Read Online Ghosts of Rosewood Asylum by Stephen Prosapio - Free Book Online Page A

dragged himself the rest of the way to the
gate.
    “Friendly guy,” Zach overheard Turk whisper
to Rico.
    Rico, wearing a black T-shirt with a massive
New York Yankee logo, smirked. “It’s…Old Man Winkler!”
    Turk visibly held back a guffaw. “And I’d
have gotten away with it too if it hadn’t been for you meddling kids!”
    Zach shushed them. No need for spraying
lighter fluid into a live cigar butt.
    Rico whispered something to Turk, and the
pair shared a private joke. From the episodes of Demon Hunters that Zach
had watched, Rico was a decent paranormal investigator, but the show had aired a
few scenes that displayed tension between Rico and Bryce. One episode, the pair
had gotten into a shouting match over whether or not a case could be solved due
to the client’s house having been built on a Native American burial ground.
Zach wasn’t certain how much of their conflicts had been accurate versus
manufactured television drama, but he suspected at some point, Rico would
branch off Demon Hunters and host his own show.
    Grant Winkler unlocked the series of
padlocks, removed the chains and opened the entryway of Rosewood to XPI cheers and Demon Hunter barks.
    Winkler had what could only be described as
an ‘I’ll-turn-this-car-around-right-now’ look on his face. “If you’re coming
in, come on in,” he said. “I ain’t leavin’ this gate unlocked until your security
guard gets here.”
    Both groups passed through the gates.
Winkler followed them in, wrapped a chain snugly around the metal bars, and
clamped a padlock on.
    Ray walked up to Zach.
    “Nice guide,” he muttered low enough that
Winkler couldn’t hear him. “Relative of yours?”
    As though on cue, the custodian pulled a
hanky from his pocket, wiped the sweat off his brow and neck, and then blew his
nose with it.
    Zach leaned close to his friend. “Maybe if
you’re a good boy, he’ll let you borrow that later.”
    “Yeah, to—”
    “Zach?” Sara said. “Can I talk to you a
minute?”
    “Sure,” he said. He turned back to Ray.
“I’ll see you up there.”
    Led by Winkler both groups trudged up the
incline toward the asylum. Sara stayed behind and gave instructions to the
cameramen. “Get some low angle movement shots walking toward the front doors.
You know the kind.”
    They nodded and went off.
    “What’s up?” Zach asked Sara when they were
alone.
    “Don’t you think you should,” she said and
paused. In his head, Zach translated it to mean “I think you had better…”
    “What?”
    “Well, I wonder if we should have you with
Bryce on camera most of the time during the tour. I mean, you and Ray can pal
around any time, but the viewers are going to want to see you and Bryce
investigating this together.”
    After the prior day’s lunch, Zach would have
preferred spending time with a foul-breathed Neo-Nazi. He had, to that point,
avoided Bryce most of the morning, but from an entertainment perspective, she
had a point.
    “Fine. Anything else?”
    “No, that’s it.”
    Rather than wait and walk up with her, he
trotted toward the group that was approaching the hospital’s entryway.
    “Oh, and Zach?”
    She always did this. He turned but continued
backpedaling toward Rosewood. He was already starting to feel like he was being
pulled in a dozen different directions.
    She cupped her hands to her mouth. “Would it
kill you to do it with a smile?”
    You never know, Zach thought. You never
know.
     
     
    Keys jingling and clanking, Grant Winkler
opened Rosewood’s front doors. The smell of rotting plaster and dust was a
stale belch into the warm day.
    Winkler casually strolled into the asylum
while the paranormal groups ventured in behind him. Beyond a modest foyer, the
lobby expanded upward taking up two floors. Strewn with cobwebs and littered with
garbage, what had once been the asylum’s reception area did not serve
Rosewood’s haunted reputation. It looked like any other ill-kept vacant
building. The lobby was