Breathe in

Breathe in, Breathe out

Breathe in, breathe out. The cool air flows into my lungs like cool water. My footsteps echo against the glossy floor. Each step bounces off the walls around me. Paper crumples underneath my feet as I continue down the dark corridor. In front of me, I see two metal doors. The cool reflection stares back at me, seemingly judging my movements. I pause for a moment, as I wonder what's between me and the clean white doors ahead. The doors burst open, a flood of people pour out into the dark hallway. A dam has burst. Men and women frantically spew out towards my direction. The stethoscopes and clipboards reflect the flickering lights above. The look of terror is plastered across their faces, each one frantic to escape whatever is behind them. My foot crushes a magazine, a notepad, and random documents. So much chaos, so little care for what's going on around. The crowd people barrels past me, with the members looking back to ensure they aren't being followed. What are they running from? Why is there so much fear? The terror was electrifying. It seemed as if the crowd fed off each other in this battery of anxiety. "Turn back." One of them told me. "Please turn around." Another said to me. Each person looked traumatized, peaking my interest. What is going on? I wonder.

Breathe in, breathe out. My heart beats steady, my breath easy. Curiosity envelops my mind as the crowd dissipates. The footsteps fall silent, and I'm left alone once again with the metal giants before me. The looming doors, now inches away from me, loom above me. In the doors are windows. A faint glimmer of what is beyond me and my barrier. I press my face against the glass and peer into the other side. Chairs and shelves lay strewn across the floor, papers and sheets scatter the floor below. Stains of handprints can be seen across the walls. The emergency lights flicker, barely illuminating the surroundings. I gasp in awe, my breath fogging up the glass. I want to see more. I need to see more. The desire aches inside of me, as I need to know more. I look behind me for a moment to check if anybody was watching me, when I'm startled by the sound of a loud slap against the windowpane. I spin around back towards the door to witness a small hand against the glass. The skin was smooth, yet the hand was almost transparent. Behind the glass, I hear laughing, more specifically, I hear a child's giggle. The hand slips away as I'm left alone in confusion as to what's going on. I'm then greeted again by the child once before. Her bright white smiles pierces my vision, as smooth black hair drapes over her face. She giggles again, her breath again fogs up the glass. I move in closer, trying to get a better look. Her face and mine, separated by an invisible barrier as we both look back at each other, both parties studying the other. "Move your hair," I say, "I want to see your face." "If you want me to!" She giggles as she begins drawing back her hair. Disgust and horror flood through my body as I see the blood drip down her face. Staring back at me where two empty eye sockets. The black pits burn into me as the dark velvet stains her white teeth. Her smile widens as she whispers, "come find me." She turns away, and skips back into the darkness of the hallway before me. I begin to turn to leave, but the doors swing open and begin to suck me into the wing. With nothing to hold onto, I'm thrown into the dirty corridor and the cold panels swing shut. The world becomes quiet once again. Panicked, I begin pulling on the handles, with any hopes that they would release me from this terrible predicament I found myself in. I switch around as the sounds of bare feet patter against the cold tile. Her giggle echoes the hallway, shivering down through my body. Shaking with fear, I make my way forward.

"This is getting boring!" She pouts. "You're the worst finder ever!" Her voice carries through the wing. "I'm a good finder! I'll find you instead!" She calls out. "I'll count to 15 and then I'll come find you!" Frightened, I begin looking frantically for a hiding spot, as I do not want her to find me. I don't know what she has in mind but I do not care to find out. I duck into the nearest room and hide underneath the desk. "14, 15!" She yells as I hear her skipping through the hallway. "Where are you?" Her voice lingers on the "you" as her prance becomes increasingly louder, closing the gap between me and the demon. The desk has a small crack that I can peer through, enough to get a slim look on what's on the other side. I see her feet pause in front of the doorway, as she begins to peer around the room. My heart is bursting through my chest, and the blood can be heard rushing through my ears. I hold my breath for what feels like an eternity as she looks through the closet. Dissatisfied with what she found, she resumes her skip down the hallway, calling out for me as her voice fades. With the slim window that I have, I leave my hiding spot and begin to traverse my way down the hallway, each step deliberate in hopes to minimize the noise I emit. My eyes are frantically scanning the shadows, looking for anything that resembles the figure of a little girl. On the floor are bloody footprints that I think she is leaving behind. The blood is still fresh as it gives me a sense of where she's at, more specifically, where she was. Down the hallway, I see a faint glimmer of light. Creeping through a small glass pane is a faint sign of hope. Above the light read the words, "EXIT." That was my way out. That's where I need to go. Before I have the chance to make my way towards the doors her gait can be heard behind me. Thinking as fast as I could, I hide underneath a stretcher and quickly throw a sheet above it, in hopes it suffices to conceal me. I hear her feet slapping against the floor, rippling through my body with each step. "Okay okay," she yells, "I give up! You can come out wherever you are!" she chants as she continues down the hallway. There's not a chance I'm giving away my location, especially when I'm so close to my destination. I peer through my right towards the exit, the light begging me to come bask in it's safety. Entranced, I being to move out of my spot, when to my left I see her face staring back into mine. The blood trickles down as her smile widens. "Gotcha!" She says as she grabs the collar of my shirt, ripping me out of my hiding spot. The light fades out as her laughter swallows my body, her white smile engraving itself into my vision as everything fades into darkness.