Haunted {Calum // 5SOS au}

{ six }

They were in no position to talk. Calum grabbed Riley by the hand and pulled her along the corridors, picking up speed as he frantically searched for a place to hide. He didn't know where they were, or what was going on, but he did know they needed to take cover until they figured out an escape plan. Calum knew that was going to be the most difficult task of all, because how could someone escape from a place that shouldn't even exist?

His main concern was to keep Riley and himself out of the doctors' hands, but so far everywhere he looked seemed like places they could pop up in at any time.

The moments ticked by, each seeming to last a century, and Calum could feel Riley's hand shaking in his, knowing his was just as unsteady. Though they were both trying their hardest to keep their movements as quiet as possible, it seemed that every step or breath they took was grossly magnified.

Because the echoing of their every move wasn't ominous enough, there was a steady drip of water coming from one of the side rooms, but neither Calum nor Riley had any desire to find out which.

As they edged down the hallway, they turned a corner and saw a door at the end. The corridor was no more than 100 feet long, but in their current situation, it seemed to stretch for miles. Their hands still clasped together, they turned so that each was facing the opposite way, in the hopes that nothing would sneak up on them.

The door had seemed unassuming from far away, but the closer they got to it, it was clear that their assumption was horrendously wrong. From afar, it appeared to be a regular door, painted black, but by the time they came to a stop in front of it, it was clear that instead of paint, the door was covered in a foul black mould. It glistened in the fluorescent lighting of the hallway, a putrid smell wafting from it, stinging their nostrils.

Calum glanced at Riley, knowing that it was probably up to him to open the door. Luckily, the doorknob seemed to be unaffected by the mould, and he reached his hand out, wincing as he saw it visibly shake.

The moment his hand came in contact with the doorknob, he jumped. Its metal was colder than anything he'd felt before, the skin of his palm throbbing harshly. Riley opened her mouth to ask what had happened, but before she could a bang came from the end of the hall that they'd just come from, followed by the ominous clicking of what sounded like high heels. Both Calum and Riley's heads whipped around, but there was no body to go with the sound.

"You're not supposed to be out of your rooms! The doctor won't be pleased!"

Until the shrill voice rang out, Calum was sure the doorknob was the coldest thing he'd ever experienced, but the disembodied voice seemed to chill him directly to the core and without another moment's thoughts, he grasped the doorknob and turned it. He dragged Riley through, slamming it shut behind them. He stood in front of it, pressing against it with all his weight hoping it would hinder whatever was coming for them.

Their breaths were ragged as they surveyed the room, relieved that it seemed empty. There was a single window across the room, and as their breathing evened out, a murmur of noise became apparent.

"There's people outside!" Riley exclaimed, and ran up to the windows on the opposite side of the room. 

Placing her hands on the glass in front of her, she stared out at what appeared to be a patio and saw two patients rocking in their chairs. One of them stood out to her as he was wearing a khaki coloured, long overcoat instead of the standard gown she'd seen other patients wear. She recognised the man straight away as a World War II soldier, but there was no time to dwell on him. She continued to scan the area anxiously, eyes sliding over the deadened grass and patches of dirt, but came to the conclusion that there were no nurses or doctors anywhere to be seen.