31 Floors - 11th Floor

The teens spent half an hour exploring the eleventh floor, but they found nothing. No patients, no doctors, no spirits of any kind. The only thing they could find were a bunch of empty recovery rooms and nurses stations. But what they also couldn’t find was another way up. Every way that looked like a possible exit only led to a dead end. After a while, they all agreed to stop for a while and decide what to do next.

They sat around a moonlit window, contemplating whether they should go back down or keep looking around this floor. Eventually the conversation turned to what happened to each of them when they got separated. Maya went first, telling them about how the vapors chased her to the top of the steps before they disappeared. Then Jenny went next, telling them all about the x-ray chamber and the translucent figure that attacked her. Then Darrel told them about the burn ward, and about how the burning patients trapped themselves in their own blaze. And finally Chris told them about his haunted elevator ride up and down the hospital. He told them about the surgery patient, and about how the elevator tossed him around as it bounced from floor to floor. But one detail of the story interested Jenny more that the rest…

“So, wait a second”, Jenny said, “You actually made it to the top floor?”

“Yeah…”, Chris replied, “And there was this guy sitting behind a big desk. But he wasn’t like any of the ghosts we’ve seen so far. He was… sitting in the dark. And he talked to me like he was… aware of me”.

“What do you mean?”, Darrel asked, “These other ghosts seem pretty damn aware of us”.

“It’s… it’s hard to explain”, Chris said, “It’s like… all these other ghosts have just been reacting to us. Like they’re aware of our presence, but that they’re just acting on instinct or habit when they go after us. This guy… it’s like he was waiting for me. Or should I say… he’s waiting for us…”

The others looked between each other, before turning back to look at Chris. “What exactly did he say?”, Jenny asked, listening intently.

Chris replied, “He said… he wasn’t ready to see me yet, and to come back later. Guys, whatever’s going on with this place, I think this guy might be the key.”

“I think you’re right”, Jenny said, “Maybe if we can figure out who this guy is, we might be able to solve this whole thing…”

“Yeah, and maybe find a way out of here…”, Darrel remarked.

“Guys, I don’t like this…”, Maya remarked, “If this guy’s really the one pulling the strings, couldn’t this all be one big trap? What if he’s just leading us through his little funhouse so that he can finish us off himself?”

“Look, I know it’s a risk”, Jenny replied, “But right now it’s our only way out of here.”

“IF we can get up there again you mean”, Darrel remarked, “In case you’ve forgotten, we still can’t find a way up. We might not have a choice here”.

“Well, if we do have to go back down”, Chris said, “Then I would highly recommend that we NOT take the elevator. It’ll probably launch us through the roof next time…”

“I don’t know man…”, Maya said, “If this is all part of this guy’s plan, then maybe he’s just keeping us here while he finds some new way to torment us.”

“Or…”, Jenny replied, “Maybe there’s something on the next floor he doesn’t want us to see, and that’s why we can’t find the way out”.

“Either way”, Darrel interjected, “How do we find our way up?”

From the shadows behind them, a new voice replied, “You don’t!” The teens stood up and turned to face where the voice was coming from. From out of the shadows, a weathered old man carrying a cane stepped out and glared at that teens.

“What do you think you’re doing in my hospital?!”

The teens stood there in silence, as they tried to make sense of the new arrival…