Chapter-1:- Harold,is that you?
Date-4 December
Year-40,028
"It's just so difficult.... Everyone thinks I'm ill.... or a creepy psycho....Nobody wants to understands my problems..." these were the thoughts of a teenager named Harold Carter who was about to commit suicide but he couldn't gather the courage to do so. As he was standing on the roof of a 12 story building, he looked back and he saw no one after which his despair peaked and with this sorrow,solitude and despair he jumped off. "I pity you,my dear Harold" it was a voice echoing in his head when he was on the brink of death."Do not worry my dear Harold,your ally will save you because your body is also my body."
Date- 18 December
Year-40,028
"It's been 2 weeks since that incident in which the Klington city's biggest business tycoon's son, Harold Carter attempted to commit suicide. Since the day Harold has been admitted in Klington civil hospital, hospital staff and patients have witnessed paranormal activities. For example 3 patients which were admitted proximal to Harold's ICU ward have been found missing and 1 nurse working there is also missing. The surveillance cameras located at the 7th floor where Harold's ICU ward is present are also not working since 5th December. These all paranormal activities were observed constantly for 3 days after the admission of Harold Carter. On 8th December, everyone in the hospital were evacuated except Harold, that's all David." said a high schooler named Henry Tyson who had dark blue hair.
"Some people claim that they saw Harold in conscious condition and he is the one who did all of this" added Dylan who is the younger brother of David.
"I insist that we should pay that hospital a visit" said David with an adrenaline rush.
"No that's ris-"Henry was interrupted by Dylan who mocked him by saying "Don't be such a wuss!".
Henry sighed and said "You both don't know the risks of doing this so called adventure. The first one is that we get caught by the police and get arrested for trespassing! Only authorised personels are allowed to enter in the hospital and 2nd risk is that we will die or atleast won't be able to get out of the hospital because no one has made out of the hospital once they've entered in it after 8 December."
Dylan looked concerned after hearing the risks. David looked puzzled and when Dylan glanced at him, he laughed at him telling him "You should give up on your desire of ghostbusting. It's just a waste of time, Mr. Confused!" as Dylan was cracking jokes about his brother and laughing by himself, David gave him a sarcastic look and taunted him "You're right! I'm really confused about how a meathead like you can be my biological brother when I'm so clever,I guess being smart has nothing to do with genetics." just a few moments ago Dylan was amused but now his expression changed to annoyance.
As Dylan stood absolutely angry beside him, Henry was curious that why David was so calm? And what did he notice about the hospital's situation which he and Dylan didn't? So in curiosity Henry asked
"David, do you have a plan in that nasty mind of yours? I mean you must have had a plan otherwise you wouldn't suggest this ghostbusting expedition."
"You know me very well, Henry but calling me nasty is a bit rude. Fine then I'll explain my plan so listen closely because I don't want anyone besides us to hear this, although we are alone in the clubroom but you never know. I always look out for cases like this where I can have both money and thrill but due to many factors it's difficult to find them. However, in this case there are loopholes and based on these loopholes, I've devised a plan. First thing to note that Klington's city's biggest business tycoon's son Harold who is my and Henry's classmate is left in a hospital which is abandoned due to some paranormal stuff. Harold's father did put a lot of pressure on the government to rescue or evacuate Harold from the hospital and the government did send a lot of detectives and police into the hospital but no one came out of the hospital which increased the pressure on the government. So,the government decided to send more police and detectives with more ammunition and highly advanced communication devices but guess what?! Again it's the same ol' result. Basically the main doors of the hospital gets closed as soon as someone enters in it. They even sent specialised flying machines to investigate what's going on inside with the help of micro cameras fitted in them but all they could see was darkness. Now if you think deeply, it is obvious that Harold's father is desperate about his son and knowing that the government has no idea how to rescue or evacuate him.... Harold's father will get more desperate and put more pressure on the government but the hands of government are tied because they cannot send more detectives, police, military and resources into that hospital because after all it amounts to nothing. They cannot destroy the hospital either because many people are in there however no one knows whether they are alive or not. Now that Harold's father has realized that the government is of no use,he will approach us because he is such a doting father who can't help but break laws in order to evacuate his son. He knows that I've been searching for thrill and he will try to take advantage of it by approaching us indirectly with a proposal of ghostbusting."
"He will approach us indirectly? What do you mean by that?" Dylan asked showing interest in his brother's plan.
"He won't approach us directly because the risk of us not making it back from the hospital is very high so he doesn't want to get involved with us directly otherwise it would affect his business and personal life. In other words,police will get him for good. So in order to avoid all of these hassles, he would just send an agent or something to conceal his involvement." After hearing David's plan,Henry seemed convinced but Dylan was doubtful and because of this seed of doubt in his head he questioned David in a tentative manner "W-Why do you think we can succeed when nobody else did? And how can we make it back when nobody else couldn't?"
David's response was rather quick, he kept his hand on Dylan's shoulder and answered
"I don't act without a concrete plan and you will know the reason sooner or later but I can't tell you right now."
"Don't...."as Dylan shook his head in disbelief and rage,he gritted his teeth, teeth,clenched his fist and yelled
"Don't give me that crap! Our lives are at the stake here,don't you get it?"
Henry was a bit surprised after seeing Dylan so angry, usually he was just a dumb, goofer and pervert young lad who would often get slapped by girls due to his actions but rarely he would get serious or rather angry for a genuine reason. As the whole clubroom was silent for a few seconds and it felt like the conversation was over but suddenly those three heard a knock on the clubroom's door!
"Its me, Kyle! We have a guest,David."
David glanced at Dylan then Henry and said in a low voice "Its the agent."
"So what do we do, David?"
Henry immediately asked in a cautious manner to which David replied staring at the door "Just act normal and keep an eye on my hand signals. I'll handle the agent,you guys just sit and observe..."
David moved towards the door to open as it was locked from inside while he was stepping towards the door he added
"Dylan,you may leave if you want however,if you wish to stay then don't utter a single word without my hand signal otherwise I'll reveal your browsing history to Whitney!"
Dylan flinched then nodded showing obedience. David opened the door and saw a man dressed in black suit with tall and slender physique,he had a moustache with a french beard and he was wearing glasses, holding a suitcase in his left hand while David was studying the appearance of the mysterious man,Kyle the boy with Violet hair and orange eyes who was David's trusted friend since last year was standing next to that mysterious man.
"Hello,nice to meet you I'm-" "Uh I'm sorry for interrupting sir but why don't you come in and sit."
David's interruption was reasonable and polite so the man just nodded and said "Very well."
Inside the room the man introduced himself as John Binny and he was recruiting private detectives for his so called "mission paranormal hospital -12/19".
'Mission paranormal my ass!'
Dylan thought as the man was explaining. David offered John a tea but John politely refused,
John offered them 100,000 silver coins as their reward if they successfully found Harold but when David asked him
"Mr.Binny why do we only evacuate Harold not the others inside the hospital?"
David asked this question because if he hadn't then John would have become suspicious of them as why they would straightly accept this mission without asking any questions which a normal high schooler would. So David asked the most obvious question he could ask and he aslo hoped to collect some information about Harold before the mission but he wasn't expecting the truth to be told by that John guy. John replied with a darkened face "We need to evacuate him to stop all of this, we need to sever his cursed bond with that hospital in order to save the world!" It seemed like John was beating around the bush but David wasn't going to ask further questions about this as it would raise suspicion.
"Save the world? What do you mean?" asked Henry acting curious.
'Good thing that he noticed my hand signal' David thought.
According to John and Larry Carter(Harold's father) "saving the world" was
the most fascinating phrase for high schoolers who were passionate dreamers. They thought that they could manipulate the high schoolers with the use of that phrase but David, Dylan, Henry and Kyle knew all about Mr.Carter's plan but still they played along.
'Hmm..what do I ask now? Actually if I ask him to elaborate he might get suspicious, maybe we should just play it dumb but one obvious question still remains.' "How are we going to make it back when nobody else couldn't, Mr.Binny?" asked David.
"You and your friends will be equipped with very high tech guns and defenses who have received divine protection from god!"
'He thinks we are fools huh?!' David thought but then shook his head forcing an excited look to appear on his face and agreeing to John's terms and mission. The plan was simple, since the government didn't allow anyone unauthorised to enter in the hospital so they had no choice other than to disguise themselves as police officers and detectives with fake entry cards which contained fake info. They would also carry the so called "special weapons" given to them by John. John thought that he was successful in manipulating those kids but he was wrong because Kyle by following David's plan had sneakily fit a location tracker and a micro voice recorder on John's coat and car. David's plan was to evacuate Harold from the hospital and receive his respective payment from John. Atleast that's what Henry, Dylan and Kyle thought, who knew there was much more about this incident and David that met the eye. If David and his team didn't return then Kyle would sue Harold's father for manipulating minors and scamming. Kyle would demand suitable compensation from him.
After John left Dylan asked hastily "Are you sure about this, Henry?"
Henry Tyson, a young high schooler who shared many similar personality traits with David. He was always calm and composed with cold calculations going in his mind. He always hated attention and standing out, so he always preferred to score average. His father was a top military official and thus one can imagine how he was brought up. His father always told him to maintain a low profile and avoid unnecessary attention. Henry was very well versed in using various weapons like swords, katanas ,knives, daggers etc. He even knew how to perform a CPR, use a bandage and injection. He was decent in martial arts but he had one weakness until he met David in middle school which was that he had no free will of his own. His father's upbringing made him a weapon not a person. He couldn't laugh and experience joy. After meeting David, he realised that he is nobody but just a living weapon,he was in despair due to this.
"If you don't have your own free will then just follow me and my will. So,you will be able to enjoy life. However, if you feel like following me is a waste of time or you have achieved clarity what you want to do then you could just choose to follow or forge your own path." These honest words of David saved Henry from his despair and dilemma back then and he follows David ever since that day.
"I trust David,Dylan you're not obliged to join us. You're free to do whatever you desire because you have your own free will."
"Fine,count me in" Dylan shook his head in frustration while saying this.
Date- December,40,028
Time- Around 12:30 AM
Three teenagers entered in the disguise of police officers and a detective. David disguised as a standard deputy detective of Klington Investigation Bureau and Henry in disguise of a Class-2 Police officer and Dylan as a Class-3. They were wearing masks just like the last operation team sent by the government did. It was without a doubt that their disguise was near to perfect. They were standing in the dark entrance hall of hospital at the ground floor,on their left, there was a corridor and same with the right side. In front of them there was a large dusty desk,'It must be the help desk for patients or the hospital counter for billing' Dylan thought while keeping his guard up.
"David I feel like I started to have a minor headache as soon as we entered in the hospital." said Henry with a pale face.
"This place gives me the creeps, even the frickin' flashlight isnt working despite its battery being full." complained Dylan who was repeatedly turning the flashlight's switch on and off then he stopped and added "I'm also experiencing the same symptoms as Henry, what about you David?"
"Listen Dylan and Henry you guys just stay put here. I'll go check the 7th floor. And one more thing..." David continued in a voice full of caution and dread "...if you see Harold or anyone in white clothes which the patients wear, then just run in the opposite corridors and hide somewhere."
"Wait why should we stay put, I suggest we three go to 7th floor together,the more the merrier!"
Dylan chuckled as he said. David gazed at him coldly and turned away moving towards the stairs without making any noise but stopped. He turned his face towards Henry then Dylan and whispered however,due to the distance of few meters between them,they couldn't hear him but then they saw him waving a hand towards them.
"Don't die on me"
Henry said indifferently looking towards David. Dylan was a little bit shocked but he sort of expected it so he asked Henry curiously that how did he know what his elder brother was trying to say to which Henry replied that he and David developed their own sign language and according to a waving hand from 10 meters away means "Don't die on me".
'Weird kids' Dylan mocked Henry and David in his thought even though he was younger than those two by two years.
'Where are you, Harold? Who is inside you? Just what in the-' David's chain of thoughts was broken by him tripping on the 7th floor's corridor. He was panting heavily but David knew he wasn't panting heavily due to exhaustion. It was due to a mysterious energy which defied all laws of this modern world. He was on the verge of fainting but David heard footsteps of someone and when he looked front in the direction of the 7th floor's corridor, he saw a greyish figure wearing white clothes approaching him.
'Everything looks blur!' thought David continuing to look towards that enigmatic figure.That figure walked towards David and when he drew closer to David, he fainted while one last thought crossed his mind.
'Harold, is that you?'
To be continued