Just In Time

Just In Time

“I have to get out of here.”

Cathy Annos was sure she was saying it in her own mind. But when the words echoed back at her mockingly, she quickly clapped both hands over her mouth. She listened for an excruciating length of time with no result.

She breathed a sigh of relief gustily.

Then the sounds of a heavy keyring came to her ears. A key ground in the lock of the door at the end of the corridor from her cell. She rolled herself into the musty sheet on the thin lumpy mattress and held her breath.

The footsteps of her tormentor walked right past her prison.

“Why on earth do you want to visit a haunted mental hospital,” she remembered everyone she spoke to about her idea saying.

For her, it was a no brainer. She was both fascinated and repelled by the possibility of ghosts and busting them. She had just arrived and begun her investigation when she was overpowered by the smell of decay and rotting corpses.

She’d awaken to find herself locked in a violent ward cell. Cathy had lost track of time long ago and her sanity was slipping.

“Stop where you are, hands on your head!” came a sudden shout.

Her heart leapt up. A key turned in the lock on her cell door.

“Are you all right, Ms. Annos?” said a deep voice.

Looking up into a ruggedly plain face in the form of a policeman, she smiled wanly.

“I am now,” she said.

“Guess I’m not cut out to be a ghost hunter. Need any skilled amateurs in your ranks?”

“Maybe.” her hero cop said with a grin as he helped her out into the fresh air once more.

“Need a ride?”

“I do; my car’s missing!”