CHAPTER 022: Those crazy kids...

The sun never shined on patients at the Ohio Institute for the Especially Insane. Buried under a mile of concrete and packed earth, their only connection to the surface was a secret passage in the cover house atop the facility.

Dmitri arrived at mid-day. He drove a rental car, and his costume was swapped for an equally tacky disguise; baseball cap, sunglasses, an "I hate jetlag" t-shirt tucked into a pair of cargo shorts, and a pair of dollar store running shoes. The fanny pack attached to his belt, much like the rental car, was stuffed to the point of bulging uncomfortably.

As he reached the end of a dirt road, he could tell something was wrong with only a glance at the concrete mansion in front of him.

"Why is the gate open? Why are the lights on the second floor off?"

Picking up the car phone embedded In the center console, he made a call.

"You have reached the voicemail box of... 'Dr. Kenneth Richardson.' Please leave a message after the beep..."

"Shit," he exclaimed while slamming the phone back on its switchhook.

"Maybe the locals know something..."

He drove a mile up the poorly paved road, eventually arriving at a run down gas station. The John approached one of the storefront windows, and peered inside; It was closer in appearance to a hoarder's den than a place of business.

"Hello, anyone home!"

"You don't have to shout," a voice said from behind the John. Spinning on his heels, the hero readied a strike.

"Woah, hold on a second there. I own this place, you know?"

"Oh, sorry. You surprised me there," he replied while subtly changing his half extended fist into a handshake.

The gas station owner was dressed in a set of coveralls completely caked in oil and grease. He was cross eyed, with the wonky eye being at least a size larger than the normal one. Finally, his skin was wrinkled to the point that he resembled a peach colored raisin.

"Ha ha, no problem. No problem. I get that a lot. So, were you needing gas for this puppy?"

"No, god no! I mean, I use the premium stuff, so its fine. I actually had questions about the concrete mansion up the road."

"Oh, you don't want to go there; that place is haunted!"

"Really? How do you know?"

"Please, that house was strange since the day it was built. I still remember all the black vans in a line here when it was completed; what kind of family has that much stuff to move?"

"Okay, fair enough. But, has there been any recent activity? Like, say, people exiting the place whom you never saw enter."

"Hrmmm, not that I can remember. There were a few vans come rushing through here in the middle of the night, a month back. Other than those and them teenagers the other day, can't say I seen anything weirder than normal."

"Wait, teenagers?"

"Oh yeah, I didn't tell you? The other day, a group of teenagers in a yellow bus stopped by. They asked about the place, same as you. I thought they were up to no good at the time, so I may have spun a bit of a tail on how spooky the place was."

"So they didn't go?"

"No, for some reason they became even more determined after seeing me. I think I heard 'em say something like 'there's even a spooky guide, this must be haunted'."

"Haaaa... Thanks for the information."

"Them kids ain't in trouble, are they?"

"I'll take care of it. I've been meaning to check the place out, anyway."

"Fine, be sure to stop by later. I'll work on getting the premium pump fixed for you."

Returning to the cover house a second time, the John pulled directly into the driveway. He opened the glove box and, after shuffling through the mess inside, produced a spectrometer.

BEEEP! BEEEP! BEEEP!

Within seconds of turning it on, however, the reading maxed out.

"They couldn't even consecrate the ground before they left? At least I don't see any bus out here; those kids would be dead if they went hunting thrills in here."

Despite this thought, he still sifted through the piles of free gifts and hero merchandise inside his truck with alarming speed.

"Okay, so I've got a 'Ghost Leopard' brand dream catcher, a 'DR Goop's sticky slime' canister, and a half empty can of pretzel nuggets... Let's do this!"

He stepped decisively through the threshold of the imposing concrete house, its front door slamming shut behind him.