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Rachel Gardner tightened her grip on her flashlight as she walked down a crumbling hallway, in the one place she thought she’d never return to. But rumors of a spirit haunting the building had caught her curiosity—though she wasn’t exactly the superstitious type, she couldn’t ignore the strange lure she felt pulling her back.
“Remind me why we’re doing this again?” Zack grumbled, gripping his scythe as he trailed behind her. His voice bounced around the walls, resonating with a strange, eerie echo. He’d followed Rachel here, reluctantly, just to keep her safe—or so he claimed.
"Because… maybe I can find answers here," Rachel replied quietly. She stopped, turning back to face him. The dim moonlight streaming through broken windows barely lit her somber expression. “If I have to face whatever’s left in this place, I’d rather do it on Halloween, when I can feel… something.”
Zack rolled his eyes. “Well, if we find somethin’, I’ll just hack it up, all right? I don’t see what’s so special about tonight anyway. It’s just another night for killin’—if we even find anything worth the effort.”
But as the two ventured deeper into the labyrinthine hospital, the air grew colder. Shadows stretched and twisted along the walls, forming shapes that danced and faded when Zack’s scythe gleamed in the moonlight. Rachel was focused, as if listening to something Zack couldn’t hear.
“Rachel,” he hissed, finally breaking the silence. “Let’s get outta here. It’s creepy, and I’ve got no patience for these stupid legends.”
She ignored him, taking another step forward. Her flashlight flickered, casting light on a rusty, old elevator with a jagged crack down its front. It looked ready to collapse, but something about it drew her in.
“Zack, don’t you think it’s strange that an elevator would still be here?” she murmured.
He shrugged. “It’s an elevator, Rachel. It doesn’t—”
Before he could finish, the elevator door rattled open with a screech, as if inviting them in. An unexplainable chill settled over them.
“Oh, no way, we’re not gettin’ in there.” Zack stepped back, scythe raised as though he could cut through whatever invisible force was taunting them.
Ignoring his protests, Rachel stepped inside. The walls were lined with cracked mirrors, all slightly warped, giving their reflections a nightmarish quality. Zack followed reluctantly, keeping close behind.
Suddenly, the elevator lurched downward with a deafening groan, plunging them into total darkness. Rachel’s flashlight flickered off, leaving them in an abyss of shadows.
Just then, a faint voice crackled over an old intercom. “Welcome back, dear visitors. I knew you’d return eventually… on Halloween of all days…”
Zack clenched his fists. “Whoever’s there, come out, and I’ll show you a real Halloween nightmare!”
The voice laughed—a dry, bone-chilling sound that echoed endlessly down the empty halls. “Oh, but I’m already here, Zack. I never left.”
Rachel’s heart raced as she realized the voice belonged to an old doctor she remembered—a figure who had haunted her dreams long after she left the hospital. But it couldn’t be him. He was long dead… wasn’t he?
“Why are you here?” she whispered.
“To finish what we started, Rachel,” the voice replied smoothly. “On Halloween, the boundary between life and death is weak… and for some of us, it’s nonexistent.”
The elevator shuddered to a stop. Zack forced the doors open, his expression fierce, and the two stumbled out into a pitch-black hallway.
Rachel’s flashlight flickered on again, casting light on a twisted figure at the end of the hall—a doctor in a bloodstained coat, his face pale and translucent, eyes fixed on her with a chilling intensity. Zack swung his scythe, but it passed right through the figure.
“What kind of sick trick is this?” Zack snarled.
The doctor laughed softly, and suddenly, Rachel found herself feeling the old fear again—the one that had bound her to this hospital, that had kept her trapped in its maze-like corridors.
“Let’s play a game, Rachel. One last trial,” the doctor taunted, his voice now echoing from every direction. “If you win, you get to leave… and if you lose, you stay here with me… forever.”
Zack stood in front of her protectively. “Nice try, pal, but we’re getting out of here.” He raised his scythe and charged, swinging at the doctor’s apparition, only to find himself surrounded by dozens of shadowy figures, all former patients and doctors, their faces twisted with anguish and despair.
“Rachel…” the doctor’s voice drifted. “You know what you must do.”
Her grip on the flashlight tightening. “I won’t stay here with you. Not again.”
The doctor’s apparition loomed at the end of the hallway, his bloodstained coat shifting in the dim light as he stared at Rachel with hollow eyes. A mocking smile played on his lips.
“Rachel,” he drawled, his voice slithering through the darkness like a whisper, “one final trial it is then…” He let the words hang, a promise as chilling as the frigid air around them.
Zack raised his scythe and took a threatening step forward. “I don’t know what kinda ghost story you think you’re tellin’, but you’re not keepin’ her here. I’ll slice you into pieces!”
The doctor only chuckled. “Ah, Zack. Always so protective. But this test is not yours—it’s hers.” He gestured, and the floor beneath Rachel’s feet rippled, swallowing her whole. Zack swung his scythe at the ground in panic, but his blade met only darkness as Rachel vanished into a black void.
When Rachel opened her eyes, she was in a room she recognized all too well. White walls, fluorescent lights flickering above, and an empty hospital bed. Her bed.
She gasped, looking down. She was wearing the old hospital gown she’d worn when she was trapped here. Her hand gripped the edge of the bed tightly as she steadied herself, the cold, suffocating weight of dread settling in her chest.
The doctor’s voice filled the room, gentle yet taunting. “Welcome back, Rachel. Do you remember this place? This is where we started, you and I.”
Rachel clenched her fists. “This isn’t real. I’m free.”
“Are you?” the doctor countered, his form materializing in the shadows of the room. “Let’s see if that’s true. In this trial, you’ll confront every fear, every guilt, and every memory you tried to bury.” He waved his hand, and suddenly, images began to flicker across the walls.
Scenes from her past—nightmares she had fought to forget.
The image of her parents, cold and lifeless, with their faces twisted in shock. A younger version of herself, staring blankly, unfeeling, as sirens wailed in the background. Shadows of the hospital’s many “doctors” appeared, each one mocking her, reminding her of her guilt and helplessness, her desire to escape—her wish to be “saved.”
The voices swirled around her, growing louder, merging into a maddening cacophony. Each word dug into her mind like a dagger.
“You don’t deserve salvation, Rachel,” the doctor’s voice slithered in her ear, weaving around her memories like a snake. “No one can save you—not Zack, not anyone. Deep down, you know you belong here.”
“No,” Rachel whispered, struggling to keep her focus. “No, I don’t.”
But the images intensified. She saw herself wandering the halls of the hospital, searching for salvation, clinging to her fragile hope that someone—anyone—might save her. It felt like drowning, each image another wave pulling her deeper into an endless sea.
And then, amidst the chaos, Zack’s voice pierced through. “RACHEL!” His voice sounded faint but desperate, echoing through her mind like a lifeline.
Rachel latched onto the sound. “Zack…?”
She looked around, and suddenly she was no longer alone. Zack stood there, clutching his scythe, his gaze fierce and resolute. “C’mon, Rachel! Snap out of it! This is some dumb mind game!”
“Zack…” Rachel whispered, her voice barely above a tremor.
Zack took a step toward her, his eyes unwavering. “You know that’s garbage, right? We’ve been through hell together—you don’t need to stay here. You’re stronger than whatever creepy tricks he’s pullin’ on you.”
The doctor’s figure reappeared, sneering. “Ah, Zack. You can’t save her. She has to face herself.” He waved his hand, and the room morphed again. This time, Rachel found herself in an endless hallway lined with mirrors.
Each mirror reflected a different version of her—some lost and afraid, others blank and expressionless, and a few cold and angry. As she walked past them, the reflections began to step out from the mirrors, encircling her like ghosts.
One reflection, her eyes hollow and cold, stepped forward. “You’ll never be free, Rachel. Salvation is a lie. You wanted to be saved, but now you’re just as lost as you were then.”
Another reflection, younger and more fragile, reached out to her, crying, “It’s hopeless, Rachel! You can’t escape what you are!”
Rachel backed away, her heart pounding. The reflections closed in, their voices rising in a haunting chorus that threatened to drown her.
But Zack’s voice broke through the noise. “Rachel! Remember what you said—you’re not afraid anymore!”
Rachel took a deep breath, her mind clearing. Zack was right—she wasn’t the same person she used to be. She had found a purpose, a reason to fight, a reason to keep moving forward.
Turning to face her reflections, Rachel straightened, her voice steady and defiant. “I’m not who you say I am. I’m done with this place, and I’m done with you.”
The reflections faltered, their forms flickering, before dissolving into smoke.
The doctor’s sneer vanished, replaced by a flash of anger. “You may think you’re free, Rachel, but you’ll never escape your past.”
Rachel’s gaze was unwavering as she faced him. “I’m not afraid of you.”
With those words, the hospital room shattered, leaving her standing next to Zack in the real world. The darkness melted away, the doctor’s voice fading into an empty, defeated whisper.
As the light returned, Zack looked her over, a wide grin stretching across his face. “See? I told ya you could do it! Knew you weren’t that scared little kid anymore.”
Rachel nodded, a slight smile breaking through her usual stoic expression. “We should go”
They turned, walking side by side through the hallways, leaving behind the ghosts of the past, their final trial complete. As they stepped outside, the dawn was just beginning to break, bathing them in a warm, golden light—a fitting end to their Halloween night and the horrors they’d left behind.