Chapter 3 - We evacuated the hallway.At least, that was what hospital security said they were doing.
But nobody moved quickly enough.
There was confusion in every direction.
Nurses checked rooms.
Doctors shouted questions.
Patients were pushed toward stairwells.
The alarm continued screaming.
Jax refused to leave Evan.
I finally crouched beside him.
“What did Dr. Voss do?”
The boy looked at me.
He seemed exhausted.
Not crying.
Not panicking.
Just tired.
“He told us nobody would come.”
“Who is us?”
“The children.”
“How many?”
Evan counted silently.
“Seven.”
My skin prickled.
“Seven children?”
He nodded.
“And where are they?”
He pointed toward the floor.
“Down.”
I looked at Sarah.
“Do you know what's beneath this wing?”
“Storage,” she said. “Old surgical supply rooms. Maintenance tunnels.”
Evan shook his head.
“Not there.”
“Then where?”
He hugged the dinosaur.
“Below the red door.”
“What red door?”
He didn't answer.
Jax suddenly tugged his leash.
The dog moved toward a maintenance corridor.
I followed.
We passed a locked fire door.
Then another.
At the end of the corridor stood an elevator.
There was no floor button below B1.
Jax stopped.
He sniffed the seam of the elevator doors.
Then looked at me.
I pressed the service button.
Nothing.
I tried again.
The doors opened.
Inside was a small maintenance elevator.
No panel.
Just a keycard reader.
The access card from Ms. Collins' purse fit perfectly.
I swiped it.
The elevator descended.
B1.
Then another level.
No number appeared.
The doors opened into darkness.
A cold draft hit my face.
I drew my flashlight.
The corridor was narrow.
Old concrete.
Exposed pipes.
A faded red emergency light.
Evan whispered:
“That's it.”
“What?”
“The red door.”
We moved forward.
Twenty feet.
Thirty.
Then we saw it.
A heavy steel door painted red.
No handle on the outside.
Only a keypad.
Jax approached.
His breathing changed.
He began scratching.
I examined the keypad.
Four digits.
Nothing obvious.
Then Evan spoke.
“0614.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“That's the code.”
“Where did you learn it?”
“They made us remember.”
I entered 0614.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
The smell hit first.
Antiseptic.
Then fear.
Inside were seven small beds.
Seven chairs.
Seven paper cups.
Seven identical green stuffed dinosaurs.
My flashlight shook.
Jax stepped inside.
Evan moved behind me.
There were drawings taped to the wall.
Children's drawings.
A hospital.
A man in a white coat.
A red door.
One drawing showed seven stick figures.
Six had faces.
The seventh had no face.
Underneath it, someone had written:
HE KNOWS WHEN YOU SCREAM.
Sarah covered her mouth.
“What is this place?”
I walked deeper.
There was a medical cart.
Sedatives.
Bandages.
Plastic restraints.
And a stack of patient files.
I picked up the first.
A name.
A photograph.
Age: 5.
Diagnosis: none.
Status: missing.
I grabbed another.
Age: 7.
Missing.
Another.
Age: 6.
Missing.
Seven files.
All children.
All reported missing across different cities.
And every file had the same physician listed.
Dr. Elias Voss.
Then I heard a sound.
A child's voice.
Coming from behind the wall.
“Please…”
Evan started shaking.
“That isn't them.”
“What do you mean?”
His eyes filled with terror.
“They're pretending.”
A speaker crackled overhead.
Then a man's voice came through.
Calm.
Almost gentle.
“Officer, you should have stayed upstairs.”
I stepped toward the speaker.
“Dr. Voss?”
A soft laugh answered.
“You brought Jax.”
My blood ran cold.
“How do you know my dog's name?”
Another pause.
Then:
“I've been watching him for years.”
The lights turned on.
And every screen in the room showed the same live image.
Jax.
Then me.
Then Evan.
May you like
From three different cameras.
Someone had been watching us the entire time.
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