Kaylee Series: Courage Chapter 3

3

With a creak, the iron door swung open without much difficulty and Tyson was assaulted with the smell of disinfectant and formaldehyde. It was dark inside, but the little light coming from the sky showed him a surprisingly clean tiled floor and nothing inside but a few iron tables.

He looked back and saw Kaylee standing near the exit; her pretty face twisted in a mixture of wonder and… fear.

‘What is it?’ he asked. He involuntarily looked back at the open door and took a step inside the door.

‘Close the door.’ She said.

He stopped in his tracks. Yes, there was something like fear and panic in her voice. ‘But you just told me to—’

‘I said close the door.’ She said a little bit more forcefully.

Tyson gave a little laugh before he shut the iron door again, ignoring the tinge of fear when he saw his last sight of that room, (Is that the tail of a white coat?) and making sure it was completely shut.

‘What are you scared of? It’s just an old room.’ he said to her as he made his way towards her. She had sat on one of the crates and was writing on her leather bound notebook again. ‘What are you always writing there about?’

She ignored him once again, and asked him a completely different question that threw him off balance for a second, ‘What are you afraid of?’

Tyson laughed out loud. It was strange that this girl, who had said she had heard a lot about him, would ask such a question when she should be well aware of the answer. ‘Nothing.’

‘Absolutely nothing?’ she repeated. She closed the notebook and stepped towards him.

He nodded. ‘I thought you knew about me.’

Her face remained expressionless. ‘Do you know why they closed down the hospital that was once here?’

Tyson was starting to get a bad feeling about Kaylee, but he ignored the sensation. He promised she would be his; that is what’s going to happen. ‘Why?’

She shrugged. She stopped inches from him, looking up at him with those big black eyes, the newly risen moon shining on her face caressing her skin. Tyler could feel the coldness of her skin, how strange for someone to be radiating cold instead of heat. He was too aware of her distance from him; he could feel her breath on his face which smells strangely of jasmine.

She reached her hand up towards his face. He could hardly feel her touch on him, like she was teasing him which only made him want to kiss her more. He leaned down at her but before his lips touched hers; she spoke ‘Would you stay here for the night?’

His heart jumped, ‘With you?’ he said, not hiding the surprise in his voice.

She shook her head. ‘Just you.’ She stepped back, ‘It’s easy, right? Just stay here for the night.’

‘Yes, but—’

‘I thought you were afraid of nothing.’ She said. ‘Just one night.’

It sure sounded like a dare, Tyson thought. It’s been a long time since someone dared him for something and it is simple enough, just to spend in the roof for a night, anyway his coat is warm enough. He’ll only have to make sure that when he succeeds with this dare, he’ll get what he wants from her.

‘What happens when the night is over?’ he asked.

‘I’ll do anything you say.’ She unblinkingly said. ‘Are you up for it?’

Tyson smiled, he’d already thought of several things he’d like her to do for him, ‘Sure.’

Kaylee quickly reached for the exit, ‘Good luck then— boy who’s afraid of nothing.’ She nodded towards the building, ‘Be sure to lock the morgue’s door.’

And with that, she left.

‘Shit, what have I gotten myself into?’ He hadn’t really considered what he was doing before he said yes. Now thinking back, maybe he should’ve stalled Kaylee before he said yes and thought about it more.

Tyson looked around him, it was definitely going to be dark. If not for the moon, he wouldn’t be able to see where he was stepping. ‘Now what?’

Finding nothing else to do for the rest of the night, he leaned on the door to the exit and went to asleep.


***

His watch reflected the time as two in the morning, when Tyson awoke. He was surprised to see Kaylee’s red notebook lying beside him. He quickly looked around to see if Kaylee was there but then he’d been leaning against the door, he would’ve known if someone went up there with him.

Since the notebook was already there in his hands, it wouldn’t hurt if he read some of what she had been writing. By the light of the moon, he opened to the last page and read.

‘He went to the roof, trying to find answers to the questions that had been troubling him since his entry at the hospital. He had to know what was there. He had to find out.

‘The light of the morgue was on despite the fact that no one was allowed there during the deep hours of the night. He inched closer and closer to the window, creeping steadily up until he could see through the gap at the curtains on the windows.

‘Inside was the infamous mortician, busy yet again with one of his new bodies. A young female was lying at the slab of the morgue, the mortician hovering over her face, hands caressing her hair. He removed his rubber gloves, his white mask. His face descended, closer and closer to the dead girl’s face.

‘The boy gasped uncontrollably as he witnessed what was happening inside the morgue. He covered his mouth and clasped his stomach, willing himself not to throw up, hoping he wouldn’t make a noise as he took his eyes off the atrocity that was happening before him. But before he could move, a voice came from beside him ‘Do you like what you see?’

‘He turned but saw nothing, at least at first, but as his eyes adjusted to the darkness he saw them: bodies, silhouettes, moving from edge to edge of the small rooftop, their eyes shinning as they all stared at him. There must’ve been twenty of them little creatures moving all around, watching him, threatening him.

‘He kept his eyes wide open. He put himself on the defensive, ready if any form of attack occurred. ‘Looking for me?’ a voice came from beside him. He whirled quickly, and was greeted by a small man with a face too hideous for words.’

Tyson closed the notebook. He noticed his hands were shaking as he put the notebook down on the floor. The story was about the rooftop with a morgue; this rooftop with a morgue. Why the hell would Kaylee be writing about it?

Involuntarily, his eyes wandered towards the lone building at the side of the rooftop. It was definitely dark but the oppressive sight was clearly still there and standing and as his eyes adjusted further to the darkness of his surroundings, he noticed one more thing. The door to the morgue was wide open.