Echos of Midnight Secrets

Darkness Closing In

We each start going our separate ways and I find myself wandering without a plan on where to start searching.

The air smells musty and it's so quiet. The only thing I can hear is some dripping water that sounds far off.

This place is so creepy, and I find myself wanting to go back to my boring suburban life. I will never take it for granted again if I can just make it out of here alive with my friends.

Suddenly a flickering light catches my attention. It's a very faint glow and I'm surprised I was able to make it out.

Maybe it's one of my friends or even better a window that we can escape back out of. I decided to start going towards it and hope it's not another dead end.

As I'm walking, I hear the floor behind me creak. That starts my heart to go crazy again. My fitness watch must be loving this.

I strain my ears trying to make out any other sounds but am only met with silence.

I am going to push through and keep it moving.

I finally get close to a door that is cracked and this is where the source of the light is coming from.

I push the door the rest of the way open and find a dimly lit room. This must have been the old fancy room where people had parties back in the day.

The light is being cast from an old chandelier that sits in the center of the room. It was beautiful once upon a time but now is tarnished and caked with dust.

The air in here is very heavy and I can smell some of the books on the shelves.

The dust being cast from the chandelier makes the shadows it cast seem to dance along the walls.

I step even further in the room certain that there's no danger in here. That's when I spot a key laying on the table sprinkled with other trinkets and bits and bobs.

I pick up the key and it's surprisingly heavy for looking like it would weigh next to nothing.

I pocket the key quickly, praying that it will open the door Sarah found. As I put it in my pocket a sudden burst of air goes through the room causing the chandelier to sway.

I decide it's better to bolt and go find the others.

I quickly dart out of the room and back to the hallway. I hope I can remember what direction I came from.

I don't hear any signs from the others or that creepy man so I guess they must have wandered upstairs to the old offices.

I find the staircase that will lead me upstairs to where I will hopefully retrieve my friends and get the hell out of this place.

The dust floats in front of my flashlight making the place appear super hazy.

I finally get to the top of the stairs and find myself in a hallway with a lot of doors branching off to offices.

There's a sudden sense of foreboding almost like there are even more secrets stored here that weren't meant to see the light of day.

I must get started somewhere so I open the first door to my left. It's a small office space that is cluttered with files and photos strewn everywhere.

I notice a stack of old and yellowed newspapers in a corner and now I'm curious about them.

I pick up the one on top and start to read.

But the words blur before me.

This youth center was formerly a mental asylum called St. Margaret's Mental Asylum.

And I want to puke. I was not expecting this.