As halloween seaon is now upon us, thought I would share another one of my short stories from my latest release – A short walk and other dark short stories, if you fancy a little creepy read at all.

A Short Walk

Moving day had arrived. It had been coming for what seemed like an age, but now it was here, Sadie felt as though there had been no warning. The alarm clock going off at 6am cutting through her sleep like an air raid siren. Dramatic, confusing and seemingly louder than any other morning, almost terrifying her out of bed. A long day stretched ahead.

It was almost lunchtime before the first van load was ready. Half open boxes and packing wrap strewn everywhere, why hadn’t she hadn’t finished this all before today? It seemed like only a few things left to pack, but once those few drawers, and cupboards, and extra trinkets were out and piled up, it seemed like a whole room full. Luckily it was a move to slightly bigger apartment, and this time it was a ground floor one, so no stairs at the other end!

Soon enough everything was done, only the large furniture and those extra boxes left until tomorrow when help would arrive. Until then, it was just what wasn’t too heavy for her to carry, stack and unload herself. New keys in pocket, old keys in hand, she closed the door on her old apartment and headed for the new one. The basics of a bed and table were already there, so at least she would be able to enjoy her first night after unpacking the essentials. It would be nice to have a bit more space where she was going, it was an old converted red-brick Victorian hospital, had high ceilings and tall windows allowing light to stream into the rooms. Now just called Hillsford Grange. It was hard to see how it was ever a hospital with such a grand feel about it, ornate looking solder or metal work at the tops of the windows. Curling round and back in on itself in a swirly motion, a very small gap between one swirl and the next, but looking continuous. Even though it was a recent refurbishment, the property had been derelict for a few decades before renovations and a number of older features had been retained. It was part of the charm of why she wanted to move there, as well as the sprawling gardens and it being only a short distance from the river.

She pulled up and got out of the van, and was surprised at how different the building looked on a grey day. Even though it was late afternoon in Spring, it was damp and chilly and the colour of the sky dulled the redness of the building somewhat, giving it a darker appearance. It all looked quite bleak in this light, not nearly as bright and inviting as Sadie’s first visit. She shivered and realised the damp was starting to seep into her jumper and down her neck. She would have a proper walk around later she thought, for now it was backwards and forwards with boxes.

It was an hour that felt like four, and by the end it her muscles felt like it had been twelve. The whole day and excitement of moving catching up with her. There was a pile of neatly stacked boxes to unpack tomorrow after the rest of the stuff got here. The bed was made, a few kitchen things out and it would just be a peanut butter sandwich for dinner, even if there had been real food in the house, she couldn’t be bothered to cook anyway. The need for a shower and pyjamas beckoned, but at least she could have a cup of tea and relax after that.

It could only have been about ten to fifteen minutes until she was back in the living room again about to put the kettle on, when she could see something seemed out of place. The boxes that were neatly stacked, weren’t quite so neatly arranged anymore. The corner boxes jutted out slightly and one box had clean moved off the top and was placed next to the stack. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, everything else was where it should be. She tried to think back to before the shower, maybe she hadn’t picked up that final box like the thought, and maybe she had nudged a corner on her way past which moved the other boxes out of place? She was tired, so could have easily been that she thought.

Shortly after a cup of tea and a quiet moment enjoying her new place, Sadie was tucked into her new bed in the almost empty room save for that one piece of furniture she was on. The busyness of the day ran through her head as she drifted off to sleep, and of the next day, more moving and unpacking to come. Soon dreams of removals vans and rooms swam through her mind, of jumble sales and bags of clothes, back-alley markets and furniture. It was kind of nice, walking through the tables of goods, thinking what might look nice in her new residence. Suddenly the dream changed location and she was no longer outside looking at stalls, but inside. They were lined up along the wall of a long corridor, very similar to the new apartment building. High ceilings and lots of rooms, but here they didn’t have any doors, and the walls were painted an off yellow colour. It didn’t look very appealing at all, but seemed fitting for a jumble sale location. Like the old churches and community centres that used to have them when she was a child.

As she neared where it looked to be a bigger room ahead, an invisible hand grabbed her arm and started moving her towards one of the rooms. She tried to turn around to see who had interrupted her path, but couldn’t turn around or adjust her position. Her elbow was in a vice like grip, locking her shoulder in place and making it hard to even keep walking properly. She yanked her arm away from whatever it was holding it, and instantly woke up having thumped her arm against the wall. Given the position she found herself in, it seemed that her arm got wedged between the bed and the wall, and now was throbbing where she had been trapped and was now free.

Falling back to sleep wasn’t as easy the second time round, her shoulder ached and each time a dream started it would very quickly end up being in the old hospital. She woke up countless times feeling agitated and trapped, wanting to be anywhere else but within the long halls, or finding herself wandering around the almost dark basement. Only knowing it was the hospital still as the walls were the same ageing yellow and it kept repeating every time she drifted back off into sleep.

Finally, there were no dreams and all was quiet for Sadie for the rest of the night. Soon enough though, the birds started chirping and the first signs of morning began to creep through the curtains. The alarm wasn’t due to go off for another hour, but after such a terrible night’s sleep, she was grateful for it being morning. And the first one in her new place, so quickly the thoughts of last night were cast aside, and the focus moved to getting the kettle on and preparing for another day of moving.

It was another tiring morning, even more so with not having enough sleep, but the hired help were friendly and efficient, doing all the heavy lifting and getting the van ready before midday. It was only short drive to the new place, and after an hour all the furniture was in and she had even talked them into moving it all into place for her. Well, talked them into it with a better tip than they would have got. Closing the door, Sadie turned round to face the mess. It looked so different from yesterday, all clear and airy. Now it seemed heaped and jumbled, like a store room. There was so much to be done to turn it into a home. She felt exhausted and decided a quick nap would be a better idea, just to get a bit of energy to tackle the mammoth task ahead.

It wasn’t a restful slumber at all, images of basements and jumble sales again, long corridors, people and noises. Strange faraway noises in the background of it all, almost like wailing or intermittent screams. Sadie snapped out of her nap on the sofa, sitting up and looking around the room, still sure she could hear the noises, fading away, but not quite gone. Maybe one of the other apartments had a television on that she could hear, you didn’t know how much noise came from other places until you moved in. But generally, so far, the place had been as quiet as a morgue. Sadie shuddered at that thought, suddenly realising that this having had been a hospital, then there would have actually been a morgue here. She hoped it wasn’t where her room was! Most of the layout was the same as the original building, they had just redone all the interior and tidied it up. Creating large apartments from a number of rooms, and making use of the previous large hall to put a gym, not that it appeared to get much use.

The atmosphere of the place seemed to get heavier as the day went on and evening drew close. Maybe a storm was coming, the weather had been funny for days and couldn’t seem to make up its mind if it was Spring, and was clinging onto winter, interchanging from one day to the next. By the time the sun dipped below the treeline, most of the place was sorted, main boxes unpacked and the rooms now looked as though someone lived there. Lamps on, curtains drawn, books on the shelves and rugs on the floors gave it the finishing personal touches it needed to feel like home.

But after bedtime was a different story. Another night of strange dreams, and the next night, and the next after that. Each time a bit more creepy and vivid, wandering the halls of the hospital, trying to get out of the basement with the worry of it being the morgue and she wouldn’t ever get out. Huge pipes were down there and laundry baskets getting her way as she tried to see through the dull light cast from the few grubby bulbs. It was rusty and damp down there, no windows and steam coming from the piped making visibility even worse. It was almost a relief to not find herself down there the following night, instead seemingly confined to the upper areas on the building. There were people around her, but no-one saw her or was aware she was there, or each other it seemed. Each body just randomly going through the motions of their role.

It was tiring. Each morning was like pulling yourself from thick mud, heavy legs and eyes that she just couldn’t shake and spending most the first part of the day yawning and trying to get motivated. It didn’t work and by mid afternoon it felt like it was bedtime again already. How did the days just seem to haze by like that? It was starting to feel that the days were becoming as dreamy as the nights. Another night of dreaming that started same as the last, the same nightly wander around the hospital, surrounded by empty people ignorant of each other aimlessly going about their routine. There was something so sad about them all, shuffling or just standing around, purposeless and lost. A wave of dizziness came over Sadie and she made her way back to her room, or where she thought it was. Because it wasn’t there anymore, the old layout had replaced it and there was a small bedroom now where her kitchen had been, and three more rooms down from it which she figured must be the living room and her actual bedroom. She didn’t know what to do so just sat on the bed, hoping she would just wake up and make this creepy grubby place go away.

She must have drifted off in the small dingy room as the next thing she knew, she was being woken and sat up by two women. Her brain was so foggy she couldn’t properly make out who they were, or why they were in her room.

“Come on Miss, no fighting now, we’re just going for a short walk”.

She tried to turn round to look at who the voice was coming from. Who would be calling her Miss? Why were there people in her room? Where was her room?

“Where are you taking me? Who are you?”.

She finally found her voice, but it sounded so small and weak, the words barely came out.

“Who are we? You are funny. We’re just going for a short walk, you come along now”.

She didn’t know why, but the words ‘A Short Walk’ filled her with dread and she tried to pull her arms away from the women. But she had no strength and could only think about thrashing out and running away from them.

They chuckled between themselves as they stood Sadie up.

“Looks like the milk worked then, don’t know why we didn’t think of that years ago, hurry up, we need to get this done before rounds”.

She didn’t know what they meant, what rounds? What milk? Where were they taking her? All these questions and more continued to swirl through her mind as she was taken on the short walk although it was more like being dragged between the two women as her feet didn’t seem capable of the simple one step two step needed to walk. Soon they had reached the river and Sadie’s throat tightened as she realised what they were going to do. She wished so much she has strength to fight them off, to shout or to scream and save herself. But she couldn’t, instead only being able to be there as an empty shell, like the other inhabitants.

“Come on Margaret, we haven’t got all night. It’s your turn to hold this one down, get in”.

With Margaret in the water, Sadie felt a big shove in her back and forward she fell, seeing the sinister face Margaret waiting for her as she hit the water. She woke up gasping for air, back on her bed and in her new apartment. Her eyes quickly darting around making sure everything was where it should be, she was where she should be. And she was, but she was wet. Her hair, her skin and bedclothes, all completely soaked, but her bed and duvet were dry. She shivered, that dream had been terrifying and so real, she felt like she was going mad. But at the same time, she knew she wasn’t, there was something else going on here.

She started her computer and searched for Hillsford Grange Hospital. But it turned out that isn’t quite what the building had been originally built for. Firstly, it had been Hillsford Grange Lunatic Asylum, right up until the 1950’s when they had rebranded it and changed the name. Sadie continued reading about the history of the place, the residents, the experiments, the ‘treatments’ used. There had been big fire, multiple accidents and incidents over the years, but two things made Sadie stop and her blood run cold. A picture of the Matron and her assistant. She didn’t even need to check the names to know the assistant was called Margaret. The second thing was in the list of incidents, as there was one in particular for a young woman, who apparently drowned accidently. In fact, as she read the list, there were a strangely high number of people young and old, male and female that appeared to meet their end in the river by ‘accidently’ drowning.

It was heart-breaking to think no-one knew what had really happened, that instead of it being a mental asylum, instead it became the murder asylum. She shivered at the thought and memory of her own experience, even though it was just a dream, it felt like more. She felt like this was now her purpose, to do something and make sure people knew what had happened there, and that someone would finally be able to lay these ghosts to rest and they could find peace.