The CEO’s Wife’s Ghostly Message
THE CEO’S WIFE WAS GONE, BUT HER VOICE CAME FROM THE HOSPITAL RADIO
The security guard’s badge was crooked as he pointed me toward the basement’s darkest corridor. I was just a new intern, tasked with archiving old hospital records. The air down here smelled of dust and forgotten time, thick and stale in my lungs. The single bare bulb cast long, dancing shadows.
Then the old radio on a rusted cart crackled violently, a faint static hum. A woman’s voice, clear as a bell despite the interference, started talking about a specific date: August 14th. “He promised we’d visit the hydrangeas that summer, remember?” she said, with a strange, haunting sweetness.
It was Mrs. Albright, the CEO’s late wife, supposedly passed years ago. Everyone knew her story. But August 14th… that was the day *my* mom disappeared, weeks after starting a job here.
My clammy hands brushed a dust-caked file labeled “Project Blossom.” The fluorescent hum above me flickered erratically. Heavy footsteps echoed rapidly from the main stairwell, growing louder.
A chilling whisper, right next to my ear, said, “You really shouldn’t be down here alone, dear.”
👇 Full story continued in the comments…I whirled around, heart hammering against my ribs. Empty corridor. Just the flickering light and the hissing radio, Mrs. Albright’s voice now replaced by more static. Panic seized me. The footsteps above were pounding, urgent.
I ripped open the “Project Blossom” file. Inside, yellowed documents detailed experimental procedures, strange botanical diagrams, and notes referencing a “transference protocol” and… Mrs. Albright’s name. Photos showed her, smiling and vibrant, in a garden overflowing with hydrangeas. A chill deeper than the basement’s air settled in my bones.
The footsteps were right outside. I had to get out of there. Throwing the file back on the cart, I stumbled towards the end of the corridor, fumbling with the heavy, metal door at its end.
The door swung inward, revealing a small, locked room. A sign read: “Bio-Containment Level 3”. My breath hitched. This wasn’t a records room. This was something else entirely.
The footsteps stopped. Silence. Then, a voice, again, Mrs. Albright’s, but closer this time, right behind the door. “Don’t be afraid, dear. He’s coming.”
Suddenly, the door was ripped off its hinges, revealing the security guard, his badge perfectly aligned now, his eyes glowing with an unnerving, internal light. His smile didn’t reach those eyes. The air shimmered around him.
“Looking for your mother?” he rasped, his voice a distorted echo. “She’s part of the project, darling. Blossom forever.” He gestured behind him to the room. I saw glimpses of a lab, a humming machine, and… my mother. She stood in the corner, seemingly trapped and surrounded by the blue glow of the hydrangeas.
I had to act, or lose her forever. I reached for the file, remembering the diagrams of the botanicals. There had to be a weakness. I quickly found a note regarding a specific type of rose – the Crimson Dawn. It appeared to be used as a counter agent.
Gathering my courage, I slammed the metal file cart against the guard, knocking him off balance. Then, I sprinted past him, into the room and towards my mother. The glow of the hydrangeas intensified. I had to do something quickly.
As the guard advanced, roaring, I grabbed a small vial from my pocket and hurled it at him. It contained something that would kill them: the crimson dawn. I felt a rush of relief as the agent took effect and the guard began to wither before turning to dust.
My mother was weak, but seemed to recognize me. I took her out of the room, and we ran, together, into the daylight. The hospital, with its twisted secrets, felt miles away. I would never forget the haunting voice of Mrs. Albright, but I had my mother back. The echo of her words from the radio, now silent, would forever remind me of that night.