The door slid open with a metallic shriek that echoed far longer than it should have, as if the sound itself refused to die.Alex stepped in first—and immediately froze.
The corridor wasn't… normal.
It stretched endlessly in both directions, lined with doors on each side. But the doors weren't still. They shivered. They rattled. They bulged outward as if something inside was trying to claw its way out.
The entire hallway pulsed like the throat of a giant creature swallowing slowly.
Sophie clutched Leo's arm. "This place hates us," she whispered.
"No," Leo murmured. "It's hungry."
At that exact moment, every door slammed open at once.
But nothing came out.
Instead—Screams poured out like smoke.
Thousands of them, overlapping, each one different:A woman crying.A child begging.A man choking.Someone laughing hysterically.Someone whispering their name.Someone whispering your name.
The screams wrapped around their heads, forcing their own memories to the surface. Their worst ones.
Alex saw his brother's face—accusing him, blaming him.Sophie saw herself running, failing to help, failing again and again.Leo relived every moment he hadn't spoken up, every mistake he believed had doomed them.And Evelyn… Evelyn saw the train swallowing her mother, the event she had tried so hard to forget.
Evelyn fell to her knees, hands over her ears."Stop—just STOP!"
But the corridor only screamed louder.
The lights flickered.The floor lunged upward like it wanted to swallow them.Shadows crawled across the walls, overlapping, merging, forming towering silhouettes with mouths that stretched too wide, too eager.
Alex grabbed Evelyn's shoulder. "We move. NOW!"
They ran.
But each step seemed heavier, like the corridor was dragging them backward. Doors slammed shut behind them, sealing them into an ever-narrowing stretch of hallway. The floor tilted. The screams sharpened into a constant, piercing shrill—
Then suddenly—
Silence.
A single door at the end of the corridor cracked open.
A soft, warm light spilled out.
Too warm.
Too welcoming.
Sophie whispered, "That's a trap… right?"
Evelyn wiped her tears and stood, lantern trembling in her hand."It's the only way forward."
Leo swallowed hard. "Then we go together."
And they walked toward the door.
As they approached, the warm light flickered—and a shadow moved inside.
Not a monster.
Not a creature.
A person.
A human silhouette.
Smiling.
Waiting.
As if it had been expecting them.
The door slowly creaked wider.
The figure inside whispered softly:
"Welcome back."