Victor stood in the middle of the conference room, holding the thermal camera in his hand. He turned it on and watched as the screen came to life, showing the different temperatures in the room.

Jeanette and Shia were sitting on the floor beside Jason, who was lying on a table they had pushed against the wall. They were cleaning his wounds and applying antiseptic. Jeanette looked up and saw Victor holding the camera.

"Is it working?" she asked while pulling out a pack of cigarette from her pocket.

"Yeah," Victor replied. "I'm getting a clear picture of the room."

Mark was standing near the wall, murmuring something. He had his eyes closed and was silently praying to God , constantly phrasing the bible.

Suddenly, the thermal camera beeped and Victor's attention was drawn back to the screen. He saw a small heat signature moving in the corner of the room.

"Guys, we have movement," he said, gesturing towards the screen.

Everyone's attention turned towards the camera. Jeanette and Shia put down their medical supplies and crawled over to Victor. Mark opened his eyes and turned towards them.

"What is it?" he asked and reloaded his gun.

"Iam not sure," Victor replied. "It's too small to be the entity, but it could be something else."

Jeanette reached over and adjusted the camera's settings, zooming in on the heat signature. As she did so, they could see that it was a rat, scurrying across the floor.

Mark let out a sigh of relief and took a step away from the door.

After this, Victor urged everyone to take some rest, but he knew that the gravity of the situation would not allow anyone to actually sleep. Even he himself was feeling uneasy. Since he had read Nathaniel's notes, he had been plagued by a feeling he had never experienced before. His adrenaline was still pumping through his veins, making it difficult for him to think straight.

He couldn't help but wonder, if Nathaniel had managed to escape, why hadn't they heard from him? There were so many people missing and the disappearance of the Imperial ship had garnered so much attention that the authorities would have surely taken notice. It didn't make sense. This thought kept echoing in his mind, making him feel like he was going crazy.

He considered the possibility that the red light might not be the way out after all. But if that wasn't the way, then what was? He couldn't back out now. They had come too far to give up. The red light was their only chance to escape this hellish place.

Yet, as he lay there trying to gather his thoughts, he found himself falling into a dilemma. Did he really want to escape? From a pure rational point of view, the answer was a resounding "yes". But he couldn't shake the feeling that something about this place was drawing him in. What would happen to him when he returned to the "real" world? Would he just go back to his boring 9-5 job, with everyone looking down on him? The same old mundane life that he had before? He fell asleep after thinking too much.

Six hours had passed and Jason suddenly woke up from his unconscious state, startled and confused. He stood up abruptly, looking around frantically and shouted, “Mother?? ...What the fuck?” His sudden outburst startled and woke up everyone, Mark rushed over to him to console him. “You good Jay? How you feeling?” he asked.

Jason was still trying to process what had happened and asked, “Where...how did we end up here?” Victor, barely above a whisper, replied, “You were unconscious.... so we brought you here.”

Jason looked around his surroundings and asked, “What do you mean 'here'?” He was becoming frustrated and asked, “Nah... don't tell me we are back in the hospital again.” Mark replied with worry, “We had to save you man, no... God wanted to save you.”

Jason's next question was about the creature, “What happened to him?” Mark replied confidently, “I shot him dead.” Jason was surprised and asked, “First of all, where in the hell did you get a gun? And how did you kill him?”

Jeanette stepped in and replied, “Well, gotta thank me for that, found those lying around in a room.” Jason was even more surprised and asked, “So this thing can die?” Victor replied, “Yeah it does.” Jason's face lit up with excitement and he exclaimed, “Holy fuck... I am gonna shoot the shit outta that bitch.”

He then asked Jeanette if she had another gun, and she handed one over to him. “What's the plan?” Jason asked Victor. Victor slowly explained the plan to everyone, stating that they would move through the streets, trying to identify the building which embodied the forest. They would then move into the cave slowly, staying together.

As they were discussing the plan, Shia interrupted with a sense of urgency in her voice, “Did anyone hear that?”

“Hear what?” Victor asked with a concerned look.

“The sound...something is coming,” Shia replied with a tremble in her voice.

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Mark and Jason cocked their guns and pointed towards the gate, while Jeanette asked Shia, “Is it the creature?”

Shia shook her head and said, “No, it's not the creature...it sounds like something is flowing”

Suddenly, a loud flow of water burst into the conference room, startling the life out of them. The force of the water knocked over the table and destroyed some of the equipment. In panic, mark shot in the water two times. The water level was high, about their waist. They struggled to stay upright in the strong current.

“It's a trap...he's trying to trap us in here,” Victor said, his voice filled with concern.

“Let's get outta here, Everyone.. Behind me" Jason ordered the group and took the lead.

The hallway was now completely submerged, and the murky water made it difficult to see more than a few feet ahead. Jason and Mark led the way, guns at the ready, while Victor followed close behind with his crowbar. Every step was slow and deliberate, as they knew that they were easy targets for whatever was lurking beneath the surface.

As they approached the end of the hallway, the flickering lights revealed something unsettling. In the distance, they saw a long, thin shape slithering through the water. It moved too quickly to make out any features, but the way it moved was distinctly unnatural.

Suddenly, a long, inhuman hand shot out of the water and grabbed onto Jeanette's leg. She let out an ear-piercing scream as she was pulled underwater. Mark reacted quickly, grabbing Jeanette's hand and pulling with all his might. Jason started shooting at the creature's hand, but it seemed to have no effect. This creature was different from the one they had encountered on the ship, and it was clear that it would take more than bullets to take it down.

Victor, seeing that the creature was slowly pulling Jeanette under, ran forward with his crowbar raised high. He swung it down with all his strength, aiming for the creature's hand. The crowbar made contact with a sickening thud, but the creature only tightened its grip on Jeanette.

A lot of questions raced through Jeanette's mind as she struggled to keep calm. Her thoughts drifted back to a time in her dormitory with her best friend and roommate, Linda.

"Do you wanna grab one?" Linda asked, holding out a cigarette.

"I'm good, don't want lung cancer, you know?" Jeanette replied, smirking.

"Who cares, bae? Just live your life the best way you can," Linda replied, lighting up.

"So...you want to tell me or not?" Linda asked.

"Tell you what?" Jeanette asked, confused.

"About your boyfriend, Mark, of course," Linda replied.

"He's not my boyfriend, Linda!" Jeanette retorted in frustration.

"Is it not? Then why do you hang out with him 24/7?" Linda asked.

"First of all, I don't, and he's just a friend. He probably doesn't even care about me," Jeanette rolled her eyes and replied.

"He does care, bae. I literally saw him caring when he was applying antiseptic on your knee," Linda replied.

"That's basic human tendency," Jeanette replied.

"Whatever makes you feel better, I guess," Linda said.

Suddenly, a loud thud sound could be heard from outside. Someone knocked at the door and said, "Girls, this is Officer Arthur. I'm going to need you both to get out because of an emergency. Please follow me."

Both of them were surprised, Jeanette got up from her bed and started walking towards the door, but Linda pulled her back and whispered, "What are you doing? How do we know it's a cop?"

"What do you mean, how do we know it's a cop?" Jeanette whispered, confused.

"Just stay still, okay?" Linda whispered.

"Can you prove to us that you are a cop?" Linda shouted at the guy standing at the front door.

"I can, miss. If you open the door, that is. Now, I'm going to need you to hurry because time is running out. It's an emergency," the guy replied firmly.

For a split second, Linda was going to open the door, but then she thought about it rationally. If he was a cop, then why wasn't he telling them what the emergency was, and why had they heard the loud thud outside? There was definitely something fishy going on.

The next moment, the guy started to force himself into the door, banging it loudly while screaming, "Open the fucking door! Open it!"

The girls panicked, but Linda quickly grabbed a knife to defend herself. The guy burst open the door, holding an AR-15 in his hand and talking like a maniac.

"Where are you, my little princess? Come out. Your daddy is waiting for you," he said as he slowly made his way through the room.

Suddenly coming out from the corner, Linda sneakily attacked the man, and during the struggle, she stabbed him in the neck. However, her actions had consequences, and she was unfortunately shot in the abdomen, collapsing to the ground and leaving a pool of blood. Jeanette, who was watching in horror, cried out to Linda, still catching her breath from the shock.

"L-Linda...are you okay?" Jeanette stuttered, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

"Shit! Why am I dying like this?" Linda coughed up blood, struggling to stay conscious.

With tears streaming down her face, Jeanette frantically searched for her phone to call for help. But Linda stopped her, knowing that it was already too late.

"No point...Just one thing...Just live your life the best way, bae." Linda managed to say, her hand falling lifelessly to the ground.

Just then, Mark took the crowbar from Victors hand and started chopping the creature with one hand. The creature's hand was slippery, and the water was making it difficult for Mark to get a good grip. He swung his crowbar again and again, hitting the creature's hand with all his strength. He shouted philippians 4:13 from bible, "I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

Finally, he managed to hit it hard enough, and the creature's hand came off with a sickening squelch. Jeanette was safe.

But the creature wasn't done yet. It let out a blood-curdling screech, and its other hand shot out of the water, grabbing onto Victor's leg. He screamed in pain and fell to the ground

The others quickly came to his aid, grabbing onto his arms and trying to pull him away. But the creature was too strong, and it started to pull Victor back into the water. They could see its glowing eyes, filled with hunger and malice, as it prepared to drag Victor under.

They knew they had to act fast. Jason quickly grabbed Mark's crowbar and swung it at the creature's arm, hitting it with all his strength. The creature screeched in pain, and its grip on Victor loosened. Mark and Jeanette quickly pulled Victor out of the water, while Jason continued to hit the creature with the crowbar.

“Fucking die you son of a bitch!” Jason screamed on top of his lungs

“Die”

“Die”

“Die”

Blood splattered all over Jason's face and finally, the creature let go, and it disappeared back into the water. After that, everyone took a moment to catch their breath. Jeanette and Victor were both panting heavily, coughing up water that had entered their lungs. Jeanette could feel the water sloshing around in her stomach, making her feel sick. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing, but the images of the creature's hand reaching out and grabbing her wouldn't leave her mind.

Mark and Jason were busy checking their weapons, making sure they were still functional after being submerged in water. They exchanged worried glances, knowing that they were still in a dangerous situation.