Page 74 of Immersed
The possessive tenderness in his voice, combined with the way his body pressed against Levi’s back, made something snap. Levi spun around in Asher’s arms and drove his fist directly into his face.
The punch connected with a satisfying crack, sending Asher stumbling backward. Blood flowed from his nose, but instead of anger, that familiar, excited glint appeared in his eyes.
“There’s my fighter,”he said, touching the blood with obvious pleasure.“I was wondering when you’d—”
“We need to go now!” The shout came from behind them. Maddie and Jasper sprinted down the passageway at full speed, their clothes torn and faces pale with terror.
“The whole fucking building is moving!”Jasper gasped as they reached the chamber entrance.“Walls are sliding, floors are tilting—it’s like a giant puzzle box!”
Behind them, something massive slammed against the far door with enough force to rattle the entire chamber. The applauding horror’s clapping became frenzied, and grinding sounds echoed from the walls around them.
Clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap.
“The building knows we’re here,”Jasper said, his usual laid-back demeanor completely gone.“It’s trying to separate us, trap us in different sections.”
Another massive impact slammed against the door, and this time, hairline cracks appeared in the metal.
“Run!” Maddie shouted.
They didn’t need to be told twice. As a group, they turned and sprinted back into the passageway system, the sound of the horror’s eternal applause following them like a clockworkheartbeat.
Behind them, the metal door finally gave way with a shriek of tortured steel. Something large and wet poured into the chamber, accompanied by sounds that belonged in no earthly throat.
What the hell was Dr. Faine creating down here?
But there was no time for speculation. The building’s automated systems groaned to life around them, walls sliding and floors tilting as the sanitarium reconfigured itself into new patterns of containment.
They ran through passageways that changed completely, past rooms that shouldn’t exist according to any blueprint. The flickering lights cast erratic shadows, and the air grew thick with the smell of ozone and something chemical.
“This way!”Maddie shouted, leading them toward what looked like a stairwell.
But as they ran, Levi couldn’t shake the image of that applauding horror, trapped in its chair and forced to lure victims to their doom. Could the person it once was still think? Or feel?
That could be us,he realized.That could be what we become if we don’t get out.
They reached the stairwell and began climbing, the sound of pursuit echoing from the passageways below. Whatever had been released from that chamber was following them, along with the grinding of the building’s shifting architecture.
“Where are we going?”Levi gasped.
“Up,”Maddie replied.“Jasper found something on the third floor. A room that feels... safe.”
“Safe how?”Asher asked, wiping blood from his nose.
“No automated sounds,”Jasper panted.“No moving walls. Just a regular room with supplies. It’s like the building forgot about it.”
A safe room.Maybe that was what they needed—somewhere to catch their breath, to figure out what the hell was happening here.
But as they climbed higher into the sanitarium’s upper levels, Levi couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being herded. That the building wanted them to find this room.
That Dr. Faine’s experiment wasn’t over—it was just entering its next phase.
And beside him, Asher continued to smile, blood painting his teeth red in the flickering light.
26
Save Point
TheroomJasperfoundwas a small storage closet tucked away behind what looked like a false wall on the third floor. Unlike the rest of the sanitarium, it felt forgotten—no automated humming in the walls, no shifting architecture, just four concrete walls and blessed silence.
