Chapter 1

HALLOWEEN

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BY NAOMI INNOCENT

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CHAPTER 1

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The croaking sound of toads could be heard right outside the hospital, the night was cold and the wind was damp.

The cool breeze made its silly noises as Willow lay on her bed. 

The sound of the beeping machine was so audible that she wished it could shut up and let her rest in peace.

She tossed on her bed and slowly blinked her eyes.

She glanced around the room and wondered what she was doing in the hospital.

"Of course!" She sighed as she remembered the anxiety disorder.

"I hate the stench of this place" she moaned and rolled on the bed. 

The ticking sound of the wall clock that stood opposite her sounded annoying to her as she tried to reach the glass of water on the stool next to her bed.

Her fingers touched it but it fell to the ground and shattered.

"Fuck!" She muttered under her breath and stared at the broken pieces of glasses on the floor.

She sat up and tried to look at the mess she made on the floor, but the clicking sound of glasses and some sort of lightning from opposite her direction made her avert her attention towards it.

She noticed that the door of the room opposite her was opened, from the looks of things, she concluded that it was a lab room.

She was still trying to grasp if it was truly a lab or not as she noticed the presence of a figure that stood right there, although he was back facing her. 

When he turned to check out the chemical he was making in a conical flask, she caught a glimpse of him, but he did not notice she was awake yet.

He wore a white lab coat and a black smoke mask which she found confusing as she wondered what he was doing and why he was putting on a mask like that.

"Weird," she muttered.

The chemical he was mixing started burning and bringing out green fumes. He dropped a pinch of white substance in it and the burning stopped.

She watched as he was looking at the chemical with keen interest as she wondered what he was creating.

She sat up properly and decided to scan the room from where she sat, she could see two patients that seemed dead or something, because they were not moving.

"What is this?"She muttered and was now interested with those patients that were lying on a stretcher and were covered all over with a blue and green wrap.

"Am I dreaming?" She muttered and kept watching as one of the patient's arms fell off from how it was placed on the stretcher.

She could vividly see from where she sat, the green veins on the skinny white arm and some dark spots.

The masked doctor quickly noticed as he dropped the chemical he was mixing on a counter and walked up to the patient whose arm was out of the wrap.

She noticed that he was putting on a black glove. He examined the black spots on the arm, she could not see his facial expression because of the mask, but she could tell that he was indifferent.

He quickly placed the arm correctly and walked back to the counter. And she could not tell if those patients were males or females. Or if they were actually dead and he was trying to revive them or something. The whole setting was just confusing for her.

She saw that he took out a syringe, inoculated the chemical he was making into the syringe, and was walking to one of the corpses.

She could not take it anymore as she placed her legs on the floor, totally forgetting about the broken pieces of glasses.

A piece of the broken glass on the floor pierced through the sole of her foot as she winced.

The masked doctor heard her yelp and quickly glanced towards her.

She could not see his eyes or what his face looked like, but from his actions, she could tell that he was furious that someone saw him.

He quickly darted his attention towards the two covered bodies on the stretcher as she followed his gaze and saw what he was looking at.

He took some strides and got to the door as he banged it aggressively.

"Jeez!"She muttered and placed the sole that was injured on the bed and tried to remove the broken chunk of glass from her foot.

She could hear noises from behind the closed door and wondered what was going on behind the closed door.

A scream and the sound of glass, landing on something like a smashing noise was heard as her heart started thumbing.

The noise quickly seized as she heard a thud sound and footsteps, paddling around the room.

"Okay, I think if I do not get the hell out of here, I am going to freak out" she murmured as she heard a clicking sound, she became scared and stared at the closed lab door, then the door sprung open.

The masked doctor that came out of the room did not give her a chance to take a peep at the room as he quickly closed it and locked the door.

When he walked to the room Willow was seated on her bed, he gave her a long stare which she thought was creepy, and walked out of the room.

All this while, her heart was inside her mouth as it thumbed, almost flying out of her chest. When she heard the banging sound of the exit door, she heaved a sigh.

"Okay, whatever I saw, made him mad!"

"What just happened? Was I hallucinating?" She murmured and touched her chest.

She looked at the sole of her foot and saw the wound.

"Of course not, I was not hallucinating." She thought as she heard the rise and fall of footsteps as she glued her eyes to the door that led outside the Ward she was in.

"I need to get out of here" she murmured and kept her eyes glued to the door, waiting for the worse to happen as the door sprang open.

"Are you kidding me? He was just cute, that does not mean that I like him" Piper said as Hazel rolled her eyes at her.

"I know you, Piper, you have a crush on that dude, and the way you spoke to him, it was as if you had known him for a long time" Hazel fired back as Billy just watched both girls argue.

"I do not know why you both are killing yourself over a guy who is not into women. The dude is gay! Which means, he is mine" Billy cut them shut as they got to where Willow sat on the bed.

"Hey, guys! Am I excited to see you guys!" She exclaimed as they used turns to hug her.

"Oh my God! How are you feeling? Boss is so worried about you" Piper planted soft kisses on her forehead as she giggled.

"Here, these flowers are for you. Boss said you should have it" Hazel handed her a brocade which she scented and it smelled of lavender and olive.

"This is beautiful" she smiled and dropped it on the bed next to her.

The nurse that walked inside the ward with her friends noticed the injury on the sole of her foot and frowned.

"How did you injure yourself?" The red-headed nurse asked as she remembered that she injured herself.

"Oh, yeah. I stepped on broken glasses" she confessed as her friends observed it.

"I will be back, I have to clean and disinfect that" The nurse left the friends, and immediately, her friends gave her questioning looks.

"Hey Willow! You are trying to recover from anxiety disorder and you are getting injured already? Will you give yourself a break?' Billy scolded as she shrugged.

"It was just a slight cut. And as for my anxiety disorder, I know I will be fine" she sighed.

"Fine? Seriously, Willow, you must be kidding me. You have had the same issue for three years in a row. And you say you would be fine? Can't you see that you are only getting worse daily?" Piper scolded as she cast her face down.

"Well, I do not blame her anyway. She lost her only sister, Samara, three years ago, exactly at this time, `` Hazel said.

"The thought of Halloween always gives me the chills" she confessed as she recalled how her sister had been missing for three years, during the Halloween period.

"And speaking of Halloween! Guess what Willow!" Piper was as excited.

"What is it?" Billy nudged her as she rolled her eyes at him and glanced back at Willow who was agitating to hear what she had to say.

"We are going to a Halloween show this season. We would go shopping tomorrow and get costumes" she giggled as Hazel scoffed.

"Halloween is for children!" She blurted out.

"Are you nuts? It is just like saying Christmas is for children. Come on guys, can't you feel the spirit of Halloween as I do?" 

"I do not. I guess it is only you" Billy spoke as she held both his hands and that of Hazel and dragged them to a corner.

"Hey! What do you want this time!' Billy scolded.

"shhh! I do not want Willow to eavesdrop on our conversation.

Willow wondered what they were saying as she shrugged and her gaze averted to the closed door that the masked doctor came out from.

She started thinking while her friends whispered to each other.

"This Halloween might be the one that would remove this anxiety disorder. She is our friend, we have to help her. Willow has been scared of Halloween for the past three years because of what happened to Samara. Samara is gone, Willow has to move on with her life. And we have to help her do it" Piper said. 

Billy folded his arm and gave her a long stare.

"So, what do you expect us to do?"

"My suggestion was that we should take her to a Halloween show, let us make her know that there is nothing really evil in having fun and celebrating Halloween and just because her sister got missen during the Halloween season does not mean Halloween Is bad. It was just a coincidence" she explained.

"Hmm, I think Piper is right. This is the only way Willow would be able to fight against this anxiety disorder" Hazel urged.

"Okay! I guess we just have to convince her to come to the show" Billy said.

"So, do you know about any Halloween show?" Hazel asked.

"Come on guys, what are you guys discussing over there?" Willow, who was tired of her thought that was frightening, called out to them as they quickly summarized what they were saying.

"Okay, tomorrow at the coffee shop, I will come up with something" she let out and they walked back to Willow who gave them a horrid look.

"Look here guys, whatever you guys are planning, it will not work!" She told them. Piper was just smiling because Billy and Hazel had agreed to what she said.

"Is there anything behind that closed door? It is weird" Hazel laughed as she stared at the closed door that the masked doctor came out from.

Billy and Piper glanced at the door as Willow had a horrid look on her face.

"About that! Guys, I think something is wrong with this hospital" she spoke as her friends observed her.

"Something is always wrong with hospitals, I do not like it here either, " Piper said.

"No, I do not mean that. I mean this hospital. There is something wrong which I can not understand," she added.

"Okay, what do you mean by that?" Hazel asked and sat very close to her and took her hands.

"Right behind that closed door, I saw a masked man, I do not know if he is a doctor or something. And  I do not know what he was doing, but I think he was making a potion or a vaccine or something, I swear, I do not like the looks of him" 

"Hey, hey, hey, okay, take a deep breath and slow down. Tell us what you saw," Billy was very much interested now.

"There were two corpses on a stretcher, the hands, it was awkward as it was as white as snow had green veins and dark spots. Then he saw me, he was mad that I saw him. He quickly shut the door and in a few a minute, I heard crashing noises and a thud sound. Soon, he walked out of the room and locked the door, then he gave me a look before he left"

"Okay, this is weird," Piper said.

"I think you were just hallucinating because of the drugs they gave you. You might be imagining things. There are no masked doctors here" Hazel said.

"I swear it. I saw it vividly. I would never make up stories like this" 

"Okay, let us take a look at the room" Billy suggested.

"It is locked, "Willow said.

"Then, we will break it open" 

"Are you nuts?"Hazel spoke as she saw that determination was written on his face. And there was nothing she could say that would stop him.

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TBC