A Life Internal - A Fable
Part 4
-Author's note- I apologize ahead of time for any errors in this chapter, part was written while I had the flu and was heavily medicated (indeed when I proofread it, it was new to me .) I fixed most of it but I may have missed a part or two.
William Blake managed to find a stairwell without further encounter. However this did not relieve the feeling of dread growing inside of him and his complete confusion from the nightmare he found himself in. He ascended the stairs to the third floor but found the door leading to it locked. With a frustrated growl he returned to the second floor and found it unlocked.
As he opened the door leading onto the hospital's second floor he was immediately greeted by the sight of another creature like the one he had seen in the day room. His heart skipped a beat at the sight, but he calmed as he realized that the creature was not moving. In fact, it seemed to be floating several inches off of the ground. Cautiously, he approached it, his hand resting on the empty pistol in his pocket. As he inspected with it his flashlight beam he saw that it was covered in a sickly black fluid, a strand of which attached to the ceiling being the reason for its levitation. It also had several jagged lacerations all over its malformed body.
Blake spun around, shining the flashlight beam behind him as he thought he heard a distant sound. The warped walls and dirty floor of the hallway were all he could see. He turned his attention back to the corpse, and almost immediately heard another sound, a scuttling sound, almost like that of high healed shoes on a tile floor, but it had a much quicker pace and came in short bursts, making it almost impossible to pinpoint as it echoed through the empty hallway. William had not realized that the sound was growing closer until he felt a hot breath against the back of his neck.
Its body was shaped almost like a worm. Four spines extended from its oblong body to the ground, serving as its legs. The upper portion of its body was humanoid, though its face was not. Three black eyes adorned its forehead and shined like polished onyx in the terrified man's flashlight beam. Its long arms ended in freakishly long claws, which were constantly in motion as its fingers made seemingly involuntary waving movements. It stared at Blake, its raspy breath the only sound heard. It raised its claws to strike and Blake's survival instinct overrode his fear. He turned and ran with everything he could find within himself.
Behind him he heard the angry, inhuman roar followed by the rapid clicking of spines on the hard floor as the creature began pursuit. Blake didn't even pay attention to where he was going anymore, all he knew was that he had to get away. He quickly twisted the knob of a door as he passed it and dove into the room, thanking heaven that it was unlocked. He slammed it shut behind him and sat with his back against it, gasping for breath. He jolted to a sharp impact against the door. The creature frantically scratched and pounded at the door for several moments but then the sound stopped suddenly all outside was silent.
Finally William looked up and surveyed the room, it was a normal hospital room with a bed in one corner with a night stand beside it. The white bed sheets were stained brown and the frame was rusted. On the wall above the bed was a single window and now he allowed himself to move away from the door and look out of it. Below he could see the parking lot and it took him several moments before he realized that there was nothing left of his car but a frame that looked as though it had sat for years without being touched. "What the..." He muttered. "That's not...that can't be..." Though he had little hope for his car since it had decided to choose this night of all nights to stop running, this still dropped him to his knees. What the hell was happening in this place, how was this all possible. It was like he had stepped into another world, or someone's nightmare.
He sat there for a long time, now wondering if it was worth even moving at all. Whatever awaited in that lighted room surely was not human. Not after all he had seen up to this point. He was trapped, plain and simple. There was no telling how long it had been before the sound of a phone ringing brought him back to his senses. He looked beside him, and there on the night stand was an old style rotary phone. Had it been there before? He couldn't remember. Slowly his hand moved to the receiver and lifted it and after swallowing the lump in his throat he lifted it to his head,
"Hello?"