You took in a deep breath, shaky and shallow. Your lungs burned as if you were breathing in smoke. You forced your eyes open. You were back in your room, again. Lying down, snuggled under the blankets. Despite the burning in your throat and lungs you couldn't see any smoke. At first glance the room was fine, almost peaceful.

Tap. Tap. Taptap..

The sound drew your eyes to the window. A familiar black bird sat on your window sill, tapping frantically. An orange light reflected on it's silver beak, and it's black eyes looked panicked.

You started to cough. Scanning the room again, there was nothing. No smoke, no anything to cause you to feel this way.

Tap tap tap TAP tap.

The tapping increased. It was as if each tap rang in your ears.

Finally you stood, and approached your window. Your face fell, outside there was fire, as far as you could see. The flames reaching high in the sky, engulfing anything that may have been in its path.

Tap taptaptap

The black bird stared up at you, it's tapping only stopping when it fearfully glanced at the approaching flames.

Your breathing became unbearable. The smoke filling your lungs to the point you thought you might faint. The bird before you looked just as helpless as you felt. Frantic, you unlocked the window with one hand, and using the other the cover your mouth and nose. You forced the window open, letting the large bird inside. It's flapping wings hitting the window frame one it's way in.

Slamming the window shut you took another breath. Though, this time you felt no pain. You sucked in a deep breath, grateful for the fresh air.

The echo of flapping wings quieted behind you. Your heart began to race. The wing beats were replaced with familiar machine like breaths.

----

A persistent, obnoxious chime shook you from your sleep. The sound of the mechanical breathing you last heard slowly faded away. You're eyes snapped open, only to immediately start to ache as they adjusted to the darkness of your apartment. The alarm clock beside you blaring in your ear. A sharp pain rippled down your back, with aching limbs you forced yourself up. Apparently your body still hasn't fully recovered from sleeping on that concrete floor.

Reluctant you stood on unstable limbs and hobbled towards the bathroom. Your body almost refused to function. You didn't stay out late last night, only as much as you had to, so you finally got ok sleep. As much as you could after the stress you endured yesterday.

Dr. Ogami's death caused more emotional turmoil for you than you initially assumed it would have. Grabbing your tooth brush and paste you began your morning routine. You felt a weight like you never had before. Maybe it was seeing someone else you knew horribly mutilated, maybe it was watching someone you had grown to enjoy tear apart, said person. Maybe it was both. It was definitely both.

Your stomach felt queasy when you closed your eyes, letting the water drip down your face. The golden eyes still haunted the back of your mind. They were accustomed to you by now, yet at the same time you barely knew them.

Minutes past before you finished your routine. Brush your teeth, wash your face, shower, etc. It was the only serene moment in days flooded with, demanding schedules and dangerous anomalies. The only guarantee you had that still wasn't truly guaranteed. It seemed small, but it helped you keep going and get through each day. When all else fails, routines are all you have.

Taking your time, you grabbed your things, your bag, papers, and-

Your froze with your hand hovering over the red, sealed envelope. You had been in such a rush to get back to your apartment last night that you had almost forgotten about it.

You checked the time, you still had an hour until you had to be down in the basement. Picking up the envelope you grabbed the wax seal, it felt smoothe and made a satisfying pop. Inside a small white paper waiting patiently for you to take.

Your stomach felt heavy with anticipation. You slipped the paper out and read it's contents.

(F/N) (L/N)

678-806 Blackburn Orchard.

Head NE to West Point.

You read and reread the letter. The deep black ink was sloppily scribbled on the page. You first read it as an address, going North East.. To west? Maybe NE was meaning Nebraska? West Point, Nebraska?.. Then it could possibly be a code. The numbers above throwing you off. It wasn't a address, or a geographical point. Did Dr. Ogami write this? You stared at the paper, your brain running through all the possibilities you could think of.

With thoughts clouding your mind you decided put the paper in your pocket and head to breakfast. As much as you wanted to decipher the letter, you now had more responsibilities to take care of.

-----

Voices merged together around you creating the usual chorus of noise. You involuntarily let out a sigh full of irritation. You tried to distract yourself by thinking of anything else in a vain attempt to ignore the overwhelming sound around you. You stared down at the half eaten plate of French toast.

"So, they're letting you leave for a few days?" Chloe's words caught your attention. Immediately destroying your attempt to have a calm mind. You glanced over at her, talking to Hadley. You felt a smile tug at your lips from watching her so excited. Her expressions had always been so serious. So, seeing your friend so happy felt like a breath of fresh air.

"Yup! I finally get to go home, and I can see my daughter again." She eagerly took a bite of her French toast.

"I didn't know you had a daughter." You chimed in leading to her pulling out her wallet to show you a picture of a little girl in a blue dress with two long, blond braids, with bangs covering her forehead, and soft brown eyes. Her toothy smile was wide enough to highlight her little dimples on her pale cheeks.

"She just turned five." Hadley said

"Aww," you couldn't help but smile at the little girl.

Hadley's smile faltered for a moment. "I was so upset that I couldn't make it to her birthday, but I hope I can make that up to her," she admitted putting her wallet back into her bag.

"Oh, I'm sure she'll forgive you," Chloe casually waved her hand towards Hadley.

"Yeah, I just wish I could have been there. Or at least called her," Hadley agreed giving Chloe a sideways glance. Chloe was all to busy staring at her watch to notice her expression.

"Anyhoo, I gotta go." Chloe popped up her raven hair bouncing as she walked, "I'll see ya guys later!"

Hadley shrugged off Chloe's abrupt exit and focused back down at her plate.

"So, when are you leaving? And you only get a few days?" You picked back up with the conversation.

"Tomorrow, and thankfully my sister doesn't live too far from here. I mean it's still a good 4 hour drive or so, so I'll spend less time traveling and more time with them,"

You stared at her a little stunned that there is "civilization" only 4 hours away. After only three months of working here you had almost began to feel like you were on a different planet. You had forgotten how long it's been since you even saw the sun at least when it wasn't just through a bullet proof window.

A heavy weight started to crush your heart the more you thought about the outside world. You missed home. Your mom. You hadn't been able to talk with her at all since you left. Since the foundation strictly forbid any personal phones or unauthorized electronics.

You were upset at first, but now it's understandable. They wouldn't want any way for anyone to easily track a personnel to this place. You were, however allowed to send letters. You made a mental note to do that when you had the chance.

The thought brought you back to earlier. The letter. The one you got from what you assume was Dr. Ogami. You pulled out the letter from your bag. Maybe Hadley had a better idea of what it meant.

"Oh, Hadley. I was wondering if you could have a look at this letter? I- uh found it on my desk, but im not quite sure what it means,"

You slid the paper towards her. She stared down at the letter with a quizzical expression.

"What do you mean?" She stared at you with a raised eyebrow.

"You know, the writing on the paper. I'm honestly a little worried about it, I think it might be a code, or an address or something," you pointed at the black letters and numbers on the note.

She looked at you then back down at the paper. "Are you joking?" She asked looking a little unamused.

"No.. No, what do you mean?" You turned the question on her.

"(Y/N), that's a blank piece of paper."

You stared at her, your mouth open then closed.

"You don't? You can't see what's written here?" Your voice wavering from your nerves.

"No. It's just a white paper. I don't see anything,"

Could she really not see it? You looked back down at the paper, it was clear as day. You shook your head. Was the paper anomalous? Was she lying? Or where you officially going crazy?

You stared at the paper for a few moments processing. The silence started to feel uncomfortable.

"Uhh, heh" you let out a nervous laugh unsure of what to say.

"Sorry," you awkwardly took back the paper and messed with the seam of your skinny jeans. Hadley let out a huff of air as if trying to laugh at your 'joke'. That wasn't a joke..

Again, Hadley shrugged off the interaction focusing back on her food. The excitement returning to her eyes.

You bit your cheek. The letter might be a little bigger than you had originally thought. And if Hadley truly couldn't see it, does that mean no one else can? A bitterness hit your stomach. Yet another thing for you to face alone. Then again, that had always been a normal part of your life. Taking on life on your own. As lonely as that sounds you had gotten use to it.

You glanced up at the clock, you had to be getting down to SCP-049 soon. You felt as if there were insects crawling under your skin from the memories he... It.. It, you had to probably started calling him that. Even in your mind, that was going to be difficult. You were dreading going back there, the image of Dr. Ogami's mutilated form wasn't going to be leaving the back of your mind anytime soon, nor your nightmares.

One nice thing though, you wont be interviewing SCP-049 for a long time. Sure you can talk to him through the glass if you needed to. You pushed down your emotions, and broke the silence.

"I think I should probably get going," you said grabbing your bag and plate.

Hadley nodded and grabbed her brown messenger bag and stood along with you.

"You're still working in heavy containment?"

You nodded.

"I'm going the same way," Hadley smiled following you out. You returned her gesture, though as soon as you looked away your eyebrows furrowed. Uncertainty and stress ate at you from the inside out.

You barely made it down the hall before you realised you had made a mistake, you looked back with a sad expression. You forgot to grab a cup coffee and now, you had no more time. You would have to come back for it later, or else you might have to deal with another migraine.

------

You held your bag close to your hip as the two of you walked through the monochrome halls. Guards still flooded the halls, waiting in every corner. Your eyebrows were still furrowed. How could Hadley not see the letter? You glanced over at her tall form walking in-step beside you. Was the letter some type of SCP? It wouldn't be too far fetched since you had barely seen the tip of the iceberg of what anomalies this foundation holds, let alone what else could be outside it's walls. You pulled out your key card to get through heavy containment.

You let out a sigh. The ever present hole in your stomach growing. The possibly anomalous letter only added onto your plate. It felt like so much was happening at once.

Your mind flooded with thoughts. Overwhelmed by everything that was consuming you. The two of you exited the elevator and with only a few more turns before you would be at the last elevator.

Suddenly, everything around you went black. You were stopped in your tracks.

Screams echoed through the facility. The floor beneath you rumbled nearly knocking you off balance. Loud sirens screamed in your ears, the lights flicked back on with added red lights blaring and blinding you for a moment.

Your breathing stopped. All you could hear was the site intercom static above you.

"The site is experiencing multiple Keter and Euclid level containment breaches. All personnel immediately evacuate to ex- l-ev-"

Your heart was racing out of your chest, you could barely breathe. You heard yelling voices around you, but you could barely come to terms with what was happening. All you could see was the red light flaring. No... No no no no no.. Your panicked no's repeated in your mind. All you could do was freeze, the fear and confusion over taking you.

You felt a large, strong hand grab your arm and yank you forwards immediately breaking your trance.

"What are you doing!? Go! Follow them," a guard yelled at you and shoved you towards evacuating guards leading any nearby scientists to safety. You ran after them. Your combined footsteps echoing through the halls. It didn't take you very long to catch up with Hadley and several other scientists who had just entered heavy containment.

You heard a woman scream from behind you. Acting on instinct you looked back, your face dropped and your eyes widened at the wall rapidly molding and decaying behind you. A large humanoid figure stepped out from the wall. It resembled a man though it was completely covered in black goop and wrinkles all over his body. It wore a brown vest over it's pitch black body and it had beady black eyes that almost completely blended in with its skin. It smiled with decaying lips curling over it's yellow teeth.

A sickening giggle came from the monster as it watched it's prey, another scientist, disappear into the moldy black ground before anyone could respond.

"SCP-106 has been spotted outside of heavy containment entrance," a guard said into his walkie.

The entity's black pools trickled through the hallway. Across the floors, walls and headed strait for the group. Guards pushed themselves towards SCP-106. Gun shots fired around you as you ran towards the elevator. The guard ahead was frantically pushing the elevator button.

A loud gurgling mixed with gun shots, and blaring lights. You stood close to the group of scientists unsure of what to do with yourself, you didn't know what to do. A man quietly cried beside you. The gurgling was close.

You risked a look back at the guards firing in vain. Half of them were gone. SCP-106 was close. The smell of rotting flesh burned your nose.

"Damn it! Open!" The guard screamed his panic rising in his voice. Finally there was a ding and the elevator opened. Everyone hurried inside. But, as if you had stepped in glue you could barely lift your feet from the floor. Staring down in horror you watched as the black goop climbed up you shoes and onto your legs.

Letting out a scream you faught against the tar-like substance only for it to grow faster the more you moved. You tried to rip your legs out of it's grasp but to no avail. You started to sink. Fast. It was only seconds before you were waist deep in the ground.

"(Y/N)!" You felt Hadley grab your hand with both of hers and start to pull. Her feet sliding against the floor slowly crept closer to the hole. You pushed against solid ground trying to free yourself from the wet mold engulfing your body. Even with all Hadley's strength and your pushing the hole was winning. Growing to engulf your hand you had used to push against the floor.

Tears started to flood your eyes, blurring your vision. There was no way out. The sludge had gotten to your neck, then your face. Your arm burning from your friend's desperate pull.

The wet tar covered your face, covering your mouth and nose. Suffocating you. Slowly everything around you began to fade into black. Hadley's grasp was ripped away as you further descended into the bottomless black pit.

You could barely move, the black substance squishing you and binding your limbs. You didn't dare open your eyes. Your heart pounded in your ears, you tried to breath but the tar clogged your mouth and nostrils.

"(Y/N)!" Her voice was the last thing you heard before the black mold covered your ears and mixed in with your hair. The black mush squashing all around you pulling you deeper into its endless grasp.

You couldn't hold your breath any longer.

The last inclination of hope was riped away from you as your fingertips slowly disappeared from the surface.

-------