Mara Purnhagen - One Hundred Candles

I would never get used to spending Christmas in an insane asylum. My parents laughed and said that, after seventeen years, I should have looked forward to it, but I would much rather sit in front of a roaring fire with a mug of hot chocolate listening to Christmas carols instead of this years version of holiday cheer: roaming the barren hallways of an empty sanitarium in a quest for restless energy.

After opening presents in yet another beige-and-floral hotel room and wolfing down the hotels complimentary cinnamon rolls, my family piled into our van and drove nearly an hour west of Cleveland to Lake Sanitarium, a somber-looking brick monstrosity that was, despite its name, located nowhere near a lake. Dad opened the massive front doors by shoving against them with his entire body. My teeth chattered as the five of us climbed the stairs, our footsteps echoing until we reached a large, empty room on the third floor.

Its colder inside than it is outside, I muttered to my sister when we reached our destination.

Welcome to Ohio, Annalise replied. Its supposed to be nearly seventy degrees back home today.

I groaned and thought of our house in South Carolina. I could picture my best friend, Avery, taking her little dog for a warm winter walk, shading her eyes from the sunlight. Or Noah, who told me that he grilled steaks for his mom every Christmas. And Jaredwell, I didnt know what Jared did for the holidays. We were friends, but he was an intensely private person, and he rarely offered details about his life.

I glanced out one of the grimy, narrow windows onto the sprawling white lawn of the sanitarium. The perfectly undisturbed snow was lovely to look at, but I was too cold to enjoy it.

How are we doing, girls? Dad clapped his hands together and walked over to where Annalise and I stood huddled in the corner.

Were freezing. I could see my breath, which was the same pale color as the cinder-block walls.

Well, the best way to stay warm is to keep moving. How about helping Shane with the equipment?

I sighed, sending another puff of white into the air, and hurried across the empty room. There was no furniture to offer a clue of what the space had once been used for, but I guessed it had served as a massive holding area for the insane people who had lived there decades earlier. I knew the building had housed thousands of dejected people. Many of them had died here, as well, earning it the nickname Last Stop Lake.

Hey, kid, can you give me a hand? Shane was struggling to sort through a nest of cables and camera wires. I knelt down next to him and began picking through the different cables.

This is a mess, I complained. Shane was usually more organized. Hed worked as my parents full-time cameraman since I was a baby, traveling all over the world with us to produce documentaries about the paranormal. Id never seen his equipment so scattered.

Its a little chaotic, Shane admitted. Been distracted lately, I guess.

I snorted. Distracted, huh? I wonder whats causing that?

He shot me a look but said nothing. Shane had begun dating Trisha, the mother of my friend Noah, right around Halloween. They were always together, it seemed, and while I liked seeing Shane crazy about someone, Noah was not nearly as thrilled.

Shes acting like a teenager! he told me during AV. It was the one class we shared together, and we usually worked as a team to edit the daily school news footage. Im supposed to be doing this, not her.

And anyone in particular youd like to be immature over? I teased him.

His eyes had widened and he immediately blushed. I suspected he harbored a little bit of a crush on a freshman girl Id seen hanging around his locker, but he hadnt admitted to it yet, and I didnt ask a lot of questions. We had gone to homecoming together, an event I thought might lead to something more. At the end of the night, though, hed just smiled, said he had a great time and left. That was it. I was totally confused, but Avery said that maybe Noah and I were destined to be good friends. Since I would be graduating in a few months, it didnt make a lot of sense to start something with a junior, but I had been hoping that Noah and I could be more than just friends.

After sorting through the web of wires, I helped Shane set up a tripod, then returned to a corner of the huge room and pulled out my cell phone. Being the daughter of paranormal investigators provided a few perks. My parents were always buying different gadgets, and they appreciated great technology, so when I asked for a new cell phone for Christmas they gave me the best one they could find. While they set up their equipment to begin their research, I stood by the window and attempted to download my email.

Hey, Charlotte. Do you have a signal yet? Annalise walked over, gathering her long black hair into a ponytail. My sister had gorgeous wavy hair, just like our mom. I, on the other hand, inherited our dads straight locks, which Id recently chopped shorter, so that it was just long enough to tuck behind my ears.

Its faint, I told Annalise.

She sat on the cement floor. I cant believe how much I miss Mills.

I rolled my eyes. Its only been three days.

It feels like three years.

Id never seen my older sister so head-over-heels for a guy. Id met Mills two months earlier, in Charleston. Annalise was a junior at the college there and Mills was a grad student. We were in Charleston to put an end to a seriously supernatural situation, but our gathering had also served to introduce Mills to the family. Mom loved him. Dad was not as thrilled.