Another old story of mine. Was meant to be the first part of a longer story but most people seemed to like it as a stand alone horror piece so I left it that way.

The Ward
By Bruce

I had known Anne since I was 4 years old. We lived a few houses apart in one of those neighborhoods in the suburbs that had once been filled with young families but had aged into older couples through the years. It was only natural we became friends, there was no other kids within blocks of us.
I still remember that first day we met. My Dad had just moved the family to a quiet little suburb of Toronto to take a high paying job in the city. My Mother, always the perfect little homemaker, obsessed about every tiny detail of the new home; leaving very little time for me. I had no brothers and sisters to play with so I was feeling very lonely. My toys had still not arrived at the new house so I went out and sat on a swing set that stood out in the yard when along she came.
Anne was not very tall but she was a real ball of energy. As a kid she always had a glint of mischief in her eye and a smile that made you feel that you were the canary in front of the cat.
"You mind if I swing?" She said.
At this point I was lonely enough to have accepted Genghis Khan as a playmate so I invited her aboard despite some nagging part of my brain that said 'Look Out!'
"Sure"
"I knew that swing meant a kid was comin' but I kinda hoped you were a girl."
"Sorry. All boy."
She smiled, "Don't worry you'll do."
"You're the first kid I seen 'round here."
"No kids only old farts in this street."
This only confirmed what I suspected. Dad didn't even think of me when he chose a house.
"So what are we supposed to do for fun?" I asked.
She got that evil grin again, "You really wanna find out what I do for fun? You're not a chicken are ya?"
I knew a challenge when I heard one. "No way. Show me"
She smiled, took my hand, and led me off to a nearby back yard. We walked back to an old tool shed and she took out a can of paint and some brushes. Black paint.
"We need to pain Mr. Evans shed" she announced.
"You paint a shed for fun?" This sounded kind of weird to me, "It sounds more like work."
"Trust me."
I shrugged and started painting. It did turn out to be lots of fun, at least at first. We painted all kinds of fun shapes on the shed and even got silly and started to paint each other. Before long I knew we were going to be good friends. Unfortunately, my Mom was not very happy about the paint all over my clothes, and that was not the worst of my problems. It seems Mr. Evans had not expected to come home and find his tool shed painted with funky black designs and he sort of hit the roof. I was grounded for weeks.
But that was Anne

It turned out that wasn't the last time she would get me in trouble. She was always doing something that would cause grief to someone and I usually got dragged along. I was grounded more often than I was free until the time I was a teenager but I would not have missed it for the world. Anne was just irresistible to be around.
We didn't just get into trouble all the time either. We would often just get together and talk for hours about everything. Neither of us could talk to our parents. Mine were distant; Dad always worked and Mom took care of the house and was always out doing volunteer work. Anne had it worse though. Her Dad was an alcoholic who got pretty mean with his temper and her Mom; well her Mom just wasn't quite right in the head if you know what I mean. All we had was each other.

We stayed the closest of friends until high school and then things started to drift apart. I was a much better student than Anne was so I ended up in all different classes than she did and we rarely got a chance to talk. This wasn't the only problem however. Anne's consistently reckless behavior got even worse in high school. She was into drugs, got into fights, and was pretty much the first girl I knew to be having sex. Childhood pranks were fine with me but this was stuff I just wouldn't get involved in. I always tried to be there for Anne when things got really bad but our lives were just drifting apart.
I didn't find out what happened to Anne until I came home from college that first summer. It seemed that someone had found her wandering down the middle of the street talking to herself and she had been put in the local hospital. The doctors there had said she was in a schizophrenic episode and put her on some heavy pills. I tried to visit her that summer but she would barely talk and that twinkle just wasn't in her eye anymore. I felt guilty going back to college with her that way but I did not know what else to do.
Over the next few years I tried to visit her every time I was home from school. She got out of the hospital sometimes but always seemed to bounce right back in. It was hard to see her that way and she would always make a scene of hugging me and telling me I was her only friend. I felt tremendous guilt ever time I left the hospital but I had my own life to lead.
I moved away from town after college and got a job as a high school teacher. I married a girl I had met in teacher's college and sort of lost track of Anne. I had the life I had always wanted and kind of forgot her in all the excitement. I felt pretty bad about it when I thought of her but I just mostly didn't. Then one day I got a letter from her asking me to come down and visit. She said she needed my help. That's how I come to be here now... at the ward.

The old stone building was an imposing sight. It was three stories high and took up most of a city block. The old red brick was in state of serious disrepair and it was hard to imagine a more dreary location. Naturally some jerk in government decided this would be the perfect location to house the mentally ill.
I walked in the doors and was assaulted by just how lifeless the whole place seemed. There were no plants, no art on the walls, no friendly receptions; just one sour looking nurse sitting behind an old desk in front of a locked door.
"Can I help you sir?" the nurse asked in her best monotone.
"I am here to see Anne Potter."
She flipped through her notes, "Ward G5." She pressed a buzzer and the door opened.
I moved as quickly as I could down the hall to find the ward. I knew I had to come when Anne wrote but I didn't really want to spend any longer than I had too. I knew from visiting in the past that these places were not the funnest places to be in. It's not like you see in the movies with lunatics screaming and running the halls but there was a palpable feeling of hopelessness in the air that I wanted no part of.
I had to have another nurse buzz me in when I arrived at G5; which the sign proudly declared the 'Chronic Care Ward' as if to hammer home the patients status as without a future. The nurse led me to Anne's room and I was shocked by what I saw. The pretty but troubled girl I knew in high school was gone, only to be replaced by a gaunt face and empty stare. She was only 35 but looked at least 10-15 years older. At least she brightened up a bit when she saw my face. With some effort she got up and gave me a hug.
"Nick! I was afraid you wouldn't come."
I tried to smile, "Would I ignore my best girlfriend? No way. I came as soon as I got the letter."
"I am so glad you did. I have missed you so much." She hugged tighter. "How are you anyway?"
"Not bad. How are you doing? You said you needed my help..."
She frowned, "I don't want to get into that just yet, I want to visit." She took my arm. "You can stay for a bit can't you?"
I tried to say no but I just couldn't. The look on her face was like a lost puppy dog. "Of course I can."
"Great! Let me show you around." She leaned in and whispered. "I have been hiding my medication instead of taking it in case you showed up. I wanted to have enough energy to visit and that stuff just kills me. You won't tell will you?"
"No I won't tell."
She whispered again, "You are my best friend aren't you?"
"Of course." I replied wearily.
"Cool!" she yelled, and we were off on the tour.

"This is where we do the laundry." Anne said as I tried to pay attention. She had taken me through the entire ward and explained every minute detail of her life there as if it mattered. She even introduced me to all the patients and nurse and told me details about them, like "This nurse is very strict about bed time." and "This patient screams in the night sometimes." It was hard to feign interest but I suppose this was all very important to her now.
I finally began to get impatient. "So what was it that you wanted anyway? The reason for the letter, I mean."
"Oh that. Come on back to my room and I will explain." She grabbed my arm and led me back.
She looked at me intently. It was an unnerving, penetrating glance. "You are my best friend aren't you?"
" I told you earlier that I was. I meant it Anne."
She continued, "You would do anything you could to help me wouldn't you?"
"Of course, you don't have to ask that."
She stared at me again. "Will you pray with me then?"
I was somewhat taken aback by this. I had never known Anne to be religious and I wasn't really that pious myself.
"If that's what you want Anne, sure."
"Thank you, I don't know how I will repay you." She motioned me down to my knees and we knelt together beside her bed.
"Please repeat everything I say Nick." She bowed her head and started praying. "Oh lord we ask your mercy."
She looked back at me. I stuttered, "Oh lord we ask your mercy."
"We come before you as soul mates and friends."
"We come before you as soul mates and friends." This was weird. Now I know how Kissinger must have felt with Nixon.
"All that we have we offer to each other."
"All that we have we offer to each other."
"Eternally."
"Eternally."
"Amen."
"Amen."
Anne made the sign of the cross and muttered some strange words that I couldn't understand. Suddenly the whole world began to spin. I didn't know what hit me and I blacked out.

Did you ever wake up in the middle of the night from a fever or illness and felt that everything about you was wrong? Waking up was kind of like that. Everything felt sore and wrong and out of place. It took me a second to realize that I was still in Anne's room on the ward as my mind seemed to be moving in all directions.
Suddenly I heard a masculine voice. "Thank you Nick, I won't every forget this."
I looked up and saw that the voice was coming from the face I see in the mirror every morning. Only this time I wasn't talking to a mirror. Something was badly wrong.
"It might take you a bit to adjust but I know you can handle it or I wouldn't have asked you." She continued. "I hope you remember everything I showed you because I want to get off and start my new life."
Then it hit me. I looked down at my body and realized that somehow, impossibly, I was Anne. I wondered if maybe I was just going crazy but this body felt wrong in a way that was unmistakable. I could not have dreamt these feelings in my head.
"How? Why?" I stuttered in a voice that wasn't mine.
"Our prayers have been answered. There was a guy here on the ward a while back that knew all kinds of mystic mumbo jumbo. He would talk of spells and stuff but no one would believe him but me. He used the magic to get out of here but as a gift for believing him he taught me this spell before he went."
"You have to change us back. Reverse the spell." I pled.
"You can't change your mind now. I have to go. You have a job I need to get back to. You have a doctor visit in a little bit anyway."
She got up and began to walk out the door. I stood in shock. This could not be happening but somehow it was! It took me a second to recover and then I ran out after her.
"Wait, please!"
She came over to where I was and whispered, "Don't make a scene, you'll end up in the quiet room."
"But..."
"Don't worry ANNE, I will try to visit you again."
She walked out to the door and the nurse buzzed it open. This was my last chance; I could not let her go. I ran to the door but the nurse blocked my way.
"Calm down Anne."
I was nearly hysterical as the door clicked shut and I saw my old body wave goodbye.
"You have to open the door. I can't let her leave. I am not supposed to be here."
The nurse smiled patronizingly, "You know you don't have hospital privileges right now Anne. Why don't you go to your room?" I didn't see the orderly move up behind me as I struggled to get by the nurse
"No!" I screamed.
Suddenly the orderly grabbed me from behind and the nurse motioned toward a room over by the nurses' station.
"I think you need some quiet time Anne. Your guest seems to have got you excited."
The orderly took me inside the padded gray room and shut the door. The click of the lock at the door hit me with a wave of despair and I blacked out again.