The hallway beyond was dim.
Not empty—but dim. The kind of half-light that cloaked everything in shadow, making the walls feel too close, too quiet. My breath caught in my throat. The air was thick—heavy with something unspoken. The kind of silence that felt... watched.
I stepped forward slowly, each movement deliberate. My bare feet touched the cold floor like I was walking on glass. I glanced left—nothing. Right—nothing.
But I knew I wasn't alone.
The door behind me clicked shut.
I jumped.
A gasp clawed its way up my throat—but I swallowed it. No alarms. No flashing lights. Just that awful, stretched silence. Waiting. Like the building itself was holding its breath.
Or watching to see what I'd do next.
I took a step. Then another.
Pain seared through my side, sharp and mean, but I didn't stop. I couldn't. My hospital gown clung to my back, sticky with sweat. I passed door after door—some fogged over, others cracked just enough to hint at life beyond them. But no one came out.
No voices. No footsteps. Just me.
I turned a corner.
And stopped dead.
A figure.
At the far end of the corridor. Motionless. Facing away.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Jason?
My lips parted, but I couldn't speak.
I blinked—
Gone.
Gone, or never real.
My chest tightened. My limbs screamed to run—but I forced my feet to move, faster now, the corridor narrowing with every step. Lights flickered overhead. The walls felt closer. I found a door. Stairwell.
Tried the handle.
Unlocked.
Relief crashed over me so fast it almost dropped me to my knees.
I slipped through, pulling it shut behind me with shaking fingers. The stairwell was a tomb—cold, dark, and smelling of mold and metal. I gripped the rail and forced my body downward, each step a small war. My breath rasped in the silence. My side burned. But I kept moving.
One floor passed. Then another. My vision swam, but there—light.
A door. And beneath it, the warmest gold I'd seen in days.
Dusk.
My palm trembled on the handle.
Please be real. Please be out.
I pushed.
The door creaked open—
And the world tilted.
Trees.
A forest clearing, wild and untamed. No buildings in sight. No road. No traffic. Just dirt, tall grass, and shadows licking at the edges like the world was unraveling.
The air hit me—damp, cold, real. I choked on a sob.
I was out.
But only for a second.
Movement.
Across the clearing, something shifted—fast and sharp, slipping between the trees.
A figure.
Watching?
Following?
I stumbled back, heel catching on a root. My hands splayed to break the fall, dirt biting into my skin. My heart pounded so loudly it drowned out everything else. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think.
I scrambled to my feet.
And ran.
Because something was out here with me.
And I wasn't supposed to get away.