Whispers of the Forgotten Custodian

Happy Halloween, courtesy of ChatGPT and Dall-E 3 (and Bing)!

Whispers of the Forgotten Custodian

In the small town of Ravenswood, nestled at the edge of an ancient forest, the locals spoke in hushed whispers about the abandoned asylum that stood at its outskirts. It was a dilapidated structure, its windows shattered and its walls consumed by creeping vines. Decades ago, it housed the mentally disturbed, but rumors suggested that the tormented souls of the past still lingered within its decaying walls.

Amidst the tales of horror, there was one man who paid little heed to the ominous warnings – Old Man Higgins, the janitor. He was a solitary figure, with a gaunt face and eyes that seemed to carry the weight of a thousand secrets. For years, he had been the caretaker of Ravenswood Elementary School, a building that stood just a stone's throw away from the foreboding asylum.

As the custodian, Old Man Higgins had keys to every nook and cranny of the school. Every night, he would shuffle through the dimly lit hallways, dragging his mop and bucket behind him. The school, with its creaking floorboards and flickering lights, had an eerie atmosphere that even the bravest students avoided after hours.

One particularly cold night, a dense fog rolled into Ravenswood, enveloping the town in an otherworldly shroud. The school seemed to groan under the weight of the mist as Old Man Higgins went about his routine. Unbeknownst to him, the fog carried whispers – faint echoes of tortured souls that seemed to beckon him toward the asylum.

Curiosity, a force stronger than fear, compelled the janitor to venture into the forbidden depths of the abandoned structure. The crumbling walls seemed to close in around him as he stepped through the shattered entrance, his footsteps echoing in the vast emptiness. Dust motes danced in the feeble moonlight that filtered through broken windows.

The air inside was thick with a palpable malevolence. Old Man Higgins hesitated but pressed on, his gnarled hand gripping the handle of his trusty mop like a talisman against the encroaching darkness. The asylum seemed to come alive with unsettling whispers that reverberated through the desolate corridors.

As he explored further, the janitor stumbled upon a forgotten chamber, its door barely hanging on its hinges. Inside, he discovered a room filled with decaying furniture and rusted medical instruments. In the corner, an ancient wheelchair sat ominously, its wheels creaking as if propelled by unseen hands.

Suddenly, the temperature plummeted, and the air grew thick with a sinister energy. Shadows danced on the walls, forming grotesque shapes that seemed to reach out for him. Old Man Higgins felt an icy hand brush against his shoulder, and he recoiled in terror.

The janitor's heart raced as he tried to escape the malevolent grasp of the asylum's ghosts. The once-familiar corridors now twisted and turned, leading him in circles. The whispers grew louder, mocking him with fragments of forgotten memories and tortured screams.

In a desperate bid to escape, Old Man Higgins stumbled into a room that seemed to pulsate with a ghastly light. In the center, a decaying figure materialized – a specter of a former patient, eyes hollow and filled with anguish. The janitor, paralyzed with fear, watched as the ghostly apparition reached out with spectral hands.

The next morning, the townsfolk discovered the school's doors ajar, and Old Man Higgins was nowhere to be found. Some claimed to hear his distant cries in the foggy nights, echoing the tormented whispers of the asylum. The janitor had become another ghostly resident of Ravenswood, forever bound to the haunted halls he had dared to tread.

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ChatGPT prompt used: Write me a 500 word horror scary story about a janitor.

DALL-E 3 prompt used: Create a picture of an old janitor looking into a dark room with decaying furniture. In the center in the background there's a ghostly figure.