"Now you're finally able to listen, (Y/n)."

You were certain you were still dreaming because stood in front of you, was the nurse from the morgue. The same nurse you had looked through the eyes of when you touched her cool dead skin and saw Hoseok through her vision.

"You've been filling this place with rosemary, which made it difficult for me speak to you."

Your eyes trailed along the bruising around her neck and red slashes on her cheek that still bled down her face to her chin, and dripped. Her body frozen in the way she had died.

"Must you spirits always speak in riddles? It gets really frustrating," you said indifferently, covering up the twinge of fear that crept up your neck. Who knows what she could do to you in a dream. Perhaps nothing since it was your dream, but you didn't want to find out. 

"When you're dead you can do as you please," she answered coolly, her face wound shifting against the smile curling up on her blue lips, the flesh moving with her expression, you couldn't help but stare in sick fascination. The wound was so deep you could see a slither of yellowed white bone. Your stomach clenched. 

"What happened to you?" You breathed, a small struggle in trying to find your voice. 

She looked away.

"Jung Hoseok happened, that's what. Well it wasn't exactly him, but you know that, don't you?" She said looking back at you, something akin to pity flashing through her now blank expression.

"Why did you want to speak with me? You could have done so at the morgue..."

She shook her head.

"No. They may have taken my body to the morgue but, I'm stuck here," she explained solemnly. "I wanted to speak with you so I could ask for your help, and warn you too." 

"About what?" You asked, interest rising rapidly. What could a ghost want help with other than passing on?

"You haven't only one enemy in this place, but multiple. I want to show you one of them, since they've been right under your nose and you haven't noticed."

You tried to rack your brain for someone, anyone that could pose as a threat. Only one came to mind since your talisman had acted up more than once around him. But was she really talking about Jimin? It didn't seem like she was, but much of things in the past few days didn't seem to be as it was.

"I'm going to take you somewhere, to show you what I mean, you will need the key from the doctor's office, for when you go back when you're awake. There you will also find something that may come in handy. But for now I can show you without it."

"You and your friend can go at night, but to avoid the night-shift workers you must remove the rosemary you have planted around the hospital." 

Suspicion crept into your thoughts. "Why would I do that?"

"Myself and a few others would like to offer our help." 

"You mean you and the other ghosts here?" 

She smiled. 

"I don't understand? Why would you want to help? I'm getting rid of one of your own..." You were talking about the spirit inside of Hoseok. 

She hissed and recoiled as if you had swiped at her, the nurses body fuzzing like t.v static in front of you.

"That thing is not one of us! It is not the same!" The pure resentment in her voice changed it, distorted the sound making you suck in a breath.

"What do you mean by that?" You asked quietly, as if in fear she would get angry.

"They possess innocents, they taint them."

"But you could possess someone..." you trailed off in confusion, not understanding where her anger had came from.

She shrugged. "I could, doesn't mean I will. My point is that I'm not sure you know what you're getting into. He's not a spirit in the same way as us. We're dead, but he torments us here. Not only does he mess with the living.

 Have you noticed the behaviours of the patients? His presence changes them, he influences their thoughts and feelings, making them rabid. You remember A-Yeong? No one touched her butterflies. No one stole anything from her. But he made her think someone was taking her possessions away from her." 

Your eyes widened in surprise. 

You opened your mouth to ask more, the need for more answers knocking against your skull. 

"There's not much time, I must show you the threat. The one who keeps filling this place with ghosts."

The blackness around your suddenly began to shift and change around you. It moulded into a ceiling and walls, a the empty frame of a bunkbed and a set of drawers and a door. It became a room.

Your room. Yet a twisted version of your room. Everything looked to be an older, crumbling version of what you knew it to be. The new cracks and creases in the wall paint eerily looked more like pulsing veins with dark blood and the floor was covered in debris.

The nurse phased through the door and out of sight. In usual circumstances you'd rather be alone than be in the same room as a ghost but here, you felt more at ease with her than staying in this horrid room. Not really having much of a choice either, you followed the nurse silently, out of the of your room and through the winding hallways of the hospital.

The nurse took you through the black corridors, her form illuminating the area around her, only disappearing completely when the lights would flicker on and off again, as if she were allergic to the light. 

You were wary to ask her anything else as you followed, frightened that you voice may awaken something within the dark halls and rooms of the hospital, the only sound were your footsteps and the occasional buzz of the light bulbs. Being in the dark here made you feel very vulnerable. 

A childish fear resurfaced, of long spindly arms shooting out from the darkness and grabbing you. You shivered.

The nurse led you deeper into the hospital, to parts you hadn't step foot in, and went with her down flights of large stone stairs and onto an entire new level completely and through a large door with a multitude of locks on it. This level that must have been below the building.  

This must have been the door that would need the key she had been on about earlier...However it was open. For now.

The air almost felt icy down at this level and what had you amazed was the puff of white breath that came from your mouth as you exhaled. Just how cold was it down here?

The air was thin and difficult to breathe. It made you wonder for a second that you weren't in a dream, instead the nurse had taken you through a limbo, and that you were currently walking through a veil of the dead. 

No, this was a dream. You were certain of that. 

You came to a wide hallway with an array of doors, heavy metal and larger than the ones on the floor where you worked. They looked like doors that kept something nastier and bigger than a human.

There was a sign just before you turned the corner in sharp blocky letters was,

'ISOLATION'

You walked by a few more doors, some of which had their prisoners peeking out back at you, with large wide eyes, unfocused and shaking with insanity. 

Despite the huge locked doors that separated you from the patients, you did not feel safe down here.

Some lunged at you as you passed, the doors pounding and banging at their attempts to scare you. Chattering teeth and manic laughter echoed and bounced on the walls. Others wailed and cried out as if they were in pain. 

"You're catching eyes little girl! You're catching all their eyes, like flies! You're catching those devils interests ahahahaha-" his laugh was crazed and manic, his bloodshot eyes unblinking and wide.

Your heart thudding at a painful rate in your chest. His words were getting to you and you didn't know why.

This is a dream. This is a dream. This is a dream. They can't hurt you.

You continued to follow the silent nurse, your eyes catching on a tag hanging from the door with a handwritten name on it like the others, however this one had you halting in your steps. 

'Patient: Min Yoongi'

A light quickly lit up in your head. That was the name of the patient that had a room on the floor that you worked on. Curiosity stuck it's cat claws in you and had you advancing towards one of the large rusty metal doors with the small letterbox windows. You found yourself peeking in.

The room was small and empty save for the rusted frame of a cot in the left corner, a rugged filthy mattress on top. The walls were encased with white padding, brown and greyed if it weren't for the dirt that encrusted them.

Sitting there atop the mattress was a form of a person, arms crossed over their sides in a tight form fitting straight-jacket. 

An electric shock shot through you as you met their eyes, although hauntingly beautiful, sent an unknown fear blooming in your chest. 

You recognised those eyes. You recognised his face. It was him.

You jumped as an icy cold hand gripped your shoulder and tugged you away from the door.

"No! Don't look at him! Don't talk to him! You'll be at his mercy if you do."

But...I have already. I touched him too.

"Why did you bring me down here?" You finally questioned turning to her fully, forgetting that you had a voice. 

"I wanted to show you something."

"Then get to it," you snapped impatiently. You didn't want to spend more time then you had too down here.

She beckoned you to follow with a slender finger, leading you further and further through the growing madness, until the shouts and rackets faded and you followed down one last flight of stairs until you reached another door, this one left slightly ajar. 

The door itself was white and crusty and it had a large clouded out window on its upper half. The part that held your attention however was the slider below the window and what it said.

'TREATMENT ROOM'

This confused you. You had already seen the treatment rooms around the upper floors which were pretty mundane and were usually furnished with desks and chaise lounges for patients to speak to psychiatrists. So what was this one doing down so far below?

Hushed voices echoed from within causing you to glance at the nurse apprehensively. 

She merely gestured for you to take a peak.

Inside, it had taken you a moment to really comprehend what you were seeing. You had to hold in the gasp that threatened to spill from your mouth. 

There on the old fashioned treatment table in the centre of the room was a man, a patient, strapped tightly down by his arms, legs and hands. His head was strapped into a device you could only assume send electric shocks through his body.

Three doctors surrounded him, each with their backs to you.

To your shock, the patient's skin was littered with surgical incisions that were being treated halfheartedly and messily with jagged unclean stitching. 

Your eyes trailed to the volt metre, which was set much to high. 

You knew little about electro-therapy and that it was still around to this day, however what you were seeing before you was not the legalised mundane electro-therapy. 

"No, no please! I don't want this please! Please let me go please let me go home, no no no-"

You had unconsciously brought a hand up to your mouth to hide the horror on your face as you watched the man's mouth open in a silent scream, body erupting into an uncontrollable spasm. His eyes rolled into the back of his skull. 

The volts halted and the patient continued to jostle and shake for a minute before falling limp on the table, blood trickling from his ear canals and nose.

If you weren't upset, traumatised and honestly, disgusted enough already with what you were seeing, your eyes only widened more when one of the doctors turned, revealing to you their face.

One of the evils the nurse had been talking about wasn't a paranormal entity. They were human, and alive and right in front of you, behind the crack in the door you looked through.

It was Dr. Kim. 

You let out a gasp that you had been holding and stumbled back a step. Your eyes tore away from the scene to look at the nurse for answers, only to see she was no longer by your side.

The nurse had disappeared although there was another presence behind you. A different one. Before you could turn around, in a flash a pair of hands grabbed you, one covering over your mouth and the other around your waist.

Your surprised yelp was muffled and you froze as you heard them make a sound in your ear.

"Shhh,"

The nimble fingers that covered over your mouth trailed upwards and obscured your vision, causing you to let a shaky breath. 

Whoever it was that was behind you moved slowly and quietly until they were stood in front of you and still ever so close. 

"What-"

"Shhh," they whispered out again, almost comfortingly. "Don't let them see you here," it was a he, and the huskiness of his voice sent a shiver down your spine. He must have been leaning in because the sound of his voice was so close to your left ear. 

With a hesitant hand, you reached up cautiously to their wrist to remove the hand that covered your eyes. They didn't budge. Was it the sight of the doctor torturing the patient they wanted you to avoid or...was it that the person who held you didn't want you to see their face?

You felt the hand that rested on your back travel upwards, raising the tiny hairs on your skin in its wake until it reached the back of your neck. 

Your breath hitched from the contact, a flower of warmth that bloomed around the area where your birthmark lay on your neck.

"You're going to wake up, and you're going to keep the talisman close to you at all times. Do not go anywhere without it." Their voice was calm and almost stoic, yet very demanding at the same time, and you felt yourself fall backwards, their grip on your body disappearing altogether.

You groggily awoke in the early hours of the morning, body laced in a cold sweat and eyelids heavy as you forced them open.

Your breathing was heavy and you took time to calm yourself. 

What the fucking hell had all of that been? You weren't stupid enough to pass it off as a mere nightmare, no. That had been real and would definitely be sticking with you for a while. For the best you supposed because now you had a whole new situation to deal with. 

No (Y/n). One thing at a time. You're here for Hoseok. Deal with him first.

You got up from your hot bed and went straight to the bathroom to splash your face with cold water, and stepped out once you had cooled yourself down. 

Your gaze landed on the top bunk bed. It was empty.

Still no Moonbyul. Where the hell had she gone off too? Had she left the hospital?

You sighed, and cursed softly glancing at your clock that read 3:45am, and looked to the ceiling for strength. Running on such little sleep, you would need it for the day ahead. You knew you weren't going to get anymore shuteye after that.

You were doing the laundry and sheets again once you had let the patients out of their rooms (gladly allowing the other nurse to deal with Hoseok) one sheet in particular covered in red blotches. Covered, like someone had been stabbed to death.

Of course it was, of fucking course it was covered in blood. You were now officially in a nightmare asylum after all. Your sarcastic side did not quell your anxiousness however. You were still holding a sheet covered in blood that had spilled from someone's body. They could be dead for all you knew. Sometimes you really hated your line of work, it was always bringing you closer to death.

One of the male orderlies had been insisting that you should be the one to do the laundry. What because you were a female? Your snorted at the thought. It really was like you had stepped 100 years into the past since working at the hospital. 

You still couldn't shake the events from the night before from your memory, replaying the sight of that man pinned to the table. You were positive that it had been Dr. Kim in that room as well. No doubt about it. 

You finished putting the dirty sheets into the washing machine and left the bloody ones on the side to do later. They would need a heck of a lot of baking soda and cold water to seep in. 

The tumble dryer was full meaning the rest had to be hung out to dry on the roof.

With a frustrated sigh, you hauled the basket of wet laundry that you had just pulled out of the wash and made your way up to the roof. 

As you hung out the large sheets you were began to think about Jackson and wondered how he was getting on. You needed to speak to him about what had been happening desperately. 

You took a step back relishing in the cool refreshing air that brushed your skin on top of the roof. Being outside of the hospital was such a relief, you felt like you could finally breathe. 

An itch on the back of your neck had you drawn out of your relaxing moment and glancing around, feeling like you weren't alone. 

And of course, you caught sight of someone stood by the door that led back into the hospital, a cigarette between their lips, smoke wafting and curling up in front of their face. However you could see clearly that their eyes were focused on you through the smoke they exhaled out slowly. 

Arms limp at his sides with his back against the wall. The air somewhat grew heavier around him, it seemed to thicken in a way making your chore a slight bit harder. It was the way you felt in the summer when the heat would get unbearable and stuffy and all you wanted to do was to lie down somewhere. Only in this instance, it wasn't hot.

"I saw you last night."

You inhaled slowly, not wanting to hear that he had seen you in your own dream, accidentally breathing in the scent of nicotine and smoke almost making you cough. You wouldn't listen to that bullcrap. You were getting tired of people just knowing about the things that you did all the time. 

"You peaked in through my door and looked at me-"

You threw the last white bed sheet down angrily and looked at him.

"Then tell me Min Yoongi," the corner of his lips quirked upwards a minuscule amount, from calling his name or being able to get a rise out of you, you weren't sure, "if you've been in isolation all this time," you continued, marching over to him, "then how were you also in the infirmary the other day?"

The next puff of smoke her exhaled blew into your face but you refused to flinch at the stench, much to the ravenette's hidden amusement. 

Your gaze dropped to the lighter he was fiddling with. You could've sworn you had slapped it out of his grip the other time. Perhaps it was another. Perhaps that time you helped him had been a dream too, or perhaps you needed to take your head out of the ground and realise that this man in front of you wasn't as he seemed, much like many others around you nowadays. You really were growing tired of not knowing who was what. You hunted ghosts for a living, yet recently, you had been struggling to do just that. Telling apart a dead person from the living. 

Perhaps it was the tiredness and lack of sleep not being able to concentrate for long on the topic at hand because your gaze dropped to his bandaged arm and before you could stop yourself, the words came spilling out, albeit in a mumble. 

"Why did you burn yourself like that...?"

He looked at you, his face bored and uninterested and somehow you found yourself beginning to get sucked into the dark pools of his eyes, so un(willingly).

He ducked his head to meet your gaze, feathery black locks tickling his eyelids. 

"Because I wanted to feel something," he uttered back in a tone just as quiet.

https://youtu.be/HjOSydtI38Q

I'm sorry...I'm really not happy with how this chapter turned out. I may be back to edit a lot of it later..

I hope I didn't make this chapter too confusing as it was a bit of a rushed job so there may be a few mistakes. I am up to answering questions depending on what they are but I'm not going to give too much away...Despite that I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! -Rikki

UNEDITED 

June. 10. 2020