Corridor C
Ethan didn’t move.
For several terrifying seconds, Ethan Vale simply stood frozen in the middle of Corridor C while the red numbers above the sealed security door continued glowing silently:
3:17 AM
The woman behind the door spoke again.
Softer this time.
“Please…”
God.
Her voice sounded exhausted.
Not aggressive.
Not threatening.
Human.
That somehow made the fear worse.
Ethan instinctively looked around the hallway expecting security cameras or hidden speakers or somebody from the facility ready to explain this entire situation rationally.
Nothing.
Only dim lights humming quietly overhead and endless empty corridors stretching behind him.
Then suddenly the whispering returned beyond the sealed door.
Multiple voices now.
Overlapping.
Not speaking clearly enough to understand.
The sound reminded Ethan uncomfortably of people arguing through walls underwater.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Three more knocks echoed from the other side.
This time harder.
Ethan physically stepped farther backward.
“Nope,” he whispered to himself immediately.
Fair decision.
He turned quickly and started walking back toward the sleeping quarters without looking behind him again. Yet even after putting two corners between himself and Corridor C, he still felt something deeply wrong pressing against the back of his thoughts.
The facility knew about this corridor.
There was no way they didn’t.
Which meant one of two things terrified him more equally:
Either someone really was trapped back there…
or Somna Labs wanted the participants hearing those knocks.
Neither option felt good.
By the time Ethan returned to the sleeping quarters, artificial dawn lighting had started brightening sections of the underground ceilings to simulate morning. The effect looked disturbingly fake beneath the silver walls of the facility.
Like the lab was trying too hard to imitate normal life.
He nearly passed Mira’s room before noticing the door slightly open.
A thin line of light spilled into the hallway.
And someone inside was crying quietly.
Ethan hesitated briefly before knocking softly against the partially open door.
“Mira?”
The crying stopped instantly.
A few seconds later, Mira Solis appeared in the doorway wearing an oversized sweatshirt with her dark hair tied messily back. Her eyes looked red.
God.
She’d definitely been crying.
“You okay?” Ethan asked carefully.
Mira forced a weak smile almost immediately. “Yeah.”
Obvious lie.
Then she noticed his expression too.
“You look terrible.”
“Thanks.”
That actually earned the smallest real laugh from her so far.
Ethan leaned quietly against the hallway wall afterward while lowering his voice.
“I heard someone behind a security door downstairs.”
Mira’s expression changed instantly.
“Corridor C?”
God.
Ethan stared at her. “How do you know the corridor name?”
She hesitated.
Too long.
Then slowly opened the door wider for him to enter.
Her room looked almost identical to his — perfectly clean bed, white walls, metal desk, digital monitor mounted above the door.
And just like the others—
the room clock displayed frozen red numbers:
3:17 AM
Ethan was beginning to hate that number.
Mira sat carefully on the edge of the bed before speaking again.
“I couldn’t sleep earlier.” She immediately corrected herself. “Not sleep. Rest.” Her voice sounded distracted now. “I started wandering around the lower hallways about an hour ago.”
“And?”
She looked visibly uncomfortable.
“I found Corridor C too.”
Cold uneasiness crawled through Ethan’s chest again.
“There was a man standing near the security door,” Mira continued quietly. “I thought he was staff at first because he wore a lab coat.”
Ethan frowned slightly. “What happened?”
Mira stared down at the floor.
“He kept knocking on the door.”
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
The memory physically echoed inside Ethan’s head.
Mira swallowed visibly before continuing.
“I asked him what he was doing.” Her voice lowered. “And he told me not to let them hear me awake.”
Silence filled the room afterward.
God.
That sentence felt wrong in ways Ethan couldn’t explain.
“Who?” he asked softly.
Mira slowly looked up toward him.
“He said the people inside the walls.”
Neither of them spoke for several seconds after that.
Because suddenly the underground facility around them felt much less empty.
Then Ethan noticed something else.
Mira’s room television was on.
Muted.
Static flickered faintly across the screen even though neither of them remembered turning it on.
And standing within the static—
was the woman from the hallway recording earlier.
The same hospital gown.
The same long dark hair covering her face.
Only now—
she wasn’t walking.
She stood completely still staring directly toward the camera.
God.
Ethan physically felt his heartbeat stutter.
“Mira…”
She followed his gaze slowly.
And froze.
The woman inside the television moved.
Not walking.
Tilting her head slightly upward.
Just enough for strands of black hair to shift aside—
revealing one wide unblinking eye staring directly outward from the screen.
Then the television cut to black instantly.
The room lights flickered hard.
Once.
Twice.
And for one brief second—
someone stood behind Ethan reflected in the dark TV screen.
A tall figure wearing a white lab coat.
Motionless.
Ethan spun around immediately.
Nobody there.
The room was empty except for him and Mira breathing too fast beneath the artificial morning lights.
Then the speakers overhead crackled softly.
Dr. Mercer’s calm voice echoed throughout the sleeping quarters.
“Good morning, participants. Night One has officially concluded.” A brief pause followed. “Please report to the observation wing for cognitive evaluation.”
The announcement ended.
Neither Ethan nor Mira moved immediately afterward.
Because both of them understood the same thing now.
The experiment had already started affecting them.
Or—
far worse—
something inside Somna Labs had been waiting for them to arrive.