Jay and Nathan stood in front of the heavy metal door, exchanging a silent, nervous glance. Then, bracing themselves, they both grabbed hold of the cold, dented handles and pulled with everything they had.
Nothing happened.
They grunted, muscles straining, feet sliding slightly on the grimy tiles. The door didn't budge so much as a centimeter.
"Damn it!" Jay hissed, breathing hard. "It's stuck. Rusted shut, maybe."
Nathan stepped back, scanning frantically for anything—anything at all. That's when he spotted it: a small, grimy control panel half-buried under hanging wires just beside the doorframe. A single cracked button sat in the center, its surface caked in dust.
"Jay! Over here!" Nathan waved him over.
Together, they wiped the grime away. Nathan's heart thudded in his chest, every instinct screaming that this was a terrible idea. But they didn't exactly have other options.
"On three?" Jay said, voice strained.
"Three!" Nathan blurted, jabbing the button before Jay even finished counting.
Instantly, a loud clang reverberated through the corridor. Both of them yelped and dove behind an overturned metal desk nearby. They crouched low, shoulders pressed together, flashlights off to keep from giving away their position.
With a tortured screech of old hydraulics, the metal door began to slide open. Inch by painful inch, it revealed the darkness beyond, grinding along tracks that hadn't been used in decades.
Nathan's breath came in shallow gasps. His heart pounded so violently it felt like it would tear free from his chest. Jay's hand was clamped on his shoulder so hard it actually hurt.
Then the door finished opening—and for a brief, hopeful heartbeat, nothing happened.
Until two long, clawed hands gripped the sides of the doorway.
Nathan's entire body went rigid. The claws were black and curved like sickles, scraping along the metal with a nails-on-chalkboard screech. Then came a voice—deep, guttural, almost playful.
"Is someone there?"
Jay's eyes were wide as saucers. He mouthed, What the hell is that?
Before Nathan could even shake his head, something massive ducked through the doorway.
The creature that stepped out was a nightmare given form. Nearly two meters tall, its skin was a mottled, sickly gray, stretched taut over corded muscles that looked strong enough to snap steel. Four elongated arms sprouted from its torso, each ending in claws that twitched and scraped against the floor. Its face—or what passed for one—was dominated by a single bulbous eye, set above a gaping maw bristling with jagged yellow teeth.
A low, wet hiss rattled from its throat as it tasted the air.
Jay's hand found Nathan's wrist and squeezed so tight it was almost painful. Nathan was trembling so badly he was sure the demon would hear the clatter of his teeth.
A demon, his mind gibbered. An actual, real demon. Not a small one, either. A big one. A killer.
The demon's eye rolled slowly around the hall, its tongue—a thick, purplish thing—snaking out to lick across its teeth. It sniffed, claws tapping lightly on the floor in a horrifying little rhythm.
Jay inched closer, whispering so quietly Nathan barely caught it. "On three, we run. Back to the elevator shaft if we have to."
Nathan nodded shakily. His muscles were coiled, every nerve on fire, ready to bolt.
But then the demon tilted its head slightly, its single eye narrowing.
"Humans…" it crooned, voice rumbling like stones sliding together. "I smell… humans…"
Nathan's heart dropped straight into his gut. The demon took a lumbering step forward, claws clicking, head twisting as it zeroed in on the overturned desk.
Jay didn't wait for "three." He shoved Nathan hard, and they both exploded from their hiding spot, sprinting down the hall as fast as their legs would carry them.
Behind them came an earsplitting roar of hunger—and claws scraping on tile in rapid pursuit.
Jay and Nathan tore down the dark hallway, breath ragged, shoes slipping on grime and dust. They didn't dare look back. The sound of claws raking across the tiles behind them was all the incentive they needed to keep running.
"There—quick!" Nathan gasped, spotting an open doorway on their right.
They dove inside, Jay slamming the heavy door shut just as Nathan leaned against it, heart thundering in his chest. Together they held it, bracing for the monstrous weight that might slam into it any second.
But nothing came.
Outside, they heard the demon's claws clatter across the tiles. Its deep, wet breaths filled the corridor as it stalked past the door, heading deeper into the opposite wing.
Nathan didn't dare breathe for a full ten seconds. When the echo of the creature's steps finally faded, he let out a shaky exhale. His legs gave out, and he slid down to the filthy floor.
"Holy… shit…" Jay wheezed, doubling over. Sweat dripped from his chin. "I thought it was gonna rip us apart right there."
Nathan nodded, chest still heaving. "We're… alive. That's what matters."
Jay peered through a small crack where the door didn't quite close flush. "It went down the left corridor. Must not have realized we ducked in here."
Nathan wiped a trembling hand across his forehead. "Good. Then we have to move now—before it circles back."
They crept out into the hallway again, keeping low and moving as silently as possible. Jay led the way, his flashlight off, navigating by memory and the dim emergency strips still glowing faintly along the base of the walls.
Minutes felt like hours. Each step was torture, every dark doorway a potential hiding spot for claws and teeth. But finally, they reached the large metal doors that marked the chamber shown on the map.
Jay pushed one open just wide enough for them to slip through.
Inside, the room was cavernous and eerily quiet. Broken lab benches and smashed monitors littered the floor, but in the center, rising like some ancient monument, stood the second elevator shaft. Its doors were grimy, slightly dented—but intact.
Nathan let out a bark of nervous laughter, half hysteria. "Oh thank God. Please let this one work."
Jay was already at the control panel, jabbing the button. A weak little spark flickered under his finger.
Nothing happened.
He pressed it again. And again. Then he started slamming his fist into it. "Come on! Move, damn you! MOVE!"
Nathan tried the doors themselves, digging his fingers into the seam and straining until his arms shook. "It's stuck! Completely locked. Shit—Jay, what do we do?!"
Jay kicked the panel, chest heaving. "I don't know! Keep trying—maybe there's a power override or something—"
Then they heard it.
A wet, sucking breath. Followed by the soft, deliberate scrape of claws across the tile.
Nathan went rigid. His hand slowly dropped from the elevator door.
"Jay…" he whispered. "Don't. Move."
Jay froze, sweat beading on his neck. Slowly—so slowly—he turned.
There, standing just inside the doorway, was the demon. It filled the threshold with its towering, misshapen bulk. Its single enormous eye gleamed wetly in the half-light, fixing on them with horrible delight. Saliva dripped from its wide maw, strings of it pattering onto the floor.
It let out a low, pleased growl. "Found… you."
Jay stumbled back until his shoulders hit the elevator. "Shit… Nathan… it's here…"
Nathan's mouth was dry as bone. His whole body screamed to run, to bolt anywhere, but he couldn't move. His legs felt like stone.
The demon's claws tapped lightly against the tile as it stepped forward. "Two… little… morsels… trapped."
Nathan's heart thundered, louder than ever. The elevator behind him was useless. There was nowhere else to go.
Beside him, Jay raised a piece of broken pipe like a pathetic sword. "Stay… back!" he shouted, though his voice cracked.
The demon's grin widened, teeth stretching impossibly. It lowered itself slightly, coiling like a grotesque spring.
Nathan felt the scream rising in his throat.
Then the demon lunged.