"HELP!!!!" Screamed the shrieking voice of a little girl.
Running through the frightening corridors of an abandoned hospital, Max came to a halt when he heard the terrified voice of a young girl. Panicking, he began glancing in every direction trying to pinpoint her location in fear for the little girl.
It was eerily dark in the hospital with few dim-lit flickering lights still operational. The walls and ceiling were worn with water damage, and decorated with stains, cracks, mold, and dry blood. The malodorous stench of death lingered throughout the corridors. The hospital's furniture was still there, aged just as the building had, and left behind in a chaotic mess. Waiting room chairs were left knocked over, hospital monitors were left lying broken on the floor, patient beds were left out in the hallway with bloodstains on the cushions, and worst of all, piles of dead flies covered the dusty floor.
Max's heart was racing, he knew he was not alone. Something else was lurking in the corridors of this insidious hospital. The feeling of extreme horror left Max petrified with a cold chill running up his spine. Another terrifying shriek from the little girl pierced his eardrums and he woke up startled in his bed with sweat dripping from his face.
---
The clock read 3:00 am, Max got up and poured himself a cold glass of water.
His heart was still racing and his hands shook while he pressed the glass to his lips standing over the kitchen sink. It was just a nightmare, he told himself repeatedly. It was just a nightmare.
Although he tried, Max couldn't fall back asleep that night. At 7:20 am, his alarm went off and he rolled out of bed. Max worked in an office, on the 3rd floor. He was one of the accountants for a Fortune 500 company.
The coffee kept him awake throughout the day, but he couldn't escape the thought of his night terror. It was just a dream. He would continue to tell himself. It was just a dream, nothing more. But after living through such a traumatic experience in a strangely detailed environment, although it had such surreal characteristics, the memory stuck in his mind all day.
That night Max went home, made food, and watched a couple of episodes of Suits on Netflix before crawling into bed.
---
"HELP!!!!" Screamed the shrieking voice of the little girl.
Running through the frightening corridors of the abandoned hospital, Max came to a halt when he heard the terrified voice of the young girl. Panicking, he began glancing in every direction trying to pinpoint her location in fear for the little girl. The situation felt eerily familiar to him.
He began cautiously walking in the direction of the scream. Another shriek rattled through the hospital. This time Max was close to the location of the little girl. He ran towards the scream, turning a corner to reveal the sickening scene of a half-eaten girl, no older than 10 years, torn apart in a pool of blood with her intestines ripped from her stomach. Max began to feel nauseous from the obscene display before his eyes. The little girl's jaw hung from her face, her palate and nasal cavities mangled from the unknown predator, and her cloudy eyes bloodshot, staring horrifically in the direction of Max.
Frozen in fear, he stood stunned with a cloudy mind and a throbbing head. A loud rattling and banging noise shook him to his core. Once again, Max woke up confused and disoriented with sweat dripping from his forehead.
---
The clock read 3:00 am, Max got up and poured himself a cold glass of water.
He hesitated before reaching for the glass, still in shock from the terrifying detail of his horrific nightmare. He slowly sipped from the glass and reminded himself it's just a nightmare. It's just a nightmare.
Knowing there was no chance he was falling asleep after that, Max began to work out in his home gym. He lived on the 7th floor of a high-rise apartment complex, alone in a small two-bedroom apartment. One bedroom served as his bedroom and the other he turned into a small personal workout room. Even after an hour of intense weightlifting, the horrors of his night terror still plagued his mind. It was just a dream, it wasn't real. It was just a dream.
Alternatively, Max went for a run to free his mind from the disturbing images in his nightmare. He ran at a moderate pace for approximately ten minutes before slowing down to catch his breath. By this time the sky was beginning to brighten up but it was still dark and there was no sign of the sun. He walked down a road next to a public park in his city. The park was empty, there were few cars on the streets, and Max was alone. He had managed to lose the thought of his nightmare and felt relieved.
Noticing something lying in the middle of the street, Max's curiosity took over and he walked up to find the grotesque remnants of a roadkill. It was a raccoon with its intestines splattered on the road in a disturbingly similar manner to the little girl in his nightmare, inducing a recollection of the sinister imagery. Max began to heave, vomiting on the road in front of him. He then composed himself and immediately ran back to the apartment.
It was a Friday, unable to function effectively Max called in sick for work.
---
"HELP!!!!" Screamed the shrieking voice of the little girl once again.
Running through the frightening corridors of the abandoned hospital, Max came to a halt when he heard the terrified voice of the young girl. Remembering the horror from the night before, he ran to the little girl's location. As he rounded the corner, the little girl screamed in agony as a gruesome creature tore into her stomach to devour her organs.
Knelt over the body was a seven foot-tall-dark slimy creature resembling a severely anorexic human with long bony fingers, red glowing eyes, and sharp pointy ears. Its head was nearly bald with a few scraggly hairs remaining and you could see every bone in its emaciated body.
The fear consumed Max as he stood paralyzed in horror. He began breathing rapidly and shaking anxiously. The creature looked up from the corpse of the young girl with blood dripping from its razor-sharp teeth. The lights began visibly flickering on and off and the creature jolted towards Max waking him up. Once again, back in his bead with sweat pouring from his face.
---
The clock read 3:00 am, Max got up and poured himself a cold glass of water.
There was a sliding glass door in the living area of Max's apartment leading to an outside balcony. As Max stood near the sink in the kitchen drinking his water, he saw a tall shadowy figure quickly dash past his balcony outside the glass door. It... it was only a nightmare he reassured himself, although, for the first time, he was unsure if he believed it was only a nightmare.
After finishing his drink, Max hastily returned to his room in a paranoid state. Fearing for his life, he slid his wardrobe in front of the door to block any would-be intruders. He crawled into bed and spent the entire morning hidden under his covers curled up in fear. It was just a dream... It was just a dream he said shaking.
After finally convincing himself there was no reason to be afraid, Max emerged from his covers hesitantly. He nervously pulled the curtains back from the window to let sunlight inside. It was 3:00 pm on a beautiful sunny day with a clear blue sky. Everything was okay.
Max made himself a coffee to calm his nerves, grabbed his laptop, and sitting on his balcony he began to research night terrors and recurring dreams. Through his research, he ventured down the internet rabbit hole to articles about the spiritual meanings of recurrent dreams, medical conditions like schizophrenia, and even the mythical folklore of creatures like the Nordic Mare and Wendigo.
After hours of exploring the depths of the internet, Max made a quick meal and went to sleep.
---
"HELP!!!!" Screamed the shrieking voice of a little girl.
Running through the frightening corridors of an abandoned hospital, Max came to a halt when he heard the terrified voice of a young girl. He stood still, frozen in nervous contemplation. After the second shriek rang through the halls of the hospital, he decided to visit the scene of the attack. It's just a dream. Nothing to worry about. None of this is real. He reassured himself.
There was a chilling cold temperature and it was deathly quiet aside from the buzz of the lights. The hospital had a sinister aura and a feeling of uncertainty plagued Max. It began to feel real for him, he pinched himself and felt nothing. It must be a dream. It must be. He slowly crept around the corner of the corridor where the little girl's body used to be. The creature, kneeling in the same position, stared directly at Max with nothing but the blood of the little girl puddled on the floor in front of it.
Heart racing and hands shaking in horror, Max forgot he was dreaming. A chill ran down his spine, he tried to run but could not move. Paralyzed in fear as the creature slowly stood up and crept towards him, Max began to cry. The creature stood face to face with Max, running its finger along his face. Max started hyperventilating and the creature opened its mouth screaming like a mountain lion. As it snapped its jaws over Max's head, he woke up in his bed, drenched in sweat and struggling to catch his breath.
---
The clock read 3:00 am, Max got up and poured himself a cold glass of water.
"HELP!!!!" Screamed the shrieking voice of a little girl. Max dropped his glass out of his hand and the shards shattered across the floor. The voice came from outside in the hallway. He stared in horror at the door of his apartment. "HELP!!!!" Screamed the shrieking voice once more.
Max slowly walked towards the door while breathing heavily and sweating from fear. He grabbed the door handle with a shaking hand and stood still as he debated opening the door. With a stroke of courage, Max opened the door. He walked out into the hallway and noticed it was empty. Confused and disoriented he tried to make sense of the situation.
The lights at the end of the hallway began to flash on and off. A cold chill ran down Max's spine as he glanced at the flashing lights. A light breeze began to blow through the hallway, and suddenly the creature appeared in the hallway of Max's apartment complex with its red glowing eyes. Then it was gone with a blink and the lights stopped flashing. Max couldn't believe his eyes, he pinched his arm and felt a sting.
In a moment Max was back in his room with the doors locked and the wardrobe blocking the entrance. He sat on the edge of his bed with a kitchen knife until the sun rose. Max was never the religious type, but that Sunday morning he went to church.
---
The next night Max decided not to sleep, staying up with the blockage at the door and a kitchen knife in his hand. He could hear the desperate screams of the little girl and the vicious screams of the evil creature coming from outside his bedroom door.
At 7:00 am he left the bedroom to prepare a hot shower before work. Blood poured from the faucet instead of water, leaving Max terrified. He opted out of having a shower that day. Max walked into the office with an untucked shirt, messy hair, dark circles under his bloodshot eyes, and the horrendous stench of four-day-old body odor. His supervisor sent him home.
The next day, after an identical night of solitude locked in his room, Max returned to work in the same disturbed state. His boss sent him home again and ordered a mandatory psychological evaluation. Upon returning home, he locked himself in the bedroom with his knife and stayed wide awake for another night. He could still hear the screams from both the girl and the creature outside of his room, all night. It was no longer "just a dream" and his life quickly became a nightmare.
---
"What brought you to seek mental health treatment?" A psychiatrist asked Max politely. Shrugging it off he replied, "My supervisor was concerned for my mental well-being."
The psychiatrist wrote something down on a clipboard before asking, "Why might he be concerned? What are your current symptoms?"
Behind the psychiatrist, in the corner of the room stood the creature with its finger over its lips implying Max should stay quiet.
"Do you see that?" Max casually asked the psychiatrist while pointing towards the creature. "An empty corner?" The psychiatrist replied with a confused tone. With a gentle laugh, Max began to explain, "I had a bad cold and haven't caught up on my sleep yet, that's all."
The conversation went back and forth for the next 60 minutes with more questions from the psychiatrist and more fabricated answers from Max. Throughout the evaluation, the psychiatrist noticed Max fearfully looking at the seemingly empty corner. After the evaluation, they gave Max some pills to help him sleep.
---
"HELP!!!!" Screamed the shrieking voice of the little girl.
This time was different. Max was strapped to a hospital gurney in one of the corridors. Helpless and hopeless Max began screaming for help.
He heard footsteps walking towards his location. "HELP!!!!" He screamed. Out of a darkened doorway emerged the looming creature. Max fell silent filled with terror. The creature made his way to Max, leaning over his body as Max struggled to free himself from the shackles. Screaming as the creature tore into his abdomen, Max woke up.
An analog clock on the wall read 3:00. Breathing heavily and tied to a gurney in what appeared to be the same hospital, only it was no longer abandoned and was somewhat clean, Max began to panic. "It was just a nightmare." A friendly voice told him.
The End.