Story of the day: The old Sanitarium

The town I grew up in had a old sanitarium, it closed down in the late sixties but the building was still there. In highschool everyone and their mom tried breaking in, some succeeded but others chickened out. After highschool and a stint in the marines I found myself working private security and what we mostly did was guard construction projects at night.

Well the Sanitarium was slated for demo and the company that bought the land planned on turning it into a apartment complex. So myself and a guy who had to be pushing seventy named Fred were working one night. Fred was a former cop from Chicago and before that was a marine, we often swapped stories and we really enjoyed working together.

The sanitarium was a hotbed for homeless and drug activity and so we often had to chase tweakers or homeless folks off the property.

That night Fred and I were shooting the shit when he stops me and tells me someone just went over the fence. So we get out and head inside, now it's important to note fred was unarmed and all I had was my side piece, we also had pepper spray, a stun gun and a baton. So we are headed after this guy who was wearing all black and wasn't responding to our commands to stop. We hear glass breaking and realize this guy must have broke into one of the old administrative offices. We have keys to the door but the locks are old and it takes us a few minutes.

Our protocol was to call dispatch to advise them of a foot chase so Fred did that as I swept the rooms with my flashlight and gun. I'm calling out to this dude and I hear a evil cackle. It sent a jolt of dread throughout my body, and Fred next to me turned white. I start pleading with this guy to show himself, telling him the company called the police (which they did not)

Now the laughing is coming from behind us and it's not one voice, it sounds like several voices. Fred literally pisses himself he is terrified and this is a Nam veteran and a former cop. Fred and I turn to leave and I hear what sounds like footsteps, then the unmistakable sound of a gun cocking. I grab Fred and we run for it, as we do more maniacal laughing.

The cops finally do show up because dispatch couldn't reach us and called it in, they go in and find three guys. All three were armed, one with a gun, one with a homemade shiv and the other with a lead pipe. If we hadn't run who knows what could have happened.

I have a lot more stories from my time working private security but decided to share this first.

So tweakers who tried to lure my partner and I to being hurt if not killed let's definitely not meet again.