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My hands clung to the banister as I wound my way down the long staircase to the floors below so I didn’t slip and fall to my death. The wails of terrified patients were at full blast as I walked past the door to the sixth floor, and I tried to think if anyone ever said who was up here.
A particular mournful wail had me stopping in my tracks, and before I knew it, my fingers were wrapping around the knob and I was entering the floor.
Curiosity won again.
No nurses were in sight, and the hall light was completely off, no backup lights glowing softly in the absence of the usual light. Even on the third floor we had backup lights so the night nurse could keep watch.
Why was this floor different?
My ragged breathing and rapid heartbeat were almost deafening, drowning out the cries for a moment. Shadows moved in as I crouched down and tried to use breathing techniques I’d learned long ago.
The same figure from the cafeteria appeared at the end of the hall. Its footsteps were slow as it moved toward me with a strange ambling gait. I scrambled backward, clamping a hand over my mouth so I didn’t scream. The last thing I needed was to find myself in more trouble than I was likely already in for being out of bed.
Nurse Drew was going to murder me herself when I reached the third floor, of that I had no doubt.
The creature blinked out of existence before appearing again a few feet closer. I whimpered against my hand and closed my eyes, opening them after a few deep breaths and letting my guard down since he was gone.
My tried-and-true method of getting my hallucinations under control worked again.
I started to stand on shaky legs before the creature reappeared in a full run, racing toward me, so I slammed my hand over my mouth again as I bit back a scream.
Despite bracing for impact, nothing came.
When I opened my eyes, there was nothing, and I refused to look behind me as I stood. He didn’t appear again so I stepped forward.
Now that I was firmly back in my version of reality, the noise from the floor intensified.
Screams, sobs, and a few unhinged peals of laughter filled the air. My hands clutched at my ears as panic surged in me, but I couldn’t let my guard down or I’d be joining them.
Drake had warned me there were demons here, and I had no doubt they were lurking on this floor at this very moment.
Just like that night on the third floor, the demons moved beyond the windows. It was as if they were pacing inside, taunting the patients.
But it wasn’t my fight. Not tonight.
I forged ahead until I heard her. The woman whose wail had tugged me into this hellhole in the first place. There was just something about her voice that beckoned me forward.
A shattered voice begging for help that wasn’t coming.
The first door on the right was open enough I could see inside, a form huddled in the corner as a demon taunted it.
“You’re not good enough. You were nothing more than a useless fuck toy. Now he’s stuck here, forced to walk the halls he hates and there’s nothing you can do. You’re too weak to change this hell.”
A cold cackle had her calling out again, and my heart shattered at the torment she was experiencing.
“Get away from her!” I yelled. The demon turned on crooked legs, and his smile widened at the sight of me. It stretched to his ears and showcased a double row of jagged fangs. He was nothing like Drake, something I was extremely happy about.
“Have you come to join her?” As he turned his attention on me, a strange pressure filled my head, as if fingers were digging through my brain, searching for something. “Or would you rather have another visit from your dear old dad? I hear he could use some money and you’ll get the highest bid.”
A fracture cracked through my chest as the room faded and he conjured an image of that night.
My room was shadowed in darkness, the doorknob creaking as the door pushed open. My father’s whispered apology had me curling in on myself. Never did I want to be here again, and I was aware enough to know it wasn’t real, but that didn’t change every feeling it dredged up.
Hands tugged at my nightgown, my small body retreating into the corner as my limbs convulsed.
“Fuck you! Stop this!” I growled as I fought against the unseen vise holding me in its clutches. “Monty!”
The memory was ripped away so violently that my head pounded. The demon shrank away from me and the patient. I didn’t think, instinct sending me forward until I had the poor woman wrapped in my arms. She clung to my shirt and sobbed hard, the unruly, black hair curtaining her face away from me.
