Children at Play

Shelter is shelter, he told himself.  The torrential rain made the lights twinkle invitingly through the trees as he tried in vain to find his way back to the road. Close up, the building looked abandoned and yet the lights were on. He looked for a bell or intercom, but if one existed, he failed to find it in the near dark. Shivering violently, he struggled to take hold of the rusty, round door handle which slipped and slithered in his grip before turning. Pushing with his dwindling strength, it at last gave way and creaked open.

“Hello?” The pale green walls and linoleum tiled floor suggested a hospital or nursing home, somewhere that should have staff, but no one responded to his call. A metallic smell, perhaps of blood, not quite disguised by the odour of bleach made his nose wrinkle.  Flickering bulbs and music too faint to hear properly enticed him down the corridor and into the depths of the building.

Laughter and the sound of children playing lured him further, but the light remained subdued. A door rattled and a cold draught raced down the corridor. The ceiling pendants swayed, producing changing shadows that grasped and grabbed at him.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” Silence echoed in reply. The back of his neck prickled, and his hands grew clammy. He hesitated, and then moved towards the open doors in the distance.

A wheelchair rolled at speed out of a room, only just avoiding the opposite wall, before turning away from him

“Hey,” he called. The wheelchair slid to a halt. There were no hands on the wheels nor a battery to power it. It reversed in his direction. The wheels squeaked rhythmically reminding him of a tricycle he’d once seen in a film. The back of the chair blocked him from seeing its occupant – it must be a child, or a very small adult, he thought.

The chair kept rolling backwards, creeping closer. He wanted to run, but didn’t want to make a fool of himself by running from a five-year-old – and he didn’t want to go back out into the storm. Taking a deep breath, he strode to the chair, a welcoming smile plastered on his face in anticipation of a greeting.

The chair was empty.

It stopped in front of him. He tried to slow his breathing and hold down the scream that threatened to erupt, when suddenly, behind him children screeched with maniacal laughter. He was trapped between the chair and invisible children. Doors started slamming, at first chaotically in random abandon and then with coordination until they banged, slowly, together, repeatedly. Menace that could not be seen.

 “What do you want?” he heard himself whimper.

He whirled around towards the clip-clopping sound of heels striking their approach. The dark shadowy figure came out of the gloom. A black nurse’s cape billowed around her. Her eyes glowed red, her smile thin and evil.

“Just your soul.”