Chapter 37 Countdown #2
Levi stepped through first, the others following behind. The air inside was colder, with an underlying metallic tang that reminded Levi of blood. Their flashlight beams revealed row upon row of metal cabinets, each labeled with a coding system of letters and numbers.
“This place is massive,” Maddie whispered, her voice echoing slightly in the cavernous space. “There must be thousands of files here.”
“We need to be systematic,” Levi said, examining the nearest cabinet. “Look for anything related to Administrative Access, biometric security, or the lower levels.”
They spread out, each taking a section of the archive. Levi found himself before a cabinet labeled “Project Immortalis” and felt a chill that had nothing to do with the room’s temperature. He pulled open the drawer, revealing dozens of manila folders stuffed with papers.
The first folder contained patient transfer forms—hundreds of them, each authorizing the relocation of a patient from the main sanitarium to “Special Research Division.” The dates spanned decades, continuing long after the sanitarium closed.
“They were taking patients,” Levi said, holding up the forms for the others to see. “Healthy ones, mostly. Transferring them to a research division that didn’t exist.”
“For what purpose?” Owen asked, adjusting his glasses as he peered at the documents.
Levi flipped through more papers, finding a summary report with Faine’s signature at the bottom. “Organ harvesting,” he said, stomach turning as he scanned the clinical descriptions. “He was... collecting parts. For something called ‘biologically integrated regenerative medicine.’”
“You mean he was stealing organs from mental patients?” Maddie’s voice rose with horror. “That’s monstrous!”
“It gets worse,” Asher added, holding up a different file he found. “These are experiment logs. He wasn’t just taking organs. He was... modifying them. Integrating mechanical components.”
“Why?” Tyler asked, visibly disturbed. “What was the point?”
“Immortality,” Levi replied, finding the answer in Faine’s own handwritten notes. “He believed the human body was just a machine that could be maintained indefinitely with the right replacement parts.”
“Like replacing parts in a car,” Owen murmured. “Just swap out the components that wear down.”
“But that’s not how the human body works,” Maddie protested.
“Apparently, he thought it could be,” Levi said, turning a page to reveal diagrams of modified human organs with attachments.
Elliot had been unusually quiet, examining a large rolled blueprint he found in a tube. “Guys,” he said now, spreading it across a dusty table. “I think I found the building schematics. The real ones.”
They gathered around, flashlights illuminating the detailed drawing. The blueprint showed not just the sanitarium as they knew it, but an elaborate network of hidden passages, chambers, and a massive sublevel laboratory complex.
“Jesus,” Tyler breathed. “The whole place is hollow underneath.”
“Not hollow,” Levi corrected, studying the drawings. “Full of machinery. See these sections?” He pointed to areas marked with gear symbols. “The walls, floors, ceilings—they’re designed to move. Reconfigure.”
“Like a giant puzzle box,” Owen said with disturbing enthusiasm. “The entire building can change its internal layout.”
“But why?” Maddie asked. “What’s the purpose?”
Levi found the answer in another folder labeled “Energy Harvesting Protocols.” Inside were charts, graphs, and technical specifications for a system that made no sense.
“Fear,” he said, the realization dawning as he read Faine’s notes.
“He believed fear generated a measurable energy. Something he called ‘psychic potential.’” Levi looked up at the others.
“The building is designed to trap people, to disorient them, to make them afraid. And then to... harvest that fear somehow.”
“That’s scientifically impossible,” Owen scoffed.
“Tell that to the building,” Asher replied dryly. “Pretty sure it didn’t get the memo.”
A smaller blueprint caught Levi’s eye—a detailed schematic of what appeared to be a security system. Three distinct checkpoints were marked, each with the now-familiar triangular symbol and annotations describing “biometric verification protocols.”
“Here,” he said, pointing. “The security checkpoints. They’re located at specific junctions throughout the building.” He traced the path with his finger. “The first is in Specimen Storage, just like we thought. For the blood sample.”
“And the others?” Asher asked, leaning close enough that his breath tickled Levi’s ear.
“Second is in the Administrative Assistant Office on the first floor—probably for the voice recording. And the third...” Levi frowned, studying the blueprint. “The third is in something called the Observation Deck.”
“I know where that is,” Owen said.
“So we have our targets,” Levi summarized. “Three checkpoints, three samples. Get all three, and we can access the lower level where the primary laboratory is located.”
“And then what?” Elliot asked. “What exactly are we hoping to find down there?”
Levi hesitated. The truth—that he believed finding the lab might somehow break the loop, let them escape this nightmare—would sound insane to them.
“Evidence,” he said instead. “Concrete proof of what Dr. Faine was doing here. The kind that could make our careers as investigators.”
It was the right angle to play. Elliot’s expression shifted from skepticism to calculation, the prospect of professional acclaim overriding his reservations. “We should split up again,” he suggested. “Cover more ground. Three teams, three targets.”
“No,” Levi said. “We stay together, tackle one objective at a time.”
“Starting with Specimen Storage,” Asher added. “It’s closest to this location.”
As if responding to their plans, a low rumble vibrated through the archive, dust sifting down from the ceiling. The metal cabinets rattled against each other, filling the room with a cacophony of clanging.
“What the hell was that?” Tyler demanded, steadying himself against a cabinet.
“The building,” Levi replied grimly. “It’s changing again. We need to move. Now.”
“Grab anything useful,” Asher instructed, already collecting documents and folding them into his cargo pockets. “Blueprints, security protocols, anything about the checkpoints.”
They worked quickly, each taking a portion of the discovered files. Levi rolled the main blueprint, securing it with a rubber band before tucking it under his arm.
“Ready?” he asked, surveying the group. They nodded, faces tense in the harsh glare of flashlights.
Another tremor shook the archive, stronger this time. A filing cabinet near the entrance toppled with a thunderous crash, blocking their exit path.
“That’s not good,” Maddie squeaked.
“There has to be another way out.” Levi’s flashlight beam caught a small door at the far end, hidden behind a row of cabinets. “There! Emergency exit.”
They made their way toward it, navigating between the rows as the tremors continued, growing in intensity. The floor beneath them shifted subtly, the entire room seeming to tilt a few degrees to the left.
Owen reached the door first, tugging on the handle. “It’s locked!” he called back.
“Of course it is,” Elliot muttered. “Everything in this godforsaken place is locked.”
Asher moved forward with his lock picks, but before he could reach the door, a horrific screech of metal filled the archive. The walls on either side began to move inward, the rows of cabinets slowly converging toward the center of the room.
“It’s a trap,” Levi realized with sickening clarity.
“We need to brace it!” Tyler shouted, already shoving his shoulder against the nearest row of cabinets. “Help me!”
The others rushed to assist, pushing against the encroaching walls with desperate strength. Metal groaned against metal as the cabinets resisted the pressure, but the walls continued their inexorable advance.
“It won’t hold!” Maddie cried, her feet sliding on the smooth floor as she struggled to maintain her position.
Levi’s mind raced, cataloging options and discarding them just as quickly. The exit was locked. The entrance was blocked. The walls were closing in. They had minutes, maybe less, before the room crushed them all.
His eyes fell on a ventilation grate near the floor, partially hidden under a cabinet. It was small—too small for most of them—but maybe...
“Maddie!” he called. “The vent! Do you think you can fit?”
She followed his gaze. “Maybe! But what about the rest of you?”
“If you can get through, maybe you can find a mechanism controlling this trap,” Levi explained. “There has to be an override somewhere nearby.”
The walls lurched inward another foot, cabinets groaning as they compressed against each other. Time was running out.
“Do it,” Asher ordered, still bracing himself against the advancing wall. “We’ll hold this as long as we can.”
Tyler and Elliot helped Maddie squeeze behind the cabinet, working to pull the grate free from its moorings. It came loose with a screech of rusted metal, revealing a dark, narrow passage beyond.
“I’ll find the override,” Maddie promised, already wriggling into the vent. “Just hold on!”
She disappeared into the darkness, the sound of her movement through the metal duct soon fading into silence.
“If she doesn’t make it...” Elliot began.
“She’ll make it,” Levi insisted, throwing his weight against a tilting cabinet. “She has to.”
The minutes stretched like hours as they fought against the compression, muscles burning with the effort that seemed futile. The space in the center of the room shrank to half its original size, forcing them closer together as the walls continued their advance.
“We’re not going to make it,” Owen gasped, sweat streaming down his face despite the cold.
“Yes, we are,” Asher said, his voice calm despite the strain evident in his rigid posture. His eyes met Levi’s across the narrowing space. “We’re not dying here. Not like this.”
Something in his tone made Levi’s breath catch—a fierce determination that went beyond their immediate survival. Asher had plans for them, for him. Plans that didn’t include being crushed in an archaic trap.
The thought should have terrified him. Instead, Levi found himself drawing strength from Asher’s certainty, pushing back against the encroaching wall with renewed vigor.
A cabinet buckled beside him, its metal frame folding with a shriek of protest. Papers spilled across the floor, immediately trampled underfoot as they were forced to retreat toward the center of the room.
“Maddie,” Tyler muttered through gritted teeth. “Any time now would be great.”
As if in response, the room shuddered, and the walls’ movement slowed, then stopped entirely. A grinding echoed from somewhere beyond the archive, followed by a series of clicks.
The walls began to retract, cabinets screeching as they were dragged back to their original positions.
“She did it,” Owen gasped, collapsing to his knees in relief.
The emergency exit door swung open, revealing Maddie’s triumphant face. “I found a control room!” she announced. “It was right next door.”
Levi sagged against a cabinet, adrenaline ebbing to leave him shaky and exhausted. “Nice work,” he managed, offering Maddie a genuine smile. Another point for keeping the NPCs alive—most of them couldn’t have fit through that vent.
“We should get back to base camp,” Owen suggested, adjusting his glasses with trembling fingers. “Compare notes, make a plan for the Specimen Storage room.”
“Agreed,” Levi nodded. “And check in with Jasper. He might have picked up more readings while we were in here.”
As they filed out through the emergency exit, Asher’s hand caught Levi’s arm, holding him back until the others moved ahead.
“You did well,” he murmured, voice pitched low enough that only Levi could hear. “Keeping your head under pressure. Finding the vent.” His fingers tightened slightly. “It’s attractive, watching you think.”
“Just survival instinct,” he replied, attempting to dismiss the praise.
“No,” Asher insisted, moving closer until his lips brushed Levi’s ear. “It’s more than that. You’re adapting. Evolving. Becoming even more perfect.”
Before Levi could respond, Asher released him and strode ahead to join the others, leaving Levi with a confused tangle of emotions he had neither the time nor capacity to unravel.
The blueprint rolled securely under his arm, Levi followed, trying to focus on their next objective rather than the lingering sensation of Asher’s breath against his skin.
They had the information they needed: locations, protocols, a map of the building’s true layout.
They could find the biometric samples, access the laboratory, and maybe find a way to end this nightmare.
But as he caught up with the group, Levi couldn’t shake the feeling that they were moving exactly as the building—as Faine—wanted them to. Following breadcrumbs laid out to send them deeper into a trap decades in the making.
Behind them, the archive door swung shut with a final, decisive click.