The Last Dainv-Chapter 96

The Last Dainv-Chapter 96

Gale pulled at Mia's arm, increasing his pace. "That's not a girl or even human."
Mia yanked her arm free. "But you said it already disappeared after we ran. You told us it was gone."
"It did disappear, I don't know what happened," Gale said. "You can't possibly believe a child can survive here, right?"
"Where's my mom?" The childlike voice echoed through the halls again.
Mia shook her head. "She probably got lost in here or something."
"Can you just trust me?" Gale rubbed his eyes with one hand. Breath the Void's tendrils completely locked at the thing hunting. It was just to the left of the corridor behind them, clearly walking towards their direction.
"Shit." Gale grabbed Mia's wrist and pulled her toward a doorway on their right. "In here. Now."
"What-"
He pulled her into the office, pushing her down onto the corner of the room, quickly putting his hand over her mouth and putting up one finger to his mouth.
"Shhhh."
Before Mia could make any sound, scuttling footsteps outside echoed closer towards them. Slow and uneven, like walking with multiple feet as its nails clacked against the broken tiles on the floor.
"Where's my mom?" The voice passed directly outside the doorway.
Through the cracked glass of the door, Mia saw it. Long limbs, too long to be human, walking like a spider. Mouth full of triangular teeth. It was the same thing that Gale thought he already killed.
"Where's my mom? Where's my mom?"
Mia breathed faster against Gale's palm, hyperventilating. She closed her eyes tight.
The thing stopped outside their door. The door creaked. Its breathing entered the doorway slowly, then just as the door almost opened halfway, something else caught its attention, stopping it. It slowly moved backwards and continued down the hall.
Gale waited until it was gone before taking his hand from Mia's mouth.
Mia, not able to control her breathing, said, "Holy shit. Th-That was-that-what was that? That was the thing. The thing from earlier, right?"
"Yeah."
Gale peeked out of the door, pretending to look both ways.
"Follow me," he said. "The exit should be this way."
They walked back into the hallway, Gale leading the way toward the entrance. Upon reaching where it should have been, only a dead end waited in front of them, painted with pale peeling green paint.
"What the fuck?" Mia grabbed Gale's sleeve. "I swear the exit was right here."
Things never go smoothly at the most inconvenient time as possible. If the corridors inside the fog changed, then naturally it would also change outside of it. The only thing going for them was that the creature was weak.
He spread out the tendrils once again, trying to find Andrew and Jacob again. Immediately, Breath of the Void locked onto them in the same room they were in before. They haven't moved just like they said.
"Let's go find the others first," Gale said.
"But how? Everything looks different."
"Just follow me. Stop asking questions." He moved, pulling Mia with him.
"Ouch," Mia whispered. "Okay, just be softer."
"Sorry."
They moved quickly but quietly, pulling at Mia more softly. At each intersection, Gale paused. Tendrils went out immediately at each junction. He needed to go straight, left, then right. Andrew and Jacob would be in the first room to the right after that.
"How do you know where to go?" Mia whispered.
"I thought I told you to stop asking questions."
The temperature dropped by a few more degrees as they turned the corner, making their breaths fog. The new corridor they walked into had suddenly changed from a pale green to a dirty off-white wallpaper. Water stains spread across the wall and the ceiling as black mould snaked and ate at the wallpaper.
"This is just a natural phenomenon about this part of the building not getting enough sun during the day. There's no ghosts or apparitions or anything. Hahahahaha," Mia faked a laugh.
Gale ignored her, continuing to pull her. Stopping at the intersection, he briefly closed his eyes to confirm the route his tendrils pointed him to.
"This way." He pointed left.
They walked past multiple rooms. These were the familiar patient wards that he came across when he first went through them to get away from the two boys.
Mia stayed close behind him. "Hey, what did you think that thing was? Do you think it's a demon or a yurei or a hantu or whatever Andrew said?"
"Shh." Gale held up his hand. "We're here."
They'd reached the office where he'd left Andrew and Jacob. The door hung half-open. The hinges squeaked as he pushed it open wider.
"Andrew? Jacob? It's us."
A flashlight beam hit his face. Andrew peeked out from under the desk.
"Holy shit, you found her!" Andrew crawled out, legs still shaking. "We thought you guys were goners."
Jacob stayed under the desk, still hugging his knees. "Is it safe yet?"
"For now," Gale said. "We need to move, now. Exit might disappear."
"Wait, what do you even mean?" Jacob's voice cracked.
"It means this place is fucked! This whole place keeps changing!" Mia half whispered half shouted.
"Like, what? The whole building is rearranging itself?" Andrew asked.
"Something like that," Gale said. "Everyone just stay close to me. We move together now."
Jacob finally crawled out, staying behind Andrew. "I don't like this at all, man. We're gonna die here."
"Shh! None of us are going to die," Mia said. "Sitting here’s not going to do anything."
Gale pretended to check the corridor again, then waved at them to come. "Come on. Now."
The group started moving again. Gale took the front, Mia next, then Andrew, while Jacob held on to Andrew's hand. Everyone held onto their flashlights, pointing forward. Jacob randomly pointed back, as if he thought something was following.
As they walked, the temperature constantly dropped. Frost started to form on the walls beside them.
"It's freezing," Jacob touched the wall, then pulled his hand back fast. "This ain't normal. This is definitely not something science."
"Where's my mom?" a childish girl’s voice suddenly called out.
Everyone stopped.
Worst fucking timing. The voice came from just up ahead of them. Breath of the Void even told him it just spawned in front of them.
"Where's my mom?"
Andrew's flashlight beam shook. "Hey, did you guys hear that?"
"A little girl," Jacob whispered. "There's a kid in here."
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Mia's grip tightened around Gale's arm.
"Where's my mom?" The voice called closer.
"We should help her. If there's a lost kid here..." Andrew called out to Gale. "We can't just leave her. She could hide with us until morning."
"That's not a little girl," Gale said.
"Don't shit with me, man. That's like a little girl," Andrew said, pulling Gale's shoulder to turn him around. "She sounds like she's, what, eight? Nine, maybe?"
"Trust me," Gale said, looking him straight in the eyes. They won't believe him just like Mia, and no way he was going to let them just see the thing face to face.
Andrew shook his head. "Trust what? That's a little girl! You save Mia but not the one calling for help?"
"Guys, Gale's right. I saw it too when we were trying to get back," Mia said. "It sounds like a little girl, but it's not. It's that... that thing with the teeth."
"You're sure?" Andrew asked.
"I'm sure. Just stop asking questions and let's just get out of here," Mia said.
Tendrils told him the thing moved away, turning to a different corridor than towards their current location. Its signature felt like a mix of similar ether as Aurians and the twisted signatures of the forest beasts in the Eclipsed.
"This way. Keep behind me. We can get to the exit at the other side of the building." Gale moved forward. The rest of the group followed. There was a service exit that the tendrils found that could lead to the outside.
The toppled over cart was just ahead of them, blocking the way. Gale helped Mia over the cart. Andrew went by himself, while Jacob used his shoulders as leverage. After they all got through, he moved back to the front.
The corridor branched into a two way junction that wasn't there before. He closed his eyes for a brief second and opened them again. "This way."
Staying close together, Andrew kept the flashlight aimed ahead while Mia aimed hers at each room they passed by. Jacob kept glancing backwards, pointing his to the back.
"How much further?" Mia whispered.
"Not far," Gale said. "Maybe another two minutes. There's a service exit through the kitchen area."
They passed a nurse station. Counters covered in dust, broken vials, and stacks of unopened needles. Calendar on the wall showed July 1987.
Jacob suddenly stopped walking.
Andrew turned. "Jacob? Come on, man."
Jacob didn't move. He turned his head, snapping right and then left.
"Jacob?" Mia whispered. "What's wrong?"
"Do you hear that?" Jacob whispered in a clear monotone.
Gale listened. Nothing. He couldn't hear anything except for these 3's breathing. "I don't hear anything."
Jacob's eyes darted between them. "The whispers? The whispers. Don't you hear the whispers?"
Mia shook her head.
"It's saying..." Jacob's voice trembled. "It's saying they're not real. They're all mimics."
"Who's saying that?" Andrew asked.
"The voices!" Jacob's voice rose to a yell. "They're saying you're not real. None of you are real. All of you. You're all mimics, pretending to be my friends. Monsters! Monsters wearing their skin! Skin walkers!"
His voice echoed down the corridor. Gale's tendrils picked up movement from the far end of the building. The thing heard Jacob's yell, changed direction, now heading towards them.
"Shut up!" Gale whispered harshly.
"YOU'RE ALL MIMICS!" Jacob screamed, backing away from the rest of the group. "YOU WERE ALL MIMICS! I'M GONNA DIE. OH GOD NO. PLEASE, I DON'T WANNA DIE."
Gale lunged forward. Palm hit Jacob's right cheek. The slap was louder than his scream.
Jacob fell, stumbled backwards. His hand went to his reddened cheek.
"The thing heard you," Gale hissed. "It's coming. Now shut up and move."
He grabbed Jacob's arm, yanked him up, and waved everyone into the office. The other two followed, no questions. Gale pushed them all inside more, then pulled the door nearly closed, leaving a crack, not letting the door click.
"Shhhhh," he put a finger upwards to his mouth.
Flashlights off. All of them crouched. Jacob hyperventilated. Too loud. Mia put a hand over his mouth, closing her eyes tightly.
Scuttering footsteps approached from down the hall where they were supposed to go.
"Where's my mom?" the voice called. "Where's my mom?"
The crack of the door revealed the thing. Same creature with a circular mouth and triangular teeth.
"Where's my mom? Where's my mom? Where's my mom?" it repeated, passing by their door.
Everyone held their breaths, but Jacob shook against Mia's hands, tears streaming down his cheeks.
The thing slowed. Stopped. Right outside the door.
Gale put his left hand into his pocket, storage box in grip. Its shadow fell across the crack. Breathing in. Chattering teeth noises from its teeth loud in the silence.
"Where's my mom?"
No one moved. The creature held its position for a couple of seconds.
"Where's my mom?"
It started moving again. The shadow from the doorway passed.
"Where's my mom? Where's my mom?" it repeated as the sound got further away.
They waited until the sound completely disappeared before moving.
"Stay together," Gale whispered.
They crept back into the hallway. Gale checked both directions before leading them onward, following his mental map created by the tendrils.
Behind him, Jacob began chanting something.
"There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony…"
"Is he praying?" Andrew whispered.
"Leave him be. If it keeps him calm, let him do it," Mia said.
As they moved through the corridors, Jacob continued his chants silently, mouth moving but no voice coming through.
They passed through a cafeteria with broken circular tables. The walls were lined with cupboards that hung open. Open empty cans lined the insides of each cupboard.
"There," Gale pointed. "The exit should be through the kitchen, past the storage area."
Mia tugged at Gale's sleeve. "I'm still seeing my breath, though."
He noticed it too. Their breath still fogged in front of them. Usually, it only happened when the thing was near them.
"Weird," Andrew said. "Is it getting colder again?"
Gale extended Breath of the Void's tendrils again, feeling for the thing's signature. It was far in the east wing while they were in the north wing at the cafeteria hall.
"Something's not right," he said.
Suddenly, the floor under them shifted.
"What's happening?" Mia grabbed onto a broken table for support.
The corridor shifted like a rubik's cube or a puzzle box, changing completely. Where there had been a straight path back to the cafeteria, now stood a different, narrower hallway. Rows of doors with no knobs lined each wall at even intervals.
"What the fuck! What the fuck! Buildings don't just change!" Andrew shouted.
"We need to move," Gale said. Luckily, the service exit didn't change, at least that's what he thought. As they pushed through the kitchen, the temperature dropped again by a couple of degrees, and the grating of stone against stone could be heard all around. The building changed once again. When they reached where the service exit should've been, there was only a blank wall.
"No," Mia whispered. "No, no, no."
Gale sent Breath of the Void out again, searching for an exit. No time to panic. Then, he found it. A door just straight ahead led to the outside. The change in the floor plan led them to an actual exit instead of a service maintenance exit.
"This way," he said, leading them back out of the kitchen and into a new hallway to their right.
"There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. Amen," Jacob whispered. After the Amen, he repeated the creed.
They hurried down the new corridor, flashlights showing broken wheelchairs and fallen ceiling tiles.
Then Gale stopped. The familiar sound of a little girl echoed just ahead of them, much louder than before.
"Where's my mom? WHERE'S MY MOM?"
The voice changed. A boy's and a woman's voice overlapped on top of the current little girl's voice all at once.
"WHERE'S MY MOM?"
The voice came from just around the corner, footsteps scurrying towards them, getting closer by the second.
"It's found us," Gale whispered.
The others froze behind him.
"What do we do?" Mia asked, voice barely audible.
Gale glanced backwards at the way they came from, but the corridor had once again changed. Tendrils showed him a different layout than the one from a few seconds ago. The changes were becoming more frequent.
"Run," he said, turning to face them. "When I say go, run back that way, take the second left, then straight to the end. There should be a set of double doors that leads to the outside."
"What about you?" Andrew asked.
"I'll catch up later," Gale lied. "I'll distract it."
"WHERE'S MY MOM?"
The voice boomed from just around the corner now.
"Go," Gale said. "Now!"
They turned and ran. Andrew first, then Mia, with Jacob trailing behind. Gale backed up slowly, eyes fixed on the corner where the creature would appear.
A hand gripped the edge of the wall. Long, thin fingers with too many joints. The thing pulled itself around the corner, its body unfolding into something that didn't resemble its form earlier. Its limbs were longer, now with a 5th limb instead of just four. Its mouth opened wider, now almost stretching as big as its own head with two rows of triangular teeth instead of one.
"WHERE'S MY MOM?"
The scream that followed made the walls shake. Dust fell from the ceiling.
Gale turned and bolted toward the others. He could see them just up ahead.
The thing gave chase, scuttling in a zigzag of jerky bursts of speed. One moment, it was at the corner, then it made its way down the hallway in an instant.
"Go!" Gale shouted to the others.
Andrew and Mia disappeared around the corner.
Jacob stumbled, his foot catching on a broken floor tile. He screamed, "OH SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!"
The thing gained on Gale. Upon reaching Jacob, without hesitation, he grabbed the front of Jacob's collar and heaved, throwing him through the set of double fire doors at the end of the hallway where Andrew and Mia looked back.
"Keep running! Don't stop!" Gale shouted.
Jacob hit the floor on the other side of the doors. Mia grabbed him, pulling him further in.
Gale turned to face the creature, his left hand going into his pocket for the storage box.
The thing pounced. Its mouth wide open just in front of Gale's face.
Mia saw through the narrow window of the double doors, eyes wide as she watched the scene. Her hand tugged away by Andrew, pulling her from the door.
"Keep running!" Andrew shouted.
The fire doors swung shut. The last thing they saw was Gale falling under the thing's weight as its circular mouth was wide open in front of their friend's face. Before the door shut, the thing's mouth pounced down.

Chapter 96