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I looked back, staring into the deep and hollow space that seemed to have confined me as a prisoner. The hallways were dark as usual, but a strange, eerie feeling seeped into the air this time.

Where was I?

I had no clue. No clue at all.

Who was I?

I did not know.

Why was I here?

...

An ominous emotion intruded into my chest, hammering down, as if it was trying to nail a piece of wood that was crooked.

I turned around, checking my surroundings for the tenth time, assuring myself that it was only my imagination. Slowly, I turned back to the directions I was supposingly heading towards. But exactly where was I going? The only thing I knew was that I was trapped. Trapped in this place with no life signal. I skimmed through the windows, desperately looking for a sign that told me that I was not the only one running around like a fool.

It was weird though.

Despite waking up in a pure white room, this place neither resembled a school nor hospital. It was just a hallway with rooms and rooms. Too many rooms. I stopped dead in my tracks. A spiral staircase stood in front of my face. It looked worn out, dry, unstable, and any other word that fitted the description perfectly.

Should I go up?

I clenched the edges of my white shirt, sweat soaking through my collar. In spite of the fact that I had been in this building for who-knows-how-long, I could not find any exit. It was like an endless maze that I was in, and I could not break out of it no matter how hard I tried. The only thing that was horrifying was the echo in my head that caused a spine chiller every time I heard it ringing in the back of my organ of intellect.

Run before it comes.

That was the first thing that popped into my head when I woke up from this damned place. Then I started noticing a pattern from a worn out clock in the second floor library. Every time the handle hit twelve, deciding a new hour starts, a ghostly voice whispered in my ear.

I slowly stepped onto the loose board of the stairs, exhaling loudly when the wood cried in agony.

Strange.

It was like I was hiding from someone. Who it was, I was not sure, but my body just naturally seemed to be on edge at all times.

A breath of relief escaped from my dry and cracked lips. Changing the angle of my head, my eyes greeted the sight of a sign that titled ‘3rd Floor.’ Immediately, I whirled my head around both directions of the halls, as if preparing for something. Or more like someone…

A sudden blood curling scream came from the left, following a fragile voice that sounded like it came from a child. Unconsciously, my feet were tracing the noise towards the left side of the stairs. Suddenly, my heartbeat started clamouring like drums in my chest. Clamouring louder. Louder and louder, and louder--

Run before it comes.

I gasped, choking on the pace I inhaled the air. It was like my body was rejecting my wishes to run the opposite way. I was scared. My shaky breath took over my lungs as I slowed my pace, now at a walking speed. I intertwined my fingers together, unsubconsciously praying to a unknown God. The continuous hammering of my heart made my body tremor in fear.

I wanted to leave...

I didn’t wanted to be here anymore.

I wanted to get OUT!

A sudden wave of coldness hit my body like a tsunami. I looked down at my pale, purple-like hands, realizing that my fingers were paralyzed by the cold. A foul smell penetrated my nose as my foot made a small pivot, forcing my eyes to register the scene in front of me.

There was a low crunching sound, coming from the right corner of the room where the shadows draped over, as if trying to cover a picture that they did not want me to see. The room was dark with desks all around, resembling a classroom. But that did not matter in my brain right now. As the light boldly shined behind me, a figure squatting down on the floor with its back towards me started to materialize--

Instantaneously, the grotesque body of a woman, hair like drapes of ragged cloths, teeth like razor blades covered with blood smeared over her mouth that curved into an empty smile. Her long bare arms held a child’s head by its hair, the eyes wide in horror, as if trying to accuse me of murder. The neck that had broken ends of torn skin dripping with red, slushy liquid resulted in an unplanned flash of image how she was crunching what was inside the head. Her sinister golden cat-like eyes stared at me with amusement, watching my frozen face.

A hair raising scream along with a rebellion in my stomach howled out of my mouth as I darted away from the door, barely slipping on my feet and slamming onto the hard wall.

No, no, no, no, NO--!

I shrieked as I jerked my leg up, yanking my whole body up to one of the directions that could get me out of there. My heart thundered into my ribcage, trying to smash it into pieces. A shrill followed by a crunch vibrated through my whole being, as I vociferated my lungs out in a pain beyond comprehension. Whipping my head around in terror, I saw the monster, gnawing down on a piece of flesh, that was yanked from my thigh. Her eyes then stopped on the blood, and with a slurp, the blood was smeared onto her tongue.  I felt my body turn to ice as my eyes stayed paralyzed on the blood gushing out of my body.

Run. Run, run--RUN!

I clawed the ground, doing anything I could to get away from this--disgusting, creature. I heard a melodic voice along with a quiet shuffle behind me.

"My pain is constant and sharp and I do not hope for a better world for anyone~ In fact, I want my pain to be inflicted on others. I want no one to escape~"

I stared in horror as the woman of the devil picked me up, holding me into the air with her bones that were covered in broken skin, like how a caring father would pick up a child and swing her around. Her eyes and mouth were like crescent shaped worm holes, smiling at me while trying to suck me in.  

"The man screamed and clawed frantically, like a drowning swimmer. I tried and tried, but all that came out were screams of terror!"

Blood spurted out of my mouth as my eyes rolled towards the signal of the pain. Her fingers that were the only things that resembled human-like hands now expanded into knife-like stilettos, that disappeared through my abdomen, then reappearing out of my hips.

I howled, my voice creating echoes throughout all the rooms around me. I needed to get--

“Aaugh!” My body twisted and cried out, screaming while wrenching itself from the pain. It hurts! The pain hurts…!

“S-STOP YOU M-MONSTER!!” My agonizing howl forced its way past my oral cavity, making more blood trickle down her hands, creating a hazy image of the creature licking my crimson liquid.

“We all have a monster within; the difference is in degree, not in kind. So why does everyone around me name my own kin?”

I would not dare move. I was scared that--if I moved, it would cost my wound to rip even more. The world slowly started to fade around me, my five senses flowing away like brief wind that never existed.

It’s all gone.

I opened my eyes again, the black and white color slowly sinking into my brain. I was there, facing the mirror while sitting down on a chair--a chair fit for a dead king. I was fine and dandy. No, actually, I was not fine at all. My legs looked as if they were sliced apart, then stitched back horribly together with threads and needles. My boney fingers gently touched my stitched up face, shaking with disbelief.

What am I now?! I do not look--

“Human?”

I whirled around, taking in the picture of a white grin in the darkness, no sound emitting from my lungs. Everything felt calm, no sound, no panic, not even the sound of my heartbeat. Everything felt dead.

“Everything is gone now.”