The vent shaft stretched ahead like an endless metal throat, each breath Mira took echoing back at her, bouncing between the narrow, suffocating walls. Ash crawled a few feet ahead, his frantic movements rattling the old screws and thin metal plates that groaned beneath their weight.
Behind them, the creature's distant shrieks faded…
But another sound replaced them.
Something moving in the vents.
Not crawling.
Sliding.
Like wet fabric being dragged through a pipe.
Mira whispered sharply, "Ash—stop. Listen."
He froze. Their breathing quieted.
The sound came again.
Shhhhhlp… shhhhhlp…
Ash's voice cracked. "What is that? Please tell me that's just old pipes."
Mira swallowed, tasting rust and cold air. "Old pipes don't breathe."
Because beneath that sliding noise was a faint exhale—slow, wet, thick. Almost like whatever was inside the vents with them had more lungs than it needed… and didn't know how to use any of them.
Ash started crawling faster. "We need to get out of here. Now."
Mira followed, forcing her shaking limbs to move, inch by inch. The metal scraped her elbows and knees, but she didn't stop. Couldn't stop.
The shaft split ahead.
Left and right.
Ash looked back at her, panicked. "Which way?"
Mira squinted at the faint air currents. "Left feels colder. That means an opening."
"Then go. Go!"
He crawled left.
But before Mira could follow—
A heavy thud shook the shaft behind her.
Then another.
Closer.
Closer.
Something massive was entering the vents.
Mira's pulse hammered. "Ash—don't look back. Just move."
He didn't argue. He scrambled forward blindly, breath loud and ragged.
The sliding sound grew louder.
Then—
A scraping.
A clicking.
Metal bent behind Mira, as if fingers—or something pretending to be fingers—pressed against the vent walls, testing their shape. The shaft trembled with every movement of the thing following them.
Mira choked back a scream and darted forward. She reached the turn, swung left, and nearly crashed into Ash, who had stopped dead.
"What—why did you—"
Ash pointed ahead, his entire arm shaking violently.
Something was at the far end of the vent.
A silhouette.
Motionless. Human-shaped—but wrong.
Its spine was too long.
Its arms too thin.
Its head tilted like broken pottery barely holding together.
Mira whispered, "It's blocking the exit."
Ash whispered back, "We're trapped."
The thing ahead didn't move. Didn't blink. Didn't breathe.
But the one behind them did.
The sliding grew faster, approaching rapidly—like a snake made of bones and wet muscle.
Mira's mind raced. "We go forward. Fast. If that thing blocks us, we break past it."
Ash stared at her like she'd gone mad. "Break past that? It's huge!"
"Then get ready to survive something worse."
She didn't wait.
Mira crawled toward the silhouette. Her heartbeat pounded in her throat. Every push of her hands brought her closer to it. Closer to its shape.
But as she approached—
The shape flickered.
Not a creature.
Not a person.
A shadow.
Projected on the wall of the vent.
Something unseen was casting it.
Ash noticed it too. "Mira… there's nothing there. The shadow—where is it coming from?"
Then they both heard it.
A faint, rhythmic tapping.
Above them.
Mira looked up instinctively, even though the vent was too dark to see anything.
The tapping grew louder.
And then—
A small crack split open in the top plate of the vent.
A single eye stared through.
Pale.
Wide.
Dilated too much.
Not human.
Not anymore.
Before Mira could react, a long, sharp finger poked through the crack, then another, tearing the metal apart with quiet, patient movements.
Ash screamed, "Go! GO!"
They scrambled forward, passing through the shadow that had terrified them moments earlier. Behind them, the ceiling peeled open like soft fruit, and whatever watched them started lowering itself down.
Mira didn't dare look back.
Every instinct screamed to run.
The vent ahead widened slightly—just enough to move faster. Mira's palms slammed against the cold metal as she pushed herself forward.
Then she heard it.
A voice.
Not a whisper.
Not a growl.
A mimic.
"Mira…"
She froze. Her blood turned to ice.
Ash turned back, horrified. "That… wasn't me."
Again, the thing behind them croaked her name, stretching the syllables like rotten rubber. "Miiiiiira…"
Mira forced her limbs to move. "Don't stop. If it learns our names—run."
Ash didn't argue.
They reached a large grate splitting the vent from a storage room below. Rust coated the metal frame. The screws were old but stubborn.
Ash kicked it.
Once. Twice.
The grate rattled but held.
Behind them, the creature dropped fully into the vent. Its limbs dragged unnaturally, bones clicking with every movement.
"Ash—kick harder!"
He kicked again—this time with everything he had.
The grate snapped off and fell into the dark room below.
Ash didn't hesitate. He jumped.
Mira crawled forward, ready to follow—
But something grabbed her ankle.
Cold. Slimy. Strong.
It yanked.
Her body slammed into the metal floor. The breath exploded from her lungs.
"MIRA!" Ash screamed from below.
She clawed at the vent edge, dragging herself forward with raw strength. The creature behind her hissed, its voice scraping through the metal.
"Miiiiraaaa… stay…"
Its grip tightened, digging into her skin. She felt something sharp pierce her boot and scrape her ankle.
She kicked blindly.
Once.
Twice.
Then her heel connected with something soft—and the creature let out a distorted shriek.
Mira didn't wait. She lunged forward, slipped through the opening, and fell into Ash's arms.
He dragged her away just as the creature's pale hand reached out through the grate—but stopped.
It couldn't follow.
Not here.
Mira collapsed against the wall, shaking violently. Ash knelt beside her, panting.
"What the hell… was that?"
Mira stared at the shadows above them, her chest heaving.
"That wasn't the creature from the hallway," she whispered.
"That was something else."
Ash's eyes widened. "How many are there?"
Mira didn't answer.
Because the room around them suddenly hummed to life.
Lights flickered.
Machines powered on.
A low, mechanical voice crackled through hidden speakers—
cold, monotone, and terrifyingly familiar.
"SUBJECTS LOCATED."
Mira's throat tightened.
"That's not possible… we shut this system down."
Ash shook his head slowly. "No, Mira. Something turned it back on."
The hum grew louder.
And the door at the far end unlocked by itself.
[To be continued...]