Page 52 of Into the Dark

“Morning,” Tina said. “You’re up early.”

“I wanted to get a head start,” he answered, which wasn’t quite a lie. “Mind if I borrow some more meds from your first aid kit?”

She turned back to the monitor. “That’s what they’re there for.”

He dosed himself with everything in Tina’s bag that might possibly help control the congestion and coughing, not wanting to give Oscar any more reason to argue about whether or not he should go to the doctor instead of back into the asylum.

This was so important to Oscar. There had to be some way to safely get the ghosts to move on. Maybe if they found out any details of their lives, why they were still trapped here, Oscar could talk them into crossing the veil to the other side.

Picking up the heavy binders of death records they’d taken from the asylum, he settled in to read. Scanning lists of names and causes of death was tedious at best, made more so by the sleepy side effects of the meds. The coffee helped a bit, and he was able to focus long enough to find what he was searching for.

Eventually, everyone else trooped into the command center. “What’s up?” Oscar asked, glancing from Nigel to Tina.

“Everything quieted down after you all left the building last night,” Tina reported. “Or shortly thereafter.”

“The spirits who attacked you expended massive amounts of energy.” Dr. Lawson went to look over Tina’s shoulder. “Likely they didn’t have anything left.”

“We heard a lot of banging when we were leaving last night,” Nigel said, tucking his finger into the binder to mark his place. “Was any of that caught on tape?”

“Yep.” Tina brought up the clips. Both the fourth and first floor cameras caught doors opening, one at a time. As if something was searching the rooms. Once all the doors had been opened, everything fell silent.

Oscar frowned. “Anything on the children’s ward?”

“Like the PolterPal vowing to come kill us in our sleep?” Chris added.

“No, thankfully.” Tina sat back. “Your best friend the PolterPal stayed quiet all night, in fact.”

Zeek took off his cap and combed his hair with his fingers. “The kids are probably hiding. I mean, I would be.”

Oscar’s frown deepened, and Nigel knew he was thinking about the ghost children, spending their afterlives in the institution they’d been born or consigned to. But they couldn’t free the kids with the more dangerous ghosts prowling around.

“Adrienne?” Zeek asked.

“Nothing more on our cams, either.” She sat back. “Although we caught what happened when the creeper was chasing us, so at least we have some good footage for the show.”

“Nigel?” Oscar asked, looking at him. “You’ve been looking through the death records?”

“Yes, and I found two of our ghosts.” He pushed his glasses higher on his nose and flipped back to a spot he’d marked with a scrap of paper. “Mariah Hartford. Age 23. Died February 14, 1926, supposedly of pneumonia.”

Oscar seemed nonplussed. “I thought she died from hypothermia, but maybe it led to pneumonia?”

“Or they didn’t want to admit a patient died during one of their so-called treatments,” Dr. Lawson said grimly. “They wouldn’t be the first institution to cover up wrongdoing.”

“Especially since many of the patients ended up buried on the property,” Nigel added. “Without the families to ask questions, they could put down any cause of death they wanted. If we can find her actual patient file, we might learn more.”

“Right.” Oscar sat down heavily on one of the chairs. “Okay, who else did you find?”

Nigel cleared his throat. “Ruby Baker, died October 12, 1931. Cause of death: suffocated inside a laundry chute while trying to escape.”

“Oh no.” Tina put a hand to her mouth. “She was trying to get out and got trapped instead…what an awful way to die.”

“Agreed.” Morbidly, Nigel couldn’t help but wonder how long she’d been in the chute. If she’d been able to make any noise to alert the staff of her predicament, or if they’d only noticed when the dirty laundry backed up.

“Good work, Taylor,” Dr. Lawson said, and even after all this time her praise warmed him. “Patient records next, then?”

Oscar nodded. “Tina, you stay here and keep an eye on the cameras. If anything moves, let us know right away. Everyone else, let’s see what we can find.” He stood up. “But first, arm yourself with as much salt as you can carry. We’re not going to leave ourselves vulnerable again.”

The asylum seemed quiet when they entered through the main doors, but Oscar could feel unseen eyes on them. Hopefully thesunlight struggling through the grimy windows would be enough to keep the ghosts at bay, but he tightened his hand around the salt canister he held just in case.

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