"Stories about...about other doctors here who did bad things," Diane said ominously. "Stories...names...dates...lots more names...everything they did here...long time ago...but they STILL do it...they still do it."

Diane started to tremble a bit and Emily was hesitant to attempt another verbal mousetrap. Not only that, these constant references to "other doctors" and "bad things in the basement" were making Emily feel more than just little creeped out. Of course, she had heard rumors and gossip about things like this ALL her life...but this was hitting a little too close to home. Still...she decided to attempt one final trap before giving up.

"Diane...can you SHOW me your friends diary?" Emily asked before dropping her voice to a playful whisper. "You can trust me...I promise I won’t tell Dr. Jameson...or another soul...I promise."

Diane, undaunted by Emily’s attempt at play, again shook her head wildly from side to side in the negative, another playful grin crossing her face.

"No...no...no...sorry," Diane chimed. "Sorry...but I crossed my heart and hoped to die if I told.."

"But you KNOW you can trust me...we’re friends," Emily pleaded even more playfully.

"I know...I know..." Diane said with a tone of pouting. "I wanted to tell you...but Mary told me not to...she said that..."

BINGO...finally, a slip.

"Mary?" Emily asked in a much more authoritative tone. "What did MARY tell you?"

Diane’s jaw dropped wide open and she instantly clasped both of her hands tightly over mouth.

"Diane...has one of the staff brought a scary book or magazine to you?" Emily asked firmly.

Diane kept both hands over her mouth, but shook her head in the negative again.

"Then how did you get hold of this so-called diary?" Emily asked even more firmly. "Now tell me Diane...where did you get it?"

Diane lowered her head and for an instant Emily thought she might have won the battle. Diane however did not answer, but rather sunk her head even lower and simply pointed her finger toward the baseboard near the foot of her bed. Emily leaned over to see where Diane was pointing...and nearly toppled forward when she saw the baseboard.

"She hid it...in there...told me how to get to it..." Diane said nearly in tears again. "But...but I promised her I wouldn’t tell...I promised...now I’ve broken it...I broke my promise...I..."

Diane’s voice trailed off to the back of Emily’s mind, for the time being; she was dead focused on what was now meeting her gaze. Right at the foot of Diane’s securely fastened bed, a section of the VERY old wooden baseboard had been unmistakably pried open. Hand prints were clearly visible in the dust at one end of the plank that was pulled back. Emily could plainly see that the area behind where the baseboard was once fastened was hollow...and that something had been removed from there recently.

Emily’s mind was racing. What in the heck was going on here? Diane had created an invisible friend out of thin air for no reason...Dr. Jameson had failed to inform her of a turn for the worse in her condition...the whole damn corridor felt like a morgue now...someone, or some THING had torn a section of baseboard from Diane’s wall... and to top it all off...Diane was hallucinating something fierce about topics that made even Emily herself feel chills.

"...and she told me that something bad would happen if I told...she told me that..." Diane continued in a childishly fearful tone.

All right...enough is enough...time to get back to reality Emily thought. ONE final trap and that will do it. Diaries don’t just APPEAR and then DISAPPEAR...so even if Diane had pulled a book or something out of the wall, it had to be somewhere now.

"Diane...Diane I promise, no one will hurt you," Emily said. "Now just where exactly is this diary now? Is it still in here somewhere"?

Diane clammed up even tighter than before.

"No...no it’s not here...not here any more," Diane said.

"Then WHERE is it Diane...tell me," Emily said in a demanding tone.

"NO...NO I CAN’T...I CAN’T TELL...I...I...I won’t tell," Diane said in a near panic. "It’s hidden...hidden..safe and sound...safe and sound...won’t tell till....till...till MARY says I can!"

"Diane...tell me..." Emily began.

"But don’t...don’t worry...don’t worry..." Diane added. "She says...she says I can tell you soon...soon...but not now...not now...not yet...too soon."

"Diane...tell me..just WHERE is Mary right now?" Emily said, saving her best trap for last. "Where did you first see her...and WHERE is she now, I’d like to talk to her."

Diane quieted down quickly and again starred at Emily for a few seconds as if making up her mind. Diane’s eyes settled first on Emily...then an area in front of the window...then back on Emily...then on the window again...back to Emily...then on a spot just to Emily’s right.

"Ok...I saw her right here...two nights ago...she came to talk to me," Diane said finally.

Emily crossed her arms and looked straight at Diane with a show of finality.

"And...right now...where is she right now?" Emily asked firmly.

"She’s standing right beside you...silly," Diane said as if it was as plain as day.

Emily’s eyes bulged and fear coursed through every vein of her body. It was not just what Diane had said that froze her to the floor...but rather the fact the no sooner had she said it then another wisp of ice cold air passed right in front her. The heavy, old-fashioned door to Diane’s room creaked open a full foot right afterwards.

"She’s gone now," Diane added regretfully.

In terms of time, speed., and number of steps skipped, Emily’s flight to her office from the third floor was never to be equaled again.

End of Chapter One