The Curse of the Abandoned Asylum

They had heard the stories. They had seen the photos. They had felt the thrill. They were urban explorers, always looking for the next challenge, the next adventure, the next adrenaline rush. And they had found it: the abandoned asylum.

It was a massive structure, looming over the forest like a dark sentinel. It had been closed down decades ago, after a series of scandals and tragedies that had stained its reputation. It was said that the patients had been subjected to horrific experiments, abuse and neglect, and that some of them had died in agony, their souls trapped in the asylum’s walls. It was said that the asylum was haunted by their restless spirits, and that anyone who entered would never come out alive.

They didn’t believe in ghosts. They believed in facts, evidence, logic. They believed in their cameras, their flashlights, their backpacks. They believed in themselves. They were a team of five: Jake, the leader; Mia, the photographer; Leo, the hacker; Zoe, the historian; and Ryan, the newbie. They had met online, through a forum for urban explorers, and they had become friends over their shared passion. They had explored many places together, but this was their biggest challenge yet.

They had planned everything carefully. They had studied the asylum’s history, layout and security. They had obtained a map of the building from an old employee who had worked there before it was shut down. They had hacked into the surveillance system and disabled the cameras and alarms. They had waited for a…