The first thing Ava Caelum noticed was the smell.
Not antiseptic. Not sterile. But coppery—thick and metallic, like blood rusting on metal.
She opened her eyes to blinding white lights above her, flickering erratically, as if unsure whether to stay alive or fade into oblivion.
A ceiling. A light. A ceiling fan that didn't spin.
She was lying on a hospital bed—if it could be called that. The mattress was too thin. The restraints too thick. Her wrists were bruised, as though someone had struggled to bind her down. Or worse, as if she had fought to escape.
She sat up slowly, the metallic clang of her restraints unlocking echoing across the empty room. No windows. No clock. No voice. Just her breathing—rapid, confused, hollow.
Her legs trembled as she stepped onto the cold floor. She was barefoot, wearing a pale green gown—stained faintly with something dark on the hem.
She wasn't alone.
Behind a glass panel on the far wall, someone was watching.
A voice crackled through the intercom. Cold. Mechanical. Male.
"Subject Ava Caelum has awakened. Commence Observation Protocol."
She stumbled backward. "Who are you?" she demanded. "Where am I?!"
Silence.
Then the hum of a lock disengaging. The heavy door hissed open.
In stepped a man in a grey suit, silver-framed glasses catching the overhead light like a scalpel. His expression was unreadable.
"I'm Dr. Elias Rhain," he said, voice calm but without warmth. "You're safe. For now."
"For now?" Ava asked. "Where am I?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he handed her a file.
Inside: a picture of her. Notes scribbled in red ink. Words like dissociative fugue, violent incident, facility containment necessary. And one phrase, underlined twice:
"DO NOT ALLOW CONTACT WITH ROOM 9."
"What is this?" Ava asked, throat dry.
But Dr. Rhain had already turned his back. As the door hissed closed again, she caught a glimpse of something—or someone—moving down the hallway outside. Small. Fast.
A child?
She pressed her ear to the door.
A whisper.
A whisper that didn't come from the hallway.
It came from inside the room.
Her blood ran cold.
"Ava..." the voice rasped.
"Do you remember the smell of iron?"
To be continued...