Been to Hell [Parts 1 Through 4]

Been to Hell
Author: JenniferVee
Summary: While visiting his grandfather in a state psychiatric hospital, twenty-year old Zacky Vengeance runs into a girl named Fenix who mother is a patient at the hospital as well. Knowing what the other is going through, it isn’t long before the pair become friends and start exploring the abandoned buildings across the hospital campus. As Zacky and Fenix’s friendship starts developing into something stronger, vivid apparitions and other ghostly figures from the old buildings start haunting them. When one of the spirits attacks Fenix’s mother, Zacky and Fenix come to the horrifying revelation that their lives are in serious danger.
Genres: Horror/Romance/Fantasy
Rating: NC-17 for Language, Alcohol Use, Disturbing Scenes, and Sexual Content* (*Depending on how the story comes out, there may not be any sex scenes. If that’s the case, the rating will probably be bumped down to R. Better to be safe then sorry, though.)

I should have posted this here sooner, but I couldn't come up with a shorter summary. But, now that I have whittled the summary down, ENJOY.

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It was a bright and sunny afternoon as I turned into the grounds of the Newbury State Hospital. I immediately turned off my music as I entered the campus, knowing that the patients and orderlies didn’t appreciate blaring music on their grounds. Never mind the fact that a headache had been creeping up on me for the past few hours now. I took a deep shaky breath as to relax myself as I pulled up in a parking spot near the female civil ward.

After turning off my car, I took my cellphone out of my pocket and turned it off before shoving it into my purse. After gazing at myself in the rear view window and making sure I looked somewhat presentable, I climbed out of the car and shut the door. Once I had made sure the car was locked up, I shoved my car keys into my pocket and headed up to the ward. The guard smiled a bit as he saw me approach and greeted me.

“Hey, Fenix. Nice day, isn’t it?”
“Yea, it is,” I told the guard, causing him to nod his head.
“No weapons, right? You only have your keys?”
“I’ve been here before, Ted.”
“Yes, I know. Come on,” the guard told me, before turning around to flash his badge and type in the code to open the door.

As soon as the door opened, Ted stepped ahead of me and made sure I was inside before shutting the door and motioning for me to follow him. I bit down on my lip and stared down at the ground as we walked, feeling both my head and my heart pounding. I mentally cursed at myself for forgetting to take an Advil when I ate lunch before heading over here. Even if I have visited this hospital dozens of times, being in a psychiatric ward still filled me with anxiety.

“Fenix, we’re here.”
I was enjoying the silence so much that I jumped a bit as I heard the guard’s voice, before realizing that we were indeed outside of Dr. Frederick Zimmerman’s office.
“Sorry…sorry…I was thinking,” I said quietly, causing Ted to chuckle quietly.
“Its fine, Fenix. Let me know when you’re done and I’ll let you out again.”

I thanked the guard before knocking on the door of the office.
“Come on in, Ms. Drescher.”

I took a deep shaky breath before opening the door and stepping into the office. Dr. Frederick Zimmerman looked up at me and gave me a small smile as I entered, motioning for me to sit down. Dr. Zimmerman had been a psychiatrist at the Newbury State Hospital for as long as I could remember. He was a damn good psychiatrist who happened to bear an uncanny resemblance to the actor Morgan Freeman.

“Come, come. Sit down, Fenix. Tell me how you’ve been. How has life been treating you?”
I took a seat and shrugged a bit, dropping my hands on my lap.
“Pretty much the same old, same old. GameStop is still the same old boring place its been for the past year. Kind of awkward being the only female employee, even if female gamers are becoming a lot more common then they were in, say, the 90’s.”

Dr. Zimmerman chuckled and nodded his heads in agreement.
“I can imagine, Fenix. People tend to associate the term ‘nerd’ these days with males that read comics and play video games. But, I can imagine the guys enjoy having a hot female co-worker, though.”
“Yea, a little TOO much,” I exclaimed dryly, causing the psychiatrist to chuckle a bit more.
“Why don’t you quit and find a job at Hot Topic or something?”
“Nah,” I exclaimed. “Considering they’re in the same mall, either GameStop or Hot Topic would probably find that a tad suspicious.”
“That’s very possible. Well, I hope one day that you can find yourself a job that catches your interest a bit better.”

I smiled a bit and nodded my head in agreement, before tilting my head at the psychiatrist slightly.
“You called me…?”

“Yes, yes, I called you in regards to your mother,” Dr. Zimmerman told me. “I’m afraid its not very pleasant news.”
I nodded my head absently, by now definitely used to him or other orderlies in the hospital telling me it wasn’t “pleasant news”. All my life I had been hearing those words; it was NEVER good news. I was starting to wonder if good news even existed in the mental health care field.

Dr. Zimmerman gave me a sympathetic smile before continuing, obviously knowing what I was going through. Being a psychiatrist for several decades, he knew how hard it was for family members of people that have been institutionalized. He also had quite a long history as my mother’s psychiatrist; he had been her psychiatrist for as long as I could remember. Therefore, I knew that he wanted her out of Newbury State as much as I did.

“Your mother had a violent outburst yesterday, literally grabbing onto her room mate’s throat and trying to strangle her. We were forced to sedate her and put her in a straitjacket so she wouldn’t injure her room mate. This is the second or third incident like this in a period of about six months.”

I nodded my head slowly, before taking in a breath and holding onto it.. That was one of the worst bits of news I could hear; that meant that instead of getting better, my mother’s condition was getting worse. Dr. Zimmerman watched me for a minute, before continuing.

“I’m not a fan of electroconvulsive therapy, but I’m starting to think that may be our best route in your mother’s treatment,” he told me quietly, causing me to immediately shake my head no.

“No! I’m not letting you put my mother through that! I don’t want her to lose her memory or anything! Can’t you change her medication or something?”
“Fenix, you know that’s not possible with all the times we’ve tried changing her medication. Besides, if she did lose her memory, it would only be temporary; probably only for the two weeks before and after the ECT procedure. Fenix, if we try this and it works, it could be your mother’s ticket out of this place.”

I looked up at the psychiatrist as he said that; ECT could get my mother out of this place? How long have we been trying to get her well enough to get out of here? I couldn’t remember how long we’ve been trying to get my mother out of the hospital. But, with all the shit I heard about ECT, was it worth trying to be able to get my mother to finally be able to come home?

“No. Well, I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”
Dr. Zimmerman nodded his head in understanding and gave me a smile.
“That’s absolutely fine, Fenix. Call me when you have thought it over.”
“I will. Thank you, Dr. Zimmerman. And, I will.”
As soon as me and the male had bid each other farewell, I exited his office and met up with the guard, who nodded his head as he saw me and motioned for me to follow him out of the ward. I did so in silence, my head lost in thought the whole time. I have heard so much shit about ECT, so could I put my mother through that?
But, at the same time, I wanted to get my mother out of Newbury State. What should I do?

I felt a sense of relief as I exited the ward and stepped into the sunlight. It was always a bit nerve racking visiting a psychiatric hospital, no matter how used to it I was. I walked over to my car and unlocked it, before grabbing my purse and locking it back up again. It was far too nice of a day to be cooped up in my apartment watching movies or playing video games.

I dropped my eyes to the pavement as I walked toward the designated smoking area of the campus. Like most hospitals, Newbury Sate was completely smoke-free inside the administration and patient wards. It did, however, have a designated smoking area outside on the grounds, where people could go to have a smoke before or after visiting their loved ones in the hospital.

I was still so lost in my own thoughts that didn’t see someone walking toward me until I ran right smack into his chest. “Sorry…sorry…I’m so sorry…” I mumbled, immediately backing up a few steps and mentally cursing at myself for not paying attention.
“Good going. Next time, try looking where the fuck you’re going,” the stranger growled. Hearing the venom in his voice, I immediately felt tears of embarrassment welling up in my eyes.

I bit down on my lip and stared harder at the ground, wondering if this day could get any worse.

Realizing that I was pretty upset, the male reached over and lightly placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Hey, are you alright?” he asked, his voice much kinder.
I took a deep shaky breath to relax myself before replying, feeling my heart pounding from his light touch.
“Yea, I’m fine. Erm…thanks…”
The guy let loose a quiet laugh. “For snapping at you?”
I immediately shook my head no, still staring at the ground. “For checking to see if I was okay.”
The male chuckled again. “You’re welcome. I’d be quite a dick if I didn’t make sure you were okay, especially since you’re obviously upset about something. I’d feel like hell if I left you alone while you were that upset.”
I could hear sincerity in the stranger’s voice, so after a small hesitation, I finally brought my eyes off the ground to look at him.

I felt my heart speed up as I found myself staring into a pair of the most beautiful green eyes I ‘ve seen in my life. They were the color of celadon, and right now, were filled with a mix of kindness and concern, along with a small amount of guilt for snapping at me. After a minute, I reluctantly brought my eyes away from the male’s gorgeous green ones to check out the rest of his face.

He was obviously young; he looked to be around my age. Strands of dyed black hair fell across the male’s forehead and into his green eyes slightly, although the sides of his hair were bleached blond. He had a small patch of facial hair under his lower lip. A curved barbell hung from his septum, and he also had gauges in his ears. He was wearing a black t-shirt with a ribcage on it, which showed off quite a few colorful tattoos on his arms.

He also had on a pair of black skinny jeans that were held up a punk-style white belt with holes in it. His car keys were hanging from a blue carabiner keychain, which was also hooked to a chain. He had smudgy red eye shadow around his eyes, and he also had peeling black nail polish on his fingernails. He had a stocky body build with broad shoulders and beefy arms, but I could see a bit of a belly underneath his t-shirt and a slight double chin.

All things put together, he was fucking gorgeous.

The male suddenly licked his lips and let loose a small chuckle, his cheeks flushing slightly pink from embarrassment. Realizing I was still staring at him, I bit down on my lip and immediately scolded myself.
“Sorry…and um, thanks…” I exclaimed, stumbling around on the words a bit before turning around to head back to my car.

I didn’t get very far, however, when I felt someone’s hand on my shoulder again. I took a deep shaky breath before turning around and finding myself staring into those crystal green eyes again.
“C’mon. Don’t I get your name?”
“Fenix,” I told him quietly, causing the male to give me a smile.
“Fenix, huh? That’s a pretty name,” he exclaimed, causing me to let loose a small laugh.
“Thanks,” I told him. “Whats yours?”
“Zacky,” the male told me quietly, before extending a hand to me.

I took the male’s hand and shook it, feeling an electric shock go down my spine as I felt the warmth of his hand. After a minute, Zacky slowly dropped my hand before licking his lips. I watched him for a second, before opening my mouth to speak.
“Would you like to sit down?”
The question looked like it caught Zacky off guard, but he quickly smiled and nodded his head.
“Yea. I’d like that,” he told me.

I smiled back at him before stepping ahead of him and motioning for him to follow me. He did so without hesitation, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. We walked in silence, except for the sound of Zacky’s keys clanking together as he walked. I gazed back at him as I walked, noticing that he was focused on the ground as he followed me. Sensing my gaze on him, though, he brought his celadon eyes to mine and smiled at me.

Suddenly feeling as if the sun had come out, I turned my attention from him and walked over to a bench in the smoking area. Zacky immediately joined me, plopping down next to me and folding his arms across his chest. A second later, though, the male lifted a hand up and ran it through his hair before turning his gaze to me.

“Firstly, I owe you a major apology,” he told me, causing me to look at him confused.
“For what?”
Zacky let loose a quiet chuckle. “For getting pissed at you when you ran into me, silly.”
“No, you don’t need to apologize. I should have been paying attention.”
Zacky let loose another chuckle. “Honestly, I shouldn’t have snapped. It was my fault as much as yours; I wasn’t paying attention either.”
I tilted my head at the male in confusion, causing his face to grow a bit sheepish as he continued.
“I was checking the Angels score on my phone,” he told me sheepishly, causing me to laugh a bit.
“That’s probably something I would do, although I completely forgot they were playing today. So, what was the score?”
“They were winning one nothing, but gave up a two-run homer in the ninth inning and lost the game,” he told me, causing me to make a face.
“Eww. I can see why you snapped at me now,” I told Zacky, causing him to let loose a deep laugh.
“Yea. I’m a big baseball fan; I was on my high school team. So, I tend to get really fucking pissed when the Angels or Dodgers lose.”
“You played baseball in high school? I played softball in high school, so I know how you feel,” I told him, causing a huge grin to break out on the male’s face.
“I can finally bitch to someone when they lose,” he joked, causing me to laugh as well and nod my head.

I watched as the male turned his attention to one of the many brick buildings around us, before turning back to me.
“Secondly, what are you doing at a mental hospital? You certainly don’t look like a patient.”
I laughed a bit at his joke, before taking a shaky breath and dropping my eyes to the ground.
“My mother is a patient here,” I told him quietly, causing Zacky to let loose a quiet gasp.
“Oh, shit. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked,” he exclaimed, causing me to look up at him again.
“No, its fine. She’s been here pretty much my whole life, so I’m used to people asking stuff like that.”
Zacky’s face immediately softened. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” he told me gently.
“Its not your fault,” I told him. “I’m kinda used to it.”
“No one should be used to having to see their mother in a mental institution,” the male told me quietly, causing me to give him a small smile.
“You can say that again. But, do you mind me asking why you’re here? You don’t look like a patient either.”

Zacky let loose a quiet chuckle before dropping his eyes down to his lap.
“My grandfather just got committed,” he told me quietly. “He tried to take his own life, and after he spent a few days in the psych ward of the Huntington Beach Hospital, they decided he’d be better off at a hospital that specializes in psychiatric care .”
The pain was clearly visible in his voice, so I reached over and lightly placed a hand on the male’s shoulder. He immediately looked up and met my eyes, and it made my heart ache to see sadness and fear for his grandfather in his beautiful eyes.
“I’m sorry, too,” I told him, causing Zacky to give me a small smile. “Is it your first time at a mental hospital?”
“Yea, it is,” he said. “I decided I wanted to come here to see him, since its been too fucking long since I last saw him. I feel so fucking bad.”
I tilted my head at him, starting to rub his shoulder gently. “You came here alone? You didn’t have any parents or any other family come here to support you?” I knew how strange and frightening it was to visit a mental hospital for a first time, and it astonished me that Zacky had come here by himself without any support.

The male let loose a chuckle, and grinned at me.
“Are you kidding me, Fenix? I fucking LIVE with my parents. It was great to be able to get away on my own for a little while,” he told me, causing me to laugh a bit as well.
“Yea, I can imagine,” I told him, causing the male to smile at gently as he brought his celadon eyes up to mine.
“Besides,” he started, his tone turning slightly shy, “I found myself a pretty girl to hang out with for a while.”
I felt my face heat up slightly from his comment, feeling butterflies start rushing through my stomach. I let loose a shaky breath, before turning my attention to one of the older buildings on the hospital campus. Anyone who visited the grounds of the Newbury State Hospital could tell that several of the buildings on the 225-acre campus were abandoned and closed off to the public.

The building I was currently looking at was built kind of like the Kirkbride style of insane asylums from years ago. It was in much better condition then some of the other closed off buildings on campus; its bricks weren’t covered in graffiti and most of the windows were intact. It looked much safer then the more dilapidated buildings that littered the campus, and suddenly, I had a crazy, dangerous idea.

The kind of idea that seemed like the kind the black-and-blond haired male sitting next to me would probably enjoy.

“Erm, Fenix?”
Zacky’s voice sounded confused, and I turned and gazed at him. The male had followed my gaze to the old building, and his expression, like his voice, was confused. Sensing me looking at him, he turned his attention to me. I gave him a smirk before pushing myself off the bench and heading in the direction of the building.
“Come on. Follow me. I have an idea.”

Zacky pushed himself off the bench and followed behind me, looking even more confused.
“Fenix! What are you doing?”
“I told you. I have an idea,” I told the male, pausing and waiting for him to join me.
Zacky licked his lips and pushed some black hair out of his eyes before gazing at me.
“But, where the hell are we going?”
“Over there,” I told him, pointing to the abandoned building that had caught my gaze.

Zacky looked at the building, and then back at me as we started walking again.
“And, why are we heading over to that building?” he asked, sounding like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“I wanna try something out, Zacky. Come on, it’ll be fun.”
Zacky was looking at me like I had grown three heads. “Have you lost your mind? What about the guards?”
I turned around and stuck my tongue out at the male. “The building is empty, Zacky. It’s been abandoned and closed off for years now.”

“It’s abandoned?” Zacky asked, causing me to nod my head.
“Yea; it’s been that way for some time now. Quite a few of the buildings here are abandoned, although most of them are much more decrepit then that one.”
Zacky looked at me as we crossed the street side by side. “Why are they abandoned if the hospital is still up and running?
“Probably because new medication and the introduction of outpatient care got rid of the need for most patients to stay in mental hospitals,” I told him.

“So the hospitals just shut down buildings and downsized?” Zacky asked, causing me to nod.
“Exactly. Either that or they closed down all together. That’s why there’s hundreds of abandoned, crumbling insane asylums around the country.”
The male gave me a small smile. “You know a little too much about this subject.”
“Yea, I know. I end up scaring a lot of guys off,” I told him sheepishly, causing him to let loose a small chuckle.
“Well, I assure you, you don’t have to worry about scaring me off.”

The kindness and sincerity in Zacky’s voice caused more butterflies to start attacking my insides. It shocked me that this was the same guy that nearly ripped my head off when I ran into him; he was much friendlier then I had expected and seemed to genuinely care about me, even though we just met. I couldn’t deny that I enjoyed his company and wanted to get to know him much better.

As we approached the building, Zacky let loose a whistle and gazed up at it, slipping his hands into his pockets.
“Wow, this building is huge. Do you know what it was used before getting abandoned?”
I looked at the building for a minute, before gazing back at the male.
“If I remember correctly, it’s the former female ward,” I told him.
Zacky licked his lips and nodded his head, before turning his attention to me.
“So, whats your plan, Fenix?”
“Come on, You’ll see,” I told him, heading over to the side of the building.

Careful not to attract any attention to us, we hopped from the concrete path onto the grass and hurried to the side of the building where a rusty fire escape zigzagged all the way up to the highest level. Despite being rusty, it looked safe enough to climb. So, after gazing back at Zacky, I walked over to it and started climbing up it. After a small hesitation, Zacky followed behind me.

“So, mind telling me why we’re risking our lives on a rusty old fire escape?”
“Climbing up to the roof; its low enough for us to pull ourselves onto from the highest point of the fire escape,” I told him.
“You’re crazy, you know that?”
“Yea, people tell me that all the time,” I told him, causing the male to let loose a soft chuckle.
“Well, if I die, you’re gonna have to do a lot of explaining to my parents,” he joked, causing me to laugh.
“One problem, Zacky; if this thing gives out under our weight, we’re gonna die together.”
“Great. I always wanted to die following a hot chick up an old fire escape of an abandoned mental hospital.”
I turned around and stuck my tongue out at Zacky. “You didn’t have to follow me.”
“You kidding me, Fenix? I couldn’t let you have all the fun!”
“Then, stop complaining and come on!”

“Okay…THAT was REALLY something,” Zacky panted when we finally reached the top of the fire escape. He was right; climbing up four levels on a slightly unstable, rusty fire escape was grueling as hell.
“Yea…it was. I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking,” I told him.
Zacky smiled at me and shook his head no before motioning toward the roof. “You’re right. The roof on either side of the door IS low enough for us to pull ourselves onto.”
He gazed from me to the roof and then back to me before asking, “Would you like me to help you onto the roof?”

Caught off guard by the question, I nodded my head yes before stepping over and placing my hands on the low off by the door, placing one of my feet onto it. Zacky immediately stepped him behind me and gently placed his hands under my other foot before pushing upward and boosting me high enough to be able to scramble up onto the roof. As soon as I was on my feet, I cautiously walked up to the highest point on the slanted roof before sitting down.

I watched as Zacky pushed himself onto the roof before adjusting the hem of his shirt and carefully walking over to where I was sitting. He flashed me a smile before softly sitting down next to me and locking his hands together, lightly resting them on his stomach. He licked his lips quickly before letting loose a quiet whistle.

“Wow. This was definitely worth it. Look at the fucking view,” he exclaimed quietly, causing me to nod my head. Indeed, it was a pretty amazing view; every building on the 225-acre hospital campus was visible from where we were sitting on the roof, along with the massive old farm grounds behind the hospital where the original hospital was years ago. It was also surprisingly quiet, except for the occasional car driving through the grounds. I let loose a content sigh before turning my attention to the male.

His green eyes were gazing up at the sky, and I didn’t have to ask to know that he was content and relaxed; he was obviously enjoying this as much as I was. Again sensing my gaze, he brought his celadon eyes to me and smiled at me softly.

“This is fucking amazing,” he told me quietly. “Thank you, Fenix.”
“You’re welcome, Zacky,” I told him, returning his smile.
The male’s smile grew as he sat up a big and dug his hand into his pocket before pulling out a pack of cigarettes.
“I was heading over there when I bumped into you,” he told me, causing me to laugh.
“I was, too,” I admitted.
“Great minds think alike,” he grinned, causing me to nod my head in agreement.

Zacky pulled a cigarette out of the box and stuck it in his mouth before pulling out a lighter out of his other pocket and lighting his cigarette. I watched as he took a drag from his cigarette before taking it out of his mouth and exhaling the smoke. Even with smoke coming out of his mouth, he’s still incredibly sexy, I thought before digging around in my purse for my own pack of smokes and my lighter.

“Damnit,” I groaned a minute later, realizing that I had no cigarettes; I must have ran out and forgotten to get more.
“Here.” Hearing Zacky’s voice caused me to gaze at him and realize that he was holding out a cigarette for me.
“Thanks,” I said, reaching over and lightly taking the cigarette out of his hand.
As I grabbed a hold of the cigarette, my fingers collided with his, and I immediately froze, feeling my heart speed up. After a second, I gazed at Zacky only to see that he was frozen as well, his eyes slightly wide as he gazed at our hands. Finally, he quickly dropped his hand and gazed across the hospital grounds, obviously embarrassed.

“Zacky?” I finally managed to ask, causing the male to flinch a bit and turn his attention to me.
“What’s wrong?” he asked in a low voice, causing me to take a deep breath and point to the cigarette.
“Sorry,” Zacky mumbled sheepishly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his lighter. After flicking it on, he brought the flame up to the tip of my cigarette. After the cigarette was lit, he quickly snapped the lighter closed and shoved it back into his pocket.
“Thanks,” I told him, causing him to nod before taking a long drag from his own cigarette. I took a drag from my own cigarette and exhaled the smoke, before turning my attention to the male.

His attention was focused on me, and as he realized I was looking back at him, he immediately turned around and placed his cigarette into his mouth again. Feeling some disappointment, I turned my attention from him to another one of the hospital buildings. I opened my mouth to say something to Zacky when I suddenly felt him inch closer to me.

Caught off guard by this, I turned my attention to the male, a bashful smile making its way onto his face as he realized that I was looking back at him. I smiled back at Zacky and inched a bit closer to him as well, causing his green eyes to light up. I watched him for a second, suddenly feeling kind of giddy. I finally turned my attention from him and gazed up at the sky, wishing this moment could last forever.

A few minutes later, however, the silence got shattered by the sound of “Where Eagles Dare” by The Misfits. I jumped up a bit and gazed over at Zacky, who had reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone. I watched silently as the male gave me a sheepish smile before answering his phone.

“Hello? Oh, hey, dude. No, I’m still at the hospital. No, no, it’s not a big deal. I’ll call you when I’m on the way back, okay? Okay. See you in a bit, bro. Bye.”

I felt some disappointment in my stomach as I realized that Zacky had to start leaving the hospital to meet up with what I assumed was a friend of his.
“So, you need to get out of here?” I asked him quietly, gazing into the distance at the ward for the criminally insane.
I heard Zacky take a deep breath, before replying. “Yea. I’m sorry…” he exclaimed, trailing off.
I turned my attention back to the male. “Don’t be sorry,” I told him. “I should probably start heading back, too.” I hoped to God that my voice hid my disappointment; I wanted to spend more time with him.

Zacky gazed at me for a few seconds, before reluctantly taking his gorgeous eyes off me and slowly pulling himself up. He carefully walked down the roof and lightly hopped onto the fire escape before looking at me.
“You coming?”
“Yea, I’m coming,” I told him, still wishing that I could stay with the black-and-blond haired male a little bit longer. But, knowing that he was waiting, I carefully pulled myself up and slowly walked down the roof, being careful not to fall and kill myself.

Zacky gazed at me as I approached the edge of the roof, frowning as he noticed me hesitate.
“You gonna be okay…?”
“Yea…I guess…I don’t know…” I exclaimed. Although the roof was indeed very low, it was still high enough from the fire escape to make me a bit nervous about jumping off it.
Zacky chuckled a bit as he gazed up at me. “Come on, it’ll be okay. You can do it.”

Feeling my heart pounding, I took a deep shaky breath before squeezing my eyes shut.
“Please, don’t let me fall four stories and go splat on the ground,” I whispered to myself, before jumping off the roof.
Almost immediately, I felt a pair of muscular arms protectively slip around me. Caught off guard, I quickly opened my eyes to find myself staring into Zacky’s beautiful celadon ones. My breath caught in my throat as I realized that the male had caught me; his arms were gently wrapped around me as he gazed up at me. He smelled like a combination of cologne and cigarettes that caused my legs to grow weak and my heart to speed up.

I kept gazing at Zacky, too shocked to say anything. It was obvious by the expression on his face that he was just as shocked at I was. After another couple seconds of awkward silence, the male finally licked his lips quickly before gently placing me back on my feet. I watched Zacky for a second or two, before taking a deep shaky breath to relax myself.

“Thanks…” I finally managed to say, still feeling my heart going a mile a minute.
The male nodded his head, obviously still flustered, before stepping ahead of me and slowly starting to descend the fire escape. After a second, I started following him down the rusty steps, feeling my head spinning and my heart still pounding.

Me and Zacky carefully descended the fire escape together in silence, except for the sounds of Zacky’s keys clinging together and the occasional creaking from the steps. When we finally got back down to the ground, the male ran a hand through the black portion of his hair before licking his lips again and turning his attention to me.

“Fenix,” he exclaimed quietly, causing me to turn my attention to him.
“Whats up, Zacky?”
Zacky brought his eyes from me to the building for a second, before looking back at me and smiling at me.
“I had a really great time hanging out with you,” he told me quietly.
“I had a lot of fun hanging out with you, too,” I told him, causing Zacky’s smile to grow. I opened my mouth to say something else, but the male beat me to it.
“So, um, I was wondering if you’d like to hang out again sometime?” he asked, taking the words right out of my mouth.
I grinned up at him, nodding my head. “Yes, I’d fucking love to.”

Zacky grinned back at me, before reaching up and stroking his sole patch in thought.
“So…any idea when you’re gonna be here at the hospital again?”
“I don’t know,” I told the male. “I need to call my mom’s psychiatrist in a few days and figure out her treatment plan. But, I don’t know when I’m gonna be back here.”
Zacky gazed down in thought for a minute, before gazing back up at me.
“Are you doing anything tomorrow?”
“Working,” I told him, causing him to frown a bit.
“Fuck,” he exclaimed, causing me to laugh.
“Today’s Wednesday, right? I don’t work weekends.”
The male’s green eyes lit up as I said that, and a smile started making its way onto his face.
“So, does Saturday sound good to you?”
“Yea, it sounds fucking awesome,” I told him, causing his smile to turn into a grin.

“Awesome. How about you meet me this building around two?”
“Erm, okay?” I exclaimed confused as to why Zacky wanted us to meet here again since we could hang out away from the mental hospital.
The male let loose a quiet laugh, before gazing back at the building again. After a second, he brought his attention back to me and gave me a smirk.
“I have an even more crazy idea,” he told me quietly.
I opened my mouth to ask Zacky about what kind of idea he had in mind, but his smirk only grew.
“It’s a surprise. You’ll find out on Saturday,” he told me.

“Well, okay. If that’s how you want it to be…”
I turned my attention from the male back to the building. It was kind of hard to believe that just a few minutes ago, me and Zacky were smoking on the roof of the building. Then again, it was kind of hard to believe how a complete accident had grown into a friendship. I wasn’t sure if there was a deeper meaning behind it or something, but I was extremely glad to have met the black-and-blond haired male today.

Suddenly, what looked like a shadow flitted by one of the second floor windows of the old building. I immediately flinched and blinked, but whatever had passed by the window was gone. I glanced at the window for a second longer, before looking at the other windows on the second floor. They were all empty as well, and I wondered if I what I had just seen was simply a fragment of my imagination.

“Fenix?”
The sound of my name made me flinch again; I had forgotten Zacky was there. I took one more look at the window, again seeing nothing, before turning around and looking at the male. Noticing my freaked out expression, his crystal eyes filled with worry and he lightly placed his hand on my shoulder.
“Are you okay, sweetheart? You look scared.”
I brought my eyes to the male’s and nodded, giving him a shaky smile.
“Yea, I’m okay,” I told him, but Zacky didn’t look convinced.
“What’s wrong, Fenix?”
I gazed from his worried eyes back to the building.
“I could have sworn I saw something in one of the second floor windows,” I told him, causing the male to frown and gaze up at the building as well.

After a minute, though, Zacky looked from the building back to me.
“Are you sure it wasn’t a trick of the light or something? I don’t see anything.”
“Either that, or I’m finally going insane from spending too much time at a state hospital,” I told the male, causing him to let loose a small chuckle.
“Then, we’d better get you out of here,” he exclaimed, although I could tell from his voice that he was still worried.
“Yea lets get the hell out of here,” I told Zacky. We both gazed at the old building one more time, before turning around and walking away together.

“So, where are you parked?” Zacky asked me as we were passing by the smoking area.
“Over by the female ward,” I told him quietly, causing him to smile.
“Mind if I walk with you?”
“Not at all,” I told him, causing the male to chuckle softly.
“That’s what I wanted to hear.”

We walked the rest of the way to my car in silence, both of us lost in thought. Maybe Zacky was right; maybe what I had seen in the old building was just a trick of the light. I didn’t know what else it could be, considering the fact that it was gone way too fast to be a person. Besides, that building had been closed off and empty for years now. Plus, I didn’t really believe in ghosts or the supernatural, so I had to be imagining things, right?

When we made it to my car, Zacky gazed over at me and gave me a tiny smile.
“So, I’ll see you here on Saturday at two?”
“Oh, definitely,” I told him, causing Zacky’s smile to grow a bit more.
“Awesome. I look forward to that.”
“I look forward to it, too, Zacky.”

Zacky grinned at me, before slowly reaching up and gently brushing some hair out of my eyes. My mind immediately turned to mush as he did so, and I again felt butterflies start filling up my stomach. Becoming aware of what he had done, the male suddenly dropped his hand and gazed away from me. He let loose a small chuckle and licked his lips, his cheeks flushing with a hint of embarrassment.

I took a deep breath to relax myself, and then nodded at Zacky.
“So um, I’ll see you in a few days,” I told him.
The male gazed at me and gave me a shaky smile.
“Yea, see you on Saturday,” he mumbled quickly.

I gazed at Zacky for a minute before reluctantly hopping into my car and shutting the door. After tossing my purse on the passenger’s seat and buckling my seat belt, I shoved my keys in the ignition and started the car up. I took one more look at Zacky as I backed out of the parking space. The male was standing there with his hands jammed into his pockets. After a second though, he took his eyes off me and started heading over to his own car.

Oooooh, intrigued by this one...ZV and an abandoned mental asylum, should be fun!

Reading it again makes me smile even more, JV .

I can't wait to see what goes on inside the abandoned building.

I love Zacky's eyes...>.>

the mice endure wrote:Reading it again makes me smile even more, JV .

I can't wait to see what goes on inside the abandoned building.

I love Zacky's eyes...>.>

Who doesn't love Zacky's eyes? They are gorgeous!