Ghoulish, Eerie, Phantom

Flash Fiction written by Stefanie Gilmour

Writing Prompt

The three words given were: ghoulish, eerie, phantom. Story must be 440 words or less

Story

Carrie was uncertain breaking into the old asylum was their best idea. She waited anxiously for Brad as he explored a collapsed area of the roof. The weathered stone of the hospital wing jutted out of the rain-soaked ground like a jawline of crooked teeth. Her own teeth chattered as she watched the rustling tree canopy looming overhead. A gust of wind swept past, lifting her hair and surrounding her in a whirlwind of leaves.

“I found a way in!” Brad’s face appeared over the edge of the wall, floating like a pale phantom in the dark. “Climb on up.”

Her friend helped her up over the edge of the crumbling roof. Brad led her to a rafter that had fallen into a single story room. The friends inched along the makeshift ramp, their sneakers squeaking and slipping on the damp wood. They hopped down to the rubble-strewn floor. A graffiti-covered door stood ajar in front of them.

Brad crept ahead, pushed open the creaking door, and stepped into an eerie hallway. The hall vanished into inky darkness. They passed rooms, some locked while others were doorless. The room interiors they saw were a medicinal green, the paint blistered and peeling.

There was a tap on Carrie’s shoulder. She yelped, and spun to hiss, “What!?”

Wide-eyed, Brad lifted a trembling hand to point into a room beside them. This room was different. Unlike the others, the wall sconces flickered with life and cast leaping shadows across the walls. The paint was pristine, but it was covered in scrawling handwriting from floor to ceiling.

“Do you hear it?” Brad’s voice wavered.

A barely audible humming drifted out of the room. It was a woman’s voice, but distorted as if it was played through a poorly tuned radio.

Carrie cautiously approached the closest wall to examine the writing. She read aloud “I have been imprisoned here for 12 weeks. I miss Perry and the children with all my heart. I long for the chance to tell my husband how I was not myself when I attempted to drown little Jakob in the bath. The doctor says I am to be treated for insanity caused by childbirth.”

Carrie felt breath on the back of her neck. “Brad?” she whispered.

No response.

Eyes squeezed shut in fear, she lashed out at whoever, or whatever, was behind her. Her arms swung harmlessly through empty air. She opened her eyes.

Inches from the end of her nose was a woman’s charred face. The spectre smiled, electricity crackling in her empty eye sockets. Carrie was plunged into darkness as the slamming door muffled her last screams.