 Is it me, or is it unusually slow tonight? My co-worker asked. We all looked at each other and agreed. We worked in a very small hospital emergency room and there were seven of us on that night. One doctor, four nurses, and two ER techs. The hospital had no inpatient wards like an ICU, so no one stayed the overnight. It was just us in the entire hospital. If patients needed to be admitted or have emergency surgery, we had paramedics on standby, ready to drive patients about an hour away to a larger hospital system. They usually stayed out in their ambulances, sleeping. We had in-house radiology, lab services, and one housekeeper, which made everything convenient. A janitor would be somewhere in the hospital cleaning and getting the hospital ready for the next day. The clock hit 2 am. Shit. I thought to myself, five more hours. It's not that I was tired, necessarily. It was more so that there was nothing to do. And that level of boredom, how quiet it was. And my sleeping co-workers made it difficult to stay awake. The housekeeper on tonight was Dua. Dua is mute and deaf, and sometimes that communication barrier can make her job difficult. They say she used to speak, but something happened a long time ago in her past, and she stopped. Most of us learned some basic ASL to communicate with her. Things like hello, how are you, and some work-specific signs. She was so sweet and almost always brought us in food. Tonight she brought in lumpia and chicken noodles. She even made her own homemade sweet chili sauce. She would always make much more than we could eat, but we were so grateful. She was like a mama bear to us. Hello. She signed to me. Hello. I signed back. How are you? Good. She signed with that sweet smile of hers. She took out her notepad and wrote, help. I smiled back and nodded. Dua often asked us to go down into the basement where the laundry area was with her. I think she liked the company. I can see how it must be hard to work solo every night. Dua grabbed the bedding storage and we started rolling it out of the ER and down the hall. The halls would be dark at night, but as we walked down the hallways, each segment would activate the lights with our movement. We had two elevators in the hallway, with only one going into the basement, and it was on the other end of the building. Dua motioned me to push solo and she took out her notepad and wrote, busy. I shook my head no and made a dozing off face. I wonder if she ever gets offended with any of the facial expressions we make. I motioned for her to push solo and we traded. I wrote, it's been a struggle staying awake. I'm sure you saw everyone fall asleep. She grinned and nodded. We both were pushing again and arrived at the elevator. On the way down, the lights flickered. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, my heart skips a beat thinking it's gonna get stuck. I couldn't imagine being stuck in an elevator in a building built in the 20s with sleeping coworkers on the other side of the building. I pulled out my cell phone and sure enough, no service. The elevator door opened and we made our way to the laundry area. We were greeted by an awful looking brick exposure and you had to turn a corner into the only hallway that led to the different rooms. The basement had a few different operations. The laundry room, the sterilization room and an old morgue that hadn't been used in decades. We used to have an operational ICU and a surgical suite, but budget cuts apparently shut all of that down and now everything gets passed off to the city. The laundry area was the last suite on the right. We passed by the sterilization room and it reminded me that before I leave for the day I have to bring down the used equipment from the day shift. As we were walking by the morgue, I saw something in the corner of my eye that looked red. I briefly paused in our walk and looked, but nothing was there. Dua made eye contact with me with a concerned expression on her face. What? She signed. I shook my head with a smile and made the crazy sign by rolling my finger at my temple. Her expression was now a mix between concerned and borderline scared. I started to feel guilty for spooking her. We walked into the laundry room. Before she got started with her tasks, she turned on an old boom box and music started to play. Some pop song filled the room with techno beats in a robot sounds girl singing about her wild party life. I walked over to Dua and started to help. She grabbed my arm and motioned to me that she didn't want my help. I nodded and went and sat in a chair. The wave of needing sleep came over me again. I felt myself doze off suddenly and I stood up. I motioned for Dua's notepad and wrote thirsty. She shook her head. I'm going to go grab a pop from upstairs. I need caffeine. I wrote her eyes darted to the doorway of the laundry area and back to me with that borderline scared impression again. She seemed to reluctantly nod. Are you good? I wrote. She took a deep breath and nodded. Her bright smile flashed across her face and she motioned for me to go. I smiled back and made my way out of the laundry area. As I made my way down the hallway, I looked into the morgue by putting my hands over my forehead and peering in. I swore I saw something red before, but the room was completely empty. I kept walking down the hall and made it to the elevator. I pushed the button, but the door didn't open right away. A few more seconds passed by, someone must have used it, probably the janitor. I waited for what felt like forever and then the doors opened up. A lady in a red dress greeted me with a dazed look. Her hair was unlike most fashion I'd expect from a woman to have in 2021. It was pulled back into an old school looking bun. She had a feather hairband on with black flats. Her red lipstick matched the dress. I held the door open, expecting her to step out, but she stood there with her eyes to the floor. I don't know why I expected her to step out. There was nothing for her down here. You looking for the ER? I asked. She looked up at me with that dazed look. I think I'm lost. Yeah, I said, looks like it. If you're looking for the ER, I work there, I can take you there. Nothing else is open, I'm afraid. She looked back down to the floor and kept silent. Okay, I thought to myself. The elevator started beeping, wanting me to make a decision. I stepped in and hit the L button to get to the main floor. As the elevator started to go up, the lights flickered again. And the elevator stopped. My heart skipped a beat, and I felt my pulse slowly start to rise. Sorry about this, I managed to say. Our building is super old, and sometimes this happens. I wasn't sure if I was lying to her or myself to make the situation better. So you looking for the ER or anything specific? She turned her head and rose her eyes to me. Her head slowly turned back, and she looked to the floor again. My husband is here. She said softly. Is he in the ER? I was just up there about 20 minutes ago. No one was there. I explained. Do you know which hospital he went to? Mayo Clinic is about 45 minutes from here. Is he there? She kept quiet for a bit. And then said, No, he's here. Got it. Well, you can come with me to the ER and we can take a look. Maybe he got there shortly after I came downstairs. If he isn't there, then I'm afraid you've come to the wrong hospital. There isn't anything else open right now, and we don't keep patience overnight. She didn't respond. The elevator still wasn't moving. I started to feel very uncomfortable partly because of the elevator and partly because of this woman. Something seemed incredibly off about her behavior. The nurse and me started to think she was in the middle of psychosis. Either way, if her husband is here or not, I think Dr. Evans should see her just to make sure nothing is going on with her. The light shot back on, and a few moments later, the doors opened to the lobby. The ER is down the hallway. You can follow me there, and we can see if your husband's there. I stepped out and began walking, and I noticed she wasn't following. The doors began to close. I rushed to them to stop them from closing, and the lady looked up to me before they shut and she was smirking at me. The hairs on my neck stood up. She's grown with me, I thought. I headed back to the ER and went straight to Dr. Evans. He was slumped over in front of his computer, sleeping. Hey, Dr. Evans, I said softly, there's a woman in the building who I think needs to be checked on. He lifted his head up from the desk. Why, what's up? He asked. Either she's grown with me, or this lady needs mental help. I explained. He had a puzzled look on his face and shrugged, guess you'll have to go looking for her. Why not radio to the janitor and give him a heads up? Yeah, definitely. I said, I grabbed the radio from the nurses station and radio to the janitor that there was someone in the building walking around. No response, but that was typical. I still needed caffeine, so I went to grab that first before beginning my journey to track down this lady. I grabbed a monster from the vending and noticed no one was walking around. She was going up in the elevator, so I decided I was going to start on the second floor and work my way up. The hospital was so small, it wouldn't take very long. I went to the elevator, hit the button, and noticed it was coming up instead of down, which meant someone had took the elevator downstairs. I doubt it was the janitor, it must have been her. I quickly made my way in and hit B to go down. As I went down, sure enough, the lights flickered again. And I jerked in a circle to look behind me. Someone was there. But nothing was there. I felt goosebumps all over my arms and legs. You're psyching yourself out, stop, relax. Why are you tripping over nothing? The doors opened back up, and I quickly turned the corner and made my way to the laundry area. As I walked in, I found duo working on the laundry. She greeted me with a smile. I motioned for her notepad. Did you see anyone down here? A puzzled look came over her face. She grabbed the notepad and wrote, janitor? I shook my head and wrote, lady, red dress. She glanced at my note for a few moments and shook her head. She immediately turned around and began to take everything out of the dryer. The washing machine was still going. She took the notepad from me and wrote, ER. She put everything into her laundry bin and headed for the doorway. I followed her out and we turned into the hallway to find the lady in the red dress standing in the hallway, looking into the morgue. Dua immediately stopped and a horrified expression washed over her face. She grabbed my arm and I could feel her sweaty palms and heavy grip. Hey, I called out. You okay? Do you need medical attention? She turned to us and shook her head oddly slow and looked back into the morgue. I think you should get checked out. Are you on any? I suddenly felt Dua pulling on my arm. I gave her a confused expression. She lifted her notepad and it said, devil. The goose bumps, chills and hairs on my neck were all back. What? I said, my voice shaky. I looked back to the lady in the red dress and she was looking at us with her head turned again. Her expression was no longer dazed, but something closer to blank. I started to hear Dua whimper. I don't think I've ever heard sounds come from her before. I looked to her and she was frantically signing to me, but I couldn't understand. She then put her hands on the top of her head and a look of desperation came over her face. She began pointing down the hall. She pulled out her necklace containing a cross and gripped it in her hands. She made the Holy Cross motion and closed her eyes and she began to pray. I looked back to the lady in the red dress who was still peering at us. Her hand went to the handle of the door that led into the morgue. It was locked. Can you let me in? She asked. Dua's hands were gripped back onto my arm, pulling. I turned to her. She began pointing down the hall away from the lady in the red dress. I wasn't giving into her pulls at first, but then she began violently pulling me towards her. I took a few steps with Dua down the hallway and looked back as we were turning the corner. She was smirking at me again. Dua flung the double doorways leading to the loading dock open and ran out into the parking lot. Her breathing was heavy. She was sweaty and she looked pale. She wrote on her notepad and aggressively pointed to her note and handed it to me. Devil! It said. I took a few deep breaths. I pointed towards the ambulance bay to the ER and started walking. Dua began to follow. We made it back into the ER and everyone was still the way they were before, sleeping. Dua sat at the nurses station and rested her head on the desk over her hands. I could still see her jaws moving, probably mouthing prayers again. I pulled myself together, reflecting on the situation and suddenly Dr. Evans came out of the physician hut and asked, So, where is she? Dua's head shot up from the desk and she quickly stood up and walked into a patient room. I stalled for a moment before saying, I couldn't find her. Clearly lying. Have you seen the janitor? Nope, he said, and went back into the hut. I went into the room where Dua was. I mouthed. You okay? She shook her head. She was sitting on the edge of the bed with the cross still gripped in her hands. I motioned for her notepad and she handed it to me. I wrote, Why is she the devil? How do you know her? Dua shook her head. You don't? I mouthed. She shook her head again. She took the notepad and again wrote devil. I struggled to know what to ask next. Dua only ever wrote one word when communicating. I decided to be blunt and I wrote, It's just some crazy woman messing with us. Dua looked up at me with a firm stare into my eyes. She shook her head, grabbed the notepad and wrote devil. I gave her a hug. She hugged me back. I felt so bad about the entire situation. Dua is so scared. I don't know if I've ever seen someone so horrified and scared like that before. We sat there for a few moments, just hugging each other. I let go, grabbed the notepad and I took a step back. I wrote, It'll be okay. And I showed it to her. She looked up at me as if to say, I hope you're right. She nodded slowly and laid back on the bed. I rode on the notepad, lay here and rest as long as you want. She nodded again and got up fully on the bed. Her necklace with the cross was gripped back into her hands again. She made the cross sign over her body with her hands, closed her eyes and began mouthing phrases again. I walked out of the room and went to the nurses station. Everyone was still asleep. I began to pace. I felt anxious. I started to think about the lady in the red dress and those smirks. I started to wonder if I actually saw the smirking or if in my anxious state and Dua's panic, my mind made it up. I went into an empty patient room and splashed water on my face from the sink. I looked into the mirror and saw the heavy bags under my eyes. My eyes were bloodshot. Maybe I was more tired than I thought. I began to think about if I should go back down there and confront the lady in the red dress. She needed to leave the hospital. I could threaten to call the cops. Yeah, that's what I'll do. And while I'm at it, I'm going to take the bucket with the items that needed sterilization. I noticed there was a large scalpel. I looked to see if anyone else was awake and put it in my scrub pocket that was over my chest. Just in case I got to defend myself, I thought. I took a very large deep breath. I held it in for four seconds and released my breath over eight. I have no reason to be scared. It's just some lady scrum with us. I'm going to go down there and I'm going to tell her to leave. If she doesn't comply, I'll call the cops and they can deal with her. I walked down the hallway to the elevator. I stalled for a moment and then I hit the button. The elevator came up and opened empty. I stepped inside and the door shut behind me. I hit the B button and began the descent. No lights flickered. I hit the bottom and the doors opened. I took a step and peeked around the corner, nothing there. I stepped as lightly as possible towards the corner leading to the hallway where I last saw the lady in the red dress. A sudden confidence rose within me. It's just some person who needs medical attention. Or it's someone who's going to bail once threatened with a police. There are people out there who do shit like this and screw with people for a rush. I got closer to the corner, paused and peeked around. The lady in the red dress was faced towards the opposite end of the hallway. I slipped the scalpel under the end of the bin in my right hand. Hey, I called out. If you don't need medical attention, you need to leave or we'll call the cops. My heart was racing. My palms were sweaty. My fighter flight response was turned all the way up. She stood there without moving or saying anything. The silence was deafening. I could hear my heartbeat. I could hear my breaths. I could hear my internal panic. I took a deep breath and confidently asked, do you need medical attention? She began to slowly shake her head. Suddenly she began to heal over as if she was laying over something at the waist. Her arms were dangling. She slowly turned towards me. What I saw next made me realize that duo was right. Her eyes were white as if rolled back into her head. Her jaw hung open, but it was at least one foot open towards the ground. No human could open their jaw like that. Her legs looked as if they were cracked backwards. Her arms rose and were reaching back and forth towards me. A choking voice, gargling, quietly moaned. I was frozen. I felt nothing. I didn't feel there. The bin of equipment dropped to the floor. I didn't hear anything impact the ground. I felt the scalpel in my hand shaking. Was I breathing? The lady in the dress had blood suddenly dripping from her abdomen and onto the floor. She moaned again. Her intestines slowly collapsed out of her stomach. They were dangling from her. She took a small step towards me. I could hear her legs cracking. I took a step backwards and another and another. I had a horrified look on my face. I was looking at the most disturbing thing I'd ever seen. My back hit the wall behind me. I was trying to push myself back farther, but I couldn't get any more back. She took another step towards me. The cracks filled the hallway. Blood was spilling out all over the floor around her. Her jaw, her lower jaw, was so low. I couldn't see her neck. Her head began to tilt. She began to cough and blood sprayed out. She was gargling on her own blood, blood still pouring out. I next heard something I could not define or see the source of. It sounded as though something had moved. There was a loud screech, a long tire squeal. And then I watched as all of her internal organs spilt onto the floor. I couldn't move. I was frozen. The only things that were working were my eyes. I didn't know if I was breathing. I was seeing something horrifying. If it wasn't real, this was a dream. She was moving towards me, cracking bones with every step. She was stumbling from side to side. There was a trail of blood behind her. She was feet away from me now. I was looking into her eyes. They were completely white. I could see all the way into her throat. I could see the blood gargling in her mouth dripping onto the floor. With each step, I could see her swinging intestines. And then she was right in front of me. I felt my vision narrow. I wasn't breathing. My heart felt like it would explode. I could only feel my heart. The scalpel was in my hand, trembling. My eyes were deadlocked onto her. I scanned her entire body one last time. Her white eyes, her open jaw, the gargling blood in her throat, the intestines dangling, the blood pouring out, her bent back cracked legs, her eyes and pupils suddenly dropped. She was looking at me with them. The lady in the red dress roared a deafening demonic, demented roar, blood spraying across my face, her breath blowing into me, and I came to standing in the ER. I was violently shaking. Sweat was dripping from my eyebrows onto the floor. I was hyperventilating and I was choked up. My knees were weak. I was crying. My eyes were glued to the bloody scalpel in my hand. It wasn't bloody before. I looked around the ER. No one was an eyesight. With all of my might, I tried to take a step forward and collapsed onto the ground. The scalpel dropped and slid across the floor. I brought myself to sit against the wall. The nurses station was directly in front of me. Everyone must still be asleep. How did I get up here? I looked down and in my lap, I was drenched with blood. Was it her blood? Guys, I called out. My throat was so dry. Nothing. I managed to bring myself standing. I felt the whoosh of all my blood dropping to my feet. I thought it was going to pass out. I stumbled my way around the nurses station to see everyone as they were before, slumped over their desks, sleeping. I inched my way to one of my coworkers and shook their shoulder attempting to wake them up. As I did, their head slumped to the side. His throat was cut open, horrified. I jumped backwards with a gasp. As I looked around, there was blood everywhere. All of them, they were all dead. Their throats slashed open. I peeked into the physician's hut and saw his throat was cut open too. Blood poured out all over his chest, his lap, his legs. His eyes were open, dead and looking my way. Dua came into mind and I rushed to where she was before I left. I lost my breath. All sound disappeared. I felt lightheaded. She lay there, her arms spread out to each side hanging off the bed. Her throat cut open, the bed soaked in blood. Hanging from her left hand was the necklace with a cross. I took a few steps back to my left in the bay was the janitor laying in a pool of blood, his throat cut open. In a state of shock, I went to the sink, turned on the water, and attempted to wash the blood away. It wasn't coming off. I used soap and I scrubbed harder and it still wouldn't come off. I looked at myself in the mirror. Blood covered my face, hair had been pulled out. I had scratches, a black eye, a busted lip. Was there a struggle? Suddenly a voice spoke behind me, one I hadn't heard before. It was a woman's voice. I turned to see Dua sitting up, blood draining from her cut throat. I choked, you can talk. I said. She fell back onto the bed. This wasn't real. None of this was real. I slowly turned to exit the patient room and I saw her, the lady in the red dress. But she was back to how she was before when I first saw her. She was grinning at me, what I choked out is happening. Her grin disappeared and now she was blank in the face. She crossed her arms and keys were dangling from her fingers. She said, I didn't remember. Remember what I managed to say. She was looking dead into my eyes. She stepped forward and was striving at least since 15 anniversary in 1922. I was walking home from a party, he knew when I'd be leaving, they un-pinned me from that tree. My stomach ripped, I innards falling out onto the grass, my legs cr- I, I didn't do that. I didn't do anything. I shook my head and I said, I would have helped you. She rushed towards me and grabbed my throat, pushing me against the wall, nothing. She said through gritted teeth. She was looking straight into my eyes. I felt a disturbing presence, duo was right, the devil, those doctors, those nurses, I never found any of them. She let go of my throat and I fell to the floor, her standing over me, your f- I felt my throat closing, duo, she's dead, I thought. She died a long time ago, this hospital, those employees, she asked. I was shaking, was I dying? I am scared, I said. She said, what? She was grinning ear to ear. My eyes went straight to duo, I looked out of the doorway to the nurses station, knowing they were all dead, I looked at the blood all over my body, I remembered the way I looked in the mirror with black eyes, scratches, I've never felt my eyes so wide, I remembered, I was rocking in bed, wringing my hands together, I haven't said a single word in two years. So when are you going to talk about what happened? The psychiatrist asked, it's been two years today, and you've never said a word. Trauma does that to people, but if you ever want to move past this, I need you to talk to me. I was rocking, I didn't have thoughts. I heard his words, but they came through a narrow tube. They were meaningless words. I can't think. Just because you murdered them, you still have a right to live. He said, I'm here to help you with that, I want to help you move past that. I said nothing. The psychiatrist sighed. There was a knock at the door, he went to the door and opened it. We need to talk. A voice said, in the middle of a session, he asked quietly, it happened again. The voice whispered, another mass murder at a hospital. I looked over to the two of them. The psychiatrist looked over to me. He nodded to the other employee and closed the door behind him. He sat down in the chair and we locked eyes. Are you ready to talk? I heard him. I heard both of them. This was the first time I looked at him. He raised his eyebrows with a smile as if to encourage me. I tried to say a word, but it didn't work. Nothing came out. I cleared my throat, but I couldn't talk. Hey, that's the first step, he said, elated. You can do it. I felt an anger inside of me that I hadn't felt since I was found guilty of eight counts of murder. I reached for his clipboard, took it, and he handed me a pen. I wrote and showed him the note, hospital. Yes, you're in a hospital. I shook my head. I wrote, Grady? The hospital you worked at, where the murders happened. I shook my head again. I took a deep breath. It happened again. The lady in the red dress did it again. This time to someone else. Innocent people. She will keep doing it. The cycle will continue. First, Dua, who knows who else it happened to. I wrote one final note for the psychiatrist. This was the last time I will communicate with anyone here. I will wait until the pattern is noticed. They'll see it. They'll make the connection. And once they do, I'll be ready. I'll leave this place and I'll figure out what happened. I will try and make things right. The psychiatrist took the clipboard and looked at the note. There was only one word, devil.