Jayhill

 "What?! No way! We're going on a class camping trip by that old abandoned warehouse?" The girl cringed as she sat on a desk with her small group of friends. Her long red hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and dark brown freckles easily seen on her pale white face.

Dean who was the more active, as well popular of their group, from his short blonde hair and tanned skin laughed and swung his arm around the freaked out girl. "Jess c'mon it's gonna be fun! How about we all sneak out when everyone is asleep and shoot a video there, we would get so many hits!"

"Didn't a brother and sister die in that warehouse... That's why it was shut down." Jules was more of the quiet type, the brains of the group, but has gotten his fair share of love letters. His jet black slightly curly hair was down to his shoulders, and a light brown caramel like coloring to his skin. 

The twin girls stared at him, Lizzo kept her dark brown hair short for sports and Rizzo loved coloring her long hair, which this time she is trying out a two toned, the top is a dark brown and the bottom is blonde. Lizzo replied "Well.. I'm in for a little ghost hunt." Rizzo hit her softly "No way! What if something really bad happens?! Haven't you watched all the movies!!"

Their conversation lasted until the last school bell rang. While walking down the sidewalk into the suburbs most of the kids lived in near the school, Jules sighed and ran his hand through his hair to get it out of his face. "Yeah yeah.. Let's not play around too much, remember.. It is an abandoned warehouse.. We dont know what is in there and what if some of the equipment is still working but malfunctioning.. So don't touch anything ok."

Dean patted Jules back before running off. "Yeah my man!! Don't worry we will be extra careful! See you guys at the campsite tomorrow!"

Everyone said their goodbyes and headed off to their homes to start packing for their classes camping trip. The next morning they all walked onto the bus with the rest of their class and headed off to the campsite. It was lunch time when they got there, so their first task was to fix a fire and their meal on the fire. Of course the teacher was watching over them so no one would burn themselves. "Everyone careful fire is not a play thing, remember what I told you, make the wood into a teepee shape with some kindling, then put your metal stand on top, douse the wood with lighter fluid, a little goes a long way guys!"

As the activities for the day start to wind down and one by one they all went to their tents turning their lights off. The five friends made their way slowly and silently out of their tents with equipment in their backpacks and headed off towards the old abandoned warehouse following Jules lead, who had researched on how to get there. "We're not that far away.. It should be right here behind these trees."

As they moved pass the trees they stood in front of a three story building that seemed almost as long as the land. Rizzo hid behind Lizzo and grabbed her shirt. "Uh guys... I'm not so sure about this anymore.."

Dean was the first one to step towards it. "C'mon can't chicken out now." He took his video recorder out and started it before he had walked in. "Alright guys.. This is the abandoned warehouse where a brother and sister died from..." He turned the camera towards the group and zoomed in on Jules. "My man here knows exactly what happened lets ask him."

Jules sighed as he looked around, some of the equipment was still there but for the most part it was empty. The building looked like it was still sturdy enough to hold but still was decrepit as well as the equipment. "This was a freezer warehouse.. It stored all kinds of foods. In 1986 just like us.. These two siblings decided they wanted to secretly explore the warehouse.. Thats when it was still open. The place was about to shut down for the night.. The worker didn't come to see if anyone else was there. I don't blame him though.. He couldn't have known a couple of kids would wonder in.. They were locked up in here overnight.. The next morning when the boss came in, he found them frozen together trying to keep warm.."

The kids looked at Jules as he shrugged "You wanted to know."

Jess started to whine "I don't like this at all!!"

A loud thump roared throughout the building as if something hit the floor. They all jump and stepped back as Dean turned the recorder to the noise. "Hello? .. Is someone there... Is it .. the spirits that died here.. Are we disturbing your resting place?"

A girl about the same age as them peaked out from a doorway. "Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you.. I was trying to keep as quiet as possible to not do that but I slipped.." She was walking out towards them. She played with her black hair which was in a braid and over her shoulder. "Hi my names Priscilla.. You must be taking a walk in the 'haunted warehouse' too heh."

Lizzo raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips. "Uh... Where did you come from? I know our class is having camp here but you're not in our class."

"Oh! No no no I'm actually from Jayhill High we have camp here every year as well. Especially after that incident.. The two who died here were from Jayhill afterall. Its like a memorial site for my school. Paying respect and all.." Priscilla smiled at them a bit nervously. "I can show you if you wish.. we're on the other side of the lake."

Jules shook his head. "No.. No need to shes telling the truth.. They do come camp here as well and the kids are from Jayhill.. I would've stopped coming here if I was your school.. But I guess they decided to do the opposite... Oh uh. I'm Jules.. This is Dean.. Jess.. Lizzo and Rizzo."

She greeted them all. "So I guess we can look around together then? Maybe we will actually find something!"

Dean put his arm around Jules' shoulders and whispered. "This girl seems a bit too cheery for this atmosphere.."

 Jules shrugged and looked to him. "She's just excited.." He stopped and looked over to Jess as he flinched. "Hey Jess!! What did I say don't tou.." 

Jess pulled back as soon as the generator started to run and all the lights turned on. A few of them busted from overheating. A chill started to fill the room and their breaths started to blow out like smoke. Rizzo hugged Lizzo tightly and whined "Oh no... I think the freezer is on."

"Don't worry the doors are still open and there are windows broken.. Its not gonna freeze in here. Just get really cold.." Dean started walking into the back rooms with Jules as the others followed. There was glass, paper, concrete, cardboard, and wood strown all over the floor. Priscilla walked towards the back area where the dock was. The area was the biggest room in the building. Dean headed up a flight of stairs to a room that was detached from the rest of the building. He turned the doorknob but it didn't budge as it was locked, he started ramming the door with his shoulder til it broke open. As he walked in he flashed the light on his camera around the room. All of the office equipment was still present and looked intact. He walked up to the computer and started pressing buttons though nothing happened. He searched through the desks and then the filing cabinets until he came across a newspaper dating back 36 years ago to 1986. Barely being able to see the picture or words Dean put his camera at an angle, so the light would hit the paper as he dusted it off. Leaning down while squinting his eyes to see the picture, he jumped back a bit. "But.. Thats.." The building started to shake as Dean held onto the desk before trying to make his way out of the room, before he could the legs snapped and the building with Dean in it came crashing down. All the kids were shocked for a second before Jess screamed and ran to the building. "DEAN!! No! No Dean!! Where are you?!! Please come out!"

Jules stood there watching as the other girls dig through the rubble then snapped back to reality before he as well ran over to help. "Dean! You better not be dead on me!"

A screech came from the entrance and a loud thud followed by as the doors started to shut on them. Rizzo cried out "H.. How.. No I'm getting out of here!" She ran towards one of the windows and stopped seeing it was back intact and no glass was on the ground. "What?! No! This is impossible! How are the windows... How are the windows back?!"

Lizzo pulled her shirt off leaving only a tank top on, she wrapped the shirt around her hand and started punching the window. "Its not breaking!!"

Jules held his head as he was crouched down. "Im so sorry... Im so sorry.. They wont stop... They're angry.. I've tried so hard."

Jess grabbed onto Jules and shook him. "What are you talking about?! Stop going crazy!.... Wait... Where did Priscilla go?"

The building started to get colder faster as Jess continued to dig through the rubble before finding Deans hand and started to cry. "No... Dean.." she grabbed his hand and found the newspaper he was looking at and unraveled it before staring at the picture for a moment. Her eyes widened at the sight before a gust of freezing cold wind, almost like a blizzard started to fill the room. The girls grabbed eachother and huddled together barely able to move, their skin becoming stiff like ice fast. The room started to darken as it was getting surrounded by ghostlike figures of what seemed like kids their age, at the center of the circle was Dean who was beside them with their last minutes.

The next morning the building was surrounded by sirens of police cars, fire trucks, and ambulance vans. Four pairs of parents were mourning over their children as the news break told their story across the state; 'Four kids died late last night on a class camping trip. Names Dean, Jess, Lizzo, and Rizzo. While everyone was asleep they decided to sneak out into an unsafe abandoned warehouse that took the lives of first two young kids, when it was open in 1986. Thereafter many kids have ventured off into this building and died the same exact way. Is this a phenomenon? I say this is no coincidence. Something strange is happening and this building should be torn before it takes anymore lives.'

Jules stood in front of the window as he watched the crew take off with the bodies. Priscilla put her hand on his shoulder and sighed. "It's ok brother.. We will find someone.. That can help all of us."

All of the kids who died in the past 36 years stood along with them, including Dean, Jess, Lizzo and Rizzo. An officer removed the piece of paper from Jess' hand and threw it to the ground; 'Two Deaths in Jayhill High 1986' Jules and Priscilla, a brother and his younger sister were frozen to death in a freezer warehouse that was built beside the camping site their class takes.'

Lydia

 The fiery orange dusk sky illuminated over the city signaling for adult and child to head home for the night. A man in his late thirties walked lonely across the dried autumn leaves blowing across the chalky sidewalk. Every click of his boot walking the same path every second of every day from home to work to home again. His mind absent but his body following the steps like a replaying record. He stopped in front of a blue door to the same old, white house. Like always he reached for the doorknob, his house always being unlocked. The cold painful air whipped from his home, the same air that his beloved had once breathed, where his children had played, before that tragic day. He took a few moments and closed the door once again trying to get the past from his mind, to get the courage to walk into his home. 'A nice day for a walk, to clear my mind' he had thought to himself even if it was only for a few seconds. He had walked to his favorite bakery to pick up something sweet to indulge himself in. Once again, walking the same old path back to his home until standing dead in his tracks, his heart had almost dropped from hearing a squealing sob. He walked towards the park where he heard the sobbing and saw a little girl in the sandbox, in a torn, bright blue dress holding an old, dirty bunny that looked like it was once white. He hesitated to approach her, but gathered up the courage, walked over and knelt down. Even feeling his presence she did not look up at him.

So he asked: "What is wrong?"

A few minutes passed by before she replied with: "I've lost my mommy and daddy."

He sighed softly and closed his eyes. "Then let us find them."

She shook her head and wiped her eyes "No. The bad man has them! I'm scared of him!"

He opened his eyes and stared at her trying to think of what she meant "Bad man? Did someone hurt you?"

She was reluctant to say anything further as he stood up and reached his hand out to her. "It will get dark soon and be very cold. If you stay out here you will get sick. You can come to my place and I will look for your parents. It's better than being out here."

She looked up at him with her dulled, blurry, green eyes for the first time, debating on whether to go with the strange man or not. Not wanting to be alone she took his hand and he led the frail, weak little girl back to his home. Once inside the little girl looked displeased with how dull and lifeless his place was. "You must be hungry. I'll fix you something to eat... By the way. What is your name?"

The girl was exploring the living room only to find nothing of interest as she answered back. "I'm Lydia."

The aroma of the food just hitting the pan pulsated Lydia's senses. She was starving and it smelled so good she could melt. "I'm Samuel. It is nice to meet you Lydia."

When Lydia saw Samuel occupied she went exploring throughout the rest of the house. She turned on the hall light to see where she was going, there were six doors in the hallway and three of them had padlocks on them. What are in those rooms? Would it be too much to ask him? So she decided to explore the rooms that were open. The first room was the master bedroom, just as dull as the rest of the house. The second was a door to the master bathroom, and the third was a regular bathroom. She pouted with disappointment but still curious about the other three doors. She also noticed that there were no mirrors in the house. When she heard that the food was ready she ran back into the living room and up to the bar that separated the living room from the kitchen. She looked into the bowl and smiled seeing pieces of chicken covered in a high amount of vegetables. "Chicken stir-fry. It was my kids' favorite meal."

The little girl looked at the man when he explained what it was. "Kids? Are the doors that are locked your kids?"

The man sighed heavily and nodded "Yes. I do not have the money or the means to leave this house. So instead, I have locked up the memories."

She looked at him with no further questions and started to eat. He pulled his sofa out into a bed for the little girl to sleep on. "You can stay with me. Until I get you help."

Day after day passed by and the girl was happily roaming around the house as if it was hers. She watched her favorite television shows and played with the stuffed animals Samuel had bought her. She was content and so was he. When the weekends came and he was off of work they would go out together and play in the park, chase down ice cream trucks, and go to amusement parks just like a real father and daughter. When he had to work again the same routine weighed heavily on his mind, till he opened the door and saw her smiling face welcoming him home. He smiled right back at her and brought in either a present or something sweet. One late night before bed she asked him something he had almost forgotten. "Where are your kids?"

Samuel bit his lip in frustration from the question and looked down. "They are; They are in heaven. Gone from this world."

She whimpered slightly sad that he cannot see them any longer. "Is their mother gone too?"

He closed his eyes trying to control his emotions that he had made sure to set in place to try and go on day after day. "Yes. No more questions. Go to sleep." He leaned down and kissed her forehead before tucking her in and heading off to bed himself.

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. Lydia was getting more comfortable, thinking of this home and Samuel as her own. When Samuel came home she started to greet him with the word 'dad'. He became used to it after a while, the pain seeming to mask itself with something new. He would lift himself up more and more thinking that he had to take care of her now, he had something to live for. As she got older, she became more demanding of her curiosity. "Dad! I want my own room! Why can't I have my own room, you have three of them you're not using!" He tried to ignore her and get her off the subject. He did not want to open those doors.

While Samuel was at work she would sneak into his bedroom and rummage through his things till she came upon a small key. With a gleam in her eyes, she ran to each room to try it out, one of them opened. The door creaked as if it had not been open in years. She reached up to turn the light on and a bright blue room shined. There was a tea party set in the middle of the floor on top of a pink table, a variety of stuffed animals on the small bed, and the bedding was laced and frilly. Lydia smiled and rushed over looking through all of the drawers finding crayons, school supplies, and fake makeup until she came upon a picture. It was her new dad with his family. A beautiful wife with three kids, a girl who looked like the eldest, a younger brother, and a baby. She turned the picture over to read the date and the names. September 11, 2001 'Samuel, Maria, Lydia, Michael, Gabriel.' She eyed over the names again stopping at 'Lydia'. "Why does she have my name?"

The door creaked when Samuel stepped into the doorway holding a phone. She started to tremble as he stared at her with cold, dead eyes. "Why don't you listen? I'm trying to help you. Why won't you let me help you."

Lydia shivered, confused and scared as tears started to roll down her eyes. "What is going on. Did you kill them? Did you kill your wife and children?! You're the bad man!"

He stepped forward as she ran past him pushing him to the side, he grabbed her arm to keep her from running. "Maria stop!"

She froze and hesitated for a moment at the name. "My name is Lydia!"

He pushed her into the bathroom and locked the door. "Open it. Open the medicine cabinet."

With tears still streaming down her cheeks she did as she was told and opened the medicine cabinet. There she found the only mirror in the house and what was staring back at her was not the little girl she thought she was, but a woman who looked much older than she was. Her hair had turned almost completely gray and her skin had wrinkled from the stress. Her eyes widened in disbelief "You... You're tricking me."

He bit his lip, finally letting his tears go. "Seventeen years ago, 9/11 happened. That picture was the last family picture we ever took. You sat on the couch watching the news constantly about it. Your brother was on one of those planes and something; Something in you snapped. You were convinced that something was out to get us all. It got so bad I had to take you to a psychiatrist. He gave you medication and you were doing so well. So I left you home alone with the kids. I shouldn't have, it was all my fault. I came home and there was nothing, no sound. I went looking for you and the kids and I found them. I found them lying lifeless in the tub filled with water, and you... You had just done it. I could still feel the warmth of the water. You were trying to hang yourself but I cut you down in time. You were trying to part from this world with them. But the guilt set in when you realized what you had done. Your mind broke reality and turned back time to when you were once innocent. But you weren't playing as yourself. You were playing our beloved daughter Lydia. Someone you consider the most innocent creature in this world. Maria! It's been seventeen years! This endless loop, you have to stop!"

She screamed and started to bang on the door as her reality started to sink in. Her eyes widened and constricted as darkness started to cover the world as she knew it. When he heard the banging stop, he opened the door seeing her body still, like a doll. Her eyes were lifeless as if her soul had passed on, and what was left was nothing but a shell with a mind of its own. She walked out of the room and started to walk out of the house, on a path she did not know, but her body did not stop moving. Samuel watched her walk out and put the phone he had been holding the whole time up to his ear. "Samuel. I am sorry. I wish I could help. But my hands are tied on this case. I have made an appointment for Friday. Please come see me then."

The fiery orange dusk sky illuminated over the city signaling for adult and child to head home for the night. A man in his late thirties walked lonely across the dried autumn leaves blowing across the chalky sidewalk. Every click of his boot walking the same path every second of every day from home to work to home again. His mind absent but his body following the steps like a replaying record. He stopped, his heart dropping when he heard a squealing sob. He followed the sob to a park and there he saw a little girl in a sandbox, in a torn, bright blue dress.