Asylum (Asylum, #1)(20)

Abby paused. “It’s like she’s speaking to me. Like she needs me.”

“No offense, Abby, but that sounds a little cracked,” Jordan said.

“Probably,” she replied, laughing softly. “I guess I’m a little cracked. But blah. We should do something, you know? Get out of here . . . Go somewhere! What do you think, Jordan? Let us make it up to you?” Abby’s face brightened as she added, “What do you say we check out the creepy old office again?”

“I don’t know. . . .” Jordan looked to Dan for help. “Last time got kind of . . . strange . . .” He trailed off.

Dan wanted to agree with Abby. He wanted to be on her side, and show her that she could count on him. But between this picture on her wall and the weird emails from earlier, re: patient 361, Dan felt like he’d had enough scares for one night. The more he thought about it, though, the more he felt like something from the office was tugging at him. And he had just gone on a first date with Abby—now was not the time to start telling her no.

“Why not check it out,” Dan said cautiously. “There’s probably nothing down there, but . . .”

“Exactly.” Abby reached for Jordan’s hand. “It’s just a bunch of old pictures. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“It’s not about that,” Jordan snapped. “I’m trying to make it so we don’t get kicked out. So I don’t get kicked out! I’m not even supposed to be here. It would be a total shitstorm if my parents found out.”

“Calm down, guys, I’m sure we can all agree on something else to do.” Dan aimed for neutrality, hoping to lower the tension in the room. Besides, he could always explore on his own later.

“But it’s two against one—Dan and I want to check it out, don’t we, Dan?” Abby said.

“Yeah, but—”

“I mean, there could be a clue down there about those emails you got, your mysterious ghostwriter—”

“Your what?” Jordan perked up, turning to glare at Dan. “What emails?”

“Hey, I hadn’t really decided whether I wanted to spread that information around just yet.”

“Wuh-hoh, lovers’ first spat? And over a ‘ghostwriter’? What exactly did I miss?” Jordan sat back down on the bed and patted the space next to him. Dan and Abby both kept standing.

“Dan got a weird email, but when he went to read it, it was gone. Doctor stuff, patient report or something like that.”

Dan bristled.

“Maybe it’s a data ghost,” Jordan said.

“What’s a data ghost?” Dan asked.

“It’s like a fragment of human consciousness that gets stuck in a piece of technology even after the person’s dead . . . a bit of soul trying to reach out before it’s gone for good. It can communicate, but only for a little while before it starts going haywire and degrading.”

That sounded eerily on point to Dan. Maybe he wasn’t crazy after all. . . . Although the idea of an actual ghostwriter wasn’t exactly comforting. “Is this a real thing? How have I not heard of it before?”

“Oh, no, it’s not real.” Jordan laughed, dismissing the idea with a wave of his hand. “At least, I don’t think so. I saw it on an episode of Doctor Who. But it sounds similar though, right?”

“It does,” Abby agreed, “but I think Dan was looking for something a little less sci-fi. And if it’s real he wants, then he’ll probably find it down in the basement, don’t you think?”

Jordan paced, fishing a die out of his pocket and passing it around between his palms. Abby reached out and intercepted it, hiding it in her fist. “You said it was doctor stuff, right Dan? Maybe something down there is reaching out from beyond the grave or, I don’t know, sending psychic brain waves to freak you out.”

There was a pause as they all considered this.

Finally, Jordan said, “Dan, if something unexplainable is going on, why would you want to go sticking your nose in it? I mean, not that I believe it, but shouldn’t you just let sleeping dogs lie? What are you even hoping to find?”

Dan shrugged. From the break in Jordan’s voice, Dan could tell that they’d won. Against his better judgment, Jordan would be joining them downstairs.

“I have a feeling I’ll know it when I see it.”





It didn’t take Jordan long to pick the lock this time.

“Once more into the breach?” said Dan, trying to make a joke. No one responded. Idiot.

It was as dusty and dark as Dan remembered. He shivered, with cold or excitement he wasn’t sure. Probably a bit of both.

Despite having seen it only once before, they moved quickly through the reception area, retracing their previous path to the warden’s office.

Dan held the door open until everyone had stepped through.

“So where do we start?” Jordan asked in a nervous whisper.

“I feel like there has to be more to the old wing,” Dan said. “Which would mean there’s another door around here somewhere.”

He sincerely hoped there was more, anyway. It seemed a bit extreme that people in town would want to tear down the whole building over a dusty reception room and a messy office. But there was something else, too, a feeling that the asylum went deeper.