Doom with a View (34 page)

I was just closing the car door when three gunshots cut through the night like cannon fire. I dropped to the ground and covered my head, barely resisting the urge to pee in my pants.

My ears waited to hear something else, but the night returned to its creepy stillness and I began to cry. Staying low to the ground, I huddled next to the SUV and peered in earnest for some sign to indicate that the good guys were okay. But nothing moved and no other sounds were heard. I waited another ten minutes just to be sure, and then when the cold wind made me so uncomfortable that I couldn’t stand it anymore, I stood partially up and thought about what to do.

I gazed longingly at the cab of the SUV, but something told me that if I stayed there, I’d be a sitting duck for whoever had either fired those shots or done something terrible to my two companions. “Son of a bitch!” I muttered, feeling out of choices and very much like there was no right move to make.

Forcing myself to breathe evenly, I tried to formulate a plan. “Think, Abby, think!” I told myself. I had no idea who had fired those rounds, but I knew I couldn’t go into that building without some kind of a weapon. Quickly I crawled back into the SUV and rummaged around in the back, pulling out Candice’s duffel. “Please have a spare gun!” I whined. But I was out of luck. The only thing I did find was the small flashlight she’d given me to use when we broke into the Derby residence and a can of pepper spray. “Beggars can’t be choosers,” I mumbled, and pocketed the spray and the light.

Moving out of the car, I crouched low and made it over to the side of the building, where I hugged the cold brick and took a few more deep breaths. Moving slowly around the side of the building while looking for a way in, I was almost relieved when I found a window with the pane partially smashed. As quietly as I could, I knocked out the remaining glass with the flashlight, then pulled the sleeves of my sweatshirt over my hands to protect them from any shards and heaved myself carefully through the window.

Landing with a crunching sound on the parquet floor, I ducked low and held still for a long moment, listening for any type of noise or disturbance. Nothing came to my ears, so I stood up and surveyed the room I was in.

It was too dark to see much, so I risked turning on the flashlight, aiming the beam around to get my bearings. The room was small, probably only ten by twelve, and there was an old desk set up against the right wall. Some boxes cluttered the corner, but other than those items, the room was empty.

I moved toward the door and clicked off the light. Pressing my ear to the wood, I held my breath and listened. Nothing sounded out beyond the door, so I grabbed the handle and began to turn the knob when just outside I heard the clomp, clomp, clomp of footsteps approaching. I gasped and held still again, waiting. The footsteps came closer at an even pace, growing louder until they seemed right outside my door. And then instead of continuing on, they suddenly stopped. I pulled my head away from the wood where I’d been listening intently and stared at the handle as my heart hammered in my chest. I was so scared I don’t think I took a single breath for the next thirty seconds as I waited to see if the owner of the footfalls would open the door to discover me. But then, as if that person had made his or her point in scaring me nearly to death, the footsteps began to clomp on down the rest of the hallway until they faded away.

My heart continued to thunder in my chest and I rested my head against the door, taking deep breaths. My hand was now shaking so violently that I had to let go of the door handle and I counted to ten, then to twenty, then to a hundred, hoping that would help calm me down. It did and after gathering my courage, I carefully turned the knob and cracked the door open a tiny bit.

Pressing my ear to the crack in the door, I listened. All was quiet. “Please let there be no one out there!” I whispered in the dark, and shivering in earnest again, I pulled the door open just a bit farther.

The door creaked and I winced, then held perfectly still, listening for a moment before I tried short little tugs on the door to keep the creaking to a minimum. When I finally had a space wide enough to allow me out into the hall, I slid sideways through the opening and pressed myself to the wall in the corridor.

It was pitch-black in here and I blinked several times, hoping my eyes would adjust enough so that I didn’t have to switch on the flashlight, but it was no use. I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face.

Gripping the flashlight, I turned it on, but kept my finger on the switch in case I needed to turn it off quickly. The hallway was long and there were many doors with empty nameplates. I realized that I must be in the part of the building assigned to the offices of the various psychiatrists who had once worked here.

Taking slow deliberate steps while I hugged the wall of the corridor, I made my way down the hallway back toward the front of the building. Nearing the corner, I noticed a window and that section of the hallway wasn’t as dark as the middle section where I’d entered, so I clicked off the flashlight, gave myself a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, and crept toward the corner.

I had gone maybe five feet closer to the window when a large, dark shadow passed right in front of the pane and moved out of view. I clamped my hand over my mouth, barely holding in a scream.

I started to feel dizzy and realized that my breathing was so intense I was on the verge of hyperventi lating. I eased myself down to a crouch position and concentrated on holding on to the little bit of air that I could get into my lungs. After a minute or two the panic lessened and I looked back to the window. No sound came to me and no further movement caught my searching eye.

“You can do this, Abby,” I said in a tiny whisper. “Come on, girl. Get it together.” Using every ounce of courage I had left, I rose to my feet again and made some progress down the rest of the hallway.

When I got to the window, I paused long enough to take a deep breath before allowing myself a small peek around the corner. There was a short hallway in front of me that opened up to what looked like the lobby. The front doors, with their large panes of glass, were allowing enough light from the headlights still on from Candice’s SUV that I could make out the eerie shapes quite well.

And even though I could see, I felt no sense of ease as bitterly cold air seemed to fill the space I was standing in. My radar was doing nothing but warning me to be cautious, and I
really
wanted to run out of this awful place and never, ever look back, but I kept thinking about Candice and how my radar also suggested she was in grave danger.

Feeling that my friend might not make it through the night was the only thing that kept me moving, but I didn’t really know where to go. The building was huge and it would take me forever to search it thoroughly. Pressing back against the wall and closing my eyes, I whispered, “Can I get some help here? Come on, guys, help me find Candice!”

Go to the stairs
, came the answer.

“Stairs?” I mouthed, and peeked around the corner again. Sure enough, in the faint glow of the headlights I spotted something that looked like a banister on the other side of the lobby.

Digging into my pocket for the can of pepper spray, I crouched low and dashed across the lobby to the stairs, pressing myself up against the wall right next to them. “Upstairs or down?” I whispered.

“I was afraid you’d say that.” I gazed at the blackness of the staircase that descended to the lower level. There was the most awful energy coming up from there and nothing in the world could force me to go down those steps except the thought of what would happen to Candice if I didn’t. I closed my eyes again, mustering some courage, and I called out to my crew to watch my back before I took the first hesitant step.

I’d gone no farther than that when the interior of the hospital was split by another bloodcurdling scream that seemed to go on and on, and
on
. I flattened myself against the wall again and held the pepper spray right out in front of me, shaking so hard I could hear my teeth rattle. “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!” I gasped.

The echo from the scream finally died away and I was truly paralyzed in fear. I couldn’t move and I could barely breathe and I couldn’t even think!

Move!
My crew yelled in my head.
Move now!

Somehow, their insistence caused me to do just that. The scream had come from somewhere on the first floor, and I wanted away from that noise and whatever had caused it as much as I’d ever wanted anything in my life.

I nearly stumbled and fell several times down the staircase, but somehow I made it to the bottom, where I again hugged the wall and tried not to faint.
Keep going!
my crew insisted again.

Tears formed in my eyes and slid down my cheeks. I didn’t want to.

Abby!
they said.
You have to move!

I was weeping now and trying desperately not to make any noise as I pushed away from the wall and felt my way down the corridor I was now in.
Where?
I demanded in my head when I seemed to be much deeper into the corridor.

I wiped my eyes and peered into the darkness. I could see nothing; it was pitch-black. I raised my flashlight, about to turn it on, when my crew yelled,
NO!
in my head.

I jumped and almost dropped the light. “I can’t see!” I whispered.

Move forward, then right
, they replied, and the urgency of the thought made it clear that I needed to hustle.

Sniffling a bit, I edged down the hallway, jumping when someone upstairs slammed first one door, then two more.
Hurry!
my crew insisted. I quickened my pace and squinted. Ahead, about ten yards down, I swore it wasn’t as dark. I knew we were belowground, so I wondered where the light was coming from and very faintly I heard the distant sound of a motor.

As I reached the end of the corridor and turned the corner, I could tell that the hallway was lit by a light coming from that far end.
Careful!
my crew blasted into my head, and I ducked down and pulled myself back around the corner. My ears heard the faint sound of something and I strained to hear. It almost sounded like music, but there were voices talking or arguing too. Another door slammed and then something heavy sounded like it got knocked over.

There was another scream, but it wasn’t the same bloodcurdling sound as the one upstairs. This one was desperate and it formed the word “Don’t!”

Move now!
my crew ordered, and I was back on my feet and rounding the corner.
Run!
they encouraged, and I did, closing the distance to the end of the corridor, where the strange light filtered through a set of double doors.

As I closed the distance, I could hear two distinctive voices. “You’ll never get away with it!” said a male.

“He’s right! Our backup is right behind us!”

“Candice!” I gasped. I’d recognize her voice anywhere.

And then there came a noise that almost stopped me in my tracks. It was the sound of something electric like a dentist’s drill, or a small saw. Above that, I heard someone say loudly, “Years ago they used this little gadget to perform lobotomies. I found it and a bunch of other really cool stuff in one of the lockers. I’ve read all the textbooks, and I think I know how it’s done. Of course, this might hurt a little without the aid of anesthesia, but probably only until the probe reaches the center of your brain.”

“Don’t hurt him!” Candice cried out desperately.
“Please, God, stop!”

“Holy shit!” I swore, and ran faster. With my heart pounding in my chest and adrenaline coursing through my veins, I kicked through the double doors as the first pain-filled groan from Harrison filled the large room I crashed into.

The room was well lit and I could see him strapped down to a table while Michael Derby hovered over him with a long probelike drill. “
Abby!
” Candice screamed from another table nearby.

I didn’t even pause. Instead I charged directly at Michael, yelling some sort of primal battle cry as I lunged at him. His eyes bulged when he saw me coming straight at him, and he brought the drill up defensively, but I had the pepper spray and it had a longer reach. I squirted the contents right at him, but he ducked low and swiveled around. The forward momentum of my charge carried me straight at him and I aimed the spray again, but saw nearly too late that he was throwing the drill right at me!

I ducked at the last second and tripped over something, sending me sprawling to the floor as the pepper spray flew out of my hand. I could hear Michael scrambling toward me and Candice screamed again in warning. Reflexively I reached for anything close by to defend myself with, and my hand curled around the leg of a small table. Pulling that back with all the strength I could muster, I heard it connect with something and a loud “Ooomph” sounded right behind me.

I rolled onto my back just as Michael recovered, and flung the table aside and brought my legs into my chest, kicking them as hard as I could when he threw himself forward to tackle me.

I felt his weight hit me hard, but the adrenaline coursing through my veins was so intense that I managed to recover and shove him back all the way across the room, where he slammed into a tall cabinet. With a crazed look on his face he pushed off the cabinet and charged at me again. This time, I thought he managed to grab what looked like a surgical hacksaw.

“Look out!” Harrison shouted, and I didn’t really think I needed the added encouragement, because I quickly crawled underneath the table he was lying on, searching for anything to defend myself with. I found a metal tray on the floor and pulled it with me to the other side, but Michael was quicker than I’d anticipated and I looked up just as he was about to bring the saw down on me.

Somehow I managed to get the tray up in time, and the blade banged loudly against the metal of the tray but still sent a bolt of pain up my arm and caused me to drop the tray.