Page 92 of Immersed
“It’s not a death maze,”Asher said.“It’s just... challenging architecture. And I can make it romantic. I’ll find candles.”
“Candles,” Levi said flatly. “In a hospital.”
“Emergency candles. For power outages. They have to have them somewhere.”
The idea of Asher ransacking supply closets for candles while covered in bloodwasso ridiculous that Levi actually laughed—a short, sharp sound that surprised them both.
Asher’s entire face transformed with delight.“Do that again.”
“What?”
“Laugh. I want to hear you laugh again.”
Therewassomething almost childlike in the request, and Levi found himself smiling despite everything. “I don’t think I can laugh on command.”
“Then I’ll just have to be funnier,”Asher said with complete sincerity, and the determination in his voice made Levi’s smile widen.
He’s going to try to be funny. This is going to be a disaster.
But somehow, the prospect of Asher attempting humor felt less threatening than his previous approaches. Maybe thiswashow he survived—by encouraging the parts of Asher thatweremerely delusional rather than actively violent.
“Come on,”Asher said, heading toward what looked like a standard door in the far wall.“Let’s find you those clean clothes. And I need to...”He paused, seeming to consider something.“I need to look for supplies. For later.”
Supplies for later.Levi didn’t want to think too hard about what that meant.
The door opened easily, revealing a stairwell that looked remarkably familiar. As they climbed, Levi realized with growing recognition where theywere.
“This is the second floor stairwell,”he said, memory clicking into place.“We’re right above the atrium.”
“The atrium where we left our gear,”Asher said, following his reasoning.
They emerged into a passage that Levi remembered from their initial investigation. One of the rooms herehadbeen welded shut before, but now the door stood open—apparently accessible from the inside even when sealed from the outside.
“The bags,”Levi said, sudden urgency cutting through his exhaustion.“The camera we found needs batteries to see what’s on it.”
He started toward the stairs leading down to the atrium, but Asher caught his arm.
“Are you sure you want to see it?”Asher asked, his voice neutral.“It might be... disturbing. I don’t want you to get upset again.”
Levi met his eyes, seeing authentic concern there alongside the ever-present possessiveness.“I need to know what happened to the people whowerehere before us. Maybe it’ll help us understand what Dr. Faine really wants.”
Asher studied his face for a long moment, then nodded.“Okay. But I’m staying with you when you watch it.”
Of course you are.But Levi just nodded, already moving toward the stairs.
The atrium looked exactly as they left it—their bags scattered around the central area, abandoned in their hasty escape from the building’s systems. Levi knelt beside his camera bag, searching through the spare batteries with shaking hands.
Behind him, he could hear Asher moving through the other bags, presumably looking for the“supplies”hementioned. Levi tried not to think about what those might be.
One crisis at a time,he told himself, finally finding the right battery type.Figure out what’s on this camera first. Then worry about Asher’s romantic delusions.
The old camera felt heavy in his hands as he loaded the battery, a reminder that theyweren’tthe first people to stumble into Dr. Faine’s trap.
Please let this show us something useful,he prayed, pressing the power button.
The camera’s screen flickered to life, displaying a simple menu of recorded files.
“Multiple recordings,”Levi said, scrolling through the list.“Looks like... fifteen different files.”
