Category : Stories

Sub Category : Suspense/Mystery

This story doesn't take place long ago, I was 17 when it happened. I was in deep shit with my mom since I had been caught ditching school the day before. I had been caught a couple times before...more than a couple times to be honest. Anyways, due to my constant ditching I had been placed on “Academic Probation”. It was bullshit. I have to admit it was my fault though. The principal agreed to “help” me out as he said. Mr. Ashton gave my mother and I the choice between expulsion or volunteer work at our local psychiatric hospital. My mother immediately agreed that I would be happy to volunteer. “She'll start today”. She stared at me with those piercing blue eyes. “Jessica can start tomorrow. She'll begin her shift at 9:30. Night duty.” I have to say that bastard looked like he was excited about me “volunteering” if you can call it that. “Thank you, Mr. Ashton ” he smiled as my mother blushed meanwhile I had to attempt to hold back my vomit. I might have made a slight gagging noise. Thanks to that my mother grabbed my sweater and practically dragged me out his office. She didn't speak to me the rest of the day. School went by pretty fast the next day. It was sort of bittersweet, I suppose. I was excited that school was over and it was Friday then my dad texted me. “Don't forget you're volunteering today. Go home and get ready. Be careful. Love you”. I got home, did my homework, showered, ate and left. Mom didn't say a word and dad was away on a business trip. 


I wasn't worried so to speak. However, the closer I got to Waverly (the psychiatric hospital) the more uneasy I grew. I chalked it up to me just not wanting to be there but there were stories about that place. Waverly was over a hundred years old and it was pretty far from town especially for something considered “local”. It was pretty big too and gave off this kind of “impending doom” type of feeling when you looked at it. Then again what hospital, psychiatric or normal, didn't have some eerie stories about it floating around? Upon entering the decrepit hospital I was greeted by a girl in a blue security uniform, she looked about my age. She couldn't have been taller than 5 feet, her brown hair was in a neat tight bun on top of her head, her eyes were these glistening hazel color that shined with happiness. She looked way too out of place at the gloomy hospital. “Hi, you must be Jessica. I'm Melissa. You can call me ‘Mel’ if you’d like.” She provided a warm presence that was very much welcomed in the cold still hospital. “Uh, Jess is fine”. “Okay, great! Jess it is!” her voice was soft and sweet. Her smile kind. She took the time to show me around and explain what I'd be doing. It was maybe around 11 when Mel handed me a walkie talkie and said she'd be back in about 20 minutes. “Call me on the talkie if you get murdered” she said with a grin. I couldn't help but laugh. Some time later I realized it had been way longer than 20 minutes. 


I was bored so instead of using the walkie to get a hold of Mel I decided to look for her and try and scare her. I made it to the fourth floor when the power went out. I used the flashlight on my phone to see my way around. At just 10 past 1 in the morning I heard a loud ear piercing scream that made me jump back. Instead of fleeing like my brain was telling me to do, I instead ran towards the scream down the long hallway. That's when I saw her...it looked like her throat had been torn out. You could see the bone through the gaping hole. Her once blue uniform was now drenched in warm, sticky, crimson red blood as she lay sprawled out on the floor. Her glimmering eyes were now dull and lifeless. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Then I heard it. A disturbing and grotesque slurping noise coming from deep within the dark hall. My phone was the only light I had. I crept into the hall searching for the source of the sound. There he was. He had a tall and slender figure. His long thin fingers held the piece of Mel’s throat that had been ripped out. His face and shirt covered in her blood as he ate what had been ripped from her. As I tried to back away I slipped on her blood. He looked up at me with dark gloomy eyes. Without hesitation I high tailed it out of there. I ran as fast as I could down the flights of stairs. I tried to call for help but my phone wasn't getting any signal. I used the walkie talkie to try and radio any of the other guards or nurses but none of them answered. I couldn't help but wonder if maybe they were dead too, that is until I ran into another guard, literally. He was tall and slim with beach blond hair and green eyes that were almost intimidating to look at. “Are you okay?” his eyes filled with concern. “I...I thought you were dead” “why the hell would you think that?” “A patient or something just killed Mel!” I started crying hysterically. “Who the fuck is ‘Mel'?” “Melissa. The...the security guard.” “We don't have any guard named ‘Melissa'. Actually it's just me and Taylor tonight besides you and a few other nurses” “why didn't any of you answer?!” “Answer what?” he started to look at me like I was crazy. “I radioed all of you wh..when I found her...on the fourth floor. We have to go that guy is still on the loose.” “Nobody is allowed on the fourth floor” “why does that matter!?” he just looked down. “Come with me kid” he turned and began walking to the elevator. When did the lights come back on? How long have they been? I was so fucking confused. We made it to the third floor when he exited the elevator and walked down the hall to the staircase. Then I noticed the elevator didn't have a button to the fourth floor. I followed him up the stairs terrified we might run into that sick bastard. He unlocked the door and I had no clue what was going on. I had come up these stairs and left without a key. He walked to the spot where her body had been...it was gone. All that was there was a dry stain on the floor. “About 20 years ago...I think…” he turned to me “I was a kid then so I only know what they told me after I saw what you did. Anyways, 20 years ago a patient got out of his room when a nurse failed to lock it. While on her rounds a guard was murdered by him. He had..” I finished that sentence for him. “He had torn out her throat and ate it.” “yeah.” he faced me again. “After the incident they moved the patients to different rooms because every nurse, doctor, or guard that came by this spot witnessed what happened that night in a weird sort of flashback, I guess.” “She relives her death? Why did she talk to me? Why didn't she speak to other people?” “You can't say anything about this to anyone. It was covered up.” “why?” “The patient got away. He got shot in the neck and took off. Police searched everywhere for him but they never found him. Promise you won't tell.” “I won't.” 


It was around 2:30 in the morning now and I decided to leave. Before going home I snuck into the file room and found the file of the escaped patient. Tyler Grant. He had been admitted to the Waverly psychiatric hospital after his mother found out he was a cannibal. It's said he had lured and ate 3 people in 1991. He was 6”5 with green eyes and black hair. Born on December 16, 1972. He was 22 at the time he killed 20 year old Melissa Cruz on April 10, 1994. Tyler had a long scar across his back and a dragon tattoo on his stomach. If he survived the wound to his neck he'd also have a bullet scar. During the drive home I couldn't help but feel as if I had somehow seen him before. When I got home that night I couldn't sleep at all, then I heard a noise coming from downstairs. I saw my mom with Mr. Ashton. They were undressing each other. I didn't want to fucking see that so I decided to head back to my room when I caught a glimpse of a tattoo on Mr. Ashton’s stomach...it was a dragon just like the one Tyler had on his in the picture from his file. There was the scar on his back…..and the bullet wound on his neck…


I ran to my room and called the police. I begged them to hurry. That sick twisted bastard was in my fucking house...with my mom. I dropped the phone and headed to my door armed with my baseball bat. Before I could even make it out of my room I heard a loud scream and a thud on the floor. I was frozen with fear...I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. I wasn't going down that easy. If I was going to die I was gonna die fighting. My heart was pounding and beads of sweat formed on my face. My hands became clammy as I clenched the bat ready for whatever was coming. My doorknob rattled. I charged as the door swung open. I hit him in the head and ran downstairs. Slipping on my mother's blood I landed right next to her limp lifeless body. Her lips, left eye, and a chunk of her throat were gone. I got up I was ready to run when I felt a sharp pain in my side. I looked only to see a pair of scissors protruding from my body. A second sharp pain came as that fucker bit a chunk off my shoulder. I could feel my flesh being ripped away when the police arrived bursting through the door with guns ready. They watched in horror as he bit down on me again. One of the officers took him down with a clean shot to the head. I fell back and my vision blurred out. I awoke in a hospital with my dad by my side. Tyler Grant had been impersonating John Ashton and landed a job as the principal at my  school for the last two years. Before that he bounced around, stealing identities and eating people that sick fuck. His last victim: Lacey Anne Cortez January 3, 1973 - February 26, 2014. My father and I dealt with that night in different ways he moved on though...me well I'm at my favorite spot The san Francisco bridge. All I have left to say to whoever is reading this is I'm Jessica Leslie Cortez. Born January 11, 1997- April 24, 2017.