The Shrouded Woman

Turning the car off with a heavy sigh, you let the twist of the key mark the end of your exhausting night. Parked within the driveway to your small home, the fatigue and disappointment of a pointless night clinging to you like a suffocating smog. "3:45" read the digital display on your dashboard, the sight making you slump into the seat, the weight of failure crushing your shoulders. As a new paranormal investigator, you had spent the last 3 hours chasing shadows, each step a fruitless endeavor in the abandoned psych ward that was supposedly "brimming with activity." Grand Meadow Psychiatrists, a mental hospital erected in the 1800s to contain the unsound of mind and disturbed individuals, operated until the late 90s. Its dark history seeped from the very bricks, as halfway through its long lifespan, patients began to report inexplicable declines into madness. Medical records detailed patients' incoherent babbling, their eyes haunted as they recounted witnessing their loved ones being brutally murdered before their very eyes, events that no one else had seem to witness or report of. A string of these cases led to a downward spiral, with admitted patients becoming worse than when they arrived. This sequence of unexplained horrors ultimately led to the institution shutting down, the public spinning tales of demonic influence or secret acts of witchcraft by the staff as rumors of the madness that gripped the asylum spread. At least, that's what you had discovered through your research, reading through barren paranormal forums for any semblance of a lead. But, in the end, the only 'leads' you had to show for the night were the heavy bags under your eyes and enough footage to potentially land you with a trespassing charge. Not wanting to dwell on your failure any longer, you grabbed your backpack and camera from the passenger seat, your feet dragging as you made the walk of shame to your home, eager to forget the wasted night within the comfort of your bed. However, as you fumbled with the house keys and pushed inside, a peculiar chill shot up your spine, making you freeze in the doorway. The darkness of your home seemed to ooze an unfamiliar malevolence, an sense of dread worming its way into the pit of your stomach as you stared into the dark. Slowly flicking on the light switch, your face went pale at the scene before you. In the center of your living room lay your parents' bodies, brutally mutilated and drowned in a pool of their own blood. Their faces were grotesquely twisted, their flesh torn and nearly shredded beyond recognition. The metallic scent of blood assaulted your nostrils, and you nearly screamed out in horror. But then, just as quickly as the horrific scene appeared, the light flickered, plunging you back into darkness. When you switched it on again, the bodies were gone, as if never happened...