Different Spirits

A sound rouses me. A mix of laughter and voices in jovial conversation. The screech of a heavy door sliding across stone and the echo of footsteps on concrete. People have entered. Young people by the sounds of their voices, both boys and girls. I’m not surprised. They often come here seeking a thrill, a scare, a place to be out of the watchful eye of overbearing adults. This is a common occurrence, especially around this time of year. 

It’s October and Halloween draws close and instead of going to a normal haunted house, teens flock to my home. An abandoned warehouse. 

I’m aroused often this time of year, but not from sleep. I never sleep. I can’t sleep but if I remain motionless I can drift into a sort of trance where time passes without knowledge. I’ve been here one hundred and twenty-three years, and haven’t grown a day old. This is because I’m dead. Or more precisely, I’m a ghost. I haunt this place, as the kids says but I don’t do much unless people come in. That’s when the fun begins.

From my resting place on the fourth floor, I float down through the dark to the first floor and a window that has been smashed.  Five flashlights flit about in the dark, three guys and two girls moving this way and that, giving each a hard time and egging each other to go a little bit farther. 

I float between the group, a cool gust of air to chill them. 

“You feel that?” A brunette girl says, gripping her shoulders. 

“What, you mean a draft?” The boy who’s leading the group shines his light at her. “Don’t be a wuss, Nancy.” 

I like to test each group by slowly ramping up my scares. Some run at the slightest sound and others take a lot of convincing that I’m here. You see, I died in a fire. A fire that burned down the building that this warehouse was built over. My body is burnt which makes me much more terrifying to look at, thankfully.

The group meanders through the open space of the bottom floor, panning their flashlights across rusted machinery, warning signs, broken pieces of pipe and other building materials. The lead boy shouts about finding the stairs to go up so they spread out being careful about where they step. Good. This place is dangerous. 

I see in the dark as if it were an open field on a sunny day and I can tell that the girl, Nancy, is most nervous. She walks so close to the other girl, they might as well be attached. The three boys don’t seem bothered, instead they beam with excitement. One of them, a shorter, stocky boy, says he’s wanted to do this for years and that he’s heard this place is haunted. He’ll soon find out.

They eventually find the right door that opens to a hallway that ends in a staircase that ascends. Ascending it, the boys jostle one another while the girls speak quietly. They reach the second floor which is a maze of dilapidated cubicles and a center break room with a hole in the floor. 

“I don’t like this.” Nancy says. 

“Wanna play hide and seek?” The third boy says. He’s wearing a baseball cap and wrings his hands together in excitement.

“You’re it, Carl.” The tall boy slaps Carl’s hat farther over his eyes.

“Fine.” He says and closes his eyes to count.

Nancy pleads for them not to, but even her friend, the girl in the short blue skirt, races off in different directions. I watch Nancy follow but she gets turned around and settles into the corner of a cubicle. The stocky boy weaves his way toward the far corner where he squeezes behind a vending machine. Tall boy and blue skirt girl sneak off together and I have no doubt about what they intend to do. Finding an actual office, they slip inside the door and lock it. A single, wide desk stands in the center surrounded by a bookshelf on each side. I watch the boy hoists the girl onto the dusty desk and presses his body against hers as their lips collide sloppily. 

Time to spoil the fun.

I float right outside the office and jiggle the door rapidly. Neither notice because they are too busy trying to rip each other’s clothes off. I’ll never understand why you would want to have sex in such a filthy place, but I guess horniness is stronger than logic. 

I move close to the girl and whisper, “Let me out.” into her ear.

She pauses, shirt half way off, “Did you hear that?”

“No.” The boy is still kissing her face all over.

At the back of the desk are a few drawers. I fling one open and it flies off its track, smashing into the back wall. Both pause abruptly.

“What the hell was that?” The girl pulls her shirt down and hops off the desk. A heavy disappointment fills the boy’s face. Sorry, bud. This isn’t the place. 

She shines the flashlight at the drawer, shivering. “Did this fly out on its own?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Sammy, that’s impossible.” 

“I think we should leave.” 

“Come on, we barely started.”

“Jack, I don’t want to be in this room any longer.” She gives him a kiss on the cheek and just then a light shines into the room.

“Found you.” Carl says with Nancy right behind him. 

Some ghosts are mean and vindictive, desiring to harm the living. Some avoid them at all costs. I’ve found a middle option. I don’t want to hurt these teens. In fact, I scare them away to keep them from getting injured or worse. It’s a duty I’ve assigned to myself and I perform it as long as I need to. 

The four regroup and search for Dan, the stocky boy still hidden behind the vending machine. While searching they come to the blocked doors of the break room. Jack shakes the door but it's jammed. I’ve piled all the tables and chairs at the doors and there’s no way they’re getting in. 

“Dan couldn’t have gotten in there.” Nancy pleads. After a moment of both boys trying to kick down the door, they relent and resume their search. Soon they do find Dan, only because he is halfway across the hall searching for an already-searched hiding spot. They wind through the halls and come upon the door to the third floor. It’s locked, which isn’t my doing. It must have been locked when the building was vacated but I’m thankful. The top two floors are weak and might collapse underneath a living human’s weight.

“Well, this is a bust.” Carl says.

“Let’s just go back to my place and watch a movie,” Sammy says as she opens her mouth to yawn and leans against Jack.

“I agree, let’s get out of here.” Nancy says.

“Fine.” Jack says through gritted teeth.

I sigh deeply. My job for the night is done and I follow above the group as they descend the stairs and walk briskly across the ground floor. They are halfway across when Jack abruptly stops, causing the rest to bump into him.

“What?” Dan frowns.

“Doesn’t this place have a basement?”

Oh no.

“Can we go, please?” Nancy says.

“Then what is that?” Jack points underneath a decaying forklift missing two wheels and hoisted two feet high by bricks like in a shoddy mechanic shop.

“It’s probably just a hole in the ground.” Sammy says.

Jack leans underneath and shines the flashlight into the hole. “There’s a ladder.”

I must be lacking in my watch of this place because I was sure that hole had been hidden from sight. You see, there is a basement. A labyrinth of tunnels and rooms where getting lost is almost certain. 

“Let’s go,” Carl scuttles forward excitedly and grabs the ladder, swinging himself onto it. “This must go deep.” 

Now I’m going to have to perform real scare tactics because if they go down they won’t come back up.

“Please don’t. The ladder might break. You don’t know what is down there.” Nancy is on the verge of tears.

“Jack, it’s getting late. Maybe we come back another time.” Sammy says with a wink.

Please listen to the girls. Please.

Jack smiles, “If we’re not back in an hour then go get help.” He then follows Carl down the ladder. 

Dan hesitates a moment but crawls under. “Sorry,” he says as he descends the ladder.

Nancy and Sammy are left alone, stunned, the hole lit by their flashlights but the boys are long gone.

I fly into the hole, stopping at the bottom where Jack has just dismounted the ladder and turns around to a door. I’m terrified for these boys. They don’t know that beyond that door is another ghost, or I would call it a demon. It haunts underground and never rises above the surface. I think it's stuck down here and it won’t listen to me. It’s a malevolent being that wanders these tunnels aimlessly until a poor soul ventures into its lair. Then it possesses the poor soul and that person turns violent. 

Many people’s last moments down here are filled with shock at why their best friend, boyfriend or girlfriend, sister or brother, has picked up a blunt object and is beating them to death with it.

This is why I can’t leave. Every evening a bright light appears that only I can see. It spreads out like a star and beckons me to my final resting place. I would be happier there, I know but I have saved so many lives by scarring others away from this demonic place and I made a pact with myself that until this evil is expunged, I will stay in this abandoned warehouse.  

Jack waits for Carl and Dan and then they open the door to a long tunnel, damp with condensation and all along the way adjacent tunnels going deep into this maze. They laugh at the girl’s cowardice and yell loudly to hear their voices echo off the smooth stone walls. Time to get to work. I float through Jack’s flashlight and it flickers, causing him to pause. 

He turns to the others. “Spooky,” he says in a mocking tone. Dan shivers as I wrap my figure around his body. He rubs his arm and aims his beam behind him, checking the door that they left open. He needs to be more afraid. 

I consider slamming the door shut since that is their way out. It is sure to make them retreat but I worry that it will somehow lock and I’ll trap them down here. Most people don’t get this far but I guess it's hard to dampen the bravado and stupidity of teenage boys. 

Sigh. If I could show myself, that would do the trick but I can’t. I’ve never seen a ghost that could. Makes scaring much more difficult but I’ll find a way. These boys' lives depend on it. I haven’t heard the demon yet. He usually waits until the group is lost and then possesses, ensuring nobody escapes. I still have time.

The boys turn down a random tunnel to their right and I whisper “Run away” into Dan’s ear. He jumps and spins, his light sweeping in every direction.

“What?” Carl asks.

“Did y’all hear that?” Dan lets out a held breath.

“I didn’t hear a thing.”

“Something whispered for me to run away.”

Both boys look at Dan like he’s lost his mind.

“Don’t be a wimp. There is no such thing as ghosts.” Jack continues walking. 

I now know that I need to scare Jack. He’s the leader and the nonbeliever but he’ll believe either by heeding my warnings or becoming a ghost himself. I would much prefer the first option. I don’t want to see any more death if I can help it.

“Shouldn’t we mark our path so we don’t get lost.” Dan says as they come to a three way split.

“Sure, got anything?” Jack looks annoyed which in turn annoys me. Is he trying to get himself lost?

As I hover over these boys digging through their pockets for something to mark the path, I hear it. I almost confuse it with the boys mumbling, but as it grows louder I know it is my worst nightmare. A low groan is coming from somewhere in the distance and only the dead can hear it. The demon is coming, his agonized moaning rising as he searches for his next victim. I don’t know why he does it. Is he compelled to do so by another force or is it something he enjoys. Maybe being inside a body brings him temporary relief. Once he has entered a person, their body decays at a much faster rate and he only has a few days before they die and then is forced to wander aimlessly again. 

At last, Carl takes off his jacket and leaves it in the corner. Perfect. As he sets it down begrudgingly, I yank it from his hand, sliding it in the direction they are heading.

“What the…” Carl gasps.

“No, no, no.” Dan mutters as he backs into a wall.

I let go of the jacket in the center of the tunnel they plan to take. All three train their lights on it as if it is a snake about to strike.

“You sure you don’t believe in ghosts?” Dan asks.

“Shut up. Carl, stop messing around.”

Carl throws his hands up. “Wasn’t me, I promise.” 

“Haha, very funny.” As Jack reaches for the jacket, I raise it off the ground and fling it into the air.

“The hell?” Jack yells as all three step back into the tunnel they came through.

“Told you it's not me.” Carl’s voice shakes and Dan is trying to hide behind him.

The moaning is loud and it's coming down the center split in the tunnel. While the boys are in shock, I take the jacket, raising it in the air. Their flashlights light it up, horror written across their faces. I charge, bring the jacket with me.

“Run like hell.” Dan screams as he retreats down the hallway at a sprint. Carl and Jack follow a few feet behind.

The demon appears. It's a mangled human male body that lets out a guttural cry as it sees the boys and heads straight for them. Jack keeps glancing behind so I follow, holding the arms of the jacket out like I’m trying to grab them. His eyes go wide as tires and he passes Carl and Dan as they turn the corner and run down the main hallway. 

The demon is only a few feet behind Carl and gaining quickly. He’s not going to make it, the door is too far and the demon is too fast. Jack crashes into the half-opened door and jumps onto the ladder with Dan on his heels.

The demon reaches out, its twisted fingers reaching for Carl’s neck, inching closer and closer. Less than an inch from entering Carl as he passes through the doorway, but I know it's too late. He won’t be able to climb the ladder fast enough. At least Dan and Jack will get away.

Unless…

With a surge of energy I dash forward at a wicked speed, my arms outstretched. I pass through the demon and enter Carl’s body. Behind me, the demon lets out an ear shattering howl that only I can hear.

It’s odd being inside a body and for a second I forget how to move, stumbling forward on my new feet and grabbing air instead of rungs with my flimsy arm movements. After a few fumbles, I manage to grip the ladder and climb. It's like I have my own exoskeleton, a body that I control from the inside that feels like my own body except, you know, visible and touchable. 

I’ve never tried this before but it works. The demon can’t get inside a body if I’m in it. I turn Carl’s head to look down at the demon as it foams at the mouth at the base of the ladder, refusing to rise to the surface. As I reach the top, I exit Carl. He lets out a gasping screech and topples over the edge, rolling out from under the forklift. The girls are in a panic as the bots yell at them to run. The five scramble to the exit, taking no caution for the glass in the broken window and diving out. I float to the top floor and watch them gallop to their cars and speed off into the night, back to their homes where they won’t get any sleep tonight. That’s okay. All that matters is they are alive and I have one more play in my arsenal to keep that demon out of people.

I grin as the sun begins to rise and wait for the next group of fools to wander in here looking for fun.