Silence After the Scream

There was only one rule; don’t open the door. The four of them were gathered around the abandoned hospital fire exit door. The warning sign hung at an angle with only one screw.

“You do it.” Billy egged on Sandy, nudging her lightly on the shoulder.

“No, I can’t, the tape across, the sign, the lights, it’s too much.” Sandy replied. There was a soft blue haze filtering out around the door. She looked to her boyfriend Lincoln who took a step towards it, but Darius beat him to it, and twisted the handle, opening the door wide. A whoosh of air blasted out, and what sounded like something between a deep growl and a horrific laugh escaped past them.

They sprinted, and regrouped around a streetlight, all three of them. Three? Where was Billy? They shouted and screamed his name, but to no avail. Terrified, they hoped he had gone home, so proceeded to their foster parents house in the hopes of seeing him there. He wasn’t.

The news in the morning read;

A fifteen year old has been found dead in the forest, cause of death: suicide.

They reported that he hung himself overnight, no note, no reason, no nothing. Lincoln wasn’t up yet, Sandy went to wake him. Darius heard a heart-wrenching scream, and sprinted upstairs to find Lincoln in bed, his head surrounded by blood, suicide by bleach.

There was no explanation, no understanding. Sandy went to tell their parents. But she never returned, Darius heard a gunshot, he ran to the bathroom, petrified. This had to be because of the hospital.

He looked in the mirror telling himself he was fine, then his face twisted into a horrific grin, his head cocked sideways, he grabbed his razer and slowly pulled it across his own throat.