My reflection stares back at me from the metal walls, pale, a little too tense.
I press the button for the ground floor.
The elevator starts moving slowly, like an electric razor about to die, like its battery running out.
I pull out my phone and type quickly.
It's usually out of service in the elevator, but now it shows full bars.
Weird, but I don't question it.
"Hey, where are you? I'm heading to the ground floor now."
Sent. Delivered.
I stare at the screen. Waiting. Nothing.
"Come on, Luna…"
The numbers go down.
1…
G…
Ding.
The doors slide open.
The lobby feels different.
Quieter.
Colder.
The lights are harsher here, casting long, clean shadows across the floor.
The smell of antiseptic is stronger, sharper, stinging my nose.
I step out, scanning immediately.
Nurses move with purpose.
A trolley rolls past.
Someone speaks in hushed tones near the station.
But no Luna.
I walk further into the lobby, my pace quickening as I check each corner, each open doorway.
"Luna?" I call softly.
No response.
Just the distant hum of machines.
Yeah… maybe I should check the parking area.
I pull out my phone again.
Still nothing.
Then my screen lights up.
A message. From Luna.
Relief hits instantly.
I open it.
"Emma, don't come down."
My stomach drops.
Another message appears.
"I'm still in the changing room."
Weird.
I stop walking, slowly turning back toward the elevator.
The hallway suddenly feels longer.
Stretched.
Quieter.
Behind me, something shifts.
Soft.
Subtle.
Like a footstep.
Tap…
I freeze.
Then I see her.
Dr. Margareth stands a few steps behind me.
I freeze, caught off guard.
How did she get there? I didn't hear her move.
She doesn't react.
Doesn't move.
She just keeps her eyes on me.
I force an awkward smile, but my heart is racing.
"Lu-u-naa," I say, trying to sound normal, like nothing is wrong.
But I'm sure she can see it.
The fear in my eyes.
I turn fully toward her.
Her smile is still there, but now it feels wrong.
Tighter.
Colder.
"Don't look," she says softly.
My stomach drops.
The air behind me feels heavier, like something is standing there, just out of sight, just waiting.
Tap…
Right behind me.
I take a shaky step back, my eyes darting toward the corridor behind me.
The tapping hasn't stopped.
Dr. Margareth tilts her head slightly, her smile unchanging, so cold but so warm.
"Emma," she says, her voice soft and controlled. "I want to help you."
I blink. My chest tightens.
"Help me?" I whisper. "What… what do you mean?"
Her gaze holds mine, calm and deliberate, but something about it feels wrong.
The edges of the corridor blur.
The lights flicker just slightly, in a way my eyes don't want to process.
The floor beneath me seems to stretch longer, colder.
The antiseptic smell sharpens.
Metallic. Again.
Like the taste of blood when you bite your lip.
"I… I don't understand," I say, my voice trembling.
"What kind of help? I'm fine. I just want to find Luna."
She takes a step closer.
Slow.
Deliberate.
"You're not fine," she says softly.
"You're lost, Emma. You came here thinking this is real, that everything is normal."
A pause.
"But it's not."
The corridor behind me ripples.
The lights twist, stretching shadows into impossible angles.
The hum of machines distorts into something deeper, heavier.
I feel weightless, like my feet barely touch the floor.
"Emma," she says again, placing a hand on my shoulder.
Cold.
Unreal.
Almost like mist.
"I'm here. I can help you cross over. But you have to trust me."
I stare at her, frozen. C-c-ross over..what does she mean?
Everything feels wrong.
Too quiet.
Too empty.
Too endless.
And then it hits me.
This isn't the hospital anymore.
Dr. Margareth tilts her head and smiles, calm, unbroken.
"Do you want to find Luna, Emma?" she asks softly. "Or do you want to stay here… lost forever?"
The tapping is closer now.
Not behind me.
Not in front.
Everywhere.
Surrounding me.
Waiting.
Watching.
I swallow hard, my hand gripping the cold metal handrail beside me.
"I… I want to find her," I whisper.
Her smile widens. I can see her perfect pearly white teeth.
The world around me stretches, twists, folding into shadows and light.
"Then follow me," she says. "And don't look back."
I take a tentative step forward, following her into the warped corridor.
The walls bend impossibly, the floor pulsing beneath my feet.
My heart is hammering.
My head spins, like I'm standing on a boat in rough water, the world tilting beneath me.
A voice whispers from nowhere.
Soft.
Urgent.
Familiar.
"Emma…"
I freeze.
My stomach drops.
It's Luna.
But something else lingers behind her voice.
Something unseen.
Something waiting.
I want to run.
I want to scream.
My feet won't move.
Dr. Margareth's smile is all I can see.
Her eyes glint with certainty, with power, with something I can't name.
"Trust me," she says.
The walls bend closer.
The tapping surrounds me.
The light fractures into a thousand pieces.
And then...
Just as I take another step…
The floor disappears beneath me.
I fall…
I close my eyes tightly.
There is no rush of wind.
No impact.
No end.
Just the sensation of dropping through something thick, like the air itself has turned denser, resisting me, slowing me down.
My stomach lurches, but my body doesn't move the way it should.
My limbs feel distant, like they don't belong to me anymore.
Weightless.
Then too heavy.
Then nothing at all.
All at once.
Darkness swallows everything.
Not the kind that comes from closing your eyes, but something deeper.
Endless.
Suffocating.
I try to scream as hard as I can.
Nothing comes out.
A pressure builds in my chest, the same crushing weight as before, pinning me down, locking me in place.
No.
Not falling.
Frozen.
I'm not moving…This place is.
But I'm not standing either.
I'm… suspended.
I don't know how to explain it.
A faint sound leaks into the silence.
Tap…
My breath catches.
Tap…
Closer now.
Echoing, but not from above or below.
From everywhere.
My eyes strain against the darkness.
Shapes begin to form, slowly, like something emerging through fog.
Dark, yet somehow too bright at the same time.
A corridor.
The same corridor.
But wrong.
The walls stretch too high, disappearing into black.
The lights flicker, but they don't illuminate anything properly, just pulses of pale, sickly brightness that come and go.
I'm standing now.
Or at least… I think I am.
My feet touch something solid, but I never felt myself land.
The air smells metallic. Thicker than before. It hurts my nose.
Tap…
I turn sharply.
Nothing.
I can feel myself drenched in sweat already.
The corridor stretches on, empty.
Too empty.
I can hear my own heartbeat, loud and uneven.
"Luna?" My voice comes out thin, barely more than a breath.
No answer.
Only the hum.
Low.
Constant.
Like something breathing.
A flicker.
For a split second, the lights surge brighter.
And I see it.
A figure at the far end of the corridor.
Tall.
Still.
Watching.
The light glints off it,unnaturally.
Then the lights cut again.
Darkness.
My heart slams against my ribs.
"No…" I whisper, taking a step back.
Tap…
Right behind me.
I spin around.
Nothing.
But the air shifts, like something just moved out of sight.
My pulse races. My breathing turns shallow.
This isn't real.
It can't be real.
"Emma…"
The voice curls through the darkness. Soft. Familiar.
Luna.
Relief crashes into me so suddenly it almost hurts.
"Luna? Where are you?" I call out, louder now, desperate.
Silence.
Then.
"Emma…"
Closer this time.
But wrong.
Her voice stretches at the edges, like it's being pulled apart, layered with something else underneath.
Something deeper.
Something that isn't her.
My chest tightens.
"I'm here," I say, forcing the words out. "J-j-just tell me where you are."
A pause.
Then a whisper, right next to my ear.
"Don't turn around."
My entire body locks.
Cold floods through me, sharp and immediate.
That's not Luna.
Tap…
Right behind me.
Closer than before.
Close enough that I can almost feel it breathing.
My fingers curl into fists.
My nails dig into my palms.
Slowly, against every instinct screaming inside me, I start to turn.
"Emma."
Dr. Margareth's voice cuts through the darkness.
Calm.
Clear.
In front of me now.
She stands where the corridor should end, untouched by the shifting shadows.
Perfect.
Still smiling.
"Don't," she says gently.
Behind me...
Tap...
Something moves.
I freeze mid-turn, trapped between the two directions.
Between her…
And whatever is behind me.
My breath trembles.
"What is this?" I whisper.
Her smile doesn't change.
"You're waking up," she says softly.
Another tap.
Closer.
Almost touching me now.
My heart pounds so hard it hurts.
"Then why can't I move?" I choke out.
Her eyes flicker, just for a second.
Something darker slipping through.
"Because," she says, her voice lowering,
"not everything wants you to."
The air behind me shifts.
A presence.
Heavy.
Waiting.
My skin prickles.
Every nerve in my body screams.
"Emma…"
That voice again.
Right at my ear.
Not Luna.
Not human.
How is this possible? None of this makes sense.
Am I going crazy?
Something cold brushes the back of my neck.
And this time...
I don't think I'm dreaming anymore…