Page 9 of Insane Obsession

“Oh, come on, babe. We’re so close,” Lea pleads. “Look at the time. It’s nearly eight. This is a chance in a lifetime. Come on, stay with me.”

Levi shakes his head. “Absolutely not. This place is sick, man. And I’ve had enough. Come on. Doc?”

“Don’t—” I swallow and look away. “Don’t call me that. My name is Finn.”

Levi huffs. “Whatever, dude. Let’s get our asses out of here.”

“Can we just…” Lea slowly shakes her head. “I don’t know. One hour? Aren’t you curious to be here at the exact time when it happened?”

I know what she means. But the idea of lingering in the asylum at that very moment has my body going cold and my eyes burning. This case was so much easier behind a computer. Though being inside this building at that exact moment and registering everything on camera…it would give me a good grade. I just fucking know it. Maybe I can even put it on YouTube and become famous.

“Finn?” Lea begs. “Please tell me you’re staying with me.”

Ineedthis. And I hate that I do. “I’ll stay with you.”

Levi lets out a heavy sigh. “You’re both crazy, you know that? Well, you’re on your own now; I’m out of here.”

We watch him climb the stairs back up and listen to his retreating footsteps. The silence that follows is heavy.

Finally, I place the camera back in front of my glasses. “Okay. Lead the way.”

“Shall we try the other side?” Lea asks.

“Sounds good.” I follow her, shining my light as I continue filming. “As you can see, this project is not for the faint of heart,” I continue. “We’ve already lost three of our crew members. It really is scary to face such inhumane treatment.” I show broken pictures and the littered floor. We open doors and peek inside, revealing more decay.

Then…

“Listen,” Lea hisses, eyes widening. There’s a faint thrumming sound that slowly becomes stronger. It’s fucking unnerving. “What is that?” She whispers.

My heart stutters frantically, and my throat locks. I know what they are. “Footsteps.” My voice is strained with fear.

“Footsteps?” Lea frowns.

“Lea, I think…” I roll my lips to block out the whimper that tries to escape. “I think we’re not the only ones inside this building.”

“It’s the others,” she clips. “They’re messing with us. Fucking assholes.”

I wonder if Lea is just being stupid or if that’s her way of coping with anxiety.

Upstairs, the footsteps quicken until all we hear is a steady thrum.

Then, a shout.

I gasp. “Levi!”

Lea’s face is distorted in an expression I can’t place. Is it fear? Anger?

“We’ve got to move.” She grabs me by my sleeve, and we jog further down the corridor, away from the stairs.

What if whoever’s out there comes downstairs?

“Lea!” Levi calls out from upstairs. We freeze in our tracks. “Lea! Get the hell out of there!”

There’s another shout, followed by the unmistakable sound of someone being dragged away. Then, the hefty thwack when the front door falls shut.

What follows is a thick, heavy silence. Then…

“Lea.” Someone sings in a smooth, boyish voice. “Leeeaaaa…”

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