Chasing Shadows

Prologue Unknown

Prologue

Unknown

My footsteps echo through the corridor, each one swallowed by sterile walls and polished floors.

Doors line either side, closed, silent, concealing truths that aren’t meant to be seen.

The windows are covered, blinds drawn tight as if the world outside has been deliberately shut out.

Machines hum and beep in a steady, merciless rhythm, counting time I can’t afford to lose.

The gun rests heavy at the small of my back.

Still warm.

Not from my body, from memory. From what it has just done.

My hands swing at my sides as I walk, fingers curling into fists and releasing again, over and over, as if my body doesn’t know what to do with the excess violence still coursing through my veins. My heartbeat accelerates with every step, thudding louder the closer I get.

Room nine.

I round the corner and see him.

My best friend sits slumped in a chair outside the door, elbows braced on his knees, his head buried in his hands. He looks hollowed out. Drained. Like the fight has already left him. He’s been waiting, too long.

When I pass him, I give a single nod. No words. None are needed.

Inside the room, everything changes.

It’s quiet here. Almost reverent. Peaceful in the way only places touched by death ever are. The machines are the only reminder that the body lying in the bed is still tethered to this world, threads of sound and light keeping it from slipping away entirely.

I move to the foot of the bed and grip the metal rails, steadying myself. For a moment, I stare down, gathering whatever courage I have left.

Then I lift my gaze.

“It’s finished,” I say softly, the words settling into the room like a vow.

“You can come back now.”

I hesitate just for a breath.

“…please.”