“I’m not going in unless you come with me." Odelia cups her hands over her eyes as she peers through the cloudy glass of the rusted hospital door.

"I'm just not sure; what if there's a crazy homeless man or a dead body?" Wren says hesitantly as she watches Odelia shove lightly on the door.

"Wren, there's not going to be a dead body." Odelia laughs softly, looking back at her friend, "I know this stuff freaks you out, but wouldn't it be nice to try to get out of your safety bubble for once?"

Wren tugs on her sweater sleeve before glancing up at Odelia. She sighs dramatically before stepping forward to help her unstick the door. Odelia smiles and teasingly shoves her before kicking the door in. The door swings open with a shriek as its rusted hinges wail. They both stand stagnant for a moment before Odelia grabs Wren's wrist and pulls her inside.

Immediately, the smell of rotting wood and damp mildew fills their senses.

Wren coughs into her sleeve and looks up at Odelia. "It smells terrible in here. Are you sure we aren't inhaling dangerous mold spores or something?" Wren asks, her sleeve still over her mouth.

"We just walked in. Can you survive more than thirty seconds without worrying?" Odelia pleads.

"Fine, but if I drop dead, it's your fault."

They continue walking through the entry hallway. The wallpaper is peeling off the walls, showing the gray concrete underneath. Moss covers the walls while plants grow through the tile floor. The electricity had been cut off, so the only light was provided by the rays of the sun peeking through the decaying ceiling. They reach the main lobby room. A large wooden front desk forms a semicircle in the room. The desk is covered in dust, scattered papers, and a large computer in the center. Surrounding the desk are four evenly spaced hallways, each labeled with a large number.

"So where should we go first?" Odelia asks, her footsteps echoing through the empty halls. Wren looks down the hallway labeled 3.

"I think we should go down this one," Wren points down the hallway. "It looks the least scary."

Odelia nods and follows her lead down the hallway. The building is eerily silent. The only noise is the echo of their footsteps and the sound of their breath. Goosebumps line Odelia's arms as she attempts to stop her chattering teeth. January was not the smartest month to wear short sleeves, especially as the sun went down.

Wren notices her shivering and laughs. “Did you not bring a jacket? It's freezing outside.”

Odeila rolls her eyes and points into one of the rooms. “Let's go in here first.”

They walk into the room and begin to look around. The room seems to be an operating room. There is a large patient table in the middle of the room. The leather is peeling off the table, showing the yellow foam underneath. There are many cabinets lining the walls, seemingly overflowing with tools, vials, and papers. Many of the cabinet doors are falling off their hinges, with a few already lying on the floor. Wren flips through a few documents lying on the floor while Odelia studies the medical equipment next to the operating table.

After a few moments, Odelia glances over her shoulder to look at Wren and freezes.

Wren is frozen in place, unnaturally so. She is standing straight up now, her breathing is short and shallow, and her hands shake slightly. She seems to be holding a piece of paper, possibly a file. While Odelia can’t see her face, she can sense the fear radiating off of her.

“Wren, what's wrong?” Odelia asks softly. She begins to step toward her, “What is it?”

Wren turns towards her slowly, her eyes wide and distant. The sight of her face sends a sharp chill down Odelia's spine. Her mouth is open, as if about to speak, but no words make it out. She looks like a deer in headlights.

Odelia steps toward her once more, grabbing onto her free wrist. “Wren,” She says once more, searching her eyes for answers.

Wren breaks eye contact and looks back down at the paper. She makes an inaudible noise, then breathes deeply. “I don’t understand. W-What does it mean? I don’t understand.” Wren begins to spiral, repeating the words over and over again until Odeila shakes her lightly.

“Wren, breathe, what are you panicking about?” Odeila glances down at the paper Wren is clutching. She looks back up at Wren, and Wren nods, her face growing paler.

Odelia takes the paper from her and begins to read. At first, it seems like a normal document; at the top, it lists the hospital name, the date, and other boring information Odelia skims over. Her eyes trace the page, looking for the cause of her concern. Suddenly, Odelia's heart drops. She looks up at Wren, who seems to be on the verge of tears. At the top of the document, in the section labeled "name," "Odelia Brown" was scribbled in blue pen ink. Further down the paper were two sections, date of birth and date of death. Written in the same blue ink were two dates, April 17th, 1986, Odelia's date of birth, and one eerily familiar date, January 3rd, 2003, today's date, under date of death. The left-hand side of the paper showed a black-and-white image. Odelia squinted and leaned forward into the paper to make out the image in the faint light. The image was a grainy photo of Odelia smiling sweetly at the camera.

“How...I don’t...Hold on.” Odelia reads the paper over again before holding her hands over her face. “We need to leave, now.”

Odelia grabs hold of Wren's arm and begins to drag her quickly out of the door. The hallway is dark now that the sun has set, making it difficult to see down the passage. They begin to rush down the hallway, occasionally stumbling over a loose tile or a patch of wet moss. Their footsteps echo down the hallway as they pick up speed.

“How long is this hallway? I don’t remember walking this far.” Wren pants as she stumbles behind Odelia. Odelia halts for a moment as she catches her breath.

“No, something is wrong. Seriously wrong.” Odelia's hands begin to shake. “Wren, what is going on. I feel like I’m going crazy.”

Wren begins to walk in circles. “So what, we found a certificate of death document with your information on it somehow, the sun is now completely set, even though we came in here less than 30 minutes ago, and now we're stuck in this stupid hallway that apparently goes on forever?” Wren sinks to the ground, “Maybe this is just a shared hallucination caused by the mold particles or something.”

Odelia laughs before sinking next to Wren. “Yeah, maybe we're just hallucinating.”

After a moment, their attention is drawn to a soft thud around 20 feet behind them. Both girls look at each other slowly and silently agree to continue their walk down the passage. As they walk, the hallway begins to darken. Wren can feel Odelia begin to tense. Her steps become inconsistent as she begins to shove into Wren's side.

“Hey, are you ok? You’re stumbling into me.” Wren whispers, concerned.

“Yeah, I’m ok. I’m lightheaded thats all.” Odelia wraps her arm around Wren's to stabilize herself and continues walking.

The air surrounding them begins to grow cold and damp, stinging their faces and sticking to their skin like dew. They begin to feel the ground beneath grow increasingly uneven with every step they take; tiles are uprooted by plant life and coated in a thick layer of moss. Their shoes begin to catch underneath the detached tiles, causing them to frequently stumble and trip over themselves.

Wren's thoughts grow louder with every passing second. Nothing makes sense. Things are moving too fast for her mind to keep up with. What is happening right now? What is the point of walking further when they already know it's not leading anywhere? Why have the last few minutes played out like a horror movie? What. Is. Going. On?

Wren's thoughts are abruptly interrupted by a deafening crash from deep in the darkness.

Odelia jumps and digs her nails into Wren's arm before breaking into a sprint.

“Odelia, what-?” Wren makes out before beginning to rush down the hallway with her.

As they run, more noises echo from behind them. The harder and faster they go, the louder the crashes seem. Tiles from the rotting ceiling begin to fall in all directions around them, occasionally dropping onto their shoulders or rebounding off their backs. The walls around them seem to grow tighter, giving them less space to dodge the collapsing ceiling. One broken tile slices a gape into the side of Odelia's cheek, causing blood to pour down her neck and absorb into her shirt. Odelia falters as her head begins to spin, her heartbeat echoes in her ears, and her face grows hot. Wren continues to drag her along, using her arm to support Odelia upright.

Crashes begin to transform into what could be described as heavy footsteps, cracking the tiles, and slamming into walls. Neither Wren nor Odelia is able to look back at whatever could possibly be following them, but all they know is that they have to keep moving.

Odelia continues to grow heavier and heavier on Wren's shoulder, her footsteps dragging more often than lifting. Without warning, Odelia's foot locks underneath an uprooted tile, and she collapses to the floor. Wren immediately attempts to get her standing again, adrenaline flowing through her blood. Her hand fumbles to get a grip over her shoulders to hoist her up, but Odelia is much too heavy for Wren to carry on her own.

“No! Please, please, you have to help me.” Wren begs, “Get up, I can’t leave you here!”

Odelia shakes her head, her eyes trying with all their might to stay open. She tries to hoist herself off the ground, but collapses back to where she started. Tears are streaming down Wren's face now as she tries to figure out what to do.

“Please. Please.” Wren wraps her arms around Odelia protectively as she listens to the crashing footsteps get closer and closer. Suddenly, everything in the hallway goes silent. Odelia weakly grabs hold of Wren's hand and squeezes as hard as she can muster. The gash on her cheek burns like boiling water on an open wound.

One second goes by, then another, then, slowly, out from the darkness something begins to emerge. Shrouded in the dim of the hallway, a spider-like creature stands silently. Its silhouette appears as tall as the ceiling, with limbs bent at joints that seem to be backwards. Nothing else can be made out except for three red eyes carved in the center of its torso. One of the mutated limbs begins to slowly reach towards Odelia's body. Wren begins to shuffle backwards, dragging Odelia with her, but it is no use. The limb is too fast and too accurate to be stopped. Within seconds, the thing's hand wraps around her leg. The hand is burning cold, and at least twice as large as a humans, with fingers long enough to fully wrap around her calf. Odelia lets out a guttural scream as the arm begins to drag her across the ground.

Wren holds on to her arms and plants her feet in between two tiles. “NO! PLEASE, LET HER GO!” Wren cries, but to no avail. Her hands begin to slide as the creature pulls harder.

Suddenly, Wren loses her grip. Odelia is dragged into the darkness with one last scream and suddenly, silence. Wren cries out and stumbles to her feet. She begins to sprint down the hallway faster than she ever has before. Her mind is blank as hot tears run down her face, and her body shakes. Through her blurry vision, Wren sees something up ahead. As she gets closer, she realizes it was the wooden front desk they had seen when they first broke in. She makes it to the desk and instantly turns right. The entrance doors are now feet in front of her, one still ajar from Odelia's breaking and entry. Wren rushes out of them and escapes into the fresh night air. Her heart is racing out of her chest, her head is pounding like a drum, and her legs burn like fire, yet she keeps running. She runs through the woods, over roots and sticks and overturned logs. She dodges trees, holes, and branches as she runs blindly through the brush.

Her friend is gone. Odelia is gone. Wren can still feel her grip on her hand. What is she going to tell people? What is she going to do? Why did she agree to go with her?

Hundreds of thoughts pool in her brain as thorns rip her jeans and branches scratch her face. Minutes go by before she reaches the edge of the forest, the edge of her neighbor's backyard. She collapses onto the grass as her heavy breathing rattles her body. Part of her is aware of her neighbors' presence, kneeling beside her, shouting concerned questions into her ears. But she can’t hear what they are trying to say, and she doesn’t want to. She can only visualize the horrible sound of Odelia's last scream. It repeats over and over in her head until it fills all her senses. She is dead to the outside world. All she can think about is Odeilia.