Page 28 of The Penitentiary
“Please, I don’t like being here at all. I’ve not come back since that night,” Staci replied, and Sunny motioned for them to follow us. Once inside the tour bus with its tinted windows, Staci and Grace visibly relaxed. I guessed they wouldn’t accompany us on the investigation, but I’d offer, anyway.
Freddie made them hot drinks as we chatted for a bit.
“So, Harry says you were there the night the Ouija board was used?” I asked.
“Yeah. It’s something neither of us will forget. Until then, we thought demons were bullshit and a lot of the footage that we’d seen was faked. Not anymore. What occurred that night has given us both a healthy respect for things that go bump in the night,” Grace said and shivered. Her eyes took on a faraway look, and I saw sorrow cross both their faces.
“Something bad happened?” I replied gently.
Staci managed a bitter smile. “Yup, sure did.”
“Are you able to tell us what you can?” Madi asked as she extended out and took Staci’s hand. I would never have thought of doing that and kicked myself. I reached for Grace’s and was surprised when she grabbed my hand and held on for dear life.
“Let me get this out in one go. If you interrupt, I don’t think I can start again,” Staci said, and I nodded.
Freddie placed fresh hot drinks in front of us.
“That night, there were six of us. We were messing around, not quite certain it was haunted, you know. We headed into cellblock five with a paranormal investigator, whom we'll call Karen, and three of her team. Karen was already irate with us because of three of our friends’ behaviour. We’ll call them Tom, Dick, and Harry, and Jane, no offence to Harry here. Jane, Tom, and Dick were being total idiots—rude, abrasive, and downright ignorant.
“Harry was quiet; he was scared; we could tell. Staci and I were halfway; we wanted a good time, but didn’t want to risk upsetting any spirits that might be around. Jane declared the whole night a dud despite the fact that we had seen and heard a few things. They weren’t anything major, but enough to convince Grace, Harry, and me that there was something here.” Staci paused and sucked in a deep breath.
“We were about to leave when Jane whipped out an Ouija board; we didn’t even know she had it on her. Karen straight-up said no. If we were going to do that, then we were on our own. Jane and Dick were really rude, but Karen refused to stick around. Tom pointed out that we’d paid good money for this tour and she’d have to refund us. We wouldn’t have been able to stay if Karen hadn’t.
“It put some real pressure on her, and Karen ended up sending her team outside for their safety while she stayed. Tom and Jane were really smug about it. Harry, Grace, and I wanted to leave, but the other three sneered and taunted us. I wish to hell we had left. Once Jane initiated the seance, there was no going back. At first, nothing happened, and I was relieved. But then the glass started spinning out of control.
“Whoever was controlling the glass was spelling out words like murder, death, die, strangulation, torture, blood, slash—you get the drift. At that point, I screamed at Jane to stop it and took my finger off. That caused a chain reaction, and we all did the same, but the glass kept moving and began spelling our namesout. That freaked everyone out, and then the cellblock doors slammed shut. Harry started choking out as he struggled to breathe. He gasped out that someone was strangling him.
“Everything descended into chaos.
“Karen backed into a corner, crying out that she’d warned us. Harry was suddenly thrown against a wall and hit his head hard. He slid down it unconscious. Jane turned to us, and her eyes were solid black. She threw her head back and let out a loud cackle, which was pure evil. She then told each of us we were marked, that we’d called him forth, and he was coming for us.
“Jane began gagging, and a black substance came from her mouth, and she collapsed in a heap. Everyone was screaming and yelling. Tom and Dick were trying to force the doors open, and then the lights went out. There were screams and shouts, and they were from more than us. I faintly caught Karen repeating the Lord’s Prayer and joined in, and then Staci did. As we did, something physically harmed us to make us stop. We tried over-shouting the clamour, but we could barely be heard. Suddenly, silence fell, and the lights came back on.
“Harry lay where he fell, not moving and unconscious, and Jane was the same. When I turned to Grace, who was sobbing, her face was covered in blood where nails had been raked down it. My arm had been torn to shreds, and only Karen seemed unhurt. Tom and Dick were terrified, and both also had scratches. The door clanged open, and they fled, leaving us with injured people.
“Karen was uninjured, and she helped get Jane outside and came back to help me with Harry. I wouldn’t leave him. He’d been innocent of what Tom, Dick, and Jane had caused. Her squad called for ambulances, and the police also arrived. They didn’t believe us at first, but one of the team had left two cameras recording, and everything was captured on film. Eventhen, they couldn’t explain what had happened.” Staci paused again and took a sip of her drink.
“Harry was permanently paralysed. Something had sliced straight through his spine. Jane has been in a psychiatric wing for the last eight months. Tom was killed in a car accident, and Dick threw himself off a building. He left a note saying the voices had driven him crazy. Karen got very ill and is fighting for her life. Grace and I felt like someone was always watching us, and finally, we got an exorcism, but that night has scarred us.
“If you’re going in there, you are insane. There’s a demon in there, and it’s real, and it’s murderous. The police locked cellblock five down. They kept an eye on us, and while they can’t admit it’s paranormal officially, they know…” Staci wound down and stared at us.
Grace reached over and pulled a tissue from the box, and began rubbing it all over her face. When she stopped, she’d removed her makeup, and I gasped. Long scars ran down her face, from above her eyes to her chin.
“That demon is real,” she whispered. “I wouldn’t go anywhere near cellblock five.”
“Your warning will be taken to heart by me. I’m so sorry for what you suffered,” I said, gripping Grace’s hand tightly.
“Don’t. Not if you want to live,” Staci whispered.
“Did you get his name?” Jack asked solemnly. We swapped glances; there was power in a demon’s name.
“No,” Staci replied.
“Is there anything else you can tell us?” Harry asked.
“Just stay away from five. The rest of The Penn is haunted and evil, but five is locked down for a reason and not for the reasons the sign states,” Grace said.
“I hope our story helps, and I pray you learn from what happened to us. I don’t mind you sharing our story, but please can you blank our faces and change our voices? We still have tolive here, and we don’t want the stigma of being ‘those women’, please,” Staci asked.
