WHAT IS LOST - The Thing Beneath the Building

7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXycQpLi4Q7

Chapter 6

The Thing Beneath the Building

The words echoed in Aya's mind.

“It woke up.”

The hospital room trembled violently.

A deep rumbling sound rose from somewhere beneath the building, like an enormous heartbeat awakening after years of silence.

THUMP.

The walls shook.

THUMP.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

Aya felt the vibration inside her chest.

“What woke up?” she whispered.

The man didn't answer immediately.

His eyes remained fixed on the floor as if he could see through it.

Then another sound came.

A scream.

Not from one person.

Hundreds.

Thousands.

Voices crying out beneath the building.

The sound lasted only a few seconds before vanishing into silence.

Aya covered her ears.

“What is this place?”

The man finally turned toward her.

“This building isn't a building.”

Aya stared at him.

“What?”

“It only looks like one because your mind needs a shape for it.”

The room flickered.

For a split second, the hospital ward disappeared.

Aya saw something impossible.

An endless darkness stretching forever.

Floating doors.

Broken staircases hanging in empty space.

People wandering without faces.

Then the room returned.

Aya's legs nearly gave out.

“This place exists between memory and fear,” the man continued. “Every forgotten nightmare eventually ends up here.”

A cold sensation crawled up Aya's spine.

“What about the thing underneath?”

The man's face darkened.

“It feeds on forgotten things.”

The heartbeat echoed again.

THUMP.

This time the sound felt closer.

Much closer.

The metal beds suddenly began rattling.

One of them slowly slid across the floor by itself.

Aya stepped back.

The room temperature dropped instantly.

White frost appeared on the windows.

Then came the whispering.

Soft voices.

Everywhere.

Behind her.

Beside her.

Inside her head.

At first she couldn't understand the words.

Then they became clearer.

Remember.

Aya grabbed her head painfully.

The voices grew louder.

A memory flashed before her eyes.

A hospital corridor.

Doctors running.

Someone crying.

A young Aya standing alone.

Looking through a glass window.

A hospital room.

A bed.

Someone lying on it.

The person's face remained hidden.

The vision disappeared.

Aya gasped.

The man stepped closer.

“You're starting to remember.”

“Remember what?”

Before he could answer—

A loud crack split the room.

One of the walls opened.

Not broke.

Opened.

Like a giant eye.

Darkness stared back from the gap.

Something enormous moved inside.

Aya froze.

A massive black shape shifted slowly beyond the wall.

Far too large to be human.

Far too large for the building itself.

Only one thing was visible.

An eye.

A gigantic eye.

Watching her.

The heartbeat stopped.

Silence filled the room.

The eye blinked once.

Aya felt every memory inside her mind shudder.

The whispers stopped.

The building stopped moving.

Everything stopped.

The eye continued staring.

Then a voice echoed directly inside Aya's head.

Not spoken.

Thought.

"You came back."

Aya collapsed to her knees.

The pain in her head became unbearable.

More memories flooded through her mind.

Rain.

An accident.

A hospital.

A crying child.

A promise.

A loss.

Something important had happened years ago.

Something she had buried so deeply that even her dreams forgot it.

The eye slowly closed.

The wall sealed itself.

The room returned to normal.

Aya sat trembling on the floor.

The man looked at her sadly.

He already knew.

“Knew what?” Aya whispered.

The man knelt beside her.

For the first time, his voice sounded gentle.

“The reason this place chose you.”

Aya looked into his eyes.

And suddenly she noticed something she had missed before.

The man's face was becoming clearer.

More familiar.

More impossible.

Because he looked exactly like someone she once knew.

Someone she had lost.

Someone who should have been dead..7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4TEbbbR1hk

ns216.73.216.172da2

Reading Theme:

Font Size:

Line Spacing:

Paragraph Spacing:

Load the next issue automatically