As they ran towards the exit a loud shrill screech echoed through the building.
"That sounded like it was right in front of us..." Chase stated.
The group all froze, skidding to a stop to see a large black figure towering over the exit. They were trapped, no one dared to move. Chills ran down their spines as the creature stared at them, the feeling of hopelessness creeped into the group of teens. As the creature let out a loud shriek, Chase fell to his knees, he felt like he couldn't control his body.
"G-guys! I can't move!" He yelled, as his body was paralyzed by fear.
"What do you mean you can't move!?" Leo asked as he ran over, ignoring the creature in front of him.
"My feet just won't move!" Chase shouted.
Leo grunted and picked up Chase, as he looked at the rest of the group, before turning to Jake. "Where do we go now, Jake!?" He asked.
Jake frantically looked around as he tried to recall the safest part of the building, "This way!" he shouted as he ran deeper into the asylum.
They all quickly followed Jake, Leo dragging Chase along, by his hand, refusing to leave one of his friends behind. The thundering footsteps and shrieking of the unknown creature could be heard chasing after the group of teens. As they continued to follow Jake, they soon found themselves inside of an old cell. One of the rubber rooms, Leo slammed the door shut locking them in. They were trapped now, no way in, and no way out. As far as they knew, they were safe and were going to be here for a while.
"What the hell was that thing!?" Megan screamed.
Marrissa popped out of nowhere, scaring her older sister. "It's called a shrieker."
Megan screamed and hid her face in her boyfriend's chest, as her sister popped up out of nowhere.
"Oh shit, sorry sis." Marrissa quickly apologized.
"I-it's ok Rissa." Megan stuttered out and turned to look at her sister.
"You said that thing was called a 'Shrieker', no?" Leo asked.
"Yes a shrieker, if you look at them while they shriek it paralyzes you." Marrissa explained.
Clearly Marrissa had learned a lot about the creatures in Shadow Hill, since she wound up there.
"Ok so that explains why Chase couldn't move earlier." Andrea commented.
"Shriekers are highly aggressive and feed off of anything they can get their slimy claws on. They have rows of crazy sharp teeth, kinda like a shark." Marrissa continued to explain, as the others listened closely.
"Like a shark? Are you trying to make us feel better or worse!?" Chase yelled.
"Sorry I was just trying to give an example." Marrissa responded, her voice filled with sass.
"Can't you just shut up for once and let her explain!?" Jake yelled at the hispanic boy.
"Shut up you bla-" Chase started before Leo cut him off.
"ENOUGH! Both of you! Now is not the time to be fighting! Unless we want a repeat of the campgrounds!" Leo yelled.
The room fell into a tense silence upon hearing Leo's words. This had only been the second time Leo, being the gentle giant he was, had ever yelled. He hated violence and yelling, but he was so tense and on edge. He snapped, yelling at the group.
"I'm tired of listening to you two fight over everything! Just shut up, both of you!" Leo snapped.
"Leo," Jake started.
"No, don't 'Leo' me! Just shut up and tell us how to get out of here!" Leo yelled.
Jake fell silent, he didn't know how to get out. He didn't have a key to this room, they were stuck. Chase was mentally freaking out, he felt as if he would really die this time. Almost as if surviving the camping trip went wrong, meant nothing. Like it didn't matter, he never should have come out here. He should have just stayed at home and waited for the others to return. At least, maybe then, they wouldn't be stuck here.
Jake patted Chase's shoulder, he had a feeling Chase was freaking out, it wasn't uncommon for the boy. "Come on man don't freak out, and don't overthink, we need your head in the game." Jake said giving his friend a rare gentle smile.
Chase let out a shaky breath and nodded his head, before standing up and looking around the room. He spotted a few things, things that gave him an uneasy vibe.
"H-hey guys.." Chase stuttered out, everyone turned to look at Chase confused. "this place is abandoned right?" He asked.
"Yea, it's been abandoned for 26 years man." Jake responded.
"26 years? Th-than why is there a fresh corpse?" Chase asked, his voice shaky just as much as his hands, as he pointed to a corpse.
The corpse was indeed, fresh, it appeared to have been killed recently. The corpse of a small deer, only a fawn. The group quickly grew uneasy, what had killed the deer? Was it still here, in the room? These questions and many like them began to fill the heads of the group. Stacey panicked and began to bang on the door screaming.
"HELP! HELP! HELP US WE'RE TRAPPED AND WE HAVE NO WAY OUT! PLEASE SOMEONE HELP US!" She screamed.
Gwen grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth as she screamed. "Shut up! Are you trying to get us killed!?" Stacey cried into Gwen's hand but slowly stopped struggling, as Gwen looked at the rest of the group. "Who knows what's out there. Or what killed that," she said as she pointed at the deer before continuing "and whatever did, might still be out there. Something could be watching us. We already ran into a shrieker or whatever the fuck its called. Do you guys really want to find out what else is here!?"
Gwen's words struck hard, the whole group falling into an uneasy silence. She was right, no one knew what was out there, and for all they knew, it could be much worse than the shrieker.
Marrissa spoke up, breaking the silence. "Uh guys.." the group looked at Marrissa as she continued. "Remember those," she hesitated looking for the right words "Uh 'lost souls' from the camping trip?"
"What about them?" Leo asked cautiously.
"They started here, I think that's why I'm stuck here." Marrissa said.
The group froze, until Stacey spoke up, "You mean there's more of them here!?" She screeched.
Marrissa sighed, "Well no not exactly, it's just, more ghosts like me. But I have seen one or two lost souls. The ghosts, they just get so angry or sad, and they lose themselves...and well, they turn into one of those monsters." she explained.
"So when a soul gets overcome with too much emotion, they become one of those beasts?" Christine asked.
Marrissa nodded, "Only when they're overcome with emotions like anger, or sadness." she explained.
"So what happens if a ghost becomes overjoyed?" Leo asked.
"I'm not sure honestly, I've never seen it happen here." she said sadly.
Leo nodded and looked around the room, before sitting down. From the looks of it, they would be here a while. The group joined Leo and sat down, getting comfortable, and waited. For something to happen, anything, they just wanted to go home.