Mouth To Mouth

f i f t y o n e

mattia

i continued to jog down the hallway as the music seemed to be piercing my ear drums. the music began to grow so loud that my head started to spin.

i brought myself back into my mind and realized the volume seemed to increase when i speed up. i began to slow down and the music subsided.

"thank god" i bent over and put my hands on my knees, regaining my breath.

i closed my eyes and held my head low as i was still bent over. the music had seemed to subside almost all the way. maybe it was just in my head but it sounded so real.

i could breathe normally again and as i lifted my head up i started to hear a dripping sound.

drip... drip... drip

i couldn't see anything leaking so i figured the noise was still in my head. i knew my mind was messing with me. i've been so stressed out and sleep deprived that i probably was just going crazy. literally.

i stood up regularly again and proceeded to walk the halls to find someone working there. the dripping noise grew louder.

"shit" i muttered as i thought it was going to be the same situation with the music, except i wasn't sure where the dripping was coming from in the first place.

i kept walking, kept my pace consistent. i came to the end of the hallway and so i followed the signs. the sign told me to turn right to get to the front desk. as i finished reading the signs, the dripping noise grew so loud, it started echoing through the halls. i knew it wasn't in my head now.

i kept walking down the hall until i would have to turn right. i stopped before the corner, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath to see if i could get the dripping sound to quiet down. it definitely did not work as well as i expected.

i stepped forward and turned the corner. i saw natalia standing in the middle of the hallway in a pool of blood. she had a knife in her hand while blood was dripping from her throat and wrists.

"natalia" i whispered and slowly got onto my knees as my legs grew too weak to hold me up.

i knew the dripping noise wasn't all in my head.

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