The hallway outside her room was bright. White lights stretched endlessly across the ceiling, reflecting off polished floors and sterile walls. The facility felt less like a hospital and more like an experimental laboratory pretending to be one. Every step Denver took echoed, her footsteps swallowed by the constant low hum of hidden machinery.
Kael walked a few steps ahead of her, his pace steady, hands clasped behind his back. He didn't look back to check if she was following.
"So," Denver muttered, shoving her hands into her pockets, "should I expect something worse today? Or even worse than worse?"
"Both," Kael replied calmly.
She clicked her tongue. "Figures."
They passed by glass rooms filled with researchers in white coats, screens overflowing with data, and subjects strapped into various devices. Some looked calm. Others didn't.
She looked away.
After walking for a while, they finally stopped in front of a large door labeled: DIAGNOSTIC WING | CLASSIFIED
The door slid open with a soft mechanical hiss.
"Good morning, Denver~!"
Dr. Kiara's voice was as cheerful as ever. She stood in the center of the lab, tying her long silver hair into a loose ponytail, her lab coat fluttering as she turned. Her eyes sparkled with excitement, which felt unsettling in a room filled with scanners, restraints, and observation equipment.
"Oh my… you look terrible," she added brightly.
Denver deadpanned. "Thanks."
Kiara walked over and gently took Denver's wrist, checking her pulse manually, as if she didn't fully trust the machines. Her touch was warm, too warm for a place like this.
"No sleep, hmm? Your brainwaves last night were fascinating." She clapped her hands lightly. "You almost triggered the army's quarantine protocol."
Denver froze. "Were you observing me while I was asleep? What kind of organization is this, a stalking facility?"
Kael was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Denver shot him a glare.
"Well, the system detected a temporary vital shutdown, which sparked an alarm. If it had lasted two seconds longer, the core would have assumed catastrophic corruption."
"And then what would happen if it did?" Denver asked quietly.
Kiara smiled sweetly. "Our military would arrive at your dorm, and you would be moved to Sublevel Black."
"Sublevel Black? What is that?" Denver asked.
Kael looked at her and answered plainly, "It's basically a grave for both the cursed and the gifted users."
Dr. Kiara clasped her hands and broke the tension. "Alright, mind telling me what happened last night, Denver?"
Denver knew that telling them about her strange dream would only draw suspicion. But if she wanted answers about her curse, trusting Dr. Kiara might be her only option. Still, these kind of people were hard to trust.
But eventually, she gave in.
She gritted her teeth and opened her mouth. "Okay, I'll tell you."
Dr. Kiara's eyes sparkled. "Oh, really? Most of my subjects... ah, I mean clients keep it a secret. But whether they talk or not, we can always force it out eventually."
A chill ran down Denver's spine. 'Crazy… this woman is insane.'
She swallowed. "I had a dream... it's quite a weird one though, In it my reflection was standing there. He looked more dead than alive."
Kiara tilted her head thoughtfully while Kael listened attentively.
"Did you talk to it?" Kiara asked.
"More like it talked to me. I don't know what it wants, but I have a feeling…" She paused, her hands trembling slightly. "It wants me dead."
For a moment the room fell into silence. Then Kiara broke the tension, her smiled was intrigued rather than concerned.
"Fascinating, a curse that doesn't harm you physically, but mentally through dreams. Does he appear whenever you sleep?"
Denver hesitated. "This is the second time. The first was when I was in the hospital. The second was last night."
"I see." Kiara touched her chin, deep in thought.
Denver watched her, unsettled, whatever Kiara was thinking it couldn't be good. Then she glanced at Kael and slowly their eyes met.
"What do you think will happen to me now?" she whispered, her voice shaking.
Kael was about to answer, but Kiara spoke first.
"Well then, shall we proceed to our behavioral and environmental observation?"
Denver sighed and turned to look at her. "Do I even have a choice?"
"Nope." Kiara smiled while gesturing something to the other researchers. "Alright then, follow me."
They walked through a hallway, it was pure white, endless, repetitive and unbelievably long.
Dr. Kiara led the way, with Kael following close behind, while Denver trailed at the back. The corridor stretched on endlessly, its lights repeating in identical patterns that made the passage feel eerily infinite.
'Long… this is too damn long,' Denver sigh.
They had been walking for a whole twenty minutes, and the hallway still stretch endlessly.
Denver tugged Kael's coat then he turned, raising an eyebrow. "What?"
"How long are we supposed to walk?"
Kael looked around observing their surrounding, then he stop and so does Dr. Kiara.
"We're here," he said.
They finally stopped.
"Huh?"
Dr. Kiara turned around, noticing Denver's confusion. She smiled and raised her hand, knocking on the wall in front of them.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
"It's a prank," she said. "This is just a mirror, actually it is an illusion to trick you."
Her smile turned into a smirk, then she burst into laughter, grabbing Kael's shoulder for support.
"Did you see that, Kael? Told you it was a good prank!" She laughed so hard she started wheezing.
Kael and Denver simply stared at her, clearly missing the joke entirely. They stood there in silence, looking at Dr. Kiara as if she had lost her mind. After a moment, she finally calmed down and composed herself.
"Are you done now?" Kael asked emotionlessly.
"Who even made this useless crap?" Denver said then Kael nodded in agreement.
Dr. Kiara shot them a glare. "Hey! Stop saying it's useless, this is my masterpiece."
"This is just stupid," Kael said flatly.
"You guys are mean~" She pouted, then lightly hit Kael. "Ow! What was that for?!"
"Anyway…" She snapped her fingers.
A slight tremor rippled through the ground as the ceiling above them split open and slid apart. The floor beneath their feet began to rise slowly at first, then accelerating as it carried them upward.
Without realizing it, Denver instinctively grabbed Kael's arm. Kael didn't react, not paying it any attention.
The elevator climbed higher and higher, a faint hum of machinery growing louder with each passing second. After a long ascent, it began to slow down, the movement gradually easing until it eventually came to a complete stop.
Only then did Denver notice she was holding Kael arm tightly. She quickly let go, then looked away her face turning red.
"D-don't misunderstand… I'm not scared or anything."
Kael looked at her, then looked away a faint chuckle escaped from his mouth.
Before them stood a massive gate, its towering surface thick and seemingly impregnable. With a deep, grinding mechanical roar, it slowly began to open. A flood of blinding light poured through the widening gap, forcing Denver to shield her eyes from the overwhelming glare.
"We are finally here," Dr. Kiara said happily.
As her eyes slowly adjusted to the blinding glow, the light softened into clear shapes and colors. She lowered her hand, her breath catching as the scene before her finally came into view.
And what she saw made her froze...