Shadows of the Asylum

The Seed of Darkness

Lily's existence was now a blur of fragments-memories of a time when she had been alive, when she had been free. But those memories felt distant, like something from a dream she could no longer recall. She was no longer herself. She was something else. Something darker. The hunger, that unrelenting force that had devoured her, had seeped into her very soul, and now it pulsed through her like an ever-hungry beast.

The hospital was her prison, but it was also something else-a place of power. It thrived on pain, on fear, on the anguish of those who had entered, never to leave. It was a living thing, and she was becoming part of it, each passing moment erasing the remnants of the girl she had once been.

The halls stretched out before her, darker than before, the flickering lights casting eerie shadows that moved like they had minds of their own. The building hummed with a malevolent energy, the walls whispering in languages she no longer understood. Lily drifted through the corridors, her form flickering in and out of sight, caught between worlds.

She could hear the screams now-always there, always echoing through the hospital like a constant, low hum. It was the sound of suffering, of souls who had entered and never returned. Some of them were like her-lost, trapped in this place, victims of the hunger that had claimed their lives. Others, like Emma and Jake, were shadows-wraiths that still clung to their former selves, unable to fully embrace the darkness, but now just as bound to the hospital as Lily was.

But they weren't the only ones she heard.

There were the others-new voices, faint, terrified. People who wandered too close to the cursed building, who ventured too far into its depths. They were drawn to the same allure she had once felt, the same dangerous curiosity that had led her and her friends to their deaths. Now, they were trapped too.

Lily could feel them.

The hunger stirred within her, gnawing at the edges of her mind, urging her forward, pushing her to claim more. It was insatiable. Always hungry. Always growing.

She could feel their fear, their desperation, vibrating through the walls of the hospital. They were close. She could sense them, their souls ripe for the taking. A thrill ran through her. She was not the victim anymore. She was the predator.

Lily's eyes flickered open as she stood in the center of the hospital's main ward. Her ghostly form hovered above the floor, dark and unrecognizable. No longer the frightened girl who had once been chased by the shadows, she was now something born from the hunger. She was a part of the hospital now. A living nightmare.

The walls around her pulsed with a deep, resonating beat-a heartbeat, hers and the hospital's. They were one. She was the evil now.

It's time.

She could feel the new souls approaching. They were out there, stumbling through the building, their minds full of questions, their hearts full of dread. They didn't know it yet, but they had already entered the domain of the darkness. They were already claimed.

Lily drifted silently toward the stairwell, her footsteps silent, like whispers. The air grew colder as she descended deeper into the bowels of the hospital. The building's heart was down there, in the depths, in the blackened rooms where no one dared to go. She had been there before. She had felt it before.

But now she belonged there.

The flickering lights cast long, twisted shadows on the walls as she made her way through the dark halls. The new souls were just around the corner. They were close. So close.

Lily waited.

She didn't need to see them to know they were there. The fear in the air, the tremble of their spirits-it was enough. She could feel it crawling up her spine, like a delicious wave of anticipation. The hunger swelled inside her, and she smiled, though no one would see it. There was no need for a face, not anymore.

They rounded the corner-a group of four. Teenagers, just like she had been. They looked frightened, hesitant, their eyes darting nervously as they passed through the hospital's doors. But they were foolish. They thought they were brave. They thought they could conquer the darkness.

Lily's form flickered as she hovered behind them, barely a whisper in the shadows.

They wouldn't leave.

They never left.

One of them-tall, with dark hair-turned just in time to feel the cold gust of air sweep past him. He looked confused, eyes narrowing. "Did you hear that?"

The others stopped, exchanging nervous glances. "What do you think it was?" another one, a girl, whispered.

Lily didn't respond. She didn't need to.

The hunger surged.

She reached out with her mind, sending a ripple of terror through the air, just a touch, just enough to make them feel the weight of what they were walking into. The temperature dropped in the hallway, the lights flickering violently above them, casting shadows that stretched and writhed like serpents.

"Guys... what's happening?" the boy with dark hair stammered. His voice trembled, panic starting to seep into his words.

The other girl, smaller and blonde, stepped back. "We need to get out of here-now!"

But it was too late.

Lily felt their fear like a drug, and with it, the hunger roared louder, eager to claim them. She whispered their names, though they couldn't hear her, and the sound of her voice echoed through their minds.

Come closer.

The walls began to shift, their forms bending as if the building itself was alive. A deep groan sounded from above, followed by a violent crash as the ceiling above them splintered and cracked.

"No!" The girl screamed, grabbing onto her friends. "We need to run! Now!"

But the hospital wasn't going to let them go.

Lily moved faster now, her shadowy form enveloping them. Her presence filled the air, and the temperature plummeted, freezing the very life from their veins. One by one, they screamed, but their cries were swallowed by the endless darkness. They were being pulled in, their bodies bound by the same invisible force that had claimed her, Emma, and Jake.

Lily stood in the center, watching as the fear of these newcomers became her sustenance. She was the darkness now. She was the predator. She was the evil that the hospital had been waiting for-waiting to consume, to grow, to feed.

And as the last of their cries echoed through the hallways, Lily felt it-complete. The hunger had been fed. For now.

She was the evil in the hospital.

She was the one who had become the hospital.