Chapter 6: The Haunting Corridor

  The long corridor of the abandoned facility stretched into darkness, its flickering lights casting erratic, shifting shadows that slithered along the walls like living entities. The dim glow illuminated grotesque shapes, twisting with every tremor of the faulty bulbs. The broken tiles and scattered debris added to the eerie silence, amplifying every tiny sound—every breath, every step—as if the facility itself was holding its breath, waiting.

  At the far end of the hallway, a girl stood still, her small frame trembling as she flinched at every whisper of sound around her. Mira’s fingers curled into fists, nails digging into her palms as she tried to suppress the fear clawing at her throat.

  “Control your breathing, Mira,” Edward’s voice crackled softly through the earpiece. “Slow breaths in… and out.”

  The sound of his voice was steady, grounding. He had been trying to keep her calm, to keep her from succumbing to panic. At first, Mira had assumed Edward was just an AI. She had her doubts, especially after hearing how he turned into a machine. She wasn’t a naive child—she knew better than to trust a stranger. But at this moment, in the face of the unknown, his voice was the only thing anchoring her.

  She had no choice but to trust him.

  Taking a shaky step forward, Mira moved cautiously. Each step was measured, and each breath was controlled. Edward monitored her progress through the cameras, scanning the facility for any sign of danger. The cameras were old, many broken or poorly positioned, but he used what he had, flicking through the feeds as fast as his processing power allowed.

  Then, Mira reached an obstacle. The hallway ahead was blocked by a barricade of furniture—desks, chairs, metal planks, books. Some looked ancient, covered in dust, while others appeared recently placed, still sturdy and stacked with intent. It was as if someone had purposefully built a wall, shutting something—or someone—out.

  “Hey, what’s happening?” Edward asked.

  “Um, the way is blocked,” Mira murmured, pressing a hand against the barricade.

  “What? Alright… hold on. Let me check if there’s another way.”

  Edward scoured the cameras for alternate routes. As he examined the blockade, a thought lingered in his mind—if someone had gone through the trouble of blocking this passage, could it mean others were still alive in the facility? A flicker of hope ignited within him. As much as he was a man of science, he thirsted for hope.

  Mira, meanwhile, glanced around, frowning. “Can you see this?” she asked, running a hand along the barricade.

  “Not directly,” Edward admitted. “No cameras are pointed at that specific spot.”

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  Mira took a closer look. Between the furniture, she spotted a narrow gap along the edge of the wall. It wasn’t much, but it was enough.

  “Mr. Edward, I think I can squeeze through.”

  “Mira, wait, that might not—”

  Before Edward could finish, a sound sent shivers down Mira’s spine. A slow, deliberate noise—fabric rubbing against itself, growing louder.

  Panic gripped her. Without thinking, she shoved herself into the gap, forcing her way through the barricade.

  “Mira! Hey, Mira!” Edward’s voice was urgent, but she couldn’t hear him. Her breathing was ragged, her heartbeat deafening in her ears. The world blurred around her as she wriggled through the tight space, the press of desks and metal against her body making it feel like the walls were closing in.

  Edward frantically cycled through the cameras. His digital mind processed everything faster than a human’s could, yet it felt agonizingly slow. The flickering lights cast irregular flashes of illumination, and then—

  He saw it.

  A single deer-like leg dangled from the ceiling in the corner of a camera feed.

  Edward’s phantom heart clenched. “That bastard is crawling on the ceiling,” he muttered.

  The realization sent chills through him. The cameras were angled downward, making the ceiling a blind spot. He had been searching the floors when he should have been looking up. The monster—seven feet of unnatural horror—had somehow slithered into the narrow space above, moving with its grotesque, finger-like appendages.

  It was heading toward Mira.

  He pressed into the mic. “Mira, listen to me. Stay still. Don’t make a sound. It doesn’t know you’re there yet.”

  But Mira wasn’t hearing him. All she could hear was ringing in her ears. The panic distorted everything—time felt warped, either too slow or too fast. She pushed forward forcefully, the barricade constricting around her. Her breath came in shallow gasps. The sensation of suffocation gripped her chest, making her feel like the space was collapsing in on her.

  Then, a voice broke through.

  Kai’s voice.

  Through the earpiece, her little brother’s voice called out to her. Kwon barked in the background, his whines bleeding through the transmission. Their voices, their presence—it was enough.

  Mira’s eyes snapped open. Her body was still trembling, but her mind sharpened. Rationality returned.

  Edward’s voice followed. “Are you okay?”

  “I…” Mira swallowed hard. “Yeah.”

  “You don’t have to do this. If it’s too much, I’ll find another way.”

  Mira’s grip on the barricade tightened. “We’ve come too far.” Her voice was firm. “I can do this.”

  Edward hesitated before responding, “Alright. Be careful. The monster is still far away, but it’s moving in your direction. If it gets close, you’ll hear it. It’s big, so it’ll make noise.”

  Mira nodded and began to move again, slower this time. As she pushed forward, something snagged her clothes—old tape and rope caught along her arm. She carefully peeled them off one by one, making sure not to make noise. Finally, she slipped through to the other side.

  But things didn’t go as planned.

  As she stepped away from the barricade, her foot pressed against something. It felt thin, and brittle, like a ruler.

  Curious, she looked down—and her blood ran cold.

  It wasn’t a ruler. It was a skeletal hand.

  Her breath hitched. Slowly, she turned to the other side of the barricade.

  Bodies.

  Dead bodies, tangled together, pressed against the blockade as if they had been trying to hold it shut. Some were mummified husks, others barely more than bones. They had been here for a long time.

  Mira stepped back instinctively—and slipped.

  She fell, her body hitting the cold floor with a loud bang that echoed through the hallway.

  Her heart pounded. She barely registered the sensation of something clinging to her shoe—a severed finger caught in the fabric of her laces.

  Edward’s voice was suddenly sharp. “Mira, hide. NOW.”

  Then she heard it.

  A thunderous, skittering sound, growing louder. The monster was coming.