230 Second Floor

Those visions that I saw, I assume is of what had occurred in the past, caused a wave of uncertainty to spread through my mind, affecting with my ability to think clearly. When combined with the hypnotizing sound of our footsteps in this silent and dark hallway and the fatigue that our body was just reminded of, it made my brain feel rather foggy. The lack of sleep must be taking its toll on my body as I occasionally felt a light-headed sensation taking over my mind, a feeling that is almost as if I was floating. Each step that I took led to my legs feeling even heavier, and it felt as if my heart was beating harder and harder under the stress. This stressful march felt rather familiar as well with the weight of the rifle on my back.

I looked over my shoulder at Muria. Her face was rather pale due to her fatigue. She appears to not have notice me looking over at her as she kept her eyes fixed on the dark road ahead of us. Even though she looked rather sluggish, she seemed to be holding up rather well, so I looked back at the road ahead.

I didn't know how long it took for us to reach the stairway, but it felt like an eternity. The flow of time seemed to have been slowed as our mind struggled to cope with the distress that our bodies were undergoing. In the end, we did reach the stairs safely without any dangers, but I still remained on guard and kept a hand on the rifle that was slung over my shoulder. Just in case of any surprises, I would be able to react at a moment's notice.

"Almost there," I muttered to Muria, who nodded in response as we finally stepped foot on the second floor.

On the second floor, I immediately searched for stairs up to the third floor. However, there was none nearby. All that was present was the stairway that the others used to reach the second floor. Therefore, I assume that the stairs must be on the opposite side of the building.

"Why the hell did they design this place like that," I muttered under my breath.

"We'll still have to walk for a bit more," Muria sighed.

"Yeah," I nodded and then observed the two routes available to us. I took out my phone and turned on the flashlight, shining the light towards the ground. I searched for tracks on the dusty floor, but to my surprise...there were two separate set of tracks.

"What's wrong?" Muria asked as she walked over and looked at the wooden floor leading to both routes. Upon seeing the ground, she also frowned as she recognized what is the situation.

"Both sides seem pretty new," I frowned and shined the light between the two hallways. "And both seemed to be used by many people. It doesn't seem like they split up. Then this means..."

"There's more people here than we originally though," Muria whispered in a solemn tone.

I continued to stare at the ground with a worried frown on my face. After a while, I closed my eyes and reached out towards Alvelyn, hoping to gather information from her.

"Which way did you go?" I asked her.

"Right," she responded.

"How's the situation?"

"Not much. Everyone's safe. But...watch out. There's...disturbing stuff."

"Got it."

I opened my eyes after this mental conversation with Alvelyn, glad that I have a pair of eyes keeping in check the situation of the other group. I thought back on what Emilia had said to me about finding having two bodies useful. Sure enough, having two bodies is extremely useful.

"We'll go right," I said to Muria. "They came up from the stairs on the right of the building, so they'll probably go right."

I looked over at Muria for her reaction, but she simply remained silent. She gazed in the direction that I was referring to and nodded in acknowledgement of my reasoning. I waited for a few moments to see if there was anything that she would like to add, but after sensing that she's probably waiting for me to take the lead, I let out a sigh and started walking.

After taking a few steps down the hallway on the right, I immediately heard the noise that Alvelyn had warned me about. It was so abrupt and surprising, that even I wasn't expecting it. The sound was...rather unnerving. Sounds of footsteps came from the other side of the closed doors, and there seemed to be no signs of them stopping. In addition to those footsteps, there were also series of high-pitched nightmarish laughter, one that seemed to be deprived of sanity as it grew louder in volume before stopping and resuming after a few seconds. The laughter, sounded hideous as there were sounds of rapid, deep breathing starting it off, making it seem as if the source of the laughter is in a state of great frenzy and is severely delirious in nature.

Immediately, I grabbed onto the rifle and brought it before me. Holding it in my hands with the stock pressed against my shoulder, I stopped in my tracks and aimed at the doorway leading to the first room to our right. With Muria standing close behind me, the two of us held our breaths and remained still.

"What is that?" Muria whispered softly to me.

"Did Noah mention where the 'patients' were kept?"

"I don't think so," Muria shook her head. "I guess it's the second floor..."

"But it's been seventy years..." I muttered in disbelief. "They must've had the patients reproduce. That man roaming the hallways, the Warden, he must've been a child of that man."

"Probably," Muria frowned. "That room with the painting...it seemed to be kept in the best condition out of all of the rooms."

"Do the people here worship that guy?" I said, feeling a sense of anger swell up in my mind at the mention of that man.

"I don't know," Muria shook her head.

"Let's continue," I whispered after a sigh.

Even though I had suggested that we continue down the hallway, I was reluctant to step foot there. On either side of the hallway, there seemed to be rooms containing a "patient", and it seemed as if these 'patients' are never still and are constantly walking about while making that creepy laughter that just seemed to echo in the hallway. I looked over at the doors leading into the first two rooms on either side of the hallway, checking to see if there were signs of any activity. I squinted my eye as I tried to see past the darkness and dust at the door handles and at the dusty glass windows that obscured what's within the rooms. Holding my breath, I slowly leaned forward, until suddenly, a loud BANG echoed down the hallway, startling me and causing me to jump.

"What was that?" I asked as my heart raced in my heaving chest while I gasped for air. I held up the rifle and pointed it down the hallway, aiming down the sights and ready to open fire on anything that would move. However, I could see nothing in this darkness that acted as if a curtain that shielded the hallway from me.

"Alevian..."

I felt Muria's gentle hand pressed on my back. Her hand was cold, so cold that I could feel it through the fabric of my hoodie, but even then, it still had a comforting effect on my soul. Slowly, my heart rate returned to normal and my deep breathing stabilized.

I gazed down the hallway and into the cloud of darkness, listening as rounds of horrifying laughter continued to echo in the hallway, almost as if mocking me for being frightened. The loud sound that I had heard just earlier rang down the hallway once again, echoing off the old, wooden walls and to my location.

"That sounds like something hitting a metal bar," Muria commented while keeping her calming hand in contact with my back.

"Instead of rooms, do they have prison cells further down this hallway?"

"Maybe," she nodded. "The only way to find out is to go down this hallway."

"We have to go down this?" I muttered to myself, unsettled by the laughter that now continued endlessly.

Walking down this hallway, we will definitely see the 'patients' kept in this forgotten asylum. These 'patients'...they're still here after seventy years, so they must be descendants of the earlier 'patients'. So, how mutilated would their bodies be? Just trying to image it made my stomach rather uncomfortable. But even then, I must continue on.

Between the nightmarish sounds of laughter were the sounds of rapid and deep breathing, which amplified the horrifying factor of the hallway. It is this unsettling laughter that made me feel uncomfortable continuing on. But...I must continue on.

I must continue on.