Haunted {Calum // 5SOS au}

{ two }

To say most of the group felt unease was an understatement. All but Michael wanted to be anywhere but inside the old asylum. Their hesitance was caused both by the supposedly haunted status of the building, as well as it's run down appearance.

Once spotless, the building had clearly seen better days, instead looking as if it had withstood multiple tornadoes.

Inside, their progress was slow, the floor broken and cracked as they entered what they assumed was the main hall. Through the cracks grew grass and weeds, the rest of the floor covered in debris such as dead leaves, old newspaper, and small pebbles.

"Where shall we go first?" Michael asked, as the group stood in the middle of the large hall.

"I don't know. I really don't care," Calum said, still not impressed by Michael's self-proclaimed great idea to help Calum get the girl he liked.

"Where's the enthusiasm, bro?!" Michael exclaimed, spinning around with his arms wide open. "This is such a sick place. Do you know what they used to do here to the patients?"

"No, but I'm sure you'll tell us." Teigan said, ending her words with a deep sigh. She had known Michael for a few years now and knew how he could get when he was excited about something. She loved the guy, but sometimes she wished he had an off-switch to him.

Teigan and Luke trailed behind Michael as he began his tour of the old asylum, Calum and Riley following close behind them.

"So this used to be an asylum where people with mental illnesses lived. At first there wasn't anything wrong with the place, but as the years went on, more stories came out about what truly happened here. I don't remember the exact year, but a doctor worked here who had very... unique views on mental illness and how to treat them."

As Michael led them through the gloomy, dusty building, not everyone was able to focus on his words. Riley was so distracted by how the place looked that she had no ears for her friend's horror stories. Instead she was weary of the sun shining through the broken windows, casting dangerous looking shadows all around her. She had tried to forget about what she'd seen outside, but now that there were shadows everywhere, there was no way she could.

She inspected every corner, sneaking a peek into all rooms they passed and didn't stop at, watched as the dirty, old wallpaper crumbled off the walls every time a breeze hit the halls. She realised she was just making things worse for herself by doing this, but was unable to stop.

As she was making up all kinds of bad scenarios in her head, she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. Her ears perked up as her head snapped towards the right. The feeling of dread crept up from the pit of her stomach as she listened to the sudden noises that came from her right, but moved slowly to the other side from behind her.

A cold wave rushed through her body, making the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck rise. She didn't want to look, but it was almost like she couldn't control herself as her head slowly turned to the left, her eyes frantically looking for the source of the noises.

As her gaze turned to the floor, she saw a writhing mass of cockroaches crawling from beneath a broken tile. She let out a sigh in relief, so loudly that it made Calum turn around. He raised his eyebrows at her as if to ask what was happening.

Riley looked up from Calum back to the floor and internally cursed herself for being so jumpy, telling herself that she needed to get a grip or she would look a fool. She quickly caught up with the others and told Calum she was okay, but when the dank smell of pee and alcohol hit her nostrils, she was about ready to just turn around and leave. However she stayed, because she was the new girl in the group and she wasn't about to be known as the coward.