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They know I don’t handle jumpscares or surprises well, yet they still somehow convinced me to do this. Catnap, myself, Bobby, and Hoppy are all in one car with Bubba, Kickin, Picky, and Crafty in the other. They convinced me to join them in exploring an abandoned hospital on Halloween somehow, but it's too late to back out now.
“Catnap, how much longer until we reach the hospital?” I look at his phone but it only has directions on it, no map or anything like that.
(✩)“Its not far if I’m reading the map right.” His voice comes from the radio we have in our car. It was the only way for all of us to go together and still stay in contact. I doubt we have any signal this far out.
(☾)“He’s right. Me and Bubba went over the route multiple times before we headed out.”
“Ok. I just don’t want us to get lost.” He looks away from the road and gives me a smile.
“Don’t worry, we have an emergency way to contact someone if we need to.” That doesn’t help to ease my worries but I trust they wouldn’t put all of us in danger. The van Bubba is driving pulls off to the side, letting me see the hospital we are about to explore. Catnap pulls up next to him and turns the car off. Getting out I stretch before coming around to meet up with the rest of the group.
(☾)“Alright guys, me and Bubba came up with an amazing plan. Lets all split up in groups of two. All of us get flashlights and a radio. Use the radio to keep in contact.”
(☀)“Umm… I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”
(✩)“Come on Dogday, where is your adventurous spirit at?”
“It’s here but… I’m just nervous is all.”
“Our brave leader is nervous~ Hopefully his big, strong kitty can protect him~” Catnap and I give Kickin the middle finger at the same time, making everyone else laugh.
(💡)“Ok, ok. Enough teasing, take a flashlight and a radio and we can start this adventure.” Bubba opens the back of his van to reveal eight flashlights and six radios. We all grab one of each with Bubba and Catnap grabbing the radios from their cars. We start making our way towards the hospital.
“Wait, I think I forgot something.”
(☾)“Want my help?”
“Sure.” Both Bubba and Catnap head back to his van and look around in the back for a while. Coming back I see that each one has another radio.
(💡)“Just to make sure we have a backup. Now we can go exploring.”
As we all enter there is an immediate four way split. Bubba and Kickin take the right, Bobby and Hoppy the middle right, and Picky Crafty take the left one. That leaves the middle left to me and Catnap.
“Well, looks like it's just gonna be us for some time.” I look up at Catnap.
“It won’t be that bad. We just want to see how scary abandoned buildings are, and Halloween landed perfectly for all of us to get together.”
He takes the lead, walking through the dark and dusty halls. It’s mostly just empty rooms with the occasional gurney or other equipment left about.
“Oooh, what's that up there?” He runs ahead of me and around a corner. Rushing to catch up I round the corner but can’t find him. Not even his light or a reflection of it.
“Catnap! You can come out now!” … But he doesn’t respond. My radio crackles to life, making me jump.
“Yo guys, is anyone else hearing these weird sounds? It’s like… someone walking around.”
“Kickin, there are eight of us in an abandoned hospital. Someone could just be a floor above you and be walking around.”
“No it sounds… like they are close to me.”
“Kickin, where did you wander off to?”
“Guys, I think I just saw someone walk from one room into another.” I can hear the quiver in his voice.
(⚡)“Is Kickin going to be the first one murdered?”
(☀)“HOPPY! Do not joke about stuff like that.”
“What’s wrong, are you getting scared~?” I can feel the grin she has through the radio.
“AHHH-!”
“Kickin? KICKIN!” The silence draws on for way too long to be a joke, even for him.
(☀)“We all need to meet back up and look for Kickin, now!” This is no longer a joke. We need to find Kickin and Catnap.
Continuing my solo exploration I cautiously check every corner and room. Everything will be fine, Catnap must just be playing a prank on us, right? But he isn’t the kind to do that, he knows how easily I get scared. Someone screams, the sound echoing around the hallways and rooms until it fades.
“Was that Bobby?”
(⚡)“That had to have been. How did they get her as well?” Even now Hoppy has a quiver to her voice.
“I don’t know, but we NEED to group up again. Head back to the entrance right now.” This is no longer a joke or a prank. The building is a maze, almost making me get lost, but I find myself back at the entrance. Bubba also shows up.
“Thank goodness you are here. Catnap disappeared not long after we started exploring and now Kickin and Bobby are gone.”
“Dogday, they could be playing a cruel prank on you.”
“Why would they do that? What would make Catnap and Bobby want to do something like that to me?”
“I’m not sure, but why didn’t you include Kickin?”
“It’s Kickin, he would do that at any opportunity.”
(✎)“I think I hear them now.”
“Run away, we’ll find you!”
“I don’t think I have enou-” She’s cut off before she can finish what she was saying.
“Crafty! Picky, why weren't you with her?”
“I was, they came out of nowhere and grabbed her. I wasn’t fast enough to catch them.”
(💡)“Get back here quickly, we’ll have more power in numbers.”
Hoppy just now arrives back at the entrance with us.
“So we're waiting on Picky to get back, right?”
“Yeah, she’s the last one who hasn’t been caught.”
Curse my luck because as I say that we hear here scream, but it’s much closer than Kickin’s and Bobby’s. Hoppy runs in that direction so we follow behind her. As we round the second corner I catch a glimpse of Hoppy being carried away by someone.
“GET BACK HERE!”
Doubling my efforts to chase them I don’t notice Bubba falling behind until it’s too late. They run past me and at Bubba, picking him up on their way. Trying to chase after them I trip on something but catch myself. Now being all alone I ever so slowly make my way along. The radio crackles back to life with static until a voice comes over it.
“So sorry about your friends, but I just had to get you all to myself. Now, do you want to play a little game of hide and seek? All you have to do is hide from me for 5 minutes and you win! Ready? Because I’m already looking for you.”
The radio goes silent again. Running around I find a room filled with random things all piled into a corner. Finding a small crevasse in it I work myself in. It’s tight, giving me no room to move around in besides going farther in or exiting. The sound of someone walking by makes me hold my breath until they pass.
“You aren’t half bad, already a minute through. Though hiding in a pile of things isn’t a good idea. Think if all of them fell and trapped you?”
Shimming my way out I run down the hallway until I reach the second floor. Entering a room with a large machine in it I hide behind it and hold my breath again.
“A bit better, though it’s a little obvious. I’ll give you one last free chance before I get you. Don’t waste it, your friends' lives hinge on it.”
Running down the halls again I find a room with a door still on its hinges. Closing the door behind myself I push anything I can in front of it.
“No bad at all. All that noise did let me know where you are, but I don’t see a way in. Looks like you might win… unless you look behind yourself.”
Turning around I see a window with a view of outside. Approaching it I look from the left to right, making sure that they aren’t hanging outside and waiting to jump in. Before I can react the door bursts down and someone rushes up to me. In a fluid motion they bind my arms behind my back and put a blindfold over my eyes. Picking me up they hold me over their shoulder as they walk.
“P-Please just l-let m-my friends-ds go.”
They set me down and before I can try to escape I feel the cold of a knife against my neck.
“Now, now, unless you want to get hurt you should follow what I’m about to say. Understand?”
“Y-yes sir.” Something about their voice is familiar but that doesn’t matter right now with my life on the line.
“I’m going to take off the blindfold but you better keep your eyes closed.” I slowly nod. They remove it and I want to open my eyes but I follow their instructions.
“Now, I want you to prepare~”
“Prepare for w-what?”
Before I can prepare they kiss me. I try to struggle but the taste of lavender stops me. Opening my eyes I see Catnap’s looking into mine. He breaks the kiss and takes the knife from my neck. It’s actually just a piece of metal.
“WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO ME?!”
“I’m sorry, but this plan took a long time to make.”
“This was planned?”
“Yes, me and Bubba put up cameras a week before. 2 days before we talked with everyone else about what I wanted to do, and they were all in on it. The second radios were for Bubba to record my voice and play it back distorted.”
I start punching his chest while he just laughs at me, pulling me into a hug.
“Sorry for scaring you, but this will be a Halloween you won’t forget.”
I just grumble as he leads me outside where everyone else is already, talking around the cars.