Haunted

Word Count: 877
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Tuesday

“That’ll be great!” Wayne Isham boomed into the receiver. Finally, the guy was giving it. It’d taken three weeks of sweet talking to get to this point.

“I’m coming with and if anyone says anything about a black dog I’m calling the whole thing and you’re all leaving.” Ted Shaw growled back. Wayne yawned and gave his okay and hung up as soon as he could and dialed another number. “Guys, I’ve got the perfect place.” He beamed.


Saturday

Though Linda Vista Hospital was in sunny California the drab, industrial grey exterior absorbed the sun and the ten story building kept the small storehouses around it in constant shadow. Trash skipped and rolled across the buckled parking lot and collected against the rusted chain link fence. The first two stories were boarded with scraps of metal and boards scavenged from the storehouses. Unskilled graffiti tagged the alley sides of the building and every few minutes a patrol car, marked and unmarked, coasted through the neighborhood.

Johnny stood on the catwalk six feet above while Matt settled onto the gurney below. Wayne’s happy voice echoed through the halls as he set up cameras and lighting. The sullen Ted guy that had been prowling around him all day was absent. The guy was with the state and there to make sure ‘nothing was disturbed.’ How much damage could they do in a hospital abandoned forty years before?

Bored and feeling wicked he tiptoed closer to the edge and leaned over making a hawking noise. Matt’s eyes shot up, “I fuckin’ dare you.” He growled. Brian’s cackle filtered down from the make-up area at the end of the hall. Johnny giggled and turned to get back to his position when Wayne called for order. At the other end of the empty catwalk billowing black smoke wafted through the grate. The indistinct cloud solidified into bristling fur, white teeth, and coal red eyes. The dog snarled and leaped at him. A hoarse scream tore out of him and he jumped back. Stomach dropping weightlessness overtook him for only a second and then he hit the floor.

Matt wasn’t strapped down yet when Johnny plummeted off the catwalk and he was the first one there. Johnny’s eyes were glazed and his chest seized and didn’t work. “Johnny, Johnny breathe.” He whispered. His eyes fluttered and short barking coughs rattled his chest, Matt held his torso still as he started to squirm. “It’ okay Christ, don’t move. You hit your head pretty hard.” Johnny stopped moving and calmer raspy breaths heaved in and out.

A medic kneeled next to him a moment later and began checking him over. “Definitely a concussion, how bad I can’t tell here.” He said. “You’re damn lucky you didn’t break your neck. Someone call an ambulance, I don’t want him moving his neck until he’s been x-rayed.” The medic barked. “What happened?” Brian’s warm hand pressed against Matt’s back as he leaned over his shoulder. Matt shook his head, “I don’t know. He must’ve lost his balance or something.”

“Where’d the dog go?” Johnny slurred. “How hard did he hit his head?” Zack asked working his way through the gathered crowd. “There’s no dog Johnny, you fell off the catwalk.” Matt said. Johnny started to shake his head and three people rushed to stop him, “Don’t move your neck Christ, you fell pretty hard.” Matt said. Ted Shaw’s sulky form straightened at the mention of the dog, “You saw a dog? A black dog?” he demanded. Matt glared at him, “There’s no fuckin’ dog here.” The guy had been interrupting shooting all day asking people about some stupid nonexistent dog. Ted glared right back, “There is a dog, it’s the form of the demon that haunts this place.”

The whole group quieted, waiting for the punch line. “Are…are you serious?” Brian asked, “You think a dog is haunting this place?” The smile in his voice wasn’t hard to hear. Ted stood his ground. “During the last three years Linda Vista was open patients and doctors reported seeing a large black dog roaming the halls. Within three days of seeing the dog they died, in unusual and violent ways. One doctor took a nap in autopsy and was put in the freezer over night. He froze to death trying to claw his way out. A patient fell out the fourth story window and another was accidentally injected with a blood thinner instead of a coagulant and bled out internally. The stories go on. All in all over three hundred fatal accidents were reported and all were people who complained about a dog running through the halls.”

Matt ran his fingers down Johnny’s arm while he thought. The idea was ridiculous, a demon dog, harbinger of death, but…Jimmy had only been gone a couple months. Was he paranoid of losing another friend, is that why he almost believed Ted?

“I saw a dog Matt, it scared me when it jumped and I fell back.” Johnny said fully coherent. Matt didn’t want to give in to the demon dog theory but he wanted his friends out of the hospital, just in case. “Well brat you’ve gotta go to the hospital anyway.” Matt said. “And you’re not going alone.” Zack finished.


A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing, flash really isn't my forte. :)