Chapter 33
Side Quest
Asher stood and offered Levi his hand with the formal gallantry of a Victorian gentleman—if Victorian gentlemen had been covered in arterial spray from recent murders.
“First,” Asher announced with serious determination, “we need to find you clean clothes. You can’t... we can’t do this when you’re covered in...” He gestured at the bloodstains.
“That’s... thoughtful,” Levi said carefully, accepting the hand up. “Clean clothes would be good.”
“And somewhere with proper lighting,” Asher continued, warming to his theme. “Not too bright, but not too dim. Romantic lighting is important for... for special moments.”
The earnest way he said it, like he was planning a dinner date, was so absurd that Levi almost laughed.
“Romantic lighting,” Levi repeated, and something in his tone must have been amusing because Asher looked pleased.
“You think it’s funny?” Asher asked, but not defensively. More like he was delighted by the possibility.
“A little,” Levi admitted. “You’re trying to plan the perfect seduction in a death maze.”
“It’s not a death maze,” Asher said. “It’s just... challenging architecture. And I can make it romantic. I’ll find candles.”
“Candles,” Levi said flatly. “In a hospital.”
“Emergency candles. For power outages. They have to have them somewhere.”
The idea of Asher ransacking supply closets for candles while covered in blood was so ridiculous that Levi actually laughed—a short, sharp sound that surprised them both.
Asher’s entire face transformed with delight. “Do that again.”
“What?”
“Laugh. I want to hear you laugh again.”
There was something almost childlike in the request, and Levi found himself smiling despite everything. “I don’t think I can laugh on command.”
“Then I’ll just have to be funnier,” Asher said with complete sincerity, and the determination in his voice made Levi’s smile widen.
He’s going to try to be funny. This is going to be a disaster.
But somehow, the prospect of Asher attempting humor felt less threatening than his previous approaches. Maybe this was how he survived—by encouraging the parts of Asher that were merely delusional rather than actively violent.
“Come on,” Asher said, heading toward what looked like a standard door in the far wall. “Let’s find you those clean clothes. And I need to...” He paused, seeming to consider something. “I need to look for supplies. For later.”
Supplies for later. Levi didn’t want to think too hard about what that meant.
The door opened easily, revealing a stairwell that looked remarkably familiar. As they climbed, Levi realized with growing recognition where they were.
“This is the second floor stairwell,” he said, memory clicking into place. “We’re right above the atrium.”
“The atrium where we left our gear,” Asher said, following his reasoning.
They emerged into a passage that Levi remembered from their initial investigation. One of the rooms here had been welded shut before, but now the door stood open—apparently accessible from the inside even when sealed from the outside.
“The bags,” Levi said, sudden urgency cutting through his exhaustion. “The camera we found needs batteries to see what’s on it.”
He started toward the stairs leading down to the atrium, but Asher caught his arm.
“Are you sure you want to see it?” Asher asked, his voice neutral. “It might be... disturbing. I don’t want you to get upset again.”
Levi met his eyes, seeing authentic concern there alongside the ever-present possessiveness. “I need to know what happened to the people who were here before us. Maybe it’ll help us understand what Dr. Faine really wants.”
Asher studied his face for a long moment, then nodded. “Okay. But I’m staying with you when you watch it.”
Of course you are. But Levi just nodded, already moving toward the stairs.
The atrium looked exactly as they left it—their bags scattered around the central area, abandoned in their hasty escape from the building’s systems. Levi knelt beside his camera bag, searching through the spare batteries with shaking hands.
Behind him, he could hear Asher moving through the other bags, presumably looking for the “supplies” he mentioned. Levi tried not to think about what those might be.
One crisis at a time, he told himself, finally finding the right battery type. Figure out what’s on this camera first. Then worry about Asher’s romantic delusions.
The old camera felt heavy in his hands as he loaded the battery, a reminder that they weren’t the first people to stumble into Dr. Faine’s trap.
Please let this show us something useful, he prayed, pressing the power button.
The camera’s screen flickered to life, displaying a simple menu of recorded files.
“Multiple recordings,” Levi said, scrolling through the list. “Looks like... fifteen different files.”
Asher settled beside him, close enough that their shoulders touched. “Start with the first one.”
The video began with a shaky shot of the sanitarium’s exterior, bathed in late afternoon sunlight. A cheerful voice from behind the camera said, “Okay, rolling! This is Derrick from Midwest Paranormal, and we are about to investigate the reportedly haunted Drosselmeyer County Sanitarium.”
Another investigation team. Levi’s stomach tightened as he realized these people walked into the same trap they had.
“Should we fast forward?” Asher asked, seeming to read his thoughts.
Levi nodded, scrubbing through the early footage. The team was smaller than theirs—six people total, including Derrick behind the camera. They seemed competent, professional, with better gear and clear protocols.
Fat lot of good it did them.
The early recordings showed standard ghost hunting fare—EMF readings, temperature checks, attempts at electronic voice phenomena. The team had good chemistry, joking around between serious investigation moments.
“They seem nice,” Asher observed, and there was something almost wistful in his voice.
Levi continued fast-forwarding, pausing when something seemed significant. By the fifth file, one team member was missing. By the eighth, only three remained.
“The building took them, too,” Levi said.
“Keep going,” Asher urged.
File twelve showed only Derrick and a woman named Sarah, both looking increasingly desperate as they navigated passages that shifted around them. The camera work became erratic, reflecting their panic.
“We have to find the others,” Sarah was saying on screen. “Emma and Dev can’t just be gone.”
“The building sealed off that whole section,” Derrick replied, his voice tight with stress. “We need to focus on getting out.”
Levi fast-forwarded again until something made him pause. Derrick was alone now, the camera shaking as he moved through what looked like maintenance areas.
“Sarah?” Derrick called. “Sarah, if you can hear this—I found something. In the basement level, there’s a room with a huge metal door, but it’s not locked from the inside.”
The camera panned to show a passage lined with pipes and electrical conduits. “I think... I think this whole place runs on some kind of central system. If there’s a way to shut it down, it might be in there.”
Levi exchanged a look with Asher.
“But Sarah’s gone,” Derrick continued, his voice breaking. “They’re all gone. The building... it’s alive somehow. It learns. It adapts. Each time we think we’ve figured out the pattern, it changes.”
The camera showed Derrick entering what looked like a ventilation shaft. “If anyone finds this camera, if anyone else gets trapped here—the basement. Find the door in the basement. There has to be a kill switch, something to shut this nightmare down.”
The recording cut to static.
“The basement,” Levi said, his mind racing. “That could be the way out.”
“Or it could be another trap,” Asher pointed out. “This Derrick person never made it out to confirm his theory.”
Levi looked at the remaining files—only two left. “Let’s see what happened to him.”
The second-to-last file was brief—Derrick crawling through cramped spaces, breathing hard, muttering coordinates under his breath. Then a sudden drop, the camera tumbling, Derrick screaming.
The final file was just a black screen and the sound of something automated moving, punctuated by wet sounds that Levi didn’t want to think about too hard.
Levi studied the camera’s timestamp. The recordings were dated eight months ago. “Dr. Faine has been doing this for a while. Luring in investigation teams.”
“For what purpose?” Asher asked.
Levi thought about the surgical creatures they encountered, the applauding horror strapped to its chair, the grotesque experiments. But the full picture wasn’t clear yet.
“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “But we need to find it.”
And maybe the way out.
Asher nodded. “After we find you those clean clothes. And proper lighting.”
Even facing the prospect of descending into Dr. Faine’s basement laboratory, Asher was still planning his romantic evening.
Levi rolled his eyes. “Your priorities are impossible.”
“You’re my priority,” Asher said simply. “Everything else can wait.”