Chapter Text
A group of six young adults were finishing up the setup for their newest YouTube video. They had been granted permission to film a new ghost hunting video in an old mental institute that had been shut down because of malpractice and abuse. They had already done the pre-introduction scenes during the drive there and were standing outside of the hospital gates. Quite a few of them were excited. Only two were wary - Jay Walker and Lloyd Garmadon.
Jay normally wasn’t too skittish with cases of spirits haunting halls where they died unfairly. However, in an asylum founded on Catholic principles, demonic activity wasn’t out of the question. That was what scared him. He was a medium that could see, feel, and speak to ghosts but when it came to demons, he felt uneasy and could sometimes be thrown into visions. He was already feeling uneasy standing outside of the property. Only the heavens knew what he would feel once he got inside the actual building.
Lloyd was anxious for an entirely different reason. He didn’t have the knack for sensing entities outside of ghosts like Jay. But he was new to the whole “seeing ghosts” thing and would often get headaches or feel ill during prolonged encounters. In a mental hospital where there was said to be more than 20 different ghosts roaming the halls, Lloyd knew there was a good chance he would either need some ibuprofen or a break around an hour in. All in all, he was not looking forward to it, much less the part where they’re supposed to stay the night.
That’s right: stay the night. Not one of them was really looking forward to that part. They all believed to some extent, some more than others. Zane was the only one who was fully spiritual, though Jay - despite not being religious or spiritual in any way - did keep a rosary and small protective crystals by him when he slept in the places they filmed. Jay was a firm believer in the paranormal, just as Lloyd was. They were both fearful of everything that could go wrong. Cole was the most skeptical on the team. He believed somewhat but was also unafraid to do things most of the others could never think of doing. He could be reckless when it came to spirits, something Jay was very unnerved about. But he always ended up being just respectful enough that nothing bad would happen to him after the fact.
Lloyd, bundled up in a green fleece sweater, stood up with his full-spectrum camera and wandered over to where Zane was finishing up the 4K HD video camcorder setup.
“Is Jay almost done with the recorders?” the younger blonde asked, still feeling a little nervous.
Zane nodded. “He’s fitting Kai right now. Do you have your mic?”
“Nope,” Lloyd responded. “I still need my mic pack.”
Zane looked at the small cart where they kept the communal tech equipment and grabbed a forest green mic pack. “Here you go. Do you need any help getting it on?”
Lloyd gave the older man a kind smile and shook his head. “Nah. Thanks though.” Lloyd walked away tucking the pack into his back pocket and clipping the mic to his shirt collar.
The young man found Jay on the other side of the van, planting a kiss on his much larger boyfriend’s lips. The two men were swaddled in jackets meant for late fall, Jay shivering mildly at the frigid night time breeze.
Lloyd hummed to announce his presence, watching as the two men sprung apart. “Gross,” he joked.
A bright red blush dashed across their faces, burning an embarrassed fire into their cheeks. Jay shook his head with a playful glare and handed Lloyd two voice recorders. The boy happily skipped away, standing next to Kai as the man’s sister, Nya, helped clip his mic on.
“Alright,” Kai announced, trying to be loud enough for the other two to notice. “Is everybody ready?”
Jay and Cole rounded the corner of the van. Jay had a multitude of recorders with the lights on plus his flashlight and two backups. Cole had his file of history on the place. He had compiled all of the facts on the background of the place and had made sure to make a profile of each ghost they could find. They both had their overnight packs, just like the rest of the group, so they didn’t have to worry about going back and forth between the van and the asylum.
“Let’s get this show on the road!” Jay exclaimed, his demeanor not as exuberant as usual, most likely due to the wariness he was feeling.
Everybody sat in their color-coded folding chairs that were arranged in a tight arc in front of the camera.
“Nya, count us down!” Kai commanded.
Nya held up her hand to press the record button on the camcorder. “3… 2…” She left the one silent, her hand now down at her side.
“Good evening Night Owls,” Kai greeted. “Welcome back to Ninjago Mysteries. Tonight, we’re taking a look at Golden Meadows Mental Hospital as part of our investigation into the question: are ghosts real?”
Cole took over from there. “As with most places we look into, it doesn’t have the most pleasant history. This history makes it one of the most haunted places in Ninjago. Let’s break it down.”
Cole took the opportunity to read from his script, knowing they were going to put visuals over it in post and he wouldn’t be seen for a majority of it. “On August 18, 1900, Golden Meadows Hospital, then known as Sacred Heart Sanatorium, opened to treat patients with tuberculosis. On March 20, 1923, an even bigger version of Sacred Heart that we are now sitting in, opened to accommodate the overflow of patients from the tuberculosis epidemic. The hospital is 4 stories tall and was built in a secluded area atop a hill, where it was thought patients could be at peace and relax in the fresh air. Most importantly, it would quarantine the patients far from the crowded suburbs. Once the tuberculosis epidemic was somewhat contained, the sanatorium became Golden Meadows Mental Hospital for the Feeble-Minded. There was a pressure for the hospital to take in those with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, dementia, and bipolar disorder in order to fill the empty halls.”
Cole finished up the history for the rest of the video as well. Once he finished his readthrough, the group packed their chairs up into the van, knowing they wouldn’t need them until the next day. They grabbed any equipment they would need plus their bags and headed up through the lawn, pulling open the steel door to face the dark concrete halls. Zane kept the camera rolling and Lloyd had already begun to snap pictures. Jay was partially leaning on Cole, his eyes half lidded as his energy scoped out the area. Suddenly, Jay’s eyes rolled back and he let out a gasp.
“What!?” Cole inquired, voice filled with worry. “A-are you okay?”
Jay shook his head a bit to clear it before responding. “Yeah. I-I-I’m fine. I just…” He trailed off.
Kai’s flashlight started flickering. “Okay,” he said, drawing out the “a” sound. “Jay, you get the best results with the EVP. Wanna start talking?”
Jay nodded, his eyes mildly blurry with anxiety. “Okay. Okay okay okay. Um.” He held one of his three recorders in his hand, making sure the others were also turned on so he could cross-reference later. “Hello,” he greeted shyly. “I’m sorry if we’re intruding. I know this is your home and I know how annoying it can be for a group of random strangers to just barge in unannounced. We aren’t here to poke fun or insult you. We want to be respectful and ask questions so we can better know your story. It’s okay if you don’t want to answer, but-” He cut himself off with a soft, sharp intake of breath.
“O-oh,” Jay mumbled.
The others were used to this happening now. When it happened the first time, the other boys were confused as to why Jay seemed to be having a full on conversation with the air. When the group went back and listened to the recording, they were shocked to hear a voice responding to Jay’s questions - a voice that didn’t belong to any of them. That video was both the most liked and most criticized video they had ever posted. It was one of the videos that got them their large and ever-growing fanbase.
Back in the present, Jay was speaking to the air, the recorder held aloft in his hand.
“My name is Jay. What’s yours?” He was silent for a moment, listening for a response that none of the others could hear. “That’s a nice name.” The young man smiled lightly. “How old are you? I’m 20.” Another bout of silence. Jay’s mouth twisted into a frown. “Jack?”
Cole turned his head to Zane, mouthing clear enough for the camera to see. “Who is Jack?”
“Okay, you don’t have to tell me. Can you tell me why you were here?” Jay tried again. The silence was longer than the previous two. His eyebrows tilted downwards, a saddened expression taking over his normally cheerful face. “I’m so sorry that this happened to you. Thank you for speaking with us.”
Jay opened his eyes and tucked the recorder back into its holder. When he turned back to the group, he was met with worried gazes. He met Lloyd’s eyes first, knowing that the blonde could understand some of what the spirit had said.
“Did you hear him?” he asked, wanting to know if his psychic companion was as in tune with the energies in the hospital as he was.
“Pieces,” Lloyd responded. “I couldn’t hear everything but I definitely got the name.”
Jay nodded to himself. “Alright. Let’s keep moving.” He marched off down the hall, the bright blue of his sweater fading into the shadows as he moved ahead.
The others followed after him. Nobody wanted to be left alone for too long in these kinds of places. They all caught up to Jay and listened as Cole gave more background on the hospital.
“They used to perform shock therapies on this floor,” he explained. “Electroshock therapy, insulin shock therapy, metrazol shock therapy. They killed so many people by insulin overdose or accidental cardiac arrest. When I was looking into some of the specters we could see here, quite a few were on this floor.” Cole stopped in front of a door with the number 120 written in large block letters on it. “Room 120 belonged to a young man named Jack Bennett. Jack suffered from dissociative identity disorder. Whenever one of his alters fronted and the nurses found out or saw a shift, they would use electroshock therapy on him in the main operating theater. It’s pretty upsetting just reading this stuff. I couldn’t imagine living through it.”
Jay and Lloyd made eye contact upon hearing the name. Jack Bennett . The name of the ghost Jay had met and spoke to near the entrance.
“There’s not much else besides the body chute on this floor. I say we head up-” Whatever Cole was going to say next was interrupted by Kai.
“I’m sorry. Did you just say ‘body chute?’” Kai asked.
Cole nodded. “They implemented it when Golden Meadows was still a sanatorium. They didn’t want people seeing them dragging dead bodies around to ship them off so they made a long concrete tunnel that leads down to the base of the hill. They used it for the same reason when people died in the asylum.”
Kai jumped at the chance to see more freaky stuff. “Well then, what are we waiting for? Jay,” he called, “do you think you can do some more hoodoo stuff down there?”
Jay rolled his eyes hard, making sure the camera would see his exasperation in 4K. “Number one: it’s not ‘hoodoo’ or ‘voodoo’ or anything that you like calling it, okay? It’s reading psychic energy and auras. Number two: I really don’t know. It would depend on if there’s spectral energy in the tunnel.”
The fiery brunette sighed at the lecture he got. “Let’s just go.”
The unofficial leader followed Cole’s instructions to the stone structure connected to Rosemary Hall, the one building they were allowed into out of three. The group wandered into the shack-like structure and looked around, five beams of light projecting around the box-shaped room.
Lloyd stopped taking pictures, staring at the dark turn that would lead to the actual chute. “Oh no. Absolutely not.” Lloyd shook his head, brows furrowed. “This is terrible. I hate this.”
Cole laughed, swinging his light around and approaching the turn. He illuminated the tunnel and his jaw dropped. “Holy shit. Yeah, I’m not going down there alone.”
The others gathered around him and looked down into the void of the tunnel. There was a chorus of “nope”s and “fuck no”s from the group. Jay and Lloyd met eyes again and nodded, coming to a silent agreement.
“Alright,” Lloyd announced. “Let’s do this in pairs. We partner up, then set up at increments. We’ll do quarters, yeah?”
“Wait,” Cole interrupted. “If we do quarters, that’s four groups. Two people are gonna be solo.”
Jay nodded, responding for the blonde. “Lloyd and I will be set up at the top and bottom. We hear things that you guys can’t. If we’re alone, we might be able to catch more activity than if we were partnered.”
Cole and Kai immediately disapproved. They weren’t going to let their boyfriend and brother, respectively, go off on their own when their mental states could be impacted negatively. Cole gripped Jay’s arm tightly, but not so tight as to be uncomfortable, and looked right into his eyes. Jay felt as though his boyfriend was staring right into his soul.
“I’m not letting you do this. Remember what happened last time?” Cole inquired, his voice mildly patronizing but caring all the same.
Jay sighed. Yes, he did remember. There was no way he could forget his third hunt.
They were working a job, trying to determine if a family was being tormented by a spirit. The family allowed them to create their first documentary with the footage from their home after they turned it over to the church. Jay was sitting across from the parents of the house as Cole asked them questions about the events going on. They were recording the conversation and Jay could start to feel himself drift like he normally did when he was feeling out spectral energies. His eyes slipped shut and he suddenly appeared outside of his body. He walked around, taking the path of the serial murderer who had inhabited the home before the current owners. The previous owner killed his family while they slept and Jay saw all of it, lived all of it. It felt so real and he felt his soul draw back into his body as his boyfriend shook him. The other ghost hunters - before Lloyd had joined - had arrived by that time and were watching as he came to, screaming in fright. He told them what he saw and from then on they tried to prevent Jay from having another out of body episode.
“This might be the best chance we have of getting anything from the tunnel.” He paused briefly, contemplating. “How about this? You can walk me down as far as you’re comfortable with your tunnel buddy before going back up. You can decide how long I stay down there, okay?” The brunette knew that the only way he could get his mother hen of a boyfriend to let them do their jobs was to negotiate.
Apparently, Cole was satisfied with Jay’s bargain because he nodded his consent. “One minute only. That’s all you’ve got.”
“Okay,” Jay agreed. He then looked at Lloyd. “I’ll ask the first question, then we’ll alternate. One question every fifteen seconds.”
The blonde startled. “That’s only four questions!”
“Better make them count, then.” Jay’s smirk did nothing to hide his own unease at the short time limit. “Take as many pictures as you can, okay?” He didn’t wait for the youngest man to answer before grabbing his boyfriend and Zane, dragging them toward the steep decline into the dark. “Everybody’s got their body cam, right? Night vision and everything?”
After getting the unenthusiastic consent from everyone, the smallest ghost hunter dragged his boyfriend and friend into the dark.
The only thing the other three could hear was the echoing footsteps that followed and Lloyd’s camera shutter clicking every few seconds. Eventually, the sounds stopped and turned into relieved sighs.
“Oh thank god,” Jay exclaimed. He called out to the three still at the top. “It only goes a quarter of the way! It’s not that far!”
Cole’s voice called up next. “We’re heading up! Kai, Nya, start heading down to your spot.” All that followed was the sound of two pairs of footsteps echoing back up the chute only to stop shortly after.
Eventually they were all in place, flashlights still on and shining at the concrete walls. One of them called “Lights off!” though none of them really knew who it was. It might have been Nya, though there was really no telling. The lights flickered out one by one until all six of the ghost hunters were plunged into darkness. The silence was deafening, screaming into each of the present ears like an untuned orchestra, a cacophony of unheard sound.
“Is anyone there?” Jay’s sudden question startled the others, sending jolts of panicked electricity up each spine. “Please let us know if you are present.”
Lloyd counted down the seconds as he snapped as many photos as possible, trying to ignore Jay’s gasps and whimpers as they echoed through the tunnel - the man had made contact with something. As Lloyd took his photos, he could catch whispers of words spoken from the mouth of something not quite tangible. After the fifteen seconds were over, he asked his own question. “Did you die in the hospital?”
Another fifteen seconds. “If you don’t mind us asking, how did you die?”
The last question. Make it a good one. “Why were you brought here?”
Lloyd heard a deep growl, one that rattled in his head, though not one that the non-empaths could hear. Suddenly, a shriek echoed out after only five seconds, followed by the frantic footsteps of a light-footed young man sprinting towards him.
“Get out! Get out get out get out get out get out!” Jay shrieked the entire way back, the others hot on his heels.
Nobody spoke until they made it back to the main building. The six stood together, four of them surrounding Jay and Cole. The smaller male stood nestled closely in his boyfriend’s arms, sobbing quietly.
“What happened down there?” Cole asked. “What did you see?”
Jay shook his head sullenly, fearful tears streaming down his face. “It wasn’t what I saw ,” he said. “It’s what I felt . Something brushed against my neck. I-I think it t-tried to grab my a-a-arm. It was so angry…” The man curled in on himself, sobs wracking his body.
The others all looked among themselves. Kai took the lead, not wanting to push or pull any more than the others were comfortable with. “Do you guys need to sit this one out?”
“N-no!” Jay exclaimed, attempting to dry the dwindling tears. “I’ll be okay. Just… let’s not separate like that again. Deal?”
“Deal,” Nya echoed.
“Just, uh… just let me-” Jay reached into the small, front-most pocket of his overnight bag and pulled out a thin silver chain with a small pendant made of black tourmaline hanging from it. His shaking hands brought the chain over his head to loop around his pale neck. After a few deep breaths and a tight grip on the dark crystal, Jay nodded, determined. “Okay. I’m ready.”
Everyone was a little more at ease. Zane, who had accidentally turned off the camera in the rush, started recording again. Nya grabbed one of Jay’s spare recorders so he couldn’t force himself to be alone again. Lloyd pat Jay on the back before walking over to Kai and setting up the EMF reader. Cole never let his hand leave Jay’s back, maintaining the comforting presence.
After exploring the first floor as much as they were allowed, the group of young adults made their way up the concrete staircase at a leisurely pace, none of them willing to rush to the second level.
The second floor was more skeletal, many of the walls cracked and crumbling due to the lack of maintenance. The hospital ghost tours normally didn’t go farther than the first floor. When they did, the groups normally learned about the architecture itself. Therefore, the owner of the building saw no reason to keep the walls intact. This fact did, however, make the floor that much more fear inducing.
Cole started up on his history and facts, knowing that he more than likely would be repeating himself in the recording room the next day during the editing session. “This floor was made to be the children’s ward. When they started taking in more tuberculosis patients, the ages got melded together since there wasn’t enough room to keep them separated.”
“Any fun ghosts we should be wary of?” Kai asked.
Cole took out his phone, looking through his files and notes. “There’s a kid somewhere in this room over here.” He led the group into a nearly intact room, the only objects in said room being a small wooden chair and an old Fisher-Price plane. “His name is Brad. Apparently he likes playing with the plane and doesn’t like people touching it.”
“Are either of you feeling anything?” The question came from Nya this time.
Jay, knowing what she was getting at, focused more seriously than he normally would, going through each energy thoroughly before answering. “I’m not feeling anything. There isn’t really anything on this floor.” Reluctantly, he nodded at his boyfriend. “Do what you need to, just be respectful please.”
Cole gave him a thumbs up that was supposed to be reassuring, not that Jay would relax any further. “Okay. We can’t feel anyone in this room. So, either people are lying, or you’re a coward!”
Lloyd nearly collapsed in on himself. “God, how does he do this and why do you let him?”
Jay sighed. “I ask myself every time and still have no answer.”
“I get it: you’re a kid! But so was I, Brad, you’re not special.” Cole wandered to the middle of the room, making sure to stay in frame as Zane followed his movements with the camera. “I hear you like planes. Is this yours?”
“Remember, he doesn’t like people touching it,” Nya reminded.
“I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt right now. Give us a sign that you’re here! Move that plane, Brad! If you don’t, I’m gonna touch it.”
Kai joined in. “He’s serious! He doesn’t lie about things like this.”
Cole nodded along, bending slightly at the waist in anticipation. “I’ll give you… thirty seconds! Thirty seconds, okay?”
Jay had a hand on his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. Zane made sure to pick up his expression, as it was mildly entertaining. “Why do I love him? He’s gonna get killed.”
“Time’s up!” Cole called.
Almost everybody tensed up as Cole scooped the plane up and flew it around, playing with it like a small child would. He held it aloft, bringing it into a circle around his body as he made plane noises. If the group weren’t tensed up in anticipation, the act would have been funny. The muscular male finally “landed” the plane back on the ground and straightened up, a satisfied smile on his face.
He looked at Jay and Lloyd, eyes glimmering with childish glee. “Anything?”
The two tried to sense the room once more and still found nothing. At the slow shakes of two heads, Cole grinned at the camera.
“Another point for Cole! That’s 37 for the Believers, 53 for the Non-believers.” He looked at Kai, who was out of frame. “That means I’m winning, Kai.”
The brunette made a disgruntled sound from his place beside Zane. “I still can’t believe that you’re denying the existence of ghosts when your boyfriend is the way that he is.”
Cole chuckled. “Hey, I’ve never experienced ghosts for myself. I’ll give Jay the benefit of the doubt because he’s been through some freaky stuff that can’t really be explained. However, there hasn’t been anything to support this place being haunted!”
“What about that thing in the chute!?” Kai exclaimed, incredulous. His arms were gesturing in wide arcs, so wide that his scarred tan hands could be seen in the viewfinder of the camera.
Cole shrugged jokingly. “I don’t know. Could have been a ghost. Could have been a raccoon.”
The comment got Jay to laugh, some of his lingering tension from the chute incident fading at his boyfriend’s antics. “I honestly don’t want it to be a raccoon because that means I missed my opportunity to pet him.”
“What!?” Kai shrieked. “You’re taking his side?”
Now it was Jay’s turn to shrug, the camera picking up his wide blue eyes shining with fake innocence. “Are you saying you wouldn’t want to pet the raccoon?”
Lloyd nodded from his place at the brunette’s side. “I would. Maybe a possum, too.”
Jay’s eyes widened in excitement. “Ooh! I’d love to pet a little feral man.”
Kai muffled a frustrated scream into his hands before marching out of the room and down the hall, closely followed by his friends. They were, of course, still laughing about all of the small rodents that they would want to pet. In an attempt to keep the group on track, he asked Cole for another recorded ghost.
The taller man looked through his notes once more before taking the lead. He led the group down the main hall before turning a corner, veering to the left down a hallway located just before the stairwell. Cole stopped just in front of a room that had almost deteriorated, the number 216 almost completely faded from its place over the door frame.
“A young woman, unnamed. Visitors claim that she drifts around the halls but always returns to room 216. The records aren’t available to the public, but it’s believed that she was a patient with a personality disorder. Rooms 210 through 230 were considered the “behavioral ward” where patients with personality disorders were housed.” Cole turned a little sheepish as he turned back to the group, fully facing the camera. “I didn’t really understand most of what I was reading, so Jay actually knows more about this than I do.”
Jay let out a quiet laugh. “Is this your way of asking me to take over?”
“If you could, please,” Cole responded.
“Like Cole said, she most likely had a personality disorder, although they were primarily diagnosed with simply ‘abnormal personalities.’ Anyone who exhibited overly emotional, unpredictable, or anxious behaviors were in this sector. Rooms 200 to 209 were all patients with bipolar disorder, then known as manic depression.” Jay led the group into the room, standing in a heavily graffitied corner as he spoke. “Most people - those with psychology backgrounds, mostly - speculate that she had avoidant personality disorder.”
“Why’s that?” Nya asked.
“She doesn’t show up in the same place or walk at the same pace,” he explained. “When she is seen, it’s almost as if she’s running away from the tour groups. Most of her sightings are reported by people who were alone.” Jay made sure to look directly into the camera before saying, “Now, this isn’t 100% accurate. There could be a number of reasons why she does this, this is just what’s been speculated. This evidence was compiled from forums and our own research and we aren’t looking to formally diagnose this or anything and I could be wrong. Please don’t take this as complete fact.”
“Yay, disclaimer,” Nya said. “We should probably include that at the beginning of the video since you might be doing your little shrink thing a lot here.”
Jay pouted at the girl. “Don’t call it a ‘little shrink thing.’ But I agree, we should add a disclaimer at the beginning. Probably one for jumpscares or loud noises, too, if we include the whole chute thing.”
“Good idea,” Zane said. “I’ll make a note for Skylor.”
Kai took over once again. “Alright, well we obviously won’t be getting anything out of this room. If she only shows up when we’re alone then she isn’t going to show up at all for us.”
The others all agreed, either physically or vocally, and the group of six left the room, heading back down the hallways to the stairs. The six all trampled up the stairs, looking at the cracked cement and iron rods sticking up out of the ground where the concrete had crumbled away. Cole led them around until they reached a large, open room with cloudy window panes looking out at the asylum courtyard.
“Okay,” he said, setting his bag down near one side of the room far away from the doors. “This is where we’re staying for the night. And let me say, I don’t like this.”
“None of us like it, Cole,” Kai retorted.
The taller man turned to look at his friend with wide, unbelieving eyes. “You were the one who wanted to stay! You made sure we would stay in this room specifically.”
Nya raised an eyebrow. “Why this room?”
Zane made sure to aim the camera at Kai as he explained.
“Oh you know… Some people died in here.” Kai winced as the shouting started.
“What!?” Jay screeched. His scream echoed off the walls down to the darkest parts of the building. His eyes were brimming with unshed tears, fear written on his face.
Lloyd was in the same shape as his fellow psychic. “What do you mean? Who died here?”
“I can’t believe you, Kai!” Nya shouted, furious at her brother. “You can’t be serious. We are not staying here!”
Zane lowered the camera, letting it hang with his arm at his side. “I have to agree. We shouldn’t be staying here.”
“It’s not that bad!” Kai protested.
“Not that bad!?” Jay had a wild look in his eyes, frustration with his friend building up. “Kai, someone died in here! We shouldn’t be sleeping here!”
“People sleep in here all the time!” the man retorted. “It was either here or another equally haunted place!”
Lloyd took a deep breath before raising his hands to get everyone else’s attention. “Okay. I don’t feel anything. Jay?”
The auburn haired man, now that he was panicking a bit less, concentrated on the room. “I… maybe? Can’t really tell. It’s foggy, almost like they don’t want us to know it’s there. But it’s not malicious. I think it’s more… a defense mechanism. They don’t want us to engage so they’re trying to hide.” Jay looked at a corner of the room opposite where the group was huddled and gasped. “Kai?”
The man in question whipped his head up to look at his friend, surprised that he was being addressed. “Uh, yeah?”
“When you said ‘some people died’ here… were they two nurses?” Jay asked.
“Yeah, actually… Why?”
The auburn haired boy remained staring at the corner, eyes wide. “Cool,” he responded, his voice almost a whisper. Suddenly, he called out “Is it alright if we slept here tonight?” in a kind voice, the kind one would make so as to not startle a wild animal.
The room was still for a few seconds, silent except for the quiet breathing of the six young adults.
A small smile rested on his lips before he spoke again. “Thank you. We’ll try not to disturb you any more tonight.” He turned back to the group, who were watching in confusion. “They’re very nice ladies. I think we should sleep now.”
With that, he set his pack down on the ground and laid out his bedroll beside Cole’s things. The others got to unpacking, though much slower than Jay, arranging themselves into a loose circle. Cole unrolled his own sleeping bag next to Jay’s before unfolding a thick fluffy blanket, perfect for keeping one warm in the late fall. Kai set up on their left, back facing the solid brick wall with his flashlight aimed toward the ceiling to act as a lantern. Lloyd was laid out on the blankets he had unpacked, clicking through the photos he had taken and looking for any orbs, apparitions, or shadow figures. His bag was open on its side, spilling out some of the other contents, like one of Lloyd’s comics and a second SDHC card. Nya and Zane were sitting with their backs to the rest of the cold, dark room, rounding out the circle. They had a shared notepad between them with pens and colorful sticky notes sprawled out on one of their blankets as they started making various notes about the footage that they had. Everyone else made sure to have their GoPros on for the night, the batteries fully charged.
Jay dug around through his bag before drawing out a dark glass container. He pried the lid off, his body camera catching the contents. Most videos they post - especially when they’re staying the night somewhere - have at least one or two clips of Jay’s crystals. He had similar ones almost every hunt, but the viewers really enjoyed hearing all about the protective properties of Jay’s collection. His mic, still attached to his shirt collar, picked up his words as he explained each crystal and rock that he brought.
“Most of you know that this big oval-shaped white one is selenite. It’s probably the one I’ve had the longest and the one I always have with me. I use it to charge all of the crystals that I bring with me. Charging crystals with the sun or moon is nice and all but I lose track of time whenever I try to charge ‘em like that. Moving on.” He set the selenite back in the container and pulled out a large black crystal, similar to the one around his neck. “This is black tourmaline. This creates a field around your aura that protects against negative energies and EMFs. Pretty handy on ghost hunts, if you ask me.” Instead of placing the crystal back in the tub, he set it on the floor. He picked up a cluster of purple crystals from the bin and held it aloft. “This is an amethyst cluster I found in a geode! I use it to help control my anxiety on hunts like this.” He set the amethyst down next to the chunk of tourmaline before reaching into the container once more. “This,” he said, holding up a rock, “is a Hag Stone.” The rock was large and flat with smooth holes worn through it. “It’s supposed to protect against the dead, like spirits and stuff. I like the vibe it gives off.” He set it down with the other crystals before replacing the lid on his container and placing it back in his bag. “I’m going to put the tourmaline under my pillow and the rest are going above Cole’s and my sleeping bags.”
“What, no rock magic for us?” Kai asked, sounding exaggeratedly hurt.
Jay snorted, amused. “Not until you stop calling it ‘rock magic.’”
“Then what should I call it!?” Kai was throwing his hands around in wide motions, dynamic even as sleep was settling in.
Jay thought for a moment before shrugging and turning away. A smirk slowly formed at Kai’s insistent yelling that the smallest ghost hunter was being unfair. The smirk was still on his face as he sat down next to Cole, leaning into his large boyfriend’s side. The black haired man wrapped a beefy arm around his petite partner, tuning the others out with his noise-canceling headphones. Soft rock music played through the speakers, lulling him into a calm state where it would be easy for him to fall asleep.
Soon enough, all the others started to get drowsy and decided to settle in for the night. Lloyd brought out a small lantern that would provide just enough light for them to see some of the room. He laid next to it in his sleeping bag and three extra blankets. Kai huddled under his blanket, making sure that he was barely visible, following the “it can’t get me if it can’t see me” method. Nya was in a similar state, her ponytail undone and her hair ruffled up on her pillow. Cole and Jay were cuddled up next to each other, bodies pressed against each other in their sleeping bags and covered by the fluffy blanket Cole had unpacked earlier. Zane was flat on his back, his sleeping bag around him like a cocoon with another blanket on top to keep him warm.
They had one camera set up above them on a tripod and a second one facing away from the door to catch the whole group from the side. Both cameras were equipped with night vision and enough battery to last through the night. They all also had their phones to take videos with if they ever woke up in the middle of the night.
They used to skip filming through the night until they posted a video of Lloyd’s first hunt with them. The boy thought he was like the others, unable to see or hear anything beyond the living world, and Jay was still in the phase of being heavily scrutinized for his gift. There were quite a few non-believers in the beginning. Before Lloyd had come along, Jay would ask for the night not to be recorded. The others - aside from Cole - didn’t really understand until he pulled an old stuffed bear out of his backpack and snuggled up to Cole during their second hunt. Fans were alright not seeing them all sleep through the night and they were fine not wasting battery every time they slept in a new location. That all quickly changed with Lloyd’s first overnight hunt.
Everything went smoothly as they wandered through the halls, talking about the ghosts and running through different ways of communicating with the other side. Eventually, they settled in for the night. Everyone set up as they usually did, Zane turning off the video cameras and putting them back in their cases. Cole and Jay cuddled up next to each other, a blanket thrown over them. Kai and Nya were bickering over what time they needed to wake up. And Lloyd was resting in his sleeping bag, waiting for sleep to take over. It did, for a time. Until, in the middle of the night, Lloyd was awoken by a loud scream. It sounded as though someone was begging for help in a different room in the house. He decided not to investigate and instead pulled out his phone and began to record. He yelled loud enough for the others to wake up. No one else could hear the screaming except for Jay, who immediately covered his ears and started whimpering in pain. Cole checked on his boyfriend, wondering what could be setting off his senses so late at night.
Lloyd commanded Zane to turn on the EVP to pick up the screaming. The others still couldn’t hear the screaming, but they heard Lloyd loud and clear because he was shouting loud enough to hear himself. He gestured for the others to follow him through the house to the room where the screaming was coming from. He led them to the bedroom and suddenly, the screaming stopped. When they went back and checked the EVP for their video, they heard the screaming and pleading for help. Needless to say, they started filming their nights from then on, regardless of Jay’s comfort item.
Throughout the night, many of them woke up periodically. Some of them, like Nya and Lloyd, weren’t comfortable with sleeping in new places. Others, like Jay and Kai, were light sleepers. Every time one of them awoke, they would pull out their phones and record, stating the time and how the night was going. Once, Jay shook Cole awake because he’d heard something and wanted to know if his boyfriend could hear it too. The taller man confirmed that it was just the old building settling and the two went back to sleep. Lloyd had migrated to the sliver of space between Kai and Nya, squeezing his body between his surrogate siblings. Zane slept through the night.
Morning came and they were quick to wake. Everyone was up pretty quickly, all of them wanting to get out as fast as possible. As they wandered back down the halls, Lloyd and Jay stopped just outside of one door. Zane trained the camera on them.
“What?” Kai asked. “Are you getting something?”
“No…” Lloyd mumbled uneasily. “It’s nothing. Let’s keep moving.”
The others agreed and they continued on their way out of the decrepit building. Once outside, the crew packed up their things into the back of Cole’s truck. He and Jay jumped in the cab while the others joined Kai in his van.
They rolled out, leaving the haunted hospital to the ghosts.