Number Unavailable

The sun’s rays beamed down brightly upon Lanes End Farm, causing the new fallen snow to glimmer brilliantly. The ice that paved the hard dirt crunched beneath my boots as I strolled nonchalantly towards the far barn. My grooming kit swung loosely from my grasp, and my plaid rainbow polo wraps stood out vibrantly against the dull, blue plastic of the caddy. Birds chirped softly from the trees, creating the perfect winter’s day. But for some reason I felt something important would happen that day…
I was the only one at the barn, or so I thought. My mood was lifted even more when I saw Francesca come out of the far barn. Her dark hair was pulled into a messy bun, with fly-aways framing her face as usual.
“Hey!” I shouted to her, while waving exuberantly with my free hand. When she didn’t respond, I became worried. As she grew closer, I caught site of a ghastly expression on her face. It was dark, cold and unfriendly. Not at all like her usual expression. “What’s wrong?” I inquired, my voice concerned. “Is it Ivan?” Ivan was Francesca’s horse who was sometimes prone to colic, which is a sickness in which the horse’s intestines twist up, so I thought that may be why she was upset. When she didn’t respond, I persisted. “Is it-“She cut me off with a bitter, imposing glare. I immediately backed down, which was unlike me.
“Something,” she drawled in an empty, monotone voice, “something else.” She pushed past me, leaving me in a state of utter befuddlement.
“Wait! Where are you going?” I called after her anxiously. Francesca slowly turned around, her pernicious stare sending my self sense of security through a paper shredder.
“Where I am wanted,” she concluded sternly and without expression. I watched in dismay as she disappeared behind the indoor arena.
I pulled out my cell phone and with shaking fingers dialed my mother’s phone number. Frankly, I was freaked out and wasn’t taking any chances. When I put the phone up to my ear, there was nothing, nothing but nauseous, sickening silence. I slowly closed the cellular device and went to put it in my pocket, when suddenly it began ringing.
I slowly brought my gaze to the little screen on the front of the phone. It read-

State Hsptl.
Insane Asylum
(Number unavailable)

The phone slipped from my numb clutches, falling into the mud with a soft thunk. I slowly began to back away from the cell phone, on the verge of a scream. Without warning, the device flipped open.
For a moment there was silence. Then low raspy breaths rang loud and quick from the speaker.

“You will soon join her in the palace of horrors and torment.”

The hoarse voice whispered. I lingered, paralyzed by overwhelming fear. Traumatized, I let out a loud deafening scream that made the birds flee from surrounding fields, and the horses spook in their stalls. As soon as I ran out of breath, an empty dial tone pierced the enduring hush.
I saw Erin hesitantly peeked out of the indoor, her flaming red hair and pale complexion, along with her glasses catching the sunlight. Just behind her came Lauren in a crimson sweatshirt, her smooth, straight brown hair pulled into a ponytail. Her freckles that spotted the bridge of her nose were drawn down as she frowned is alarm. They rushed over to me.
“Easy, Lacey, easy. What happened?!” Erin queried anxiously. I just shook my head and stared at the demonic mobile phone.
“Let’s let her calm down, then we’ll talk to her,” I heard Lauren whisper to Erin, who nodded in agreement. While Lauren led me away, I saw Erin out of the corner of my eye pocket my cell phone.
Eventually, I calmed down enough to explain exactly what happened to Erin and Lauren. Their shock was nearly equal to mine, and I saw the fear creep into their eyes as we realized our inevitable doom. Both of them went into a silent moment of fear.
After that, we were all too scared to use our cell phones, so we couldn’t call our mothers. So we had to wait for them to come.
And that wouldn’t be until after dark.



We sat in the dirt of the indoor arena for a while after that, trying to figure out what to do. Our minds were reeling with unrealistic fear. Almost like when you wake up in the middle of the night from a bad dream, and you try to convince yourself nothing in your room is going to hurt you. But then your mind is so whacked out you can’t believe yourself until morning!
“I think we should go there.”
That’s when I made the craziest suggestion of my life.
Silence caught the moment as we sat there, both Erin and Lauren sitting there in confusion.
“Are you nuts?! We can’t go in there! We’ll get killed!!” Lauren stated loudly, gesturing with her hands. Erin just sat there looking at me like I was crazy.
“Well, I’m pretty sure that’s where Francesca went, and we can’t just leave her! We’re her friends!” I retorted sternly. Erin looked me in the eye for a moment.
“She’s right,” Erin agreed softly.
“But Erin!” Lauren fought in a panicky voice.
“Lauren, we have to do this or we may never see her again,” Erin replied calmly. Lauren looked at the ground for a moment, a raging battle between doing what was right and what was easy rampaged throughout her. It was evident from the way she was rubbing her temples and sighing a lot.
“Ok…let’s go,” she consented softly, with undertones of fear in her quavering voice. Erin and I nodded and stood up.
“We’ll take the horses…it’ll be quicker,” Erin declared, helping Lauren to her feet. We all rushed into the barn and tacked up our horses.
Country fidgeted as I swung my leg over the saddle, after getting a leg up from Lauren. Erin sat aboard Rotondo, a sleek bay thoroughbred and Country’s brother. He was a mere 15 hands, but was high energy and restless like most thoroughbreds. Country was a big chestnut thoroughbred with a long thin blaze trailing down his face. Though he was bigger than Rotondo, he was very mellow. Lauren was mounting Joey, a little gray pony who was quite stubborn at times but cute as a button.
Once we were all ready, we set off towards the hospital, just across the field. The horses grew nervous as they neared the building, and so did we. Country bolted several times, along with Rotondo, for they were not exactly “Trail horses”. Slowly but surely, Erin, Lauren and I reached the hospital.
We haltered our horses and tied them to some trees that lined the edge of the hospital so they could graze, and then together we approached the daunting hospital.
A chill in the air became noticeably stronger with each step we took towards the battered doors. The wind howled and whispered, like dozens of people were around. What felt like frigid hands trailed across my face and my ankles, sending shivers down my spine. Soon enough, we were standing in front of the double doors. Erin went to push it, but before she could it creaked open by itself.
Lauren laughed nervously.
“It’s just the wind…” she insisted unconvincingly. We each slipped inside and were overcome by darkness. I hooked my elbow around Lauren’s, and my other around Erin’s. We took a step forward in unison.
A rush of cold wind blew by us, and dozens of candles lit, revealing a long, curvy hall way. Then the door slammed behind us, making each of us jump in surprise.
“I don’t like this, I don’t like this…” Erin murmured under her breath as we shuffled down the dank, rotting hall.
“Me neither, but we need to find Francesca,” I replied faintly.
At the end of the hall, I discovered a wooden staircase that twisted up in tight swirls. I tested it with a foot and a loud creak was emitted from the decayed wood. The railing was soft and soggy, green and red.
The faded paint on the walls was peeling off in large, curling strips and momentarily floated down from above. Dust was thick in the air, and it was hard to breathe. A decomposing, putrid smell seethed from the innards of the floor and ceiling, nearly gagging me.
“We’ll have to go up one at a time, it’s too narrow,” Erin explained fearfully. Lauren and I nodded solemnly.
“I’ll go first,” I confirmed bravely, “Erin, give me my phone.” I held out my hand, and Erin reached into her pockets and gave it to me. As soon as the cold surface touched my flesh, it began to ring. With a queasy feeling of comprehension, I glanced in terror at the caller ID.


State Hsptl.
Insane Asylum
(Number unavailable)

I opened it slowly, sheer dread gripping my consciousness.
“H-Hello? Who is this? Where’s Francesca?!” I screamed madly, in tears by my last word. I heard a malicious chuckle on the other end.
“She is with me…getting ready for…an examination,” the raspy voice responded sinisterly.
“NO!” I shrieked, sobbing incoherently. “Let her go!” I persisted. The voice merely laughed. Then there was dial tone.
I shoved the phone in my pocket, tears streaming from my eyes like water out of a faucet.
“He has her… he’s going to kill her…” I cried, mortified by our unrealistic situation.
Rage flooded through me before common sense could grab hold. I snatched Lauren’s hand, who snatched Erin’s hand and marched up the unsafe stairway.
The old wood moaned and screeched but I was deaf to the noises. All I could see in my minds eye was Francesca’s bloody, cut up body strapped to an operating table.



We finally reached the top of the stairs and in front of us were two fancy French doors, lightly gilded at the edges. I pushed through without hesitation, my newfound fury fueling my courage. Inside was a small brick room. A single beam of light came from the skylight above, and in the back were several pieces of wood laid into an interesting pattern. The beams were exposed on the ceiling, and the wood was torn up from the floor. Almost like someone had been trying to escape.



Two other doors were on the left, with one other on the right.
“Let’s try the one on the right,” Lauren suggested tentatively. She looked extremely uncomfortable to be in this room, and I didn’t blame her. A haunting feeling nestled it self in the pit of your stomach, and ate its way throughout your insides.
We quickly peeked through the right doorway, and I screamed at what I saw.
It was Francesca, strapped to an operating table.
The good thing was that she seemed unharmed, except for the fact she was out cold. Three sturdy padlocks made any chance of getting her off and out futile. That’s when my phone rang again. Again, as suspected, the caller ID screen read,

State Hsptl.
Insane Asylum
(Number Unavailable)

I instantaneously flipped the phone open.
“What are you playing at? Why can’t you just let her go?” I demanded immediately. The voice laughed mockingly.
“Stop acting so tough. I can see you crying,” It rasped evilly. A shot of adrenaline quickened my heart beat and terror split through me like a bullet.
“There are three keys around the hospital…you each will go to a room, and you will have to retrieve those keys within the hour to release your friend. If not… She is going into extensive surgery,” The voice cackled sinfully. Dial tone filled the line once again. I shoved my phone in my pocket.
Suddenly, a black bandana flew over my eyes, and I heard only the screams of Erin and Lauren before passing out.

C
onsciousness greeted me just as I felt the blindfold slip off my eyes. Even without the blindfold, the room was dead black. I found myself sitting in a rickety old chair that creaked as I shivered. I hastily brought myself to my feet.
As soon as I did so, two tiny lights clicked on at the far end of the room. Brightly illuminated in the middle of the two lights was a large plaque. I could barely make out the shapes of doors below it.
Squinting, I struggled to read the sign. Leaning forward, I recoiled immediately as I discovered with devastating shock and terror what the sign said.
Crematorium

I felt around for the chair, but discovered it gone. A wave of frigid, paranormal cold swept through my body as I felt around for the walls. The moment my hands grazed the surface of what seemed to be a large metal something, large lights clicked on over head.
Along either side of the long room were giant boilers. A burning, bloody smell soon revealed itself in the air, as if bodies were being burned that very moment. I jumped in fright as my joyous ring tone pierced the silence of the haunted area.
I took a sickened glance at the caller ID, but found myself to be pleasantly surprised. Or at least, however pleasant you can be in a haunted crematorium. Erin’s name and number flickered innocently across the screen. I flipped open my phone with little haste.
“Erin? You there? You Ok?” I inquired in my shaky, soft voice.
“No, I am not ok! I am in the flipping Isolation room and –“Her screams interrupted her sentence. “STOP IT! GET AWAY FROM ME! STOP IT!” her screams nearly drowned out the loud static of the bad connection on the phone.
There was a crash, then Erin’s shrill scream, then nothing.
“Erin? Erin?!” I brought the phone away from my face and looked in panic at the screen. It read, “Call Ended.”
At that moment, I became perfectly still. My hands froze up and I watched as my phone slowly tumbled throughout the air. My heartbeat grew loud in my ears, my breathing quickened and I couldn’t move. All I could see was the bright white light of the screen as it tumbled down to the dusty floor. Every time I caught sight of the tiny black words that it displayed, my nausea deepened. Finally the screen dimmed just as the device smashed into the floor below.
I snapped out of my trance of fear and retrieved my cell phone. I angrily stuffed it in my pocket, glancing up towards the boilers.
A strident squeak pierced the air behind me. I whipped around, nearly snapping my neck in two. The large, metal door of the boiler swung, emitting periodic squeals. A lightning bolt of horror flashed through me as smoke and ashes of the haunted souls poured steadily out of the boiler.
Whispers in turn, filled the room. Their words were indistinguishable, but I knew somehow that they were talking to me. I glanced around, amazed at the disembodied whispers. I listened hard and carefully for a moment, so I could distinguish their words.
“The ashes…look in the ashes…” it echoed softly. My eyes widened and fear rooted my feet to the ground. I glanced around nervously, my awe transforming into fear.
My feet somehow pulled themselves forward, the wood creaking and moaning beneath my weight. With each step I took, I gained a miniscule drop of confidence. Soon I was towering over the dark dust. Its putrid smell burned my nostrils, for it smelled of burning flesh and death.
Slowly, tentatively, I brought a single hand down to the ashes. Without thinking I plunged my hand into the burned remains of the insane ones that inhabited this awful place.
Simultaneously, a piercing shriek overcame the room and the ashes grew hot round my sifting fingers. Visions of thrashing bodies were forcefully thrust into my minds eye, each of them being thrown mercilessly into the hot flames of the boiler. Some were dead, their gazes vacant and lost, but most were alive, shrieking and fighting for their life. My intestines writhed and I nearly threw up at some of the depictions that were filling my cranium.
Relief touched me as I felt smooth cold metal against my groping fingers. I grabbed hold of the key and heaved my hand from the ashes. The screaming and visions ceased at once and I ran full-throttle away from the room.
I burst through the doors and threw myself down the stairs, towards the dungeon. I knew that was where the Isolation Room was, somehow. Like it had been planted unnoticed in my brain, and I’d just discovered it. I had no time to ponder the enigma, so I leapt two steps at a time down what seemed like several floors. Each step nearly crunched under my foot, and in fact some of them did. Nothing filled my mind then except the thought of finding Erin and Lauren and saving Francesca.
I landed loudly on the cement floor of the basement. It was quiet, dark and wet down there, puddles dotting the hallways. A labyrinth of cement walls turned off in every direction, scuttling of mice echoing down each of them.
A penetrating screech echoed down from the hall in front of me. Without hesitation I charged into the darkness of the left hallway, ignoring my uncertainties and suspicions for the sake of Erin. I came to a wooden door that was half open at the end of the hall, dimly lit by a small torch.
I creaked open the door and heard Erin scream from inside.
“It’s ok Erin, it’s just me,” I comforted her softly as I let the door reveal myself. Her sobs quieted, and I looked over into the shadowy room.
Erin was scrunched up in a corner, looking positively rattled. Her glasses were askew, her eyes streamed with seemingly uncontrollable tears and her hair was frazzled and poking out everywhere. She was shaking violently, her gaze fixated on the corner diagonal from her. “Come on Erin, It’ll be ok. Nothing in here can hurt you…” I trailed off as I heard something flying through the air toward me. I took a quick step back just in time. With a bang, a meat cleaver stood jutting out from the wall. Erin shrieked again and wailed miserably. I hesitantly took a step inside the room and discovered an enormous pile of sharp, gleaming knives.
I gasped as another rose into the air by itself and hurtled itself towards me with amazing speed. I ducked and it nearly grazed my arm.
With amazing agility, I crawled next to Erin. “We have to get out of here, “I whispered fearfully. Erin shook her head.
“I…haven’t found…the key,” she wailed in between hiccups. I looked distractedly at the torn cushions that lined the walls and floor of the Isolation chamber. Quickly, grabbing the nearest piece of ripping pillow, I pulled with all my might, tearing it off the wall. I jumped as another meat cleaver landed right next to my head.
“Erin, you have to help me, it’s stuck!” I pleaded urgently. Erin slowly pulled herself to her feet and weakly tugged on the cushion. There was a bang, and she screamed, immediately taking her place in the corner once again.
“I…can’t do…this!” She sobbed loudly, breaking down into a heap of tears and depression. I frowned angrily at her.
“Don’t let your fear take you down Erin! You can do this! Think of Francesca!” I exclaimed urgently. Erin looked straight ahead for a moment, sniffed loudly and brought herself to her shaky legs determinedly.
“I’ll do it,” she snuffed, “for Francesca.” Both of us grabbed the ripped cushion and pulled with all our strength. With a loud, satisfying rip, the cushion peeled off the wall revealing a single gold key. Erin snatched it up and we rushed out of the accursed room.


Erin and I reached the first floor at a loss. We had no idea where Lauren was. She did not have her phone with her, so it was impossible to contact her. We stood, confused and scared for our lives. It was at that moment when we heard shrill screams emitting from outside. Glancing timidly at each other, Erin and I made quickly for the nearest window.
We looked down into the dark shadows and there we saw Lauren cowering in the streetlight from seemingly nothing in particular.
The two of us sprinted towards the door in which we arrived, surprisingly finding it unlocked. I took a fleeting glance over my shoulder to ensure Erin was behind me. As we neared Lauren, her once muffled shouts became clear as day.
“Leave me alone! Get away from me! Someone HELP!” She screeched in terror.
I rounded the corner at a full-on run and then stopped dead.
Surrounding Lauren were hunched over, brown slimy things. They were moaning low and sinisterly as they swiped at Lauren. She cried out again and I yelled out to her,
“Lauren! I’m here! It’s Laceyahna”
“HELP ME!” She bawled in horror. I took a step forward, and froze in terror as a russet, moldy hand pushed itself out of the round, followed by a rotting corpse.
I shrieked and ran around it, towards Lauren. All of the zombies turned, eyeing me with vacant dead gazes. They all began to swarm, consuming me in their repulsive flock. Just then I heard a squeal and several hoof beats pounding towards me. I glanced up, a new flicker of home distilled inside me. It was Erin and Rotondo!
Rotondo squealed and bucked in fright, nailing one of the decayed corpses square in the head. He turned and bolted, leaving Erin on the ground and several mowed down zombies.
Just as they began to thin, more hands popped from the hard ground. Erin, Lauren, and I huddled closely together under the streetlight. This was it. We were doomed. Behind the streetlight was a single gravestone with no encoding. I turned around and kicked at it, and the soft stone broke easily.
I hurled the chunks of heavy rock into the crows of reincarnated demons. When I looked back to grab more, I nearly stopped breathing.
The third key.
There it was, laying innocently on the ground. I pulled Lauren over.
“Pick up the key!” I ordered. Something inside me told me that it was Lauren who had to pick up the key, and no one else. Lauren quickly obeyed and just as her shaking fingers touched to smooth cold gold of the key, the chaos stopped.
The zombies vanished, leaving no trace of their mutilated existence. I looked at Lauren, then Erin, and we all smiled ever so slightly.
We had done it. We had beat out the horrors of the hospital. Or, most of them anyway. We still had to find Francesca.
Unexpectedly, the time limit popped into my head. I ripped my cell phone out of my pocket.
As soon as I saw our remaining time, I bolted away from the safety of the streetlight, Erin and Lauren following close behind. We only had three minutes.
I dashed madly up the stairs, and with no light to guide me it was no easy task. We frantically scrambled to the top floor and rushed into the room.
Francesca’s unmoving body still laid there, untouched. I hurriedly jammed my key into the first locked, and Erin and Lauren instinctively did the same.
There were three clicks, then silence. The straps retracted and Francesca’s eyes flickered open.
“What? Where the heck am I?” She asked softly, sitting up and rubbing her head.
“You’re in the state hospital,” Lauren responded. Francesca gasped and peeked out the window.
“No way…no way in H-E double hockey sticks. GET ME OUT OF HERE!” She screeched in a sudden panic. We happily obliged and quickly and silently led her out of the Insane Asylum.


We arrived at the barn, red and blue lights flashing against our eyes. My mother stood anxiously at the car, and broke out in tears when she saw me leading Country news from the field. She rattled on about how she thought something awful happened to me.
“Something awful did happen mom. Francesca disappeared, and this creepy guy called. We found her in the State Hospital,” I explained, expecting her to flip out. She only chuckled.
“Nonsense. No one can even get into the Hospital, let alone take someone captive there,” She laughed placidly. I stared at her in anger.
“It’s true! Why don’t you believe me?!” I asked in a rather loud voice. She merely chortled and patted my shoulder, pulling me into a hug.
That’s when my phone rang. I flipped it open, hearing the hoarse breaths of our torturer. His malicious cackle sounded smugly over the line.
“You’ve done well…for now,” He snickered sinisterly. The dial tone pierced the night air once again.
“Mom! Didn’t you hear that? Now do you believe me?” I asked anxiously. My mother looked rather puzzled.
“Laceyahna, your phone didn’t ring. Are you feeling ok?” She put a hand to my forehead. I brushed it off in anger.
“How could you not have heard it? It was loud enough for someone to hear 20 feet from here!” I yelled in fury.
“Settle down, Laceyahna. Cut this nonsense out right now,” She added in a no-more-Mr.-nice-guy tone.
People that were there will tell you I went into a fit of rage, with Lauren, Erin and Francesca following me. We were hurt, confused and scared. Our parents wouldn’t believe us.
That’s how we landed ourselves in a real Insane Asylum. With real insane people. Not dead, though.
I was eating my lunch and it was my second day at the real hospital for the mentally ill. Erin, Lauren, Francesca and I were sitting in my room when my cell phone rang. I happily looked at the caller ID. My plate banged to the floor along with my sizzling pizza and chocolate milk. The screen read,

State Hsptl.
Insane Asylum
(Number Unavailable)

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A/n:----SEQUEL COMING SOON----