Mill House Terror

 Short Horror story

Nurse Jane Clark looked in on Adam Carter as he sat in his room drawing, she sighed as she noted there was no change, and closed the door. When she turned to leave on her rounds, she met Dr. John Taylor.

The doctor asked, "Is there any change, nurse?"

She replied, "No, Doctor Taylor. All he does is sit and draw mills for hours, what happened on the day before he came here must have been so terrible it has etched itself on his mind. The psychiatrist says she can't get him to talk."

Adam had no idea what lay ahead that day four years ago, if he had he would have taken better care of his friends, that day his life changed beyond any degree of imagination.

The four friends, Adam, his girlfriend Julie, Terry, and his girlfriend, Anne had agreed to meet at the old mill to relax in the summer sun, and hopefully have some innocent fun later. Life rarely goes to plan as the four young people were to find out.

Adam sat in his room gazing idly at his drawings, images that had etched themselves into his mind since the day of the accident, the day his life ended; now all he did was exist in his tormented world of pain as it had been his decision to go to the mill that day. 

All had started well that day, the sun was shining and there was a gentle warming breeze in the air; a day made for romance, not horror. Try as he may, what followed could neither be forgotten nor erased; Adam was so desperate to erase those thoughts he talked to his doctor about having a lobotomy, even though the results would have left him in a brain-dead state if he survived the operation; an operation the medical profession had scorned since the first results came back over a century ago.

The plan was to go and sit by the steam, gently dangling your feet in the stream as it struggled to cross the stones and pebbles to tickle their toes.

What followed was anything but gentle, or pleasant, it was as if nature turned its back on the group with a vengeance. First, the warm breeze turned to a chilling, biting, wind which became damper as time passed. This was followed by the first rains, as Julie got up to run for the mill for cover, she stepped on a slippery rock, she slipped and hit her head before rolling into the now raging torrent the stream had become, try as he did there was nothing Adam could do but cry as her body got carried under the wheel to be crushed.

With tears mixing with the rain, he ran to the mill to hide from the storm with his friends. They had only just got through the door when the wind slammed it shut as if to warn the friends that something terrible lay ahead.

As they walked in, cold with the driving rain and sweat from running; Terry began to look for somewhere that was not open to the wind and rain. He walked to the bottom of the stairs that lead to the upper level, glancing up he said, "The stairs look rickety, but we'll be out of the wind up there. I'll go first to make sure the steps are safe."

He took his first tentative steps on the stairs holding onto the broken banister, looking up he thought he saw a shape fluttering across the top level, "It's only an owl" he tried to convince himself, unsuccessfully. 

Terry was halfway up and heard the ominous creaking. 

 For some reason, Adam turned to face the door and saw Julie's image as she called out"Get down, they won't support you any further. Did you see Julie as Terry went up the stairs," he asked Anne.

Anne glanced back to where he'd been looking, then said, "I'm sorry, I can't see anything, Adam."

Slowly, he took his weight off the step he was on, but his actions came too late, and with a sickening thud he fell onto the stone grinding well below. He was badly injured from the fall, but alive, what happened next could only happen in life. 

The friends looked at each other, and one thought ran through their minds "We cannot move him without the risk of killing him."

The grinding wheel which had laid dormant for over a century began to turn, though there was not enough wind to turn it, and as they watched in horror, they heard the ominous crunch of the heavy stone wheel grind Terry's body to a pulp.

Anne and Adam could only watch in horror as Terry's body started to ooze blood as he fell limp.

What had begun as a happy summer trip for a group of friends, was now becoming a living terror. Glancing around the mill, she could sense the fear growing in the group, as they realized they might not escape this building.

Adam was the first to speak, when he said, "Where did that Devilish wind and rain come from? When we set out there were no clouds in the sky, now look at it; there are driving winds, and were trapped in this god-forsaken mill by such winds as I've never known before."

In hushed tones, Anne whispered, "Please, don't say that word. I have the sense we're being watched."

The friends took a moment to survey their position, then Adam said, "I'm sorry, I was talking without thinking of the consequences but it is weird how the winds and rain suddenly appeared, and as far as I could see, they are only in this area."

Adam noticed Anne's face seemed to lose some of its color, what she was thinking, didn't need to be said as Adam was worried about how could they escape this nightmare.

As if answering their thought, a door slammed in the loft, sending straw through the cracks in the boards.  Anne shook some straw from her blonde hair, then took stock of what was happening, and said, "If this building is haunted as you suspect, our only chance could be to risk a run for the door, and hope we can get out."

Adam sighed, then replied, "I don't know if it will work; but, I have to agree with your idea."