Reverence [Shyan]

Chapter 1

"This is just going to be another wild goose chase, isn't it," Shane commented, staring out his passenger-side window. The sky was dark with rain clouds, and every once in a while a drop of water would land on the windshield.

"This is supposed to be one of the most haunted places in America, Shane," Ryan answered for the millionth time, keeping his eyes directly on the road in front of him.

"That's what you say every time though."

"Not every time," he hesitated, tapping the drivers' wheel impatiently. Shane watched him fidget and unconsciously continue with his habit, only looking back out the window when Ryan stopped.

"How many times have we seen a ghost in these 'most haunted places of America'?"

"There was definitely proof-"

"Zero. Nada. Zilch. Big fat nothing." Ryan didn't seem irritated at his comment, yet rather pitifully at a loss of what to say. "I'm teasing you. You can believe in whatever you want, 'tis a free country."

Ryan smiled a bit: "Don't patronize me."

"So... scary abandoned hospital this time?"

"Yeah. On the outskirts of town but still relatively isolated."

"And we're sleeping there."

"Yeah."

Just a few days before, Ryan had texted Shane again with another 'haunted' area he had found and wanted to scope out. Ryan had been doing this since they were students together in uni: convincing Shane to tag along because he didn't have the guts or stupidity to do it alone. Not like this was stupid enough, from Ryan's point of view. The only dangers in Shane's eyes were crumbling buildings and weird poisonous bugs.

Ryan had also started to carry his camera around and somewhat narrated his experience with Shane, posting the final videos to his blog that was already steadily growing in popularity. In fact, his camera was currently sitting on Shane's lap, waiting to be used at Ryan's request.

"We're here," Ryan stated, parking the car under a tree. The hospital itself wasn't too large, but all of the windows were mostly boarded up.

"Are you sure you didn't just pick this because it was the first abandoned building you saw on the side of the road?"

"I have all of its history," Ryan grinned, holding up his phone, "And different encounter stories. I'll explain them when we're inside."

"Perfect weather, huh?" Shane squinted at the sky, zipping up his rain jacket and pulling an umbrella from his bag. He hauled both that bag and his sleeping bag over his shoulder as he opened his umbrella.

"Dude, you even brought that?"

"Doesn't hurt to be prepared," he winked, twirling the umbrella and flicking bits of rain on Ryan's face.

"The rain should hopefully stop in an hour - or at least that's what the weather forecast said."

They both trudged inside the building, sliding in through the front doors that one would wonder how they still stood on their hinges. Shane fiddled with Ryan's camera, balancing his bags and umbrella somehow.

"We're inside now, you don't have to worry about your umbrella," Ryan pointed out, turning on some flashlights.

"I heard that it's bad luck to have an umbrella open inside."

"Shane, no."

"Maybe all the lil ghosties will come and tear my face off if I leave it open. That oughtta be good content for all your viewers out there."