Stalking Shadows (Scary Mary) (13 page)

“Do you understand me? Do you think you could go somewhere else?”

Still no response. Should she leave? She wanted to pretty badly, but what about Vicky, Gran, and everyone else in the hospital? They couldn’t leave.

“You’re hurting people here. If you don’t go away, we’ll have to stop you.” Just don’t ask her how. “I mean it. People are getting upset, and they’ll come after you.”

Nothing. The purring sound hadn’t changed while she spoke. It hadn’t understood a thing she'd said. This was useless. It wasn’t human and had never been human; reasoning with it was futile.

Since it seemed content to stay in its dark corner, she panned the flashlight around again. Everything looked normal. There were several large boilers, air-handling units, water heaters, and pipes everywhere. She tried to look for something small that could be an anchor for a Shadowman, if Shadowmen had anchors. They really were flying blind with this whole Shadowman thing. Flying blind in the dark. Nothing could go wrong. Obviously.

Chowder growled in her arms. She turned and stumbled backwards in surprise. The Shadowman had slipped closer to her and had stretched out his dark hand towards her.

“No!” She hit him with the flashlight beam and began backing away.

The Shadowman’s hand dropped and it swooped away, but then began zigzagging back toward her like earlier in Gran’s and Mr. White’s hospital room. The chittering sound started again.

Chapter 9

Ignore the Dead

It was near to impossible to keep the flashlight beam on the Shadowman. The beam was too small, and the Shadowman moved too fast. She decided to make a dash for it, back to the stairwell.

As she ran, she held the flashlight over her shoulder and blindly swept the beam behind her in an attempt to keep the creature back, but the chittering sound kept pace with her. Chowder continued to snarl, but he did so from within his body, tucked safely under her arm.

She reached the stairwell door, but her tug slammed her into it. Locked? She didn’t understand how that could’ve happened. This was definitely bad luck, and she decided that the door being unlocked earlier had been bad luck as well. She should never have gone in. Next time she'd obey the official signs--if there was a next time. She pulled as hard as she could. The door didn’t even rattle. She turned back. The Shadowman was lurking at the mouth of the passage. The weak fluorescent lights began to flicker, and the darkness between each flicker lengthened.

She jumped when a shiver skimmed her leg. Chowder had dropped from his body. “Chowder, get back here!”

The little dog barked sharply, and the Shadowman hissed. She saw its red eyes go to a point on the floor between them. So it could see ghosts. She wasn’t sure if that meant anything, but at least she knew where Chowder was. The Shadowman turned around and began making a grinding sound that must have been its version of a growl. It was focused on Chowder and obviously did not like the ghost dog. She crept back down the passage. Chowder continued barking at the other end of the hall. When she was about six feet from the Shadowman’s back, she aimed the flashlight and hit the power button. The beam hit it square in the back. As it hissed and swooped out of the way, Chowder's barks receded into the mechanical room. She rushed to the end of the passage and peered around the machinery. Where had they gone?

A flash of light caught her eye. She turned and saw the edge of a swinging door as it shut. Chowder barked again. He’d found a way out for her! Scanning the room for the Shadowman, she ran to the hidden door.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something swoop at her. As she pivoted to avoid it, she lost her balance and fell to the chilly cement floor. Tears sprang to her eyes as her backside hit cement, but she held onto the flashlight and waved it around. The Shadowman swooped back into the ceiling shadows. She scrambled to her feet and swept the flashlight blindly all around her. She pushed through the swinging doors and ran down another corridor. Dim fluorescent lights ran along the center of the ceiling. Another set of swinging door flapped at the other end.

She dashed through the second set of doors and was relieved to find herself in a better lit passage, but she didn’t know where she was or how to get out. “Chowder?” she whispered.

She heard a ding. She went down the corridor and peeked around the corner. A couple of orderlies had exited an elevator. They began coming her way.

She moved back and looked for a place to hide. She still didn’t want to be caught. Chowder barked again, and a swinging door flapped. She quickly slipped into the room and immediately crumbled to the floor, clutching her head.

“I was only going to get a jug of milk.” “Hope Ron finds someone else.” “Probably shouldn’t have done that.” “About time.” “Hello?” “What happened?” “Wait, I think I made a mistake.” “Bitch stuck me!”

She didn’t need to look over her shoulder to know what was in the room. Two rows of gurneys lined the walls and each one held a body with a toe tag. She wanted to bolt back outside, but a sharp tug on her pants leg kept her in place. Chowder was keeping his wits about him. She, on the other hand, felt like hers were dribbling out her ears. She was vaguely aware of the orderlies walking by, but all of the other voices drowned out their muted conversation.

“Mom always said to look both ways. Can’t believe something like this got me.” “He’s not good alone. His apartment was a pig sty before I moved in, but he began picking up after himself when I started living there.” “But it was SO awesome. I mean like Guinness Book awesome.” “Can’t believe they dragged it out so long.” “Are you all right?” “Where am I?” “I told the shrink that the meds weren’t working.” “Gonna get her for this.”

She tried to block them out, but she wasn’t hearing them with her ears. She didn’t know how she heard ghosts. She just did. Now they were crowding her head, and it hurt.

“At least I wasn’t running with scissors.” “Just needs someone around to tidy up for.” “Hope they got it on tape. I’ll be legendary.” “Idiots.” “Do you need help?” “I remember going to sleep. Am I dreaming?” “I don’t think this made things better.” “Nobody hurts me and gets away with it.”

She needed to get away before the ghosts figured out she was there. It sounded like one already was aware of her. She clenched her jaw to make sure she didn’t respond. If they became aware of her, the situation would get worse. Talking around her hurt, but if they began talking to her, her brain would fry. Too much input or something. She just knew it was bad. She peeked out the small window in the door and saw the orderlies coming back. She ducked down again and waited for them to go. They walked back to the elevator, the doors dinged, and then three quarters of the lights turned off. Things had just gotten worse.

The chittering was instantly audible outside the morgue doors. Chowder began barking again. She blindly backed away and jostled a gurney. She jumped and whirled around. She carefully pulled it back into line. She was shaking.

“What’s that?” “Who’s there?” “What is that thing?” “Whoa.” “Is that what you’re hiding from?” “Please let this be a dream.” “Don’t like this.” “What the hell?”

Mary tried to think. She had the flashlight and Chowder. She was in a room full of ghosts. They were aware of the Shadowman. She didn’t know how she could use that.

The Shadowman began slipping into the room through the crease between the doors. She raised the flashlight and hit it with the beam. It slipped back outside, but it had her cornered. There wasn’t any other way out of the room. She was shaking so badly that the flashlight beam jumped wildly all over the door. It was difficult to keep it along the seam. She needed help, but the only help she had was dead. She knew it was a bad idea, but she cleared her throat and said, “I do need help.”

“What’d she say?” “Who is she?” “That thing is not cool.” “She shouldn’t be here.” “How can I help?” “Will someone please tell me what’s going on!” “I used to cry a lot, too.” “Want her to blubber like that.”

She clutched her head and doubled over. “Please, I need help! Can someone turn on the lights? That thing will go away if there’s light!”

“Is she talking to us?” “Poor girl.” “This is like having front row seats at a horror movie.” “You should be more careful.” “I’ll see what I can do.” “Am I dead?” “I used to be afraid of the dark too, but I guess it's stupid to be afraid of anything now.” “Ha-ha, it’s going to get you.”

She crumbled to her knees. There was so much pressure on her head. Their words piled on her like rocks.

“One at a time! Can’t you speak one at a time! What good is all this chattering over each other?”

“She can hear us?” “She can hear us?” “She can hear us?” “She can hear us?” “She can hear us?” “She can hear us?” “She can hear us?”

 Mary whimpered. Chowder barked sharply. She winced and stroked his head. She didn’t need him adding to the cacophony as well. She kept an eye on the morgue doors. Her flashlight’s beam rested on one of the windows. The Shadowman was still out there. It was making the purring sound again.

“Miss, can you hear us?”

She pulled her eyes away from the doors to look back into the room. Her eyes skittered over the gurneys. She may talk to ghosts all the time, but dealing with evidence of their deaths was not easy for her. She'd been weirded out by Chowder the first time and still was occasionally, but having the bodies--she shuddered when she realized that the correct term was “cadavers”--there before her was quietly horrifying.

“Miss?”
It sounded like the one who had been struck by a car was speaking.

“Yeah, I can hear you.”

“Do you know what’s going to happen to us?”

She shook her head.

“But we’re dead?”
This was said by the one who seemed to have passed in his sleep. Ironic how people thought that was the most peaceful way to die, because it seemed to be very disorienting for the ones who suffered it.

“Yeah, you’re dead. You’ll go somewhere. I know that much. You aren’t stuck here. It may just take a few days. Don’t try to stick around. Trust me. It isn’t better than what’s next.”

“How do you know? You just said you don’t know where we’ll go.”
This was said by the woman who was worried about her boyfriend or husband.

“I know because I’ve met other ghosts. None of them have been happy. Most of them ended up twisted and mean.”

“Your dog seems happy.”
This was from the girl who had committed suicide.

She glanced down at Chowder’s furry head. “Yeah, but are you a dog?”

No one replied.

Suddenly the lights began flickering on. Relief coursed through her as she looked up at the slowly warming fluorescents. There was a screech from the hallway and a crash. She crept to the morgue doors and warily stuck her head out. The hallway was lit, and the doors to the mechanical room flapped.

“It’s gone. What was that thing?”

“It’s called a Shadowman. You don’t need to worry about it. Thanks for turning on the lights.”

“Will you be all right?”

“Yeah, I’m going back to my gran’s room. Thanks again.”

“Be careful.”

“Yeah. Bye”

“Tell my wife I love her.” “Tell Ron to remember me by being happy.” “Hey, could you check to see if I’m on Youtube?” “Can you make sure they honor my wishes?” “You better hurry.” “Are you sure I’m dead?” “Wait, could you tell my parents I’m sorry!” “Tell my cheating girlfriend to sleep with one eye open.”

She didn’t have the energy to run, though she wanted to. She kept her head down as she stumbled to the elevator. The voices trailed her, but she didn’t acknowledge them. She pressed the call button repeatedly. This was what she’d dreaded. Not only were all of their voices making her head throb, but their requests were impossible. She couldn’t impart any last messages or fulfill requests. They were dead, and she had to live her life.

“Tell her I’m sorry.” “Ron needs to find someone nice. Make sure he knows he needs to find someone nice.” “Ooh, I wonder how many views it’s gotten. I bet it’s gotten a ton. Read me the comments. I bet they’re awesome.” “There better not be any funny business over my will. Tell them I wanted it all to go to charity, and they should grow up.” “Take care.” “I think you’re lying. I don’t feel dead.” “If I had another chance, I wouldn’t have taken the pills. Tell them.” “Better yet, slap her. Say it’s from Miguel.”

She practically fell through the elevator doors when they opened.
“Wait, when will you be back?” “Don’t go yet.” “Hey, you’ll need my screen name.” “Don’t you need my address?” “Get some rest. It looks like you need it.” “Wait, come back.” “You didn’t even get my name!” “Bitch, you’re as useless as her.”
She pushed the button for two and let out a sigh as the doors closed. Alone in the elevator, she slid down the wall and held Chowder close, relieved by the silence.

She shuffled back to the hospital room, feeling wiped out. Amazingly, no one saw her. She didn’t care it some did or not. She just wanted to curl up and go to sleep, though she wasn’t looking forward to doing that in the closet. Sunrise was still hours away, though. She let herself into the room. The lights were still on, and Gran and Mr. White were still awake. Mr. White seemed relieved by her return. Gran, on the other hand, looked annoyed.