“Five years. They say once you settle in, it’s hard to escape. I get that now. Something about this place just kind of sticks to you. If you don’t leave right away, you just don’t leave.”
“Sounds ominous,” I replied truthfully.
“You’ll get used to it. Anyway, tell me more about you. Why’d you come here?”
I stared at the label on my yogurt, swirling my spoon. I knew this question would come up. I should’ve planned for it, but honestly, I’d been avoiding it even in my own mind. I shrugged. It was better to stick to a truth, after all.
“Needed a new start. I wanted to go somewhere I could sort of blend in, you know? And I’ve always been interested in mental health.”
“Fair enough. Listen, we’re glad you’re here. We don’t always get the cream of the crop, but Anna’s been raving about you and your medical knowledge. I heard about how you got that shot in Mrs. Gilman’s arm so quickly when you got pulled down there. Not an easy feat.”
I smiled bashfully, swallowing a spoonful of the yogurt before speaking up, realizing something. “Mrs. Gilman?”
“Yeah. She’s Floor 4, room 2A. I know we use the numbers, but, well, I don’t know. Kind of makes me sad, you know? Like they’ve lost so much already of their identity. Can’t we at least keep their names?”
I liked that., pausing to smile and hoping maybe I could follow her lead. Maybe Redwood wasn’t all bad.
“So you worked on my floor?” I asked.
“Yeah, for a little while. Floor 5 isn’t so bad except for Robert. You probably know him as 5B. Honestly, he was too much.”
An overpowering feeling brewed in the pit of my stomach.
“Anna said the same thing. I mean, is he really that bad?”
“You wait. You’ll see. It’s not so much in his actions. It’s just, I don’t know. There’s something in his eyes. Something different than just madness. Something darker. It wasn’t just him that made me move floors, but it was one of the reasons.”
“Did Josephine have something to do with it?”
“Josephine? Oh, Jesus. Did Brett tell you about her? That kid’s so annoying.” She rolled her eyes, opening a chocolate bar and leaning back in her chair. Anna had hung up and came to join us at our table.
“Did I hear you say Josephine? Oh, Lord. Is Brett at it again?” Anna asked.
“So he was just teasing?” I asked, studying the two women. I didn’t want to own up to what I’d seen that made me know Brett wasn’t joking, but I didn’t want to give too much away. I was new. I needed to walk that precarious tight beam of being vulnerable and maintaining an air of professionalism.
“He is quite a storyteller. But, well, he wasn’t teasing.” Anna unwrapped a sandwich, taking a quick bite.
I stared, waiting for them to both show their tell. Neither budged.
“Look, it’s nothing to worry about. Redwood is a place with a long history, some of it not so bright. But the spirits here are harmless as long as you’re harmless to them. At least in my experience. I wouldn’t mind if a dark one came and whisked Brett away, but it hasn’t happened yet.”
I shook my head. “So you’re saying there are ghosts here? That it’s haunted?”
Anna sighed. “Brett isn’t supposed to say anything to the newbies. We don’t want to freak you out. Please don’t be freaked out. I’ve been here for all these years, and look, I’m fine. They’re harmless, really.”
“Well, except for that situation on floor two last year,” Roxy said, but Anna shushed her.
“What happened on floor two?” My stomach churned. I wasn’t one to be frightened of ghosts. But the possibility still left me unsettled, especially since I lived alone. Especially since I was now working in a place that was certainly far from hallowed ground.
“Nothing. It’s just gossip. Honey, trust me. You’ll be fine. What would the spirits have against you? The debts Redwood owed them have been long since paid. The evil doctors are gone now. They’re just here because they don’t know where else to go. They’ve only known this as home. We don’t bother them, they don’t bother us.”
“But if that’s true, then what about 5B? Maybe he isn’t crazy. Hasn’t anyone thought of that?”
Anna and Roxy exchanged a look and burst out laughing. “Oh darling, you do have a lot to learn.”
The conversation turned to lighter topics, which was unnerving in its own right. How could I be in a place where hauntings and ghosts were just run of the mill workplace banter? And what happened on floor two? Goosebumps formed on my arm underneath my shirt. I thought of the shadow, of the giggles. Of the man in 5B shouting about invisible beings. It was a lot to take in.
Would I be able to make it at Redwood, really?
And even if I wanted to leave, was it too late now? Roxy’s words resonated with me. There was something about Redwood that stuck to you. I could smell it in my hair, feel it like a thin layer of glue on my skin at home. It had wormed its way in, clutched onto me. A thought blew through me—maybe I wouldn’t be able to shake off the scent, the dreadful feeling, of Redwood’s essence.
I spooned in the last of the yogurt before following Anna back to the top floor of Redwood. Some questions were too heavy for the night shift, and some places were too complicated to unpack in one week. I’d have to just give it a chance and see. After all, I’d definitely lived through my share of haunting moments.
The Painting at the Entrance
Moments are worth capturing. That’s what the matriarch of the Weathergate family used to say, or so the legend goes. That was until her daughter snapped and the family reputation was
