Page 93 of Immersed
Asher settled beside him, close enough that their shoulders touched.“Start with the first one.”
The video began with a shaky shot of the sanitarium’s exterior, bathed in late afternoon sunlight. A cheerful voice from behind the camera said,“Okay, rolling! This is Derrick from Midwest Paranormal, and we are about to investigate the reportedly haunted Drosselmeyer County Sanitarium.”
Another investigation team.Levi’s stomach tightened as he realized these people walked into the same trap theyhad.
“Should we fast forward?”Asher asked, seeming to read his thoughts.
Levi nodded, scrubbing through the early footage. The teamwassmaller than theirs—six people total, including Derrick behind the camera. They seemed competent, professional, with better gear and clear protocols.
Fat lot of good it did them.
The early recordings showed standard ghost hunting fare—EMF readings, temperature checks, attempts at electronic voice phenomena.The teamhadgood chemistry, joking around between serious investigation moments.
“They seem nice,”Asher observed, and therewassomething almost wistful in his voice.
Levi continued fast-forwarding, pausing when something seemed significant. By the fifth file, one team memberwasmissing. By the eighth, only three remained.
“The building took them, too,”Levi said.
“Keep going,” Asher urged.
File twelve showed only Derrick and a woman named Sarah, both looking increasingly desperate as they navigated passages that shifted around them. The camera work became erratic, reflecting their panic.
“We have to find the others,”Sarahwassaying on screen.“Emma and Dev can’t just be gone.”
“The building sealed off that whole section,”Derrick replied, his voice tight with stress.“We need to focus on getting out.”
Levi fast-forwarded again until something made him pause. Derrick wasalone now, the camera shaking as he moved through what looked like maintenance areas.
“Sarah?”Derrick called.“Sarah, if you can hear this—I found something. In the basement level, there’s a room with a huge metal door, but it’s not locked from the inside.”
The camera panned to show a passage lined with pipes and electrical conduits.“I think... I think this whole place runs on some kind of central system. If there’s a way to shut it down, it might be in there.”
Levi exchanged a look with Asher.
“But Sarah’s gone,”Derrick continued, his voice breaking.“They’re all gone. The building... it’s alive somehow. It learns. It adapts. Each time we think we’ve figured out the pattern, it changes.”
The camera showed Derrick entering what looked like a ventilation shaft.“If anyone finds this camera, if anyone else gets trapped here—the basement. Find the door in the basement. Therehasto be a kill switch, something to shut this nightmare down.”
The recording cut to static.
“The basement,”Levi said, his mind racing.“That could be the way out.”
“Or it could be another trap,”Asher pointed out.“This Derrick person never made it out to confirm his theory.”
Levi looked at the remaining files—only two left.“Let’s see what happened to him.”
The second-to-last filewasbrief—Derrick crawling through cramped spaces, breathing hard, muttering coordinates under his breath. Then a sudden drop, the camera tumbling, Derrick screaming.
The final filewasjust a black screen and the sound of something automated moving, punctuated by wet sounds that Levi didn’t want to think about too hard.
Levi studied the camera’s timestamp. The recordings were dated eight months ago.“Dr. Fainehasbeen doing this for a while. Luring in investigation teams.”
“For what purpose?”Asher asked.
Levi thought about the surgical creatures they encountered, the applauding horror strapped to its chair, the grotesque experiments. But the full picture wasn’t clear yet.
“I don’t know,”he said honestly.“But we need to find it.”
