The darkness wasn't absolute. Not anymore. Arjun drifted in and out of consciousness, a terrifying limbo where sensation was dulled but fear remained razor-sharp. He was being dragged, he knew that much. The sound of something scraping against the floor, a rhythmic, disturbing shhhk-shhhk, echoed in the vast emptiness. His body felt heavy, unresponsive, as though filled with lead. The pain in his arm was a dull throb, a constant reminder of the unseen assailant.
When a sliver of light finally pierced the oppressive black, it wasn't the reassuring beam of his headlamp or phone. It was a sickly, green luminescence, emanating from unseen sources, casting long, grotesque shadows that writhed and twisted like tormented souls. He was lying on a cold, stone floor, and the air here was even heavier, thicker with the scent of decay, metal, and something else – something acrid, like chemicals mixed with stale blood.
He tried to push himself up, but his muscles screamed in protest. His head lolled to the side, and his eyes, still blurring, struggled to focus. He was in a large, circular room. The walls, once painted a sterile white, were now stained with grotesque patterns of brown and black. Strange, rusted instruments hung from hooks, glinting malevolently in the dim green light. In the center of the room, a large, metal table, bolted to the floor, bore dark, encrusted stains.
Arjun's stomach churned. This wasn't a ward. This was an operating theater. Or, perhaps, something far worse.
The rhythmic shhhk-shhhk intensified, and a figure emerged from the periphery of his vision. It was tall, impossibly gaunt, just as he had glimpsed it in the doctor's office. Its skin was a sickly grey, stretched taut over prominent bones, and its limbs were unnaturally long and spindly. It moved with a horrifying fluidity, like a marionette whose strings were being manipulated by an unseen, malevolent force.
The thing was dragging something. Arjun's gaze, though unfocused, locked onto it with a jolt of pure horror. It was a gurney, old and rusted, and on it… a body. Not a fresh one. It was skeletal, covered in tattered, stained rags that might once have been hospital gowns. As the creature pulled the gurney closer to the metal table, the distinct smell of formaldehyde and desiccated flesh permeated the air.
Arjun tried to scream, but only a dry, rasping sound escaped his throat. His mouth felt like sandpaper. He tried to scramble away, but his legs wouldn't obey. He was a helpless spectator in his own nightmare.
The creature ignored him, its attention solely on the gurney. It moved with an eerie silence, its movements precise and deliberate. As it reached the central table, it gently, almost reverently, lifted the skeletal remains from the gurney and placed them on the table. The bones rattled faintly as they settled.
Then, from a nearby counter, the creature picked up a long, gleaming scalpel. The green light caught its edge, reflecting a cold, sharp gleam. It turned back to the table, its back to Arjun.
A new sound filled the room – a low, guttural humming, not quite human, yet disturbingly melodious. It was a song of sorts, a morbid lullaby. As the humming continued, the creature began to work on the skeletal remains. Arjun couldn't see the details, mercifully, but he could hear the unsettling scrape of the scalpel against bone, the faint snip of something being severed.
Fear, cold and relentless, had taken over completely. This wasn't just a ghost story for his channel. This was real. And he was next.
Suddenly, the creature paused its morbid work. The humming ceased. The silence that followed was even more terrifying than the sounds that had preceded it. Slowly, deliberately, the gaunt figure turned its head.
Arjun couldn't see its eyes in the dim light, but he felt their unblinking gaze, a palpable weight on his soul. The whisper returned, clearer now, less distorted, though still carrying that ancient, sibilant quality.
"You… awaken… them…"
The words hung in the air, echoing in the vast, circular room. Arjun didn't understand. Awaken whom? What?
The creature took a step towards him, then another. Each step was unnervingly silent. The green light flickered, momentarily plunging the room into deeper shadows before returning with renewed intensity. In that brief flicker, Arjun swore he saw other forms, faint and transparent, lurking in the periphery of the room, just beyond the reach of the sickly green glow. They were humanoid shapes, indistinct, but their presence was undeniable.
The gaunt figure was now standing directly over him, its shadow engulfing him entirely. He could smell the chemicals, the decay, and something else – a faint, sweet smell, like wilting lilies.
"Your… life… force…" the creature whispered, its voice a dry rustle. "It… strengthens… us…"
Arjun's mind reeled. His "Urban Scrawl" venture was about to become his epitaph. He was trapped in a nightmare, with something ancient and malevolent, and whatever "them" were, they were here too.
What do you think the creature meant by "awaken them"? And what will happen to Arjun now?