PANIC ROOM

Eleven

I remove my mask, sinking to my knees.

"Kill me." I whisper, staring up at James desperately. He shakes his head.

"The antidote and your immune system will fight it off." He says coldly. For the first time, he avoids looking at my face, focusing his attention on the long corridor ahead. He's guilty, and he's not trying to hide it.

"We're sorry about the misunderstanding; we know now you're not a killer." Johnny says softly. Resentment boils in my head.

"If you trusted me in the first place, Eric would still be alive. And we wouldn't be having this conversation." I spit, slamming on my mask and running away.

Lucas grabs my arm as I pass him, his iron grip bruising my arm.

"I know we did a shit job, but we kept you alive, alright? Have some manners, you ungrateful bitc-"

I flip backward, disarming him and then pinning him to the floor.

"-says the bastard who tied me up and left me to die!" I shout into his face as the others crowd round.

"Alright both of you, stop! Do you want to get out of this place or what?" Tommy snaps. I laugh. I'm losing my mind, but I couldn't care less. Sam yanks me away from Lucas, struggling to keep me under control.

"Let's go!" James shouts, running ahead. The others follow, looking back at me with concern. Mike helps Lucas up and pulls him away from me without another word. Even Jacob seems weary, as he runs alongside me.

"You know, I think I'm going crazy," He says, after five minutes of total silence.

"We all are." I reply bitterly. Finn slows down to run with us.

"I keep seeing this bad omen in my dreams and it's completely creeping me out." Jacob says nervously.

"What omen is it?" Finn asks, his voice urgent.

"It's a man. He never speaks, he just ... watches." Jacob sounds even more scared now.

"Does he have fully black eyes?" Finn and I ask, simultaneously. Jacob looks stunned.

The same man. In all our dreams. Is he somehow connected with the voice, with Panic Room?

"Dude, I heard from Taro that you're fine as long as he don't talk." Mark pipes in, making the others feel at ease. But it unnerves me even more. He spoke in my dream.

"What happens if he does speak?" I ask, trying to appear casual.

"You get cursed, duh!" Mark replies. My stomach heaves, a sense of foreboding doom residing over my thoughts.

The others grind to a halt.

"Why are we stopping?" Jacob peers towards the front, where James has stopped dead in his tracks.

CRUNCH

CRUNCH

CRUNCH

"Holy fuck..." Jaemin curses, as the footsteps continue from around the corner. Johnny drags Tommy back from the edge of the corner. Everyone presses their backs against the wall. Will unsheathes his knife and creeps stealthily around the corner.

We watch on bated breath as a huge shadow cross over him. Smoke condenses at his feet as he looks up in paralysed fear.

They can smell panic, candidates

Will gulps and runs at the shadow. He disappears. Silence.

James tiptoes to the corner's edge.

CRUNCH

But the crunch is different this time. James and the opposite wall are flecked with blood and shattered bone. Will 

Candidate 002 was eliminated

Shell shocked, James stares up at the shadow. Nick grabs his arm and pulls him away, James stumbling behind.

"GO! JUST FUCKING GO!"