Upheaving Crooked Orchards

Part Nine

  He stayed behind the teen as he made his way up the stairs. Once the two were on the second floor, Michael grabbed him from behind and threw him against the wall. The boy screamed, realizing that Michael wasn't a ghost and could physically harm him, and had every intent to. Their breath was visible in the ice cold ward, even in the dark shadows. The boy was able to stand back up and run further into the hospital--Michael was blocking the stairs, so he had to find another way out of Smith's Grove. The kid was screaming for help, which alerted the other patients of a trespasser. They emerged from their warm circle and began to follow the screams. Michael was still in a walk, but was moving fast--he was never much for running. The patients began to erupt with a loud noise as they saw the teenager and began to claw over each other to reach him. He let out another yelp and ran down a separate hallway. Michael turned towards the section the stranger was running to, the other patients trailing behind him, sluggish but still making progress. 

  The young boy darted down the dark cold hallway, trying not to trip over any debris and knocking the beds out of the way to block his attackers from closing in on him. He covered his nose and mouth as he was flooded with the smell of decay. He kept going, unable to turn back, but saw a room with the door wide open. Curiosity took over and he peeked inside. His eyes widened and he let out a cry as he saw the distorted decaying body of a man in a chair, multiple tools sticking out of him like some kind of corrupted prank. He kept running, tears beginning to run down his eyes as he realized the people in this ward were more capable of torture than they were murder, and he was the one they were now chasing. He started to get lost so he opened a door to his left and hid inside, closing the door in a slow manner to keep quiet. He heaved a few sobs as he heard Michael's footsteps-- calm, collected, but focused. The teenager looked around the room and found some form of surgical tool. It was small but sharp, the only weapon available. He reached to grab it but his shaky hand caught the tray and caused it to fall off its table, creating a loud bang. Michael snapped towards the sound and rammed the door open with his shoulder. The teenager cried as he saw the broken eye of the man chasing him. Michael was holding a lobotomy pick in his hand, raised it up but grunted as he was unable to shove it down into the skull of the boy. The kid below him curled up and froze, but peeked around to see Michael not moving. Michael dropped the pick which confused the boy. He saw his assailant's hands start to have fits of violent twitching  and watched as the young man fell against the wall.

  The boy grabbed the lobotomy pick, unsure of what it was, and stabbed Michael's stomach with it. Michael couldn't move to shield himself from the attack but was able to back away into the hall, feeling the blood trickle down his belly and staining his bleak hospital gown. Michael stared at the boy, trying to regain control over his body. The teenager held the pick with a better grasp and charged at Michael, but Michael forced himself to fall over to the floor. He crashed with a loud thud. As the trespasser raised the pick in the air, he heard horrifying screams from behind him. The other patients caught up to them. The boy--in a flash of fear, dropped the pick and started to run. Lenard saw the body on the ground and wheeled himself next to Michael.

  "Mister Myers is hurt." He pointed to a curled Michael.

  "The cold's got 'im in a state." Williams paused to look.

  The others chased after the stranger, his cries carrying across the ward. Michael stopped fidgeting and lied on the floor for a moment, trying to calm his body. He didn't let himself fully recover but rose to his feet, picked up his weapon, and continued his chase.

  "Now wait, Myers, you ought to sit down somewhere." Lenard rolled his head around to find a chair.

  Michael felt enraged that he missed the chance to drive the pick through the kid's head. He managed to catch up with the others, judging by the fact they were looking around, Michael knew they lost him. Michael slammed multiple doors open, the other patients backed away as they felt the anger radiating off of the violent man. 

  "I found him!" One of them shouted.

  Michael turned at once and stormed towards the voice's location. The teen was backed in a corner--he tripped on debris and hurt his leg. Michael didn't hesitate but shoved the inmate out of the way, grabbed the flailing kid and shoved the pick through his forehead. He ripped it out and stabbed the boy's stomach four times before throwing his body aside. He left the scene, letting the others deal with the body, and headed back to his warm window. Smith's Grove was tainted with the blood of multiple people, the violent patients that inhabited it made sure wanderers who ventured in never left. Kids that passed by would often see Michael in the window, but no one dared to enter anymore. To Haddonfield, he was the shape of a lost patient. A tormented ghost imprinted on the hospital.