The taxi cab came to a stop in front of the sealed iron gate adorned with creeping vines.
Nick paid the cab fare, exited the vehicle, and gazed far ahead, past the gate, where a wide, five-story building stood tall in dark and foreboding splendor.
He walked further down the gate fence, into the bushes, and made his way into the abandoned area through a small opening in the fence there.
The vehicle shadowing the cab arrived some distance away and powered down its engine.
In this silent place, a tired streetlight opposite the gate of the abandoned building, on the other side of the street, cast an eerie glow on the road that curved towards a distant church and school.
The headlights and interior lights of the vehicle were turned off, leaving it parked at the edge of the dim lighting.
"Why is that bastard coming to a place like this in the dead of night?" the driver muttered.
"We are stopping here?" asked a deep voice beside him.
The driver stared ahead at the dark figure of the building structure ahead and nodded.
"Yeah, this is the farthest we should go."
Another voice came from the back seat, sounding perplexed, "What? Why?"
The driver hesitated to speak. "I've… heard quite a few things about this place. We already have a nice view from here. Let's just wait here for him."
"You're not making any sense, Jay. You don't want to drive closer because of some 'hoax'?" the back seater asked disappointedly.
"It's not just some 'hoax', Liz. Things like this do happen. That building was abandoned for a reason."
"Things like what? And didn't I tell you not to call me that?"
"And didn't I tell you not to call me Jay?"
"Drew, Jun, calm down," the deep voice chimed in.
"You still haven't told us why you're so scared," said Jun mockingly.
The driver raised his voice. "I'm not scared! As I said, that building—no, that mental hospital was abandoned for a reason. There might be many crazy stories, yes, but I don't want to find out which is true. You can go in if you want but I'm not leaving here."
"But we have a job to do," the deep voice said.
Drew remained silent for a second or two and suggested, "We can just nab him when he comes back out. There are no cars here and he'll probably wait for his e-Driver or whatever on the roadside."
"Really?" the backseater voiced, nonplussed.
"Yes, really, Liz."
The driver, Drew, looked up to the front mirror to properly see the individual at the back, Jun, and he explained as calmly as he could.
"Ten years ago, they tried to renovate that building you see there to turn it into a normal hospital for God fuckin' knows why. But before they started anything tangible, construction workers said they were hearing voices from the walls threatening to kill them. One of them ran mad and jumped off the top of the building..."
"Jesus," Jun muttered.
Drew continued, "The death was kept under wraps, but the construction workers knew what happened. They couldn't sleep, some refused to come to work, and among those that did, they started talking to themselves.
"The complaints and issues were becoming too much and too dire, so the owner of the contracting company decided to come investigate himself…"
"He ran mad too, didn't he?" Jun asked sarcastically.
"He died in a car accident on the way here," Drew said somberly.
"Are you sure this is true?" the deep voice asked.
Jun scoffed. "It sounds made up to me."
Drew scrunched eyebrows and said, "Okay, let's forget all that. How do you know 'he' isn't trying to lure us into that place to ambush us? The money is good, but does the Boss pay you enough for you to die for him, Liz?"
There was a calm silence in the vehicle and the driver added, "I thought so. We'll wait it out."
…
In the darkness, Nick switched on his phone torch and then made his way across the courtyard, heading for the back of the abandoned building where he attempted suicide the night before.
Getting there, he stood in the bush field with weeds reaching his waist and looked at the ominous building.
"Um… hello. Are you still here?"
Nick called out a few more times but received no answer. He briefly scanned the surrounding bush with his phone's light, now vigilant against snakes and other creepy crawlies compared to the last time he was here.
He raised the light, looked about the area, and proceeded to take measured steps toward the abandoned building.
When he was only about ten meters away, he noticed the washed ash color of the walls, old sealed doors, and broken windows. There was an unsettling calm, accompanied by the flushing sound of restless waves and the eerie cries of insects, birds, and other unknown animals.
Nick picked up on a shadow that moved in the darkness on his far right, outside the area of his light. He quickly directed to a particular shut window on the second floor, where he saw the shadow, but nothing was standing there.
'What the… I shouldn't stay here for too long,' he told himself.
Nick thought for a while and pointed to the fence.
Feeling a mixture of fear and frustration, and left with no other option, he screamed, "Stop hiding. I know you want something from me. If you don't talk to me, I'll jump."
The result was the same. There was no response.
'Maybe he's not here?' Nick shook his head and yelled some more, "I'm serious. I did it last time, I can do it again!"
Nick was about to turn around when he heard a voice somewhere from the abandoned building saying, "Don't fool yourself."
Startled, Nick wheeled around and surveyed the dimly lit edifice without pointing his light so as to not risk annoying the stranger. He discerned the outline of a figure peering from one of the broken windows on the right side of the ground floor.
He took a step closer.
"Don't," the stranger said.
Nick quickly complied and asked cautiously, "If you don't mind telling, who exactly… are you?"
The voice, eerie and dispassionate, replied, "Just a stranger."
There was a brief silence.
Of course, Nick didn't expect the mysterious individual to tell him outright his identity, but that wasn't the answer he was looking for, anyway. His question was a lot deeper than it seemed, and he suspected the stranger knew that too. However, he still elaborated,
"You had been stalking me long before I came here to die, right? And I'm sure you also expected me to return. So, who are you? And what do you want from me?"
The figure standing behind the broken window seemed to laugh, then said sinisterly, "You're a lot smarter than you look."