Page 54 of Immersed
That’s when he saw him.
Asher crouched beside Elliot’s body, near an electrical outlet in the far corner. In one hand, he held a hunting knife, its serrated edge dripping with fresh blood. In his other hand—Levi’s notebook lay open, pages stained with red fingerprints.
Levi’s sharp intake of breath betrayed his presence.
Asher looked up calmly, no surprise registered on his angular features—only mild interest, as if Levi’s arrivalwasan expected development.
“Hewasreading your notes,”Asher said, gesturing toward the notebook with the knife.
Levi backed away from Asher, heart hammering against his ribs. The image of Elliot’s mutilated body burned into his retinas, dark liquid pooling beneath the corpse in an ever-widening circle.
“W-what are you doing?”Levi asked.
Asher didn’t answer. Instead, he set the knife down beside Elliot’s body and turned his attention to the cable in his hand. With a shrug, he plugged it into the outlet, connecting it to one of the electronic devices scattered on the floor.
A series of lights flickered on the equipment, blinking red in rapid succession.
Then the sound came—a symphony of slamming doors echoing throughout the building. One after another, just like before, each door in the sanitarium sealed itself shut. The recreation room door behind Levi shuddered violently as its lock engaged with a decisive click.
Asher rose to his feet with deliberate slowness, Levi’s notebook still clutched in one bloodstained hand. Those mismatched eyes never left Levi’s face as he flipped through the pages, reading passages aloud.
“‘Loop 6: scenario changed,’”Asher read aloud, his voice unnervingly calm.“‘Ghost hunting in hospital.’”He looked up, head tilting slightly.“Interesting documentation system you’ve developed.”
Levi’s back pressed against the door, fingertips working the handle. Locked. Sealed shut. The messenger bag with medical supplies sat on the chair, tantalizingly close yet impossibly far with Asher standing between them.
“It’s n-not what it looks like,”Levi stammered, mind racing for plausible explanations.“It’s just... creative writing. For the YouTube channel. Horror fiction based on—”
“Based on previous deaths?”Asher interrupted, turning another page.“That’s quite the creative premise.”
Asher closed the distance between them, backing Levi against the locked door. He placed one palm flat against the wood beside Levi’s head, creating a cage with his body, blood smearing from his fingers on the weathered surface.
“Strangled in the forest,”Asher whispered, his face inches from Levi’s.“Stabbed in the throat when you tried to warn the others. Shot in the chest at the mining operation. Drowned in the river.”His free hand traced the path of each death across Levi’s body—fingertips ghosting over throat, sternum, face with terrifying intimacy.
Levi’s knees threatened to buckle as each memory flashed through his mind with visceral clarity—the pressure of fingers crushing hiswindpipe, the knife plunging through his throat, the bullet tearing through his chest, water filling his lungs.
“And the fifth,”Asher continued, his voice dropping to a reverent murmur.“You left out a detail. You cut your own throat.”
Levi’s blood turned to ice.“W-what?”
The notebook fell from Asher’s grip, landing with a soft thud at their feet.
Asher leaned forward, lips hovering mere inches from Levi’s. The proximity sent a chill down Levi’s spine, muscles tensing for the unwanted contact—but Asher stopped short. His features crumpled into something unexpectedly vulnerable, almost sad.
“Did I do better this time?”Asher whispered, his breath warm against Levi’s face.“We almost made it out of that kitchen together. Ifwe’dhadjust a little more time...”
Levi’s mind spun. Asher remembered the gas-filled kitchen. He remembered their shared death.
He knows. He’s always known.
Heat bloomed across Levi’s sternum, a confusing mixture of terror and something else—something that made his stomach tighten when Asher’s gaze dropped to his lips.
Why am I not fighting harder? Why does part of me want to—
Levi’s thoughts scattered as he averted his eyes, unable to look at him. His body betrayed him with a slight tremor thatwasn’tjust fear.
“Look at me.”Asher’s bloodied fingers gripped Levi’s jaw, forcing his face upward. The gentleness vanished, replaced by rough insistence that left crimson smears across Levi’s skin.“Please.”
The demand shocked Levi into compliance. Asher’s expression twisted into something desperate with a terrible wonder in his eyes that didn’t belong on the face of a killer.
