Nurse Jenny Carter was exhausted.
Not normal tired either.
Not the kind fixed by coffee or a quick nap after work.
This was the deep, heavy exhaustion that came from too many overnight shifts, too few nurses, and the constant stress hanging over Sunnyvale ever since the disappearances started.
The second-floor south wing remained quiet for now.
Too quiet.
Jenny sat at the nurses' station reviewing medication charts while soft fluorescent lights illuminated the hallway around her. The digital clock on the wall read 1:16 AM. Beside her sat a half-finished energy drink she no longer wanted.
Across the hall, room 214's call light blinked softly.
Again.
Jenny sighed.
"Mrs. Harper probably wants another warm blanket," she muttered.
Most of the rehab patients on second floor were elderly amputees, diabetic wound-care patients, or veterans recovering from surgery. Normally Jenny loved working this wing because most patients remained mentally sharp and pleasant to talk to.
Lately even the patients seemed nervous.
People whispered now.
Doors stayed locked.
Patients asked strange questions at night.
Did someone go missing again?
Why are there more security guards downstairs?
What was that noise in the hallway earlier?
Jenny tried reassuring them whenever she could.
But honestly she was starting to feel uneasy herself.
She stood and grabbed an extra blanket from the supply cabinet before walking toward room 214.
The hallway lights buzzed faintly overhead.
Several patient televisions glowed softly through partially opened doors while distant rain tapped against the building windows.
Jenny reached room 214 and knocked gently.
"Mrs. Harper? It's Jenny."
A weak voice answered immediately.
"Come in, sweetheart."
Jenny opened the door with a smile.
Mrs. Eleanor Harper sat upright in bed looking embarrassed. The elderly woman wore oversized pink pajamas while thick blankets covered her legs.
"Sorry to bother you again," Mrs. Harper said softly.
"You're not bothering me."
Jenny draped the fresh blanket over her legs carefully. "Cold again?"
Mrs. Harper nodded.
Then after a brief pause she lowered her voice.
"Someone was standing outside my room earlier."
Jenny smiled politely. "Probably another nurse making rounds."
"No," Mrs. Harper whispered. "Too tall."
Jenny's smile faded slightly.
"How tall?"
The old woman looked toward the doorway uneasily.
"I only saw it for a second under the hallway light."
Jenny gently adjusted the blanket around her shoulders.
"You probably saw one of the security guards."
Mrs. Harper didn't respond immediately.
Finally she whispered, "Security guards don't crawl."
Jenny felt a small chill run down her arms.
She forced a quiet laugh.
"You need sleep, Mrs. Harper."
The old woman nodded slowly, though she still looked unsettled.
Jenny dimmed the lights before leaving the room.
The hallway suddenly felt colder.
She glanced both directions instinctively.
Empty.
Quiet.
Still.
Jenny returned to the nurses' station and sat down again.
Her phone buzzed softly beside the medication charts.
A group message.
Bob:
Anybody awake?
Jenny frowned slightly before replying.
Jenny:
Unfortunately yes.
A few seconds later another message appeared.
Bob:
Something weird happened downstairs.
Sarah:
Again?
Jenny sat forward slightly.
Bob rarely sounded nervous.
Bob:
Found something that belonged to Edward.
Jenny's stomach tightened.
Edward was the corpse that disappeared from the morgue two months earlier.
Jenny:
What did you find?
Several seconds passed before Bob answered.
Bob:
His hospital bracelet.
Amy:
That's impossible.
Bob:
Yeah. I know.
Jenny stared uneasily at the messages.
Before she could reply, room 214's call light activated again.
Jenny sighed softly and stood.
"Coming, Mrs. Harper."
She grabbed the medication chart and walked back down the hallway.
But as she approached room 214, she slowed.
The door was open.
Jenny frowned.
She distinctly remembered shutting it.
The hallway around the room sat completely silent.
"Mrs. Harper?"
No response.
Jenny stepped closer.
The lights inside the room were off now.
That was strange too.
Mrs. Harper hated sleeping in complete darkness.
Jenny pushed the door open wider.
"Mrs. Harper, are you alright?"
Still no answer.
A cold feeling settled into Jenny's stomach.
She quickly reached inside and flipped on the lights.
The room was empty.
The bed sheets were partially pulled onto the floor.
Mrs. Harper's wheelchair remained beside the bed untouched.
Jenny's pulse quickened instantly.
"No…"
She hurried into the room.
Bathroom empty.
Closet empty.
No sign of the patient anywhere.
Jenny immediately noticed something sitting on the bedside table.
A pair of reading glasses.
One lens cracked.
A small smear of blood stained the frame.
Jenny froze.
Her chest tightened.
Not again.
The room suddenly felt much too quiet.
Jenny backed slowly toward the hallway while reaching for the emergency phone attached to her waist.
Then she heard it.
A soft sound behind her.
Breathing.
Jenny spun around sharply.
Nothing there.
Empty room.
But the bathroom door had moved slightly.
Very slowly.
As though something behind it had just let go of the handle.
Jenny stared at it.
The bathroom light remained off.
Her pulse hammered painfully in her ears.
"Mrs. Harper?" she whispered weakly.
Silence.
Then came a faint scraping sound from inside the bathroom.
Slow.
Wet.
Like something dragging lightly across tile.
Jenny stepped backward immediately.
The overhead hallway lights flickered once.
Then again.
For half a second the room went dark.
During that instant Jenny heard movement.
Fast.
Low to the ground.
The lights returned.
The bathroom door now stood fully open.
Empty darkness inside.
Jenny turned and rushed from the room, nearly stumbling into the hallway wall. She grabbed the emergency phone with shaking hands and called security immediately.
"This is Nurse Jenny on second floor south wing," she said breathlessly. "Patient missing from room 214. Possible emergency situation."
As she spoke, her eyes drifted slowly back toward the open doorway.
Something moved briefly inside the dark bathroom.
Tall.
Thin.
Gone instantly.
Jenny's blood ran cold.
"Security?" the voice on the phone asked. "Ma'am are you still there?"
Jenny backed farther down the hallway without taking her eyes off room 214.
"Yes," she whispered.
Then very softly, from somewhere inside the room, she heard Mrs. Harper's voice.
"Jenny…"
A long pause followed.
Then the voice repeated her name again.
Wrong somehow.
Almost human.
But not quite.
Slowly and carefully, Jenny backed out of the room with her head on a swivel.
Once in the hallway, she closed and locked the door, and stood there waiting for the security and police officers to arrive.