the heat was working.
I groped my way down the hall, towards the fusebox. Maybe the electricity had blown, who
knew? I suddenly came upon it, my face
almost smashing against the large box had my hands not felt it. I fumbled around the sides, and opened the door. What I saw was most curious, and got me even
more startled. The entire cirtcuitry was
ripped out, sparks flying out, and slowly burning to nothingness when they hit
the cold floor.
At this point in my story, I would like to apologize
for my brute use of language, but I feel it is necessary. As I saw the
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