CH.3 Haunted Livestream

The hospital was dead quiet, just the sound of their footsteps and occasional chatter echoing.

“Hey, chat, we’re on the second floor now, right at the surgery room!” Tommy stood at the door, hyping it up like a game show host. “You know the legend about this place? The one about Nurse Mary’s ghost…”

Tommy was parked at the surgery room door, which was shut tight, the glass window showing nothing but darkness.

“This hospital got built, like, fifty years ago, but it went bust a decade back,” Calvin cut in, his voice low and grim. He’d skimmed the notes Tommy sent him before coming, mostly repetitive stuff about “shadow sightings” or “accidents caused by Nurse Mary’s ghost.” Total clickbait. Truth was, the hospital had plenty of accidents before this Mary nurse supposedly offed herself, probably because of junky, outdated equipment. “Wikipedia says it was bad management, but the internet’s obsessed with this Nurse Mary story.”

“…So, this nurse named Mary, stressed out of her mind, took her own life in the staff office twenty-something years ago,” Tommy went on. “After that, people kept saying they saw her ghost creeping around, and the hospital started racking up accidents.”

Tommy pushed open the surgery room door, and a wave of darkness hit them. “Check this out, it’s pitch-black! Noah, hit the light!”

Calvin squinted at the doorframe, uneasy. “This door… did someone mess with it? Tommy, you open it before?”

“AAH!” Tommy let out a wild yell, making Calvin jump.

“That mannequin! The one I set up downstairs—it’s… it’s on the surgery table!” Tommy pointed, his voice shaky, finger aimed at the table.

“What?” Calvin whipped around. There it was: a creepy medical mannequin on the rickety surgery table, its painted muscles and see-through organ design giving it a gnarly, staring vibe, like it was watching them.

“What’s going on?” Ethan yelped, startled, gripping the phone tighter.

“Chat, I swear, I planned a fake scare for effect…” Tommy said to the camera, his voice wobbling. “But I didn’t do this ! This place… it’s legit haunted!”

“Then why are we still streaming? Let’s get outta here!” Calvin said, his nerves fraying. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching them.

The livestream chat suddenly blew up:
“Yo, that acting’s on point!”
“This feels too real, is it legit?”
“Heard this hospital’s got real ghost stories, so creepy!”

The viewer count shot up to nearly 300 and climbing, with a few donations popping in.

A $5 donation popped up in the chat: “Go somewhere darker, I’ll tip more!”

Tommy stared at the rising viewer count, took a deep breath, and got that wild look in his eyes. “Alright, chat, let’s keep exploring!”

“Are you nuts?” Calvin hissed, keeping his voice low. “We need to kill the stream and get outta here!”

“What’s with you two?” Noah, pale as a ghost, glanced around nervously. “Scaring the chat is one thing, but now you’re freaking me out? Is this real or what?”

“I’m done filming, this is too creepy!” Ethan said, his voice shaky. “I’m out!”

“Hold up, it’s just a mannequin, chill!” Tommy said, panicking a bit himself.

Calvin, mustering some courage, stepped toward the mannequin. It lay flat on the surgery table, draped in a grimy white sheet, its creepy painted muscles and organ diagram staring up like it had opinions.

“Film this!” Tommy ordered, pointing at the mannequin.

Ethan aimed the phone, and then— BAM! —the surgery room door slammed shut behind them, the air shaking with the force.

“What the heck?!” Tommy’s voice cracked. Ethan and Noah totally lost it, dropping the phone and flashlight. “AAAH!” they screamed in unison.

The room plunged into darkness, filled only with their frantic breathing.

“Run, now!” Calvin yelled, bolting for the back door. He didn’t dare look at the front door that had just slammed shut for no reason.

The others froze for a split second before snapping out of it. Tommy clenched his teeth, scrambled to grab the phone and flashlight, and stumbled after Calvin.

The livestream chat exploded:
“What just happened?!”
“Totally staged, classic setup.”
“So scary, should we call the cops?”

The viewer count skyrocketed to 500, still climbing, with a few more donations rolling in.

“Follow me, this way!” Calvin shouted. He loved horror games—especially the chase sequences—but even though nothing was chasing them, he felt a weird urge to escape this hospital, like, yesterday.

They burst into the stairwell, racing down to the first floor. That’s when Calvin noticed the main entrance—the one that was locked tight before—was now wide open, like it was kicking them out.

“Wait, hold up!” Calvin gasped, catching his breath. “This isn’t right. Why’s the door suddenly open? That’s too weird!”

“Who cares? I’m not staying another second! This is your fault for dragging me here!” Noah snapped.

“Move, I’m going home!” Ethan shoved past Calvin, booking it into the night without looking back.

Noah followed, vanishing into the darkness, leaving Calvin and Tommy behind.

“Uh…” Calvin hesitated, wondering if he should just run too.

But the hospital had other plans. The main door slammed shut again, trapping them inside.

Tommy, lagging behind, finally caught up, panting. “Now what?” Calvin asked, his voice shaky. He regretted asking the second it left his mouth—Tommy was freaking out worse than he was.

“I… I don’t know!” Tommy said, sweating buckets as he glanced at the livestream. The viewer count hit 600, but his shaky filming made the screen a blurry mess—chat couldn’t see a thing.

“We ran into a ghost! We’re trapped in this hospital, and we might die! This is terrifying, there’s a real ghost chasing us!” Tommy yelled into the camera, his voice shaky as his flashlight beam swung wildly at the locked door.

“Let’s bolt for the broken door we came through, Tommy, move it!” Calvin said, swallowing hard. “No creepy monster’s shown up yet, so we’ve got a shot. What if that thing gets stronger? Ditch the stream and run!”

“Okay!” Tommy nodded, eyeing the chat filled with “???” and “Yo, the screen’s too shaky, can’t see anything.” He fumbled to steady the phone and flashlight, but there was no time—something was coming.

Calvin glanced back and froze. Blood-red footprints were appearing, moving toward them at a brisk pace, glowing under the moonlight.

Tommy caught Calvin’s terrified look and tried to swing the camera around, but tripped over some gear and face-planted. “Tommy!” Calvin shouted.

Tommy twisted around, spotting the blood footprints closing in. He went white as a sheet, scrambling to his feet, forgetting the phone and flashlight. Calvin yanked him up, and they stumbled toward the door.

They burst out, not daring to look back, sprinting straight onto the street.

“Huff… huff…” Tommy wheezed, totally gassed. Calvin was just as winded—neither was exactly track team material.

“We gotta call the cops!” Tommy gasped.

“Yeah!” Calvin fumbled for his phone, hands shaking as he opened the dialer, heart still pounding.

He called 911, taking a deep breath to sound calm.

“911, what’s your emergency?” a female operator answered.

“We’re… we’re at St. Luke’s Memorial Hospital, that abandoned one on the edge of Cleveland!” Calvin said, words tumbling out. “We got trapped inside, the door slammed shut on its own, and… there were blood footprints chasing us! This place is haunted!”

The operator paused. “Sir, did you say ‘blood footprints’? Are you pranking us or filming a video? This is an emergency line.”

“This isn’t a prank!” Calvin snapped, his voice spiking. “We were livestreaming an adventure, but something real happened! The door slammed shut on its own—it’s straight-up paranormal! We barely got out, and now we’re on the street. Please, send someone quick!”

The operator sighed. “Alright, sir, calm down. You’re outside the hospital now? Give me the exact address, and we’ll send a patrol to check it out.”

“Yeah, we’re right by the main entrance! It’s St. Luke’s Memorial Hospital, edge of Cleveland. Hurry, this place is messed up!”

“Got it. Officers are on the way, ETA ten minutes. Stay put, and don’t go back inside,” the operator said, then hung up.

Calvin gripped his phone. “She totally thinks we’re full of it.”

Tommy groaned, “My phone’s still in there. This stream… ugh…”

Five minutes later, a patrol car rolled up. The officer stepped out, eyeing the two teens like they were trouble waiting to happen. The 911 dispatcher had briefed him: a bunch of kids sneaking into an abandoned hospital at midnight, claiming ghosts. Classic prank, he thought. Gonna haul these punks to the station and give ‘em a lecture.

But when he saw Calvin and Tommy looking at him like he was their personal superhero, babbling about mannequins, surgery rooms, and blood footprints chasing them, he raised an eyebrow. Okay, this is getting serious. Gotta check if these kids are on something.

The officer told them to come back inside the hospital to investigate. Both flat-out refused, shaking their heads like he’d asked them to jump into a shark tank. He left his partner to watch them and went in alone. Nothing seemed off—just a creepy, abandoned hospital. He found the dropped flashlight and phone in the entryway. The phone’s livestream was still running, chat going wild with over a thousand viewers.

“Cops showed up? Is this for real?”
“Where’s the streamer? They dead or what?”
“So freaky!”

Everything looked normal, just a spooky old building. The officer stepped out, handing the phone back. “Here’s your phone, keep it safe,” he said, a bit annoyed. “Sorry, but you’re not going straight home. You’re coming to the station to give statements.”

The next day, Calvin and Tommy were finally picked up by their families.

Note: Livestream audience impact: +400 Influence Points