Shadows of the Asylum

The Last Escape

Kara's breath was ragged as she stumbled through the hallway, the oppressive darkness pressing in on her from all sides. The sounds of the hospital-those low, moaning creaks and the distant, unnatural whispers-seemed to follow her, echoing off the walls like some maddening chant. Her heart hammered in her chest, her hands shaking as she gripped the flashlight, which flickered erratically as though it, too, was afraid of the shadows that surrounded them.

She had to keep moving. There was no other choice.

Mia was gone. Ethan and Ben, too. They had all fallen, one by one, to whatever evil was crawling in the heart of the hospital. Kara's mind couldn't fully comprehend it, couldn't accept that the ones she had walked into this nightmare with were now dead. She couldn't even let herself mourn, not yet. Not when the hospital was still out there, alive and hungry.

She had to escape.

But every turn she made only led her deeper into the labyrinth, and every door she opened seemed to close behind her with an unnatural force. It was as if the very building was alive, shifting and rearranging to keep her trapped. Kara's body ached with exhaustion, but she couldn't stop. She couldn't afford to stop. Not until she was free.

The whispers grew louder, snaking through the air, filling her ears with words she couldn't understand. They were close now, so close she could feel the cold fingers of whatever waited in the darkness brushing the back of her neck.

She can't escape.

Kara forced herself to take another step, her eyes scanning the endless corridor for any sign of a way out. And then, she saw it.

A door. At the end of the hallway. It was the only one that seemed to lead somewhere. The only one that didn't have the suffocating air of despair clinging to it.

She rushed toward it, her legs trembling with fatigue. But as she reached the door, her hand froze on the handle. It felt... wrong. Cold. Like it was waiting for her, like it knew what she was trying to do. But Kara wasn't going to stop now. She couldn't.

With a force she didn't know she had left, she yanked the door open.

The air that hit her was cold-frozen, even. It was outside. It was the outside air. Kara could feel it-the smell of fresh air, the sound of the wind howling. She stepped forward, her legs unsteady, almost as if the earth itself beneath her feet didn't believe she was allowed to leave.

The door slammed shut behind her with a deafening bang, but she didn't look back. She couldn't. There was no time.

She was free.

Kara staggered forward, blinking into the dim light of the night. The hospital loomed behind her, dark and monstrous, but she refused to look back. Her body screamed with exhaustion, but there was no relief in sight. No peace. The dark building, now far behind her, still seemed to pull at her, like it was trying to drag her back.

But she was free. She had escaped.

Kara's legs gave way beneath her, and she collapsed onto the cold ground, gasping for air, her body trembling as if she had been running for hours. She looked around, unsure of where she was, but there was nothing familiar. The forest stretched around her, quiet and still, bathed in moonlight.

The hospital was gone. Or at least, that's what she thought.

But as she sat there, her pulse slowing, she heard it again.

The whispers.

Soft at first, but unmistakable. They were coming from behind her, from the direction of the hospital. She turned slowly, a cold dread settling in her stomach.

The building was still there. It loomed in the distance, its windows dark and lifeless, but it wasn't empty. It was alive again. Waiting.

And in the distance, she swore she saw something-or someone-moving near one of the broken windows.

The laughter. It was faint, but it was there.

Kara felt a chill crawl up her spine, her blood turning to ice in her veins. No. It couldn't be.

But it was.

She saw her. Mia-her face twisted in that same cruel, mocking grin, her eyes dark as she stared down at Kara.

Kara's heart skipped a beat, and before she could even react, the wind picked up, the cold air swirling around her like a storm. The whispers grew louder, louder until they drowned out everything else.

The voice. It was Mia's voice, but it wasn't her.

You can't escape.

Kara stood up, her legs weak, her breath shallow. She couldn't run. Not anymore. The forest around her was dark, the trees bending unnaturally toward the hospital as if pulling her back toward it, as if the very land were complicit in its hunger.

With shaking hands, Kara reached into her pocket and found her phone. The screen flickered weakly before it came to life, showing a single notification.

"You're not alone."

The words made her blood run cold. And then, the phone screen cracked.

The shadows grew darker.

And Kara knew, deep down in her bones, that no matter how far she ran, no matter how much she tried to escape... the hospital would always be there. Waiting for her. Waiting for them all.

But she couldn't stop. She wouldn't.

Kara took a deep breath, her heart pounding in her chest, and turned back toward the trees, away from the whispers, away from the building. She had escaped.

For now.

But the hospital had already begun to follow her. It always would.