Water poured in around us as we trudged shin-deep through the icy and foul sewage.

It was dark, but our navigation stayed relatively consistent. The hospital courtyard was so large it required an excessive amount of drainage. Although not pleasant, all we needed to do was move up the current of rainwater.

I looked back to the others, making sure they kept pace.

Price, Emilia, and Bradley were right behind me. Price had a soured expression as he waded through the water. Emilia walked with a handful of her dress in her arms, trying not to catch the icy current as much as possible. Bradley shook as he tried to keep contact with the frigid river to a minimum, although his best efforts were not enough to keep his white patient’s wear from becoming soaked and frosted.

Trailing behind us were Hughes and Norman. Hughes struggled to push against the current and move forward in his drugged state, but Norman was tall enough to stay mostly dry.

Price shouted past the sound of rushing water. “How much longer do we have to go!?”

I looked ahead. The mist and darkness made the tunnel look nearly endless. “No idea!” I shouted back.

We could not have been far. We only ran a short distance to Payne’s butchery, and there was no reason to believe the trip would be any longer whilst underground.

Eventually, we came across an offshoot tunnel. Water gushed forth in great volume, and on either side of the current were two risen brick walkways assumedly for maintenance. If my sense of direction served correctly, that had to be the hospital’s drainage.

Bradley pointed outward and struggled out a sentence, continually becoming more fluid in his speech. “T-That’s it I think.”

Price responded curtly as we all grew closer to the tunnel. “Seems like. Let’s get out of this muck.”

All of us were very ready to climb out of the cold and onto a dry walkway. Water spat and sprayed due to the forceful stream, but it was still better than being thigh-deep in it.

Before we all pulled ourselves from the filth, though, I commented “There are two walkways. We should split up so we can check all the exits.”

Emilia responded. “Should we? What if something happens?”

Norman’s head twisted from one side to the other. Of course, he could simply move across if something were to happen.

Price nodded. “Right, right. Who is going with who, then?”

Emilia had her background as a caretaker at the hospital and did quite well keeping track of Hughes in his sorry state. It would be best for them to stay together. Bradley and I had a strong history of working as a team, so we could stay with one another. All that was left was Price and Norman. I took my pick. “I’ll go on the right with Bradley and 𐤉𐤃𐤍-“ I cleared my throat. The lack of sleep must have been getting to me. “I’ll go with Bradley and Norman.”

Price, Emilia, and Hughes shared glances with one another, then grouped. Content with the split, we climbed atop the pathways and began moving forward.

The brick was slippery and old, leading me to keep a hand tracing along the wall for stability. The entirety of the tunnel was filled with darkness, letting only a few dim rays of light shine through the drainage openings.

My mind wandered to my mother. Our mission was crucial and time-sensitive, but I could not stand to leave her to the sadistic clutches of the cult, especially not after she helped lead us to the truth. She was always a distant and cold mother, but I blamed not anything but her madness and my father for the harsh childhood I had. We did the best we could, just the two of us. When she plucked her eyes out, I was all alone, but now that I know why, my resentment has washed away. Only sympathy and despair remained. I must be stronger. I must end the cycle.

The others seemed less determined in this task, but all of us were resigned to either succumb to madness or put an end to it all. Price put on a stoic mask, but I had noticed he barely tended to the bite on his forearm. He didn’t change the bandage, instead, he simply kept it above the diseased waters like he did not care for anything more than his immediate wellbeing. Unfortunately for Hughes, there was no good way to keep his cuts from the sewage.

Our materials needs could not be forgotten, though. As difficult as it was, we needed to stay at least somewhat optimistic. There was no time for hesitation when we first hid from the police in the infected waters, but I would certainly not let the others resign to death. When we got to the hospital, we required medicine to clean Hughes and Price’s wounds, then get street clothes for everyone to escape in.

Maybe… Maybe not everyone needed to go to the dark underground caverns. It may have been risky to leave Hughes alone, but should we really take such a despairing man to the eldritch depths?

Norman’s smooth face turned to gaze at me. His pale white eyes showed disappointment in my thoughts.

Fair enough, it was most likely a bad idea to leave others behind. In any case, there would be no hurt in finding medicine when we look for my mother.

As we walked further down the tunnel, I noticed the scenery begin to change. Laden brick turned to sculpted stone. Assembled blocks turned into old, artistic carvings and etched paths. The same make as the underground caverns beneath the hospital.

Just to be sure, I made my way to the last overhead drain before we moved into the old stone layout. The thin entry was flooded with water which made it difficult to see the surface. I needed a better view.

I looked to Bradley and gestured for him to come over. “Help me up. I want to make sure we’re going in the right direction.

Bradley nodded, not wanting to force out any more words than needed. He cupped his hands together and I planted my shoe there. He pushed me as tall as he could, but unfortunately I still couldn’t catch a glimpse of the surface.

As I struggled to keep myself from getting drenched in rainwater while simultaneously looking past it, I felt an icy cold grasp on the back of my neck. Thin, elongated fingers wrapped around my neck and shoulders, slowly lifting me into the air.

I was pulled into the water. Frigid rain rushed onto my face, forcing its way into my nose and throat. I struggled to turn, but the grip on my head was too strong. My lungs tried to expel the water by coughing, but that was no use while I was still submerged.

My feet searched for purchase, but instead left me paddling air. One of my hands grasped the fingers around my neck, while the other looked for something to hold on to.

After what felt like forever, Bradley finally grabbed my ankles and helped push me up. A long while of struggled coughing later, and I could breathe once more.

I finally had a view of the outside, and we were indeed at the hospital. In fact, the drain had to be one of the last ones installed in the courtyard. Only a short walk until we were under the building.

With my sight restored, I grabbed the ledge of the drain and leaned to the side, avoiding the water and helping myself down.

I wiped the wet hair off my face and rubbed my eyes. “Good God, Norman. Thank you, but try to say something before you decide to help.” I looked up to Norman, and he stared at me blankly whilst the water flowed around him. Without a word, he turned and began walking once more.

A lack of apology was mildly irritating, but we were all on edge. I had no time for causing a fuss at that moment.

After a short while had passed, the two paths led back into one. Rather than a drain, laid before us was a foreboding and shadowy stone tunnel.

The route ahead had to be connected to the hospital underground. It would be dangerous, but there was no other option but for the five of us to move forward and see to the end of this madness...

The five of us.

The five of us.

Five.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.

I counted each person alongside me… One of us did not belong…

The first in line was Bradley, my oldest friend. It couldn’t have been him. Price and his boat were crucial months ago, so it was certainly not him. Emilia? No. My mother had talked about her long before this all happened. Was it Hughes, or was it…

With a skeptical eye, I finally noticed him. Norman stood ten feet tall, with deep, dark, purple skin. Like he was covered in a million scabs. His sunken pure white eyes met with mine as we both realized something was amiss.

He raised his hand with its hundreds of long fingers at me as his feet went slack. Instead of lumbering in a false walk, he instead hovered limply above the ground. The longest finger of the bouquet extended towards me, as if accusing me.

I pulled the gun from the small of my back and shot it at the creature. The bullet flew through it and ricocheted off the walls behind us.

The others shouted as they grew closer to me. They thought I had gone mad, that I had started attacking a friend. As they grabbed onto my arm, I shouted at them. “He’s not real! He’s not real!”

Bradley pried the gun from my hand as Price wrestled me to the ground. Emilia, though, stood straight and stared at the creature. She whispered low. “H-He’s not… He’s not real…” After she whispered those words, the creature’s rotted face turned to look at Emilia. It began slowly and silently hovering towards her, causing her to scream out “He’s not real! Look!”

Hughes mumbled in incoherent fear as he realized what was happening. All the commotion brought Bradley to look, and when he saw its true form, he began peeling Price off me. The creature began moving towards Emilia even faster.

Price finally let go of me and shot up to challenge Bradley, but he noticed no one was looking at him. His gaze slowly moved to the corner of his eye, and then to the creature.

Once we all witnessed the creature, its momentum halted. It stayed frozen in the air, exactly where it was when we all met its eyes.

I cautiously stood while maintaining eye contact with it. With all of us recognizing it for what it was, it no longer moved. Like a feline that only proceeded when not being watched, it could not continue with all of us against it.

The creature shook as we pulled ourselves from its enchantment. Its tremoring soon turned to full convulsions as its scabbed skin began to fall off in heaps. The encrustations slithered into the water and down the current like eels until there was nothing left but the creature’s marble white eyes, which stayed levitated in the air.

The eyes rolled forward, revealing color. They looked… Like mine.

Both flickered from place to place, taking in the surroundings. We stood in anxious silence as it looked about.

Bradley held out the gun he had taken from me and shot again at the eyes. He wildly missed his mark, but as the muzzle flashed, the eyes had blinked out of existence.

I took a deep breath as we were alone once more. Price was the first to blurt out. “What the fuck was that!?”

The others looked to me as I was the first to notice it, but I simply shook my head. “I have no clue… But whatever it was, it couldn’t hurt us while we were together.”

Bradley dropped to the floor where he sat and caught his breath. “T-T-Theo… That thing. It lifted you… I-I-It can interact with us.”

Emilia continued to stare at the space in which the creature once was. “We’re getting closer to the heart of it… We need to have our wits about us... Or else that will happen again”

Hughes coughed; his constitution not suitable for such adrenaline. “I want things to go back to normal…”

“They must soon." I replied. "I fear we don't have much time left..."