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| Sunny’s haunting night begins |
Chapter 1: Unusual Night Duty
Sunny adjusted her white coat nervously as the creaky elevator door slid open. The dimly lit sign above it flickered faintly, reading "4th Floor - Isolation Ward."
Her supervisor, Ms. Ratna, had assigned her to cover the night shift there. She’d done her best to downplay the assignment but gave Sunny an odd warning before leaving:
"If the bell rings, ignore it. Just a system glitch."
Sunny nodded, feigning confidence, but her heart thudded like a drum. She muttered to herself as she stepped into the elevator, “It’s just an old hospital, nothing to freak out about. Right?”
When the elevator doors opened, the air was colder—unnaturally so. A strange smell, a mix of dampness and something metallic, greeted her. Rows of unoccupied beds, covered in pristine white sheets, lined the hallway like silent sentinels. The flickering fluorescent lights only added to the eerie stillness.
As Sunny approached the nurse’s desk, she glanced at the isolation room at the end of the corridor. It loomed in shadow, and the silence felt too heavy. She shrugged it off. After all, how bad could one night be?
Chapter 2: The First Tension
The room was freezing. Sunny adjusted the thermostat at the nurse’s desk, but it didn’t seem to help. The ancient radiator in the corner groaned like it was alive before settling into a quiet hum.
She busied herself reviewing patient charts, but her hands trembled slightly. A strange sensation crawled up her spine—a mix of being watched and being unwelcome.
As she glanced toward the hallway, she noticed a sheet fluttering on one of the beds. She froze. There’s no draft here, she thought, staring at the moving fabric.
Her breath hitched. She cautiously approached the bed, only to realize it was just the vents blowing. She laughed nervously, muttering, "Get it together, Sunny."
But her relief was short-lived. A faint sound—a low hum, almost like whispering—began to fill the room. She strained her ears. It seemed to come from the isolation room at the end of the hallway. Sunny shook her head and focused on her chart.
Chapter 3: The Call from the Hallway
At 2:03 a.m., the call bell rang.
Sunny glanced at the board. Room 404. Her heart skipped a beat. According to her orientation, that room had been sealed off for years.
Frowning, she searched through the patient list. Sure enough, 404 wasn’t listed.
The bell rang again, louder this time, jolting her from her thoughts. Her palms felt clammy as she walked toward the room. The closer she got, the colder the air seemed to become.
As she reached the door, her trembling hand hovered over the handle. Then she heard it—a woman’s voice, low and desperate.
"Don’t leave me.”
Sunny stumbled back, her breath catching in her throat. Her vision blurred as fear gripped her chest like a vice. But the voice didn’t stop—it echoed down the hall, growing softer and softer until it faded completely.
Sunny ran back to the desk, her heart pounding. She grabbed the phone to call Ms. Ratna, but the line was dead.
Chapter 4: Messages from the Past
By the time her hands stopped shaking, Sunny knew she had to make sense of what was happening. She went to the small archive room at the end of the hall, hoping to find some record of room 404.
After rummaging through old, dusty files, she found a folder with the name "Larasati" scrawled in faded ink.
The file contained chilling details. Larasati was a psychiatric patient who had been placed in isolation. She’d complained of “visitors in the room”—shadows she swore were trying to take her away. The last entry read:
"Patient disappeared during the night. Room sealed indefinitely."
At the bottom of the file, in shaky red ink, was a final note: “They took me. Don’t let them take you.”
Sunny dropped the file, her hands trembling uncontrollably. A cold draft swept through the room, carrying the faint sound of laughter—low and menacing.
Chapter 5: Labyrinth of Darkness
On the third night, Sunny resolved to confront her fears. Armed with a flashlight, she walked to room 404.
The door creaked open slowly, revealing what should have been a bare, unused room. But instead, Sunny found herself in a dimly lit maze. Beds were arranged in a chaotic, almost deliberate pattern, their white sheets glowing faintly in the darkness.
“Hello?” she called out, her voice wavering.
At the end of the maze stood a shadowy figure—a woman with long, tangled hair. She hovered just above the ground, her head tilted at an unnatural angle.
Sunny took a shaky step forward, and the figure turned slightly. Though her face was obscured, the figure whispered:
"Don’t leave me... Sunny.”
Sunny froze. How does she know my name?
The maze seemed to shift around her, the beds scraping loudly against the floor. The exit was gone.
Chapter 6: The Price to Pay
The shadow moved closer, and Sunny’s legs felt like lead. The air grew heavier, and a voice—not her own—echoed in her mind:
"You left them too, didn’t you? Just like they left me."
Sunny’s knees buckled as a flood of memories crashed over her. She saw the face of a patient she’d cared for during her previous internship—a patient she’d unintentionally neglected in a critical moment.
Tears streamed down her face as the shadow’s voice grew louder, accusing her.
"You think your apology matters? You left them! Now, you’ll stay with me forever.”
Sunny screamed, clawing at the darkness around her. But the shadow only laughed—a cold, hollow sound that reverberated through the maze.
Chapter 7: The Hallway That Never Ends
Sunny stumbled through the dark hallway, her breaths shallow and uneven. Her legs trembled, but she forced herself to move, gripping the wall for support. The scratch marks on her neck burned, each step amplifying the sharp, stinging sensation.
The flickering lights made the shadows on the walls twist unnaturally, elongating like grotesque figures reaching for her. She glanced over her shoulder, half expecting the long-haired woman to be there, smiling her eerie smile.
But the hallway was empty—or so it seemed.
“Get it together, Sunny,” she whispered to herself, her voice trembling. “This isn’t real. None of this is real.”
As she moved forward, she noticed something strange. The hallway didn’t lead to the elevator or the staircase anymore. Instead, it stretched endlessly, with doors she didn’t recognize lining both sides. The brass plaques on each door were tarnished, the numbers barely legible.
Her heart pounded as she realized the numbers weren’t sequential. They seemed random: 302, 509, 667. Each number filled her with inexplicable dread.
She paused in front of a door marked 404, the same number as the isolation room. It creaked open on its own, revealing darkness so thick it seemed to pulse like a living entity.
A voice called from within, soft yet urgent. “Sunny... come in.”
“No. Nope. Not happening,” she muttered, backing away.
But the door slammed shut with a deafening bang, sending a cold wind rushing past her. The other doors began to rattle violently, their handles turning as if unseen hands were trying to escape.
“Help us!” a cacophony of voices screamed from behind the doors.
Sunny’s ears rang, her vision blurring as panic set in. She clutched her head, trying to drown out the cries.
Chapter 8: The Patient Who Wasn't There
When the noises abruptly stopped, Sunny found herself standing in front of a room she didn’t remember approaching. Its plaque was blank, and the door stood ajar. Against her better judgment, she peeked inside.
The room was empty except for a single hospital bed in the center. On it lay a figure covered by a white sheet.
Sunny swallowed hard. Every nerve in her body screamed for her to turn around and run, but her feet betrayed her. She stepped inside, drawn by a mix of morbid curiosity and an unshakable compulsion.
The air was icy cold, and her breath formed small clouds as she exhaled. She approached the bed, her hands trembling.
“Just a quick look,” she whispered.
Gripping the edge of the sheet, she hesitated. A low growl, guttural and animalistic, echoed from somewhere behind her. She spun around, but the room was empty.
When she turned back, the figure on the bed sat upright.
Its face was obscured, but its head tilted unnaturally as if studying her.
“You left me,” it rasped, the voice a chilling mix of male and female tones.
“I don’t even know you!” Sunny cried, stumbling backward.
But deep down, she felt the truth gnawing at her. This wasn’t just about Larasati or the isolation room. This was about her own guilt, the patient she had abandoned during her first clinical rotation.
The figure rose, its movements jerky and unnatural. Its voice echoed, overlapping with dozens of others. “You let us die. Now you will stay... with us.”
Chapter 9: The Cycle Continues
Sunny bolted out of the room, her feet pounding against the cold tile floor. She didn’t care where she was going—she just needed to escape. But no matter how far she ran, the hallway stretched on endlessly, the same tarnished doors lining her path.
Her lungs burned, and her legs ached. She collapsed to the floor, tears streaming down her face. “Please,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.”
A soft chuckle echoed around her. She looked up and saw the long-haired woman standing a few feet away, her pale face glowing in the dim light.
“Do you think sorry is enough?” the woman asked, her voice dripping with malice.
“I didn’t mean to leave him,” Sunny sobbed. “It was a mistake!”
The woman knelt in front of her, her cold fingers brushing against Sunny’s cheek. “Mistakes have consequences,” she said softly. “And so do regrets.”
Before Sunny could react, the woman’s face twisted into a grotesque smile, and the hallway began to crumble around them. The floor cracked, revealing an endless void beneath.
Sunny screamed as she was swallowed by the darkness.
Chapter 10: A New Beginning?
When Sunny woke, she was back in the isolation room, the morning light streaming through the blinds. Everything seemed normal, except for the faint scratch marks on her neck and the icy chill lingering in the air.
The senior nurse, Ms. Ratna, entered the room with a clipboard.
“Rough first night?” she asked with a knowing smile.
Sunny hesitated. “Did... did you know about the fourth floor?”
Ms. Ratna raised an eyebrow. “What about it?”
Sunny glanced at the bell on the desk. It was silent now, but she could still hear its faint echo in her mind. She shook her head, deciding against saying anything.
As she gathered her things to leave, she passed a mirror in the hallway. For a brief moment, she saw the long-haired woman standing behind her, smiling.
Sunny froze, her reflection whispering two chilling words:
“See you.”