"Say, Henry, how many kids would you want? If we do get married?"
Elena said as she took a sip from her whiskey glass. She and Henry were on a date in a fancy bar.
Henry chuckled, the chuckle turning into a giggle.
"Zero. Zero kids."
Elena took another sip.
"Same. I like the way you think, by the way."
Elena complimented, smiling seductively.
Henry stayed quiet, smiling back before suddenly gulping down the whole cup at once.
"I like you, by the way."
He whispered, looking her in the eye.
Elena giggled softly before responding in a low voice.
"Do you now?"
The staircase was dark. There was no light, and it was narrow and tight.
Henry's steps were slow and wobbly.
"I… I killed her…"
he muttered.
"I punched that kid to death…"
His voice was hoarse.
He stopped, staring at his hand before touching his own cheek, his touch feather-light and fearful.
He closed his eyes, choking down a sob.
"I killed… Elena…"
As soon as he said that, sirens from far away below went off. They were faint, but loud enough to be heard clearly.
He took a few steps down but suddenly started vomiting uncontrollably and painfully, his body convulsing roughly.
Once he thought it was over, he found himself vomiting again.
He pressed his forehead against the wall, retching more.
Finally he was done, spitting what was left in his mouth before panting heavily.
He sat down on the stairs, hugging his knees again, trembling.
"I don't wanna go down… Something bad is down there…"
His breathing was heavy and quick.
The sirens continued to play.
"My head… it hurts…"
He clutched his head tightly.
Suddenly he started slamming his fist against the wall next to him.
"This fog! This damn place!!"
He kept striking the brick until his fist started to bleed.
He hit it one last time before stopping and taking deep breaths.
"I gotta… I gotta find… Elena. That's why I'm here, right? Because Elena isn't with me anymore. She left, didn't she."
He got up and started going down again slowly.
"She left because she found another man. I always knew she'd do that."
His thoughts were cut off as he stepped on a note.
He bent down, grabbed it, and started reading:
"My head. My head. My head. My head. I can't find it. Where is it? I wonder who took it from me. The blood, it's so much. But it's not red. It's colorless. He's down. My head. Is it down? I wonder… what is this place. Where's everyone. I think I'm sick, am I?"
Henry dropped the note on the ground.
"A head… I wonder where it is too."
Henry said loudly before continuing down.
"Am I losing my shit? Can I even get out of here?"
The question hung in the air.
"I really don't wanna meet another monster."
The sirens got louder and louder as he descended.
"Did Elena die?"
He started laughing at himself.
"Of course not! She's waiting for me down there."
He stepped on another note and grabbed it.
The handwriting was big and written with blood. It said:
"someone is…"
"Someone is what?"
Henry muttered, throwing the note away and continuing down.
"When am I gonna find a door? This is taking way too much and my head is starting to hurt really bad…"
He groaned, but his thoughts were cut off when he stepped on yet another note.
He grabbed it and started reading.
The handwriting was perfect and really small. It said:
"A coward, coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward coward."
Henry immediately tore it into pieces.
"I hate cowards."
he said matter-of-factly.
The sirens got louder and the air got colder.
He finally reached a door.
It was a small, normal metallic rusty door with the words "Henry is." written on it with blood.
He pushed the door open and it closed behind him.
There was no light inside. It was completely dark.
He found a flashlight on the ground.
He picked it up and started walking around.
There were normal hallways and rooms—a normal hotel floor.
He grabbed his head yet again, grunting in pain.
But suddenly, the sound of heavy steps was heard from up ahead, deep in the dark.
Each step gave Henry goosebumps.
His whole body froze in fear.
The sound of metal scraping against the floor heavily was terrifying.
Henry almost dropped the flashlight from his hand.
His whole body trembled.
Then from the darkness, a deep gurgling sound was heard.
Soon after, the same gurgling sound of the womb monster echoed back, as if they were communicating.
The steps stopped.
The gurgling stopped.
Then suddenly the womb monster started screaming loudly in pain as the wet sounds of tearing flesh splattered through the hallway.
Henry covered his mouth and ran to the side.
He kept running until he tripped and fell.
He immediately started vomiting, his eyes wide in horror, his heart pounding so hard he could hear it.
"Oh shit, oh shit…! I'm gonna die—fuck, fuck, fuck!!"
He retched again.
After he was done, he slowly got up, his body weak.
Heavy steps were heard from behind.
They were getting faster.
Faster.
Running.