The Vision of the Past
Lara's body trembled as she clutched the photograph and notes to her chest. The oppressive air of the record room felt heavier now, suffocating her in its madness. Her knees buckled, and she slid to the cold floor, her breathing uneven.
How could Lyn betray us? she thought desperately. How could Margot, too?
Her mind raced with the revelations she'd uncovered—the Patron's insanity, the buried heart, the anchor. It all painted a horrifying picture of Sujay and its ties to the City. She felt as though the world had tilted, and she was slipping into an endless abyss.
Her lips trembled as she whispered to herself, "This can't be real. It's just a bad dream. I need to wake up…"
The silence of the room was deafening, save for the sound of her ragged breathing.
Suddenly, the door swung open with a loud creak. Lara's head snapped up, her heart leaping into her throat.
"I locked that door," she whispered, her voice trembling.
But what she saw next froze her in place. A man stepped into the room, his figure faintly transparent, like a ghostly apparition. He looked to be in his mid-fifties, with a weary face etched by years of stress.
Behind him, another figure appeared—a man in a doctor's coat, his expression fraught with fear.
Lara's breath caught as she tried to speak. "I… I mean no harm," she said, her voice barely audible. But the men didn't react.
It dawned on her that they weren't seeing her. This wasn't real—not in the present, at least. She was witnessing something that had already happened.
Swallowing her fear, she pressed herself against the wall, watching the scene unfold.
The first man—the older one—sat heavily in the chair at the center of the room, his hands clasped tightly in front of him. The doctor paced back and forth, his movements frantic and restless.
"You know what's happening to this place, don't you?" the doctor said, his voice low but urgent. "Elene is turning it into a hunting ground. If we don't act soon, we'll all be devoured."
The man in the chair exhaled sharply, running a hand through his thinning hair. "Calm down. Do you think I haven't noticed the… unusual things happening here? I've kept quiet, but I've been watching. And I've seen through Elene's weakness."
The doctor stopped pacing, his eyes narrowing. "Her weakness? You've found it?"
The older man nodded grimly. "We don't have much time. If we're going to stop her, we need to move quickly."
The doctor leaned forward, his voice trembling with both hope and dread. "What is it? What's her weakness?"
The older man's voice dropped, as though even the walls might overhear. "There's a staircase in the fourth building," he began. "It has thirteen steps. But at midnight, a fourteenth step appears."
The doctor's eyes widened. "A fourteenth step?"
The older man nodded. "If you can survive the horrors of this place until midnight and climb that fourteenth step, you'll find a hall. In the middle of that hall is where the heart is buried."
The word heart sent a chill racing down Lara's spine.
The older man continued, his voice steady but grim. "It's surrounded by tubes—tubes filled with memories. Elene's memories. If we can find her most painful memory and puncture it, we can weaken the heart and its hold over this place."
The doctor's face paled. "And then what?"
The older man hesitated, his expression darkening. "When the heart is weakened, the anchor will appear."
"The anchor?" the doctor repeated, his voice shaking.
"He knows everything," the older man said, his tone heavy with resignation. "All the secrets of this hospital, of the City, of Elene herself. But he's dangerous. I don't know if we'll survive his appearance. But if we destroy the tether that binds him to the heart…" He paused, his hands trembling. "Then, and only then, can we strike."
The doctor began pacing again, his fear palpable. "You're talking about walking straight into death. How can you be sure this will work?"
"I can't," the older man admitted, his voice heavy. "But it's our only chance. If we don't act, Elene will consume us all. This place… it's alive because of her. And it's hungry."
The doctor stopped, his fists clenched. "What if we fail?"
"Then we'll die," the older man said bluntly. "But at least we'll die fighting."
The men's voices grew fainter, their figures flickering like a dying flame. Lara pressed a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide with fear and disbelief.
As the room began to return to its oppressive silence, she whispered to herself, "The heart. The anchor. The tether. It's all connected…"
But her thoughts were interrupted by a faint whisper, one that sent a chill racing down her spine.
"Lara…"
Her head snapped up, and her heart sank as she realized the door was swinging open again. This time, there was no ghostly figure. Instead, the room beyond was shrouded in darkness, and the faint sound of footsteps echoed from the hallway.
Her body froze as a familiar voice called out, soft and mocking.
"Run, little lamb…"