The Girl in the Window

Chapter Two

Athena drove for about thirty minutes until she reached a large brick sign. It read Sarton Asylum in bold golden letters, some of the letters chipping, brown, and ready to fall off at any time. The sign signified how old it truly is. Once used to be white brick now looked green and brown from the moss and dirt caked onto it from years of neglect. A large gate blocked Athena's entrance to the asylum.

"Creepy," she whispered to herself. The sight of the old sign was creepy; she still admired the beauty that time gave to it. Helped show character to the asylum.

She parked the car in front of the gate and got out before walking up to it. There she noticed it didn't have a lock. Pushing on the heavy gate, Athena finally got it opened wide enough for her car to go through. Walking back to her car and climbing in, she put it in drive and drove down the long driveway lined with tall trees. Their thick branches loomed over the path, making it look dark outside while it was only the middle of the day. The thick branches blocked any light from flowing through.

Little ways down the driveway, the music from her radio started to fizzle out. Annoyed by it, she reached over and tried to turn the radio down, but it wouldn't comply. Giving up, she tried to ignore the static and instead focused on the dirt road. The branches must be blocking the satellite from reaching my radio, she thought to herself. While it annoyed her, it didn't seem like anything could be wrong. But a few seconds later, Athena heard something come from the radio. 

"Bzzzzzzzz...turn...bzzzzzzzz...go...bzzzzzzzz..."

Athena stopped the car and looked at the radio, her eyebrows furrowing. That didn't sound like a song, she thought. That voice wasn't singing. 

"Turn!...bzzzzz...go!...bzzzzz...now!....bzzzzz..."

Suddenly, the radio stopped fizzling, and the music continued as before. Athena shook her head, clearing her thoughts, and continued driving. She assumed the radio had initially not picked up the satellite signal. She'd been through situations like this in the past. Mostly, they were annoying hackers who thought it funny to mess with her radio. As she learned in the past, she ignored it.

As she kept driving, Athena took note of her surroundings. The leaves of the trees were brown and red from the changing weather, and the tree bark looked dark and rough. The dirt-covered driveway had leaves littering that fell from the trees above. The trees blocked the view of the sun, making the driveway dark and eerie.

Finally, Athena rolled up to the asylum. Goosebumps traveled over her body. She got a good look at the large, red-bricked building. While the red may have once been bright and beautiful, it has faded and become ugly. There were many windows spaced out along the structure, with some of them broken in places. Above the large, black door, thin, rusty letters read Sarton Asylum. Vines covered one side of the building, bushes were overgrown, and dead flowers lined the path up to the entrance. At least, she thought they were flowers. They were too shriveled up and black. 

"Wow," Athena breathed as she stopped the car. She got out of the car, taking her phone out to take a picture of the asylum. "Mr. Schneider would love to see this." She sent him the photo via email, then took another good look at the image. "It's even creepier in a picture." Athena chuckled, then paused. "Wait—what's that?" She looked closer, and her eyes widened. In the image, a black-haired girl in a white nightgown stood in the far right window on the second story. Athena looked up at that same window but saw no one. She stood there watching for a while, hoping to see the girl, but she never returned. Now I'm starting to see things, she thought. Great.

She held up her phone, looking at the picture again. Her eyebrows furrowed as she saw the little girl in the picture, but when she looked up at the same window, she wasn't there. She started feeling weird about this assignment, but she shook her head. She needed the money, and besides, she loved the adventure. 

Athena closed her eyes, trying to clear the image of the girl from her mind. Breathing out, she opened her eyes and looked down at her watch. Three o'clock. "I'll only stay till six," she told herself."Then I'll go home and rest before coming back tomorrow. I'm not staying here."The reporter locked her car and walked towards the door, slowing down as she came closer. She stopped once she got there, and her hand started to shake while reaching for the doorknob. Composing herself, she opened the door and stepped inside. Yes, the asylum was creepy, but she should be able to manage herself in these situations. She's been in others like this assignment and wasn't afraid. It was as if her mind and body were trying to tell her something, but she couldn't understand what it was.

The air stunk of mildew and mold, and she held her breath. She covered her nose with her sleeve as she ventured in and looked around. She saw the opening of a long hallway, and as she walked down to the other end, it led to a large staircase. The walls had cracks of various sizes, and pictures were either crooked or on the floor in pieces. Underneath her feet, the rug had brown stains and was ripped in many places.

With some fumbling, Athena found a light switch by the door and flipped it on. Nothing. Damn it. Taking out her phone, she turned on the flashlight and shone its light in front of her as she walked forward. She passed the first door on her right and turned her flashlight on it.

The door was made from aged oak wood and had a gold plate stuck on it that, upon closer inspection, read The InterviewRoom: Ms. Parrish. The golden plate had a thick coat of dust on it. Athena grabbed the handle and opened the door. Inside, the room was about the size of an average office. It had a large desk on the left side of the room and a sizeable brown chair with many holes behind it. Two chairs were overturned and were on opposite sides of the room. Books and papers were scattered across the floor, and pictures hung off-centered from the walls. 

Athena walked around the room and noticed an old-looking radio on a table covered in dust. She bent down to look at the tiny plate on the radio. 1920. She straightened slowly and turned to walk away—but then radio static filled the room.

"Bzzzzzzz...I gave you a warning...bzzzzz...I gave you a warning..."

Athena spun around, her heart pounding in her chest. Her breathing quickened; the voice sounded like a child's—a little girl's.

"Bzzzzzzzz...I gave you a warning...bzzzzzzzz...why didn't you listen?" The static distorted a horrible cackle that made the hair on Athena's neck stand up. The radio fizzled again, then turned off and became silent.

Athena stood there staring at the radio. She couldn't believe her ears. A girl's voice—a young girl's voice—came out of the radio. Nothing in this building worked; the electricity had been cut off decades ago. So how could the radio turn on? She tried flipping the on switch, but nothing happened. Athena closed her eyes and took deep breaths, counting to ten, calming herself down.

It's like the girl in the window. What if I just imagined it? It could also be whoever messed with my radio signal.

Giving the radio one last look, Athena quickly left the room and continued to explore the rest of the building. The incident with the radio soon left her mind because nothing strange had happened in the other rooms downstairs.

Nothing yet, anyway.

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