The Last Transition

By U. R. Ekhoey

A large mansion richly imbedded in the local history's mining community thirty minutes out of town was turned into a hospital home back in the early 1800's. Since then the estate has gone through many transitions, the last one was being turned into a nursing home for the elderly.

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In present day, three years after Ben Pedersen was hired as one of the two janitors on the premises the local community leaders has decided to close the nursing home and move the operation to a new facility within the town's borders. Now, with only one week to go before a new transition begins and the mansion will be turned into a museum, strange things starts to plague the nursing home.

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Dan and Ben, the mansion's two janitors are unwillingly pulled into a mystery which involves apparitions and horrible visions of the past. Ben seems to be the person who is particularly targeted by the area's dark and twisted past and at times he feels he is being sought out by unnatural forces which seems to have been woken within Silverstone nursing home.

• Language: English
• Publisher: U. R. Ekhoey
• Release date: Apr 29, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463044162

U. R. Ekhoey

Ulf R. Ekhoey was born in Akershus, Norway, in 1975. He is a horror, psychological thriller, suspense, science fiction writer, but also a dabbler in the fantasy genre. He is a philosopher and a thinker as well as a practical all-around man. Having held a number of physical active and practical jobs in the past he tends to blend this into his writing.

Book preview

The Last Transition

Written By

Ulf R. Ekhoey

Copyright © 2018 Ulf R. Ekhoey.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

May not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

Without the express written permission of the publisher

Except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Content

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

About the author

Just one more thing

Chapter 1

Ben paused for a moment while looking out of the middle, high arched window on the second floor facing the entrance area. He liked doing so whenever he felt like taking a break from his work which currently was changing some of the dark light spots up on the second floor of Silverstone nursing home. It was still dark outside this early December morning. Small particles of snow caressed the windows before it glided further down, melting on its path and came to a final resting place on the by now icy whitening little roof over the entrance area to the mansion. Down below on the ground the snow was settling, forming a white blanket across the landscape as far as Ben’s eyes could see. It was almost like mist Ben thought to himself looking at the light posts getting showered in the white shadowlike objects which trickled down from above. They gloomed dimly further down the road before they trailed off behind the large, old red barn. Maybe it was by habit Ben did so or maybe it was for some other reason, but he focused his sight over at the spotlights on the barn. Just glancing over them he checked to see if they were lit as it was Dan and his job to see to it that everything worked and was in order. The spots worked better than the road posts and threw long shining rays of light on the ground, the frozen underbrush and the nearby trees that grew close around the base of the barn furthest away from the road. While looking Ben suddenly saw a shadow that seemed to glide out from the bushes as the lights flickered and dimmed to just a faint glow. The shadow bore the resemblance of a small human or most likely a child’s figure moving elegantly and fast alongside the barn. The silhouette passed its many large windows which were divided into nine squared tiles where many had cracked or been broken through the years. Ben was as if froze when seeing this and his gaze got glued to what was happening outside of the barn. He leaned closer towards the window trying to figure out if he had really seen what had just transpired. The figure who had to be a small kid had stopped in front of the main barn door and opened it before entering it.

What…are you doing!? Ben whispered to himself with a voice that betrayed a sense of uncertainty.

The barn doors were always closed and securely locked with a chain and padlock. Had the kid gotten access to a key somehow? The question just added itself to the list that were racing through Ben’s mind. What was a kid doing outside now in this type of weather at this hour way out here? Wasn’t it school day today? Yes, today was Monday and Ben didn’t know of any vacation or free time from school this close to Christmas. Besides, this was a resting home for the old and sick, not a place where children usually ran around unattended. The questions reeled in Ben’s head as he was hurrying through the corridor and down the flight of stairs to the entrance hall. He had made up his mind without really thinking much about it. It was more like a reaction and not a topic he had to think through. That child had no business going around here on the premises unattended even if it was snowing outside and certainly not inside the barn where they stored most of the motorized work equipment. Ben felt he didn’t have the time to find his coat even though it was freezing outside. He had to get to that kid before he or she got hurt in that old and poorly maintained place. It was not a place a kid should go fool around and play in. There were a lot of sharp and pointy motorized objects in there. If that kid accidently hurt itself... Ben tried to push the thought away as soon as it began to fester within his brain. It would not happen while he was on the clock. Soon he was outside making footprints in the newly fallen snow, rushing towards the barn. The snow beneath his feet made chilling noises of their own making Ben realize just how cold it had become outside and that just deepened the mystery of the child going into the cold and dark barn. Coming shivering up to the barn’s main door he found the padlock and the chain on the ground. The snow was already hard at work trying to cover it up within its hundreds of tiny white flakes. After picking it up Ben roughly pushed the barn door to the side. The barn lay in a cold and somewhat darkened silent state except for the weak light outside which cast his silhouette on the barn floor. The only thing he could hear and see moving was his own breath of cold smoke from his mouth. Ben blinked a couple of times disbelieving his own eyes and mind. Had he really seen a kid go inside this place? Into this freezing darkness? The only thing that made seeing possible right now was because of the many cracks in the barn walls and the windows. The spots mounted on the outside were still on but only shined a weak gloom that poured through to the inside wherever it could. On the side of the door a bit higher up then normal the light switch was located. Ben flicked it expecting the barn to be illuminated as usual by the fluorescent light sources Dan and himself had done countless rearrangements and fixes on throughout the last three years. Instead the barn remained in darkness refusing to reveal its many objects and excellent hiding spots which a lost and confused kid could easily exploit to its advantage. Why a kid would voluntarily enter this dark and cold place though was beyond Ben’s understanding. It would certainly have to be a brave one. Perhaps it was desperate in some way Ben suddenly reflected but why hadn’t it just entered the elderly center instead? No, this just didn’t make any sense. Whatever the reason for it being out here the kid had a key to this place and that was something Ben found very odd and it riddled his mind as how the kid had acquired it.

Hello? Ben found himself almost yelling into the darkness before him with a strong but rusty voice which were thick with frosty smoke when it left his mouth.

Hey you?! Kid? Come out of there! Ben yelled after a brief pause, clearing his itching throat with a couple of coughs suddenly wishing he had remembered to buy some cough drops on the road to work.

He had woken this morning with a thunderous headache and sore throat which could only mean he was coming down with something. The slightly blocked nose certainly built the case further, yet it had gone away after being up for a little while. Now it seemed as if the soreness had come back and Ben began to feel irritated by the fact that he stood outside in the freezing cold without any warm outer clothing to keep the coldness away. For a few seconds the only thing he could hear was his own rusty breath as his eyes tried to adjust to the almost none existent light. While waiting impatiently for an answer he suddenly thought he could hear light footsteps from above. Ben let out a shuddering sound as a shiver went through his body. The cold threatened to freeze him to his core and realizing so Ben found it best to keep moving. While making his way to the old wooden ladder he found himself treading further and further into the darkness. Small giggling noises came now and again from a place above him together with more soft steps. Ben wasn’t really sure, but he thought it was a girl’s giggles that at the present moment were almost taunting him. Ben found himself doubting more and more the fact that a little girl was now up on the second floor of the barn in what would be nothing but cold and absolute darkness. His feet became more and more unwilling to move the closer he got to the ladder. At the base of it they halted as his hair in the back of his neck stood out when he peered upwards finding the trapdoor above him closed. For a few seconds he just stood there while the cold was biting his cooling flesh inside his sweater and working pants as total disbelief riddled his face.

You need to come down now… little girl? Ben found himself saying with a strong yet faltering voice. It’s not safe up there.

The only thing that replied his demands was silence and in away Ben was glad no one opened the trapdoor above him. For some reason he could easily imagine old metal hinges shrieking to life as the hatch slowly opened and nothing but a ghostly face with dark large eyes deep as empty wells looked down on him from above. The bad thing of this not happening was that it meant he had to go up there and have a look around. The fact sent chills through Ben’s body now and it didn’t come from the cold. Briefly he tried to figure out what was the worst scenario. From somewhere deep inside him a warning came up not to climb those wooden stairs as the whole scene felt all too familiar from the many horror flicks he had seen in his day. He looked over to the open and weakly lighted exit. A couple of seconds went by while Ben’s mind waged war on itself and all the horrible scenarios it had witnessed on film. Then he took a reluctant hold of the ladder and started to climb it while muttering a cursing phrase under his cold breath. A child was up there and no matter what it had to come down from there and get out of this dangerous area. Perhaps it simply had brought a flashlight with it up on the old loft and were just playing around like normal kids do. Maybe it wanted to come down as soon as it saw Ben and they could go back to the mansion and have a good warm drink while they talked of why it had gone out here in the first place. It was a lovely thought and Ben clung to it almost as hard as his hands grasped the wooden stairs. The ladder creaked and complained about Ben’s slightly overweight, but it held itself together bringing Ben closer and closer to the trapdoor above him. Rusty hinges screamed in protest of awakening from their decaying slumber as Ben’s left hand pushed upwards against the trapdoor. It was expected though and somehow it didn’t feel as bad or was not nearly as frightening as it had played out in his mind. Old dust whirled through the opening and around Ben as the trapdoor fell over to the left side with a load shrieking thud making Ben cough involuntarily from his own actions. As before there was nothing but darkness and silence around him. Ben shook his head a couple of times as if shaking away his own fear. He pushed his head and upper body over the edge, exposing him further to the insides of the dark and dusty attic. The feeling of slight anger now rushed through his veins. The need to go to this length for correcting a kid was ludicrous. It probably belonged to someone of the staff at the resting home anyways. Someone who had probably taken with them their kid to work for some odd reason. That kid was now running around with a set of stolen keys thinking this whole place was its own personal playground. The strain of thoughts kept pushing on Ben’s anger and frustration buttons, pissing him off to no end.

Hey kid! Ben now barked out, his face now flushed with anger. Come here right now!

If the kid had brought a flashlight with it up into the attic it was now shut off. It was probably because understanding it had done something which it shouldn’t have done and were now hiding, afraid of the outcome. Ben’s eyes now really worked hard to see anything as they strived to adjust to the almost pitch black. He couldn’t see much of anything. There were some solid shapes of grey through the darkness though that resembled boxes and other objects which had been stored away here throughout the decades. Other than that, he couldn’t really see much. Nobody was up here greeting him as he looked around. Slowly he turned his body to see the other way. Shifting his weight and feet on the wooden ladder made it creak and complain below him in various degrees of warnings he didn’t understand. Through the creaks and his own racing heartbeat Ben thought he could hear a sound and his ears perked up while they picked up soft footsteps of rushing feet coming towards him from behind. Ben’s legs moved into motion together with his body, trying to turn around to see who was behind him. A cold hand laid itself on Ben’s left shoulder. Only for a moment it laid there but it was a moment which felt like an eternity and Ben saw it as clear as day. Ghostly white and tiny like a large porcelain doll’s hand. Colder than the freezing temperature he had felt surrounding him all the time since he had ventured out to the barn this morning. Ben’s mind reeled in the fright it was experiencing and his body shrank back both from the shock of suddenly being touched and from the cold he felt sending ripple effects throughout his body. That was the final straw for the wooden ladder he was standing on and it broke underneath him with a dry splintering sound. The next thing Ben knew he was suddenly falling ungracefully towards the barn floor and landing hard yet somewhat first on his legs. Then the rest of his body felt the pain of falling on unforgiving concrete. Through a foggy dizziness a shrieking sound from above made Ben’s swimming eyes look up just in time to see a ghostly white shape retracting from the open space. A ghostly white face with eyes shrouded in the darkness. Deep as empty wells above thin lips which formed a wide smile. The trapdoor slammed shut with a booming noise that resonated through the barn. As more dust came floating down towards Ben and his fading consciousness so too did the sounds of gentle fast footsteps and a giggling girl who sang a strange children’s rime.

Ring around the rosy, pockets full of posies. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.

Chapter 2

Three hours earlier…

Ben Pedersen turned his car around at the nearest exit he could find. He had barely seen the Silverstone nursing home sign pass him by on the right side of the road as a blur through the still dark morning. He found it a bit funny and also strange at the same time that he had passed it. He smiled and almost laughed to himself as he thought about the fact that he had never missed the exit before. This morning however he felt particularly sleepy and his body felt like something that had woken from a wet grave. He had stirred from his sleep with aches throughout his body as well as a thundering head. A slightly blocked and running nose with a sore throat made him come to the conclusion that he was coming down with something. Some of his symptoms had gone away however after taking a couple of headache pills while getting ready for work. Still, not feeling entirely one hundred percent this morning and his mind had also been deep in thoughts when he had missed the exit towards the resting home made him blame a combination of those facts. Sometimes though it was like that. His mind brought up things from the past not fully digested or understood yet and subconsciously he would start thinking about it but never to the point that he had missed the exit to wherever he was going. This time though it had been like he was seeing scenes within the front windshield. Scenes from old memories, bad happenings resolving into unintentional events. He could see them clearly and vividly although they were somehow transparent and so he could also see where he was going on the road. Seeing but not really paying any attention to where he was going apparently as he had missed the sign and the exit all together. Ben steered his car from the main road and onto the long and winding graveled path not touched yet by the snow even though it was getting close to Christmas. He wondered why such scenes had suddenly presented themselves so strongly to him. Had he fallen asleep for a couple of seconds? It certainly was a possibility even though it didn’t feel like it and he strongly would deny it if such a thing had happened and someone had seen him do it. However, it didn’t feel like a dream or as if he had fallen asleep but only like he had been in some kind of a trance or a state of utmost concentration. The streetlights stood with regular intervals beside the road and shun dimly down upon it as usual in this time of the year when the darkness was almost constant in Norway as Ben’s car began to pick up speed along the wet road.

Ben had been living an average life he once again reflected. His thoughts pulled him again into historical facts throughout his life and he was somehow unwilling to fight what was happening. He was an average guy too Ben smiled to himself a tad bittersweet. He was average built, was average paid in an average job and of course he had this average car. He felt there was nothing flashy about him and he had purposely chosen a small gray Opel Astra as it didn’t scream for attention. It was a car which served its purpose, much to how Ben felt most of the time while being on his very little flashy and joyful job. It was a job and he was needed. Something Ben was happy about, but it still wasn’t anything to brag about or even to pick up women with if it ever came up in a conversation. Ben also felt life itself had progressed averagely too but that was to a point though. The divorce from Samantha, now known as the ex-monster and the arrangement of only seeing his daughter Janne in the weekends didn’t feel average at all. Even so such was the times he lived in and Ben guessed such things had become more and more regular now too. One could probably say to the point where it was expected and as such nothing which stood out but were just more of the grey everyday life no one cared or thought about, just like Ben himself. It still pissed him off at times though thinking back to what had transpired so many years ago. His wife being unfaithful and him getting the worst outcome of it regarding their child. Still, at some level he could understand it. The system was built in a certain way and could be manipulated if the right person knew how. Ben’s ex-wife had been a master in manipulation, or at least that’s what he thought about her at the time the so-called agreement between them were put down on paper. The Norwegian justice system hard at work which should have been impartial but were blind to see it could be swayed easily if one only knew how. Samantha had apparently known how. Ben gritted his teeth subconsciously every time these thoughts came up and this morning his knuckles whitened while holding the steering in a tight grip. In front of him scenes from that emotionally difficult time unfolded on the windshield and Ben saw them clearly as he was very much totally attached to a period in his life he was still not done with. He had been driving towards his goal for a while when he saw the edge of the forest he needed to drive through before coming up to the barn and the old mansion beyond it. He didn’t like the forest for some reason. At summer times it was nice enough but still there was something about the density of it and the light that didn’t quite get through the heavy branches and leaf’s above. Ben had tried to walk many times in his free time or when circumstances required that he took a break and walked for a bit. The ground he walked on, no matter where around the mansion, felt somehow bad like he was walking on something which didn’t like to be disturbed. It made him hurry along instead of just relaxing and enjoy the walk, many times making him look over his shoulders as if someone were suddenly sneaking up on him from behind. There was something within the density of it. Uprooted fallen trees were a common sight leaning sometimes heavily on other stronger parts of the forest. The dying underbrush seemed to be slowly strangled to death and starved of not nearly enough light down below. It would send him shivering out of the area time and time again. Now though Ben felt like he was driving towards a tunnel, soon to engulf him just like the horrible accident he had been involved in while working as a constructor for a building company. A collapse of the scaffoldings he was on, the sensation of falling and the sudden sharp pain in his back. Then the dark tunnel’s sweet embrace had