Classical music drifted from the worn-out wooden desk's radio. A newspaper lay on it, dated Friday, January 22, 1984, with the headline: "Dark Falls Asylum." A badge lay nearby. For a moment, everything seemed normal, but then...
I glanced at the coffee cup knocked over on the floor and saw a bloody handprint. Next to it was an investigation memo about a mysterious figure, described as a demonic spirit or something similar. My gaze shifted to one of the many surveillance monitors in front of me. Doctors and nurses were sprawled everywhere, drenched in blood. I looked at the screen next to it and saw someone dragging a nurse, leaving clear blood trails. I quickly looked at another screen and saw the same person dragging another doctor into a room with thick, black, tree root-like lines carved on its door!
I followed the person to that room. As I pushed the door open, a girl with long, messy black hair, white eyes, and a pale, blood-stained face lunged at me. She was wearing a torn, blood-soaked white dress!
The sound of knocking on the front door instantly jolted me awake from that terrifying nightmare. I turned on the lamp beside my bed and went downstairs to see who it was. I looked through the peephole and saw a mailman standing in the rain, holding a letter. It was a little strange. I put the security chain on before opening the door. He held out a wooden board with some papers clipped to it and asked me to sign for the letter he had. I signed with the name "Holly Stonehouse"—that's my name.
After I signed, the mailman left, and I closed the door. It was three in the morning, and getting a letter at that hour was really weird. I opened the letter, and inside was a picture and a short message.
I read the message, which said...
To my younger sister...
I'm so incredibly sorry. I disappeared and haven't contacted you in years. All of it was for your own protection! Unfortunately, it's time for you to know the truth—about me, about our mother, and about you too. The address is on the back of the photo that came with the letter. Please come as soon as you get this. I've always loved you... I'm so sorry, please understand.
Your loving sister,
Heather
I looked at the picture. Yes, it was me and my older sister, Heather! My older sister! I hadn't heard anything from her in almost ten years.
I rushed out, got in my car, and headed for the address on the back of the photo. I put the photo and letter on the passenger seat next to me and started driving, thinking to myself:
"My sister and I used to be super close. Soon after our mother died, she just vanished. It's been almost ten years, and I haven't heard anything from her again."
I paused for a moment, then looked at our photo together and asked myself:
"What could have happened to her?!"
I turned back to continue my drive, and that's when something really creepy happened. Heather's face in the photo had changed! Her eyes were completely black, and she had terrifying fangs in her mouth!
The place was shrouded in darkness, and because of it, I found this location after a lot of trouble. It was a house located in an isolated area, far from people, deep within the shadows. I approached its gate, which was securely fastened with a bunch of wood. The house looked like it had been abandoned for a very long time. Next to the gate was a wooden box.
I searched through it and found a letter envelope that read: "To Heather Stonehouse, Rosemary Street." I held the envelope, thinking to myself:
"My sister's name! Will I really find her after all these years?!"
There was a hammer lying next to the door. I used it to remove the wood blocking my access to the gate's lock. Then I started searching the mailbox for the key, as it's a family custom to leave keys in places like that. And sure enough, I found the key among a bunch of letters. But one letter caught my attention, and I started reading it. It was an invitation from a hospital with a very strange name: "Dark Falls Asylum." The letter read:
Dear Ms. Stonehouse,
We have received your inquiry regarding patient Dahlia S. We are honored to extend an invitation for you to visit us, with the opportunity to answer all your questions. If we do not see you soon, we may need to make a special house call.
Sincerely,
K. Chuwache
After reading that letter, I thought to myself:
"This doesn't look like any official letter I've ever seen. And who is Dahlia S?"
After a few moments of contemplation and deep thought, I decided to go in. And I wish I hadn't, because after I stepped past the house's walls, the course of my life completely changed. I became entangled in a series of terrifying events within those dark shadows, all to uncover this perplexing mystery...
When I opened that gate and got past the fence, I reached the main garden. There, at the entrance to the house, I saw a girl with long, messy black hair, wearing torn, blood-stained white clothes. Her back was hunched. I never saw her face; I just watched her limp quickly into the house. For a second, I thought she might know where my sister was, so I started calling out to her, but she didn't respond. She just went inside and completely ignored me. Silence surrounded me from every direction.
I scanned the area and saw a rocking chair with a doll placed on it. I got closer and examined it. I knew that doll well. It was my sister's, and sometimes we'd share it when we played in the treehouse back at our old place. I headed to the main door of the house, and there I noticed some strange things: candles by the door, an animal horn, a doll with its hands and feet tied, and another doll hanging, looking like it had been strung up, right at the entrance. Those dolls looked like the ones used in black magic, where the doll represents a person, and if you hurt the doll, that person suffers just the same.
The house door was open, but as soon as I got near it, it suddenly slammed shut on its own. Yep, just like that, without any warning. I tried the doorknob, but I couldn't open it. Luckily, the door had a glass pane, so I figured I'd break it and get in. There was a bunch of stuff scattered all around me, so from the junk pile, I found a piece of wood and some gloves. I used the wood to break the window on the door, and I put on the gloves to reach inside the shattered glass without cutting myself. That's how I unlocked the house from the inside, and then I went in.
The place was dark, like no one had been in there for ages, which made me wonder who that girl really was. I turned on the lights to see the room clearly. It was the main entrance of the house. The wallpaper was torn, and there were cobwebs everywhere. At the end, there was a coat rack with a rain jacket, a wool shawl, a black umbrella, and a bunch of rain hats in different colors. I noticed something in the pocket of the brown rain jacket in front of me. I walked over and pulled it out—it was a piece of a picture. It showed some trees and a starry sky.
I looked around the room and saw a first aid kit on the wall, and next to it, an old piece of paper hanging. I pulled the paper off the wall and started reading what was on it...
The same dream, over and over again... some kind of hospital... All that blood! I feel like I've actually been there. That place looks so familiar, but I've never been there before. This makes no sense at all...
At the bottom of the paper, there was a drawing of an entrance to some place, and on that entrance, in bold letters, it said: "WELCOME."
It looked like this was a page from my sister Heather's diary. Just like my dream! It keeps getting weirder and weirder...
I put that page and the piece of the picture I'd found into my journal, which I carry everywhere. I tried to open the first aid kit, hoping it might be useful, but I couldn't. It was nailed shut with bent, firmly secured nails. When I couldn't open it, I decided to keep going and headed further into the house. I found the staircase leading to the upper floor, but its wooden steps were broken, and I couldn't go up.
Near that staircase, there was a picture of my sister, Heather. I got closer to see it, but instead, I saw something that froze me in fear. Like a flash of light, something appeared and vanished. It was a monster, if you could call it that. It—or she—had long, messy hair, dark black eyes, and really scary fangs!
Suddenly, Heather's picture shattered and fell to the floor. That made me jump and step back. I tried to think logically to calm myself down, telling myself that these were all illusions, or maybe it was the wind or a rat living in the walls. That's how I convinced myself these were all illusions. Then I started to pay attention to what had just happened. Oh yeah, the picture that just fell—a key had dropped with it! It had to help me.
I picked up the key and started looking through the rooms around me. There was a kitchen at the end of the hall, and a wooden staircase I couldn't go up unless I found some wood to fix it. And a locked room, near the kitchen and the stairs, in between them. I approached the door to that room, put the key in the lock, and turned it until it opened in front of me. That room was a living room with a torn red couch and a TV spitting out sparks because someone had thrown a metal hammer at it. In the corner, there was a huge clock, and next to it, a wooden board and an empty bookshelf with a wooden cabinet underneath. The window was completely boarded up from the outside. Near that TV, which was practically about to explode, there was another piece of paper. I cautiously approached it, pulled it off the wall, and started reading what was written on it...
It seems that asylum closed years ago. But... who's answering my letters?! They've sent me dozens of invitations to visit that place.
At the bottom of that paper, there was a drawing of a sign for some place, and on that sign, in bold letters, it said: "DARK FALLS ASYLUM."
It was another mysterious page from my sister Heather's diary. What's the secret of this hospital whose name keeps popping up everywhere? What's the secret of Dark Falls Asylum? Will I meet my sister here? Or will my story take a completely different turn than what I might want?!
I looked at the wall in front of me. There were words written in blood that chilled me to the bone...
It said:
Someone's watching me here.
They know all my secrets...
I hurried towards that small cabinet and tried to open it, but no luck. The amount of junk in that house was unbelievable. I rummaged around until my hand landed on a thin metal ruler. I immediately knew it would help me open the cabinet's lock. And sure enough, I slid the ruler between the cabinet doors and tried to lift the latch to open it...
It didn't have anything important, unfortunately, just some old dishes, an old scalpel, and a small power adapter. I grabbed the scalpel, just in case I needed to defend myself if someone or something attacked me.
I stepped back out of the room and stood right between the broken wooden stairs and the kitchen. I looked at the stairs, trying to figure out a way to get up them, but no ideas came to mind. There was some loose wood I could probably use to replace the broken steps, but it might not be stable, and I could fall.
Yeah, no other choice but the kitchen...
I headed into the kitchen. It was dark. I reached for the light switch and flipped it. As soon as the light came on, the power suddenly went out. Just like that, without any warning...
I looked at the power strip, which, luckily, was in the kitchen. I saw that one of the power adapters had burned out, and that's what caused the sudden power outage. I remembered the cabinet in that other room; it had a spare adapter. I rushed back to that room. It was completely dark since the power was out in the house, but the thing that made my hair stand on end was that the TV, which had been hit by a hammer, was still working and sparking. I had no one but the Almighty to rely on. I prayed and avoided getting close to that TV, fearing the same thing that happened in my recurring nightmares would happen to me. That sentence, Heather must have written it, but for heaven's sake, what is this? Why did she send me a written letter? She could have called. She could easily get my phone number. And since she sent the letter to my home address, she must know it. So why didn't she just visit me? Why did she send me the address to this place and ask to meet me here? If she lives here, why does this house look like it's been abandoned for years? I hurried to grab the adapter.
Then I left that room, mulling over all those thoughts. I went back to the kitchen and replaced the burned-out power adapter with the one I had, and the lights came back on in the house. I looked at the kitchen entrance. There was a bloodstain on one of the walls of the entryway, and in front of it, there was a door that looked like a basement door. But it was shut with a bunch of wood, and each piece of wood had two locks on it, eight locks in total, to make sure it wouldn't open. That was really suspicious. Why would anyone lock a place up like that?
Next to that basement door, there was a black light lamp, but it was missing a power cord, and the lamp's plug was cut, with two wires in its place, one red and one blue. Across from that lamp was a phone call recording device. I carefully approached it and played the last audio recording. The tape started, and it was a woman's voice, like the ones you hear answering machines at TV stations or home shopping companies. She said in a gentle, friendly tone:
"Dark Falls Asylum. You'll be connected to the next available representative. Please wait."
The woman fell silent for a few moments, then someone spoke in a hoarse, terrifying voice, saying:
"...If you said you wouldn't come see us...
Then I guess I'll be forced to come see you now!"
The call suddenly disconnected. It seemed like someone hung up, and it could have been my sister or that person with the creepy voice. Dark Falls Asylum! That name was in my nightmare. Yes, the place I'd been dreaming about was that asylum or hospital... It was Dark Falls Asylum itself!
What is all this madness?! Why do I keep dreaming about that place? All that blood and the doctors killed in the most horrific ways, the girl! Yes, the girl with the messy black hair, she must be behind all of this. She must have done something to my sister Heather. I tried to see if there were any other phone recordings, but there was nothing. So I decided to keep the recording I had and proceed further into that kitchen.
I went into the kitchen, and as I turned my back to that strangely locked door, someone moved the doorknob, trying to open it from the other side! I felt the doorknob move, so I quickly turned around, but I didn't see anything. I figured I was imagining things. I looked at the bloodstains on the wall and thought to myself:
"Those stains are giving me the chills."
I headed further into the kitchen...
The kitchen was like all the other places I'd been through or entered: completely messy. I went towards the fridge, figuring if there was food in it, there was definitely someone alive in this house. The fridge door was an old model, with a handle like a car door, but it was wrapped in tape, preventing me from unlatching it to open it. I remembered the scalpel I had!
I pulled it out of my pocket and started removing the tape from the handle. As I was about to open it, something stuck to the side of the fridge caught my attention and completely confused me. It was a bunch of magnetic letters arranged in a list with three names like this:
A R D
HOLLY L
HEATHER S
DAHLIA G
T F J
Holly / Heather, that's my name and my older sister's name, but... who is this Dahlia person? I read her name in the letter too (Dahlia S.). Could she be that girl with the black hair?!
Well, if I want to know, I have to search and dig deeper. I reached out and opened the fridge door. I hoped with all my heart to find food in the house, but instead, I found cobwebs. I couldn't remove the cobwebs from the top part of the fridge, so I decided to look for a broom or anything that could help get rid of them. Since that was another dead end, I decided to search around the kitchen, like the cabinets and stuff.
I didn't find anything useful. Near the sink, there was a novel, "Valley of Mystery." It's one of my favorite novels. It seems my sister shares the same taste. Yeah, we're kind of similar. I haven't seen her since I was eleven. I wonder how this reunion will be?
I opened the cabinet under the sink, and there was nothing but a dishwashing glove. The oven was full of cobwebs, and there was a dining table near the room connected to the kitchen. On it, there was a box with a carved statue that had two hands, but one was missing. Below that box, words were carved that read:
"You must adjust the hands in the correct order to open the box."
I finally decided to enter that room connected to the kitchen, which seemed to be a passage to a pantry. There, in that room, I saw a dusty glass cabinet, and to my left, there was a door to another room with a star-shaped doorknob.
A devil-worshipping offering!
That room's door! It looked like that terrifying door... the door I saw every night in my nightmares...
I rushed to the small cabinet and tried to open it, but it was no use. The amount of junk in that house was unbelievable. I rummaged around until my hand landed on a thin metal ruler. I knew right away it would help me open that cabinet lock. And sure enough, I slid the ruler between the small cabinet doors and tried to lift the latch to open it...
There was nothing important inside, just some old dishes, an ancient scalpel, and a small power adapter. I grabbed the scalpel, just in case I needed it to defend myself if someone or something attacked.
I went back out of that room and stood right between the shattered wooden staircase and the kitchen. I looked at the stairs, trying to figure out a way to climb them, but I couldn't come up with anything. There were some wooden planks I could use to replace the broken steps, but they might be unstable, and I could fall.
Yep, no other choice but the kitchen...
The Kitchen and a Mysterious Call
I headed for the kitchen. It was dark. I reached for the light switch and flipped it on. As soon as the light came on, the power suddenly went out. Just like that, without any warning...
I looked at the power strip, which, luckily, was in the kitchen. I saw that one of the power adapters had burned out, causing the sudden outage. I remembered the cabinet in the other room; it had a spare adapter. I hurried back to that room. It was completely dark since the house's power was out, but the thing that made my hair stand on end was that the TV, which had been hit with a hammer, was still working and sparking! I had no one but God to pray to. I kept praying and avoided getting close to that TV, afraid that what happened in my recurring nightmares would happen to me. That sentence—Heather must have written it, but seriously, what is this? Why did she send me a written letter? She could have called; she could easily get my phone number. And since she sent the letter to my house, she must know where I live, so why didn't she just visit me? Why did she send me the address to this place and ask to meet me here? If she lives here, why does this house look like it's been abandoned for years? I quickly grabbed the adapter.
Then I left that room, my mind racing with all those thoughts. I went back to the kitchen and reinstalled the power adapter I had, replacing the burned-out one, and the lights came back on in the house. I looked at the kitchen entrance. There was a bloodstain on one of the walls, and in front of it, a door that looked like a basement door. But it was barricaded with several planks of wood, and each plank had two locks on it—eight locks in total—to make sure it wouldn't open. That was really suspicious. Why would anyone lock this place up like that?
Next to that basement door was a black light lamp, but it was missing a power cord, and the lamp's plug was cut, with two wires in its place, one red and one blue. Across from that lamp was a phone call recording device. I carefully approached it and played the last audio recording. The tape started, and it was a woman's voice, like the ones you hear answering machines at TV stations or home shopping companies. She said in a gentle, friendly tone:
"Dark Falls Asylum. You'll be connected to the next available representative. Please wait."
The woman paused for a few moments, then someone spoke in a hoarse, terrifying voice, saying:
"...If you said you wouldn't come see us...
Then I guess I'll be forced to come see you now!"
The call suddenly disconnected. It seemed like someone hung up, and it could have been my sister or that person with the scary voice. Dark Falls Asylum! That name was in my nightmare. Yes, the place I'd been dreaming about was that asylum or hospital... It was Dark Falls Asylum itself!
What is all this craziness?! Why do I always dream about that place? All that blood and the doctors killed in the most horrific ways, the girl! Yes, the girl with the messy black hair, she must be behind all of this. She must have done something to my sister Heather. I tried to see if there were any other phone recordings, but there was nothing. So I decided to keep the recording I had and move further into the kitchen.
A Chilling Presence
I stepped further into the kitchen, and as I turned my back to that strangely locked door, and without me noticing, someone moved the doorknob, trying to open it from the other side! I felt the doorknob move, so I quickly turned around, but there was nothing there. No one behind me. But I swear to God, I felt it. It really touched me!
I headed towards the back door of the house, but its lock was broken, so I couldn't move it. I tried to break the door, but it was no use. It looked like I'd have to remove the lock's screws to open it. Finally, I gave up and went back to the starting point, that room with the weird TV, the kitchen to my left, and the stairs to my right. I looked at those stairs, specifically at the missing steps: one, two, three, four, five wooden steps torn from the staircase. I needed to find some wood and secure it with nails...
And sure enough, I started my search at the house's entrance. There was a long piece of wood, and also in the kitchen, and the passage that connected the kitchen to the pantry, and in the living room, there was another wooden board. Finally, in the pantry, I found the last piece.
I laid out the wood and got the nails ready, but what about the hammer? The one I used to open the door wasn't enough. I needed a thick steel hammer. Oh, right, the hammer that was thrown at the TV screen! That would work, but I couldn't just grab it because it was connected to the electricity, and if I touched it, I'd get zapped immediately.
What to do then?? After a few moments of thought, I remembered the glove that was in the kitchen. It had to be an insulator from the electricity, and that way, I could easily grab the steel hammer. I put on the glove and approached that strange TV. I won't lie, I was terrified. I just prayed to God as I got closer, and quickly, I grabbed that hammer. That's when something unexpected happened. That TV suddenly turned on by itself. It had a picture or a clip of... of... me!
I was watching myself on the TV from behind, looking at the TV! It was really strange, but that was just the beginning. I saw myself looking at the TV, and after a few moments, a girl passed by!
A girl with long, messy black hair, wearing a torn, blood-stained white dress, limping quickly behind me. Suddenly, the TV turned off, and the screen went completely black. What... what... what did I just see?!
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