Chapter 7: Heavy Steps

*Creek**Creek*

*Swoosh*

Strange screeching sound elicited Marissa's consciousness. She slowly open her eyes and found that she was standing in a hallway , she doesn't know how she got here and she didn't know why she's here. Her mind is clouded and her attention waning.

The hallway is dark and dreary, the light fixture above are either dead or dim, making it harder for her to think straight. The sound the she have heard came from a door that is swaying as the wind blows into it. The empty halls amplify the sound making it louder than it should be.

She walk forward to closed the door but she found out that it's hard to make step.With a grit she push forward and in a few steps she reach the door she hold the knob and closed the door slowly.

*screech*

*Tak* *Tak*

As latch fall on its socket , she expect the hall to be silent. But as the sound of the screeching disappear, she heard a far sound of a rhythmic steps from the back. It inch slowly with a second interval before every steps.

*Tak*Tak*

The sound is getting closer as seconds passes. She tried to see what making the sound ,but she can't distinguish a form from the dark hallway.

*Tak*tolk**Tak*tolk*

As it gets nearer, sound of droplets accompanied the sound of the slow steps , it's getting closer and closer and closer.

She kept her sight looking at the direction of the sounds, until a silhouette of a person came in sight.

It's a woman , with long hair drenched in water as it drop down her face . She wore a baggy shirt and a long skirt both covered with strange dirt and was also soaking with water.

Walk with a limp and step it a rhythmic fashion, her head slump down mumbling something.

The woman was only a few meters away from her and she can now see her form clearly. She look at her from the bottom watching the drop of water flood the floor and moving her sight upward, as she look on the hanging arm beside the woman she something different dripping from it. It's blood , crimson blood flow down from a wound on her wrist , the water dilute it as it mix but the crimson droplets remain visible.

*Tak*Tak*

"youjsjjajjkkk"

The woman mumble was already within earshot of her but she can't focus to know what is it for her heart was beating loud and fast. A strange sense of coldness cover her making the hair on her nape stand up. Smell of decaying corpse assaulted her nose as a extreme dread flood over her.

With a turn she quickly tried to run but her legs were as heavy as lead.She still push through trying to run away from the source of horror behind her . She run , and run , and run and run but she still can't gain distance from the woman, it's still walking slowly but she feels like she was running in place.

Tears flowed out her eyes and her body drench in sweats but still the woman is gaining on her , she tried to look back and she saw the it only a few steps away from her.

Tears and snot mix as she sob tying to run but despair hit her hard as she tried to look back and see that the woman was only a couple of steps away from her. The drench woman raised it's head meeting the eyes of Marissa. Red pupils and bloodied retina was what surprised her . The woman mumbled words that can heard but still she cannot understand. Too startled of what she saw she trip and feel down the tiled floor. The woman creep closer to her bending down to her face . It's hair move like snakes and it slither around her face.

She tried to open her mouth to scream but no voice came out. The hair move around and ten slither down her opened mouth. Marissa tried to move her body and struggle but she seems to loose control of it , holding onto the locks of hair she tried to pull it out but it still slide down her throat slowly . Water and blood flowed though the hair down her throat, drowning her. Itch assaulted her neck , she scratch at it but it didn't go away , she scratch and scratch until blood came out of her skin, her nails dig down her neck making the wounds bleed more .

She's suffocating, she's drowning, her body seem to give up and stop all it's struggle.

All she can do is scream, even so no voice came out she still scream in indignation.

"AHHHHHHHHH"

Loud scream echoed through out the lab.Marissa sit up in the bed drench in cold sweat. But she can still feel the horror.

*Cough* *Cough*

She touch her neck and cough uncontrollably, it's as if she can still fell the hair down her throat, but she didn't, it's all an illusion, it all just a dream.

" Your finally awake"

Said a man in a lab coat while sitting beside the bed holding a bundle of paper and a pen.