A dark cold feeling ran through the space along with a presence. It spoke in a soft, kind whisper.

“Awake.”

It was one familiar to the boy. One horribly familiar. One he’d rather die than listen to.

It spoke in the same manner as it always had, never changing for whatever reason.

“I’ve helped remove some of the poison, but if you don’t wake now it will heavily cost you.”

The voice was sort of like a heavenly muse; along with a stabbing curse. Part of it helped ease the boy, making him remember his old life with someone he had once grew up with.

While the rest mocked him for using the voice of his dead friend, which was one of whom he eventually grew to love.

“Now awake, Effryn.”

The young boy was dragged out from his dreaming interlude back into reality, which to him, was a completely dark, cold, and metalish feeling.

Effryn felt the coldness biting his skin, but only barely. As he grew more aware of his surroundings, the more his feeling of everything became disconnected. He felt like his body was there, but not his entire mind.

Only a fraction was there, laying on some cold tray in a dark space.

The part that was there wanted nothing more but to die. It could vomit at any moment, blood vessels could burst like a rhythm game, his like could slip after the next breath.

The right of wrong was right, and wrong of right was wrong.

H-h...ey...w-...what is… th-...is? He questioned his body, or maybe even to God- Effryn didn’t care at this point anymore. Only the yearning for the pain to stop was on his mind.

“Hurry and take this, immediately.”

A voice rang out in the space of time, yet no sound waves echoed. Suddenly, a moonlight hand gently placed a small plastic cup before Effryn.

“Drink.”

Wasting no time, Effryn weakly gripped the cup with every bit of energy left in him, but just enough to not make anything pop. He didn’t care what it contained; he merely followed the voices orders.

As the mellow taste of sweetness rushed down his throat, Effryn felt a sudden surge of recovery in his entire body, as if it had negated every negative effect in him.

“W-what did...how did you…?”

Effryn was in complete awe. Not only did the small drink remove nearly every feeling of pain in his body, it also worked as some kind of stamina potion. Although there were a few constant stings here and there, it felt like a miracle no less.

“I gave you enough help to wake you up, but it seemed like it wasn’t enough to keep you alive for much longer, so I gave you a little more.”

“I feel it, and thank you, but still...how did you just create somethi-”

“-Shush. He returns. Keep quiet and you’ll make it without cost.”

Although he built up many questions in his head to ask the ghost, the sudden materialization was definitely up top before it interrupted him. He kept quiet and listened to word of the ghost.

It’s not like he had much of a choice to listen. She just saved his life, twice, in a matter of seconds.

Then again...he thought, remembering the doctor when he had found him. The doctor ‘helped’ me and still stabbed me in the back.

Weighing his options of getting betrayed by either the crazed insect doctor, or the imitation of Evvryns ghost, he decided it would be slightly better to be killed off by some ghost.

While thinking of which side would be the better bad ending, the sound of footsteps approached the room, along with some chatter.

“Doctor, how sure are you this young man ran out the back? And if he didn’t, then the deal is off!”

“Gentlemen...are you blaming me for your incompetence in capturing an injured patient?”

It was Dr. Zylar and an older man having a somewhat heated conversation. And the main topic was on Effryn. It sounded like the person other than the doctor sounded pretty distraught, and voiced his anger publicly. Yet the doctor calmly answered the man's questions, and threats.

“But if we can’t find him, then don’t you think it’s partially your fault for letting him get away?!”

“As I recall, it was not requested of me to lure the boy to a specific point; only to point you men to the boy.”

“Argh, damn you! You’re coming with me to find this boy, as a new found part of the deal, doctor!!”

“Fine, but only for a short while. I still have some work needing attendance.”

A door burst opened by a rage of rushing footsteps, which were followed by a much calmer set of steps. But before everyone had exited the room, Effryn heard the soft tapping outside of Effryn’s space, alongside the whisper of a truly crazed maniac.

“Don’t worry, my dear Effryn. I shall come back very soon after I deal with this annoyance.” The doctor uttered, before slowly walking away and leaving the room.

After that, it was complete silence. Not a sound enter Effryn’s little safe zone. Not anything outside, atleast.

“Good. The problematic doctor left for a short time. Let me get the hatch for you so you can slide out.”

“Excuse me ghost, but what exactly am in?” Effryn asked with full sincerity not knowing what trap he was in this time.

The ghost answered him as a small hatch pried itself before Effryn. “You are currently in the morgue incinerator, but once you slide out, you’ll just be in ‘the morgue.’”

“D-did he plan to burn me alive?!”

“I’m guessing his plans involved you not coming back, so I assume after a short while-yes.”

Mentally thanking the ghost for saving him, Effryn found himself now standing dead center in the aforementioned ‘morgue’. It seemed to have only one purpose based on the only item in the room.

“This room only holds a single incinerator…”

“Such is the purpose for a room like this.”

Effryn dusted himself off and took a better look at himself than around him. Everything seemed perfectly fine; exactly opposite from what he felt before.

“G-ghost, what exactly did you give me?”

“A special regiment touch from a Zelio, and a rare one at that.”

Anything but logic spewed out from the ghost all which Effryn knew exactly nothing of. So he did what any person would do and summarize it into his own words.

“A what now...nevermind, you gave me a cure all potion.”

“Whatever name suits best. Now then, befo-”

“-re you finish, let me ask some quick questions so I can get a better understanding of where I am.”

Now that he had been physically replenished, and found himself a little safe point, Effryn used this time to get some information while the opportunity presented itself.

“I...suppose so. Although I would recommend you ask in a speedy manner, as time is currently fighting both sides.”

And just like the miracle it was, the ghost of Evvryn appeared in full body again, with the same moonlight aura. It was her face before him once more, yet the polar opposite of her. Effryn clenched his teeth trying to hold back any sadness from publicly showcasing itself, and prepared for the questions.

“Ok, first throw. I’m not brain dead enough to not know you have some kind of end goal your trying to reel in, with me as your hook.”

With his first question already striking the iron hot, the ghost merely shrugged off any expressions in her response and answered monotonically.

“As it is implausible to give out exact coordinate reasoning, all I can inform is your the only one capable of pushing the child to complete the synchronizer.”

“I’m sorry but I don’t think I can follow yo-”

“I am sorry, but I can not inform you any more in due terms violations to the current ?-?-Tz?-.”

“Wha…” Although he had able to somewhat keep up with it before, Effryn lost his railing entirely as she finished her words. It was as if she created another language off the bat. “Agh, screw it. Next question.”

Effryn took a deep breath and readied himself.

“Following up on the first, why me?”

It was a simple yet key thing making Effryn wonder why would some other worldly being would chose him out of the other eight billion bastards on the planet with him. He could try and rule out some possibilities like him being the closest to the child or he had some crazy built up power within him, but it would be pointless to grasp at a cup of infinite straws when there’s a perfect straw with a definite answer before him.

“Because you have you best relation with the child, thus I reasoned it was most logical to make contact with you.”

“Why go through the trouble of bringing me when you could have gone to her yourself?”

“Because the watchful one in this space would notice such a direct change.”

The ghost’s response surprised him. Not only did the ghost have a reason for acting, but there were consequences for these actions. It couldn’t get to the child directly, so it used someone who was close to them instead.

“Can we prepare to leave? I fear our time is growing short.” The ghost flatly said, interrupting Effryn’s train of thought.

“Fine, but before we do so…” As Effryn walked up to the door, he slowly looked back at the moonlight in the corner of the room. “...tell me...why chose her?”

Why...why her, out of all the people?

“It was someone you were comfortable with, were you not? I merely borrowed their body af-”

“-Stop talking. Forget I asked.”

Not wanted to talk with it anymore, Effryn opened the door and quietly left.

The ghost remained in the morgue for a short time after, tilting its head as if it were puzzled. “Perhaps I made an erroneous decision in choosing this catalyst? Everything seemed fine until his last question. He had done fine on resisting crying until then.”

And after pondering the strange young key needed for the trove, the moonlight faded, leaving nothing but darkness in the morgue.

The hallway was dark as the kiss of night, with the only lighting path being a dim blink from the elevator floor level they were on: B2.

“Here is the only way to return to the main floor.” The ghost spoke to Effryn, yet with no sound waves were heard throughout the hall.

“Only one huh? This could be a bit tricky.”

“Luckily, no one should be around to make this costly for you, so all should be fine until then.”

“Sure thing future holder.”

Effryn cautiously walked towards the elevator and timidly pushed the call elevator button. A dim light followed by a light ding signaled the elevators descent towards them.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Do you think this could alert anyone to us?”

“I fear that is the risk for using such a loud contraption. If things go awry, I suggest you run.”

“What about you…” His voice trailed off remembering the past experiences from when he had contact with other people.

Every time someone came into the same room as Effryn, it seemed all traces of the ghost would vanish, leaving nothing behind; not even the fragments of her voice.

“If you are concerned for my safety, there is no need for worry. For one such as I can easily hide any and all form of my existence from another being.”

Effryn processed the words she spoke in his mind as he watched the floor lights slowly ticking down from five to the basement two.

So the ghost could essentially hide from any situation it wanted to, evading every social interaction possible. Effryn felt a slight bit of envy form, but let those feelings die once the elevator reached his floor, opening the doors for him.

The elevator itself was a completely brown room, with railings on every side except where the doors open. The lights were flickering on and off, like darkness was slowly cutting light itself out.

“You should hurry. That doctor could return any moment now.”

“Yeah, I know. We need to go to the first floor, then…”

As he was looking at the list of buttons ranged B2 to 5 from lowest to highest being top to bottom, a another ding sound came from the walls, and the doors began to close shut.

Going up.

“W-wait, hold on?!”

The Elevator slowly started to rise in floors, passing up the first basement floor, then the first floor…

“This is problematic.”

“Oh really? I wonder why?!”

Someone was calling the elevator from one of the higher floors, but it was anyone's guess on who..

Then again, it didn’t matter who it was, they were probably going after Effryn either way, so they were all the same in that form.

“You need to hide, immediately.”

“And where do you expect me to hide in an elevator?!”

The numbered lights reached its way to the fourth floor and kept moving, which meant someone had called on the top-or the fifth floor.

Effryn looked around to see any place worth any damn to use as a hiding place. He noticed a vent on the side, but it seemed to small even for his size. There were the small walls he could use as a blind spot next to where the doors open with his size, but the flickering light would make him easily visible.

“Arg…” Panicking, Effryn looked up at the small flickering light, illuminating only part of the elevator. “If only that could just stop existing for a mere moment…”

Floor five reached.

“I’ll take care of the light, you hurry and hide.” The ghost voiced in his head with a little more enthusiasm than before.

Effryn hid tightly next to the wall, while watching the only light start to furiously shake, until it collapsed completely. The room was now enveloped in entire darkness.

The doors slowly opened, revealing the passage to the next room.

“Ahh, I suppose you won’t be getting much use of your gift anymore? Please, allow me to express the deepest of sympathies as you endure this feeling.”

“W-hy...you pi-ce of...shhhit…!”

Effryn heard the laughter of a man who was enjoying every second of time, while the other sounded like he was suffering a horrible chill. And it was one he grew to know to be very dangerous.

-The man was doctor Zylar, who sounded like a calm maniacal machine when talking over the other person.

“You know, it is quite rude of you to speak in such a poorly manner. But dread not, for this should shatter all thoughts of feeling in a heartbeat.”

Effryn could only see faint shadows of the two men, until it seemed as if one had kicked another right into the elevator.

The man in the elevator had needles stuck in him everywhere; from his neck down to his chest were only twenty to begin with. The further down you looked down his body, more syringes were covering him.

The man twitched in intervals, using all his strength to get one last look at the psychotic man. He opened his mouth, but nothing left. It was then he realized foam was overfilling his insides pouring out from his mouth. His eyes were growing more bloodshot by the second, with streams of blood flowing from his eyelids.

Effryn witnessed this sight, and did everything possible to keep still and quiet in his blindspot from the slight. The man before him was a good example of what would happen if he moved even an inch.

“Well, there’s one down. Wait here as I retrieve your other friend.” Effryn stared at the shadow of the doctor, who seemed to pause in his movements. “Ahh, well I guess I need not worry on your behavior. Your heart failed, after all.”

Doctor Zylar easily walked away while humming a fast tune he’d never heard before.

“Quickly, you must return to the first floor and leave immediately.”

He heard the words of the ghost echo through his mind, but he could only focus on the body oozing a greenish blood from his pores.

“D-did the doctor really do this?”

“Who else but the doctor could concoct something as vile? I advise you to hurry.”

“...Fine.”

Effryn turned around and pushed the first floor button he had leaned on to hide. Afterward, the elevator made another Ding sound, along with its other routine work, and began moving down.

More liquid rushed out from the man lying on the ground. Effryn did his best stepping around the blood, but it grew increasingly difficult as the elevator floor was nearly painted with a minty crimson.

“What is this?” Effryn questioned out loud.

“I believe this is another kind of mixture of poisons the doctor had made. He then used it on this poor soul. And to think he seemed perfectly fine since the last we heard him and the doctor speak.”

“Wait, THIS was that guy?! It had to have been no more than twenty minutes!”

This person, who was gutting out blood from every seam of his body, had before sounded like he were in near top shape, That means either he had been injected before, or…

“Doctor Zylar is creating some kind of hyper poison injections, capable of killing somebody in very short amounts of time. At least, that’s what I think.”

The corpse was no longer twitching, and remained dead still as the elevator floor lights were the only illuminating factor showing the body.

“But if he died this fast, then how come I’m not gone yet?” Asking on how he could possibly be alive if this man had died so fast, he realized that the cure all the ghost had given him must have had to been some kind of God potion. “...so you really need me, don’t you.”

He knows the ghost had said it was a rare potion, but maybe it's ‘rare’ was on a different level. He knew medicine they had were advanced, but there was no way any of it compared to what the ghost gave him. If they had an instant cure, then maybe...

Floor one-base level.

The sounds of the robotic elevator voice dragged Effryn back from his mind. The lights from the elevator cut out, making the entire thing grow dark. A bit of rumbling happened, and the door slowly creaked opened, allowing light to seeth in, as well as for blood to flow out.

“Now you must leave at once. Take the front doors, for they are the fastest way out.”

Watching his step, he swiftly evaded the blood and exited the elevator. But instead of leaving, Effryn hurried off down a different hallway looking for something with higher priority.

“This is-why are you choosing somewhere else?”

“I can’t leave without something important.”

He found the room he had first been drugged at, and entered the door with the sign crudely labeled ‘pharmacy’. He was again greeted by the myriad of cabinet colors.

Now where is the tainted one… he thought straining his mind ot find it. There.

Effryn rushed over the black cabinet the doctor had previously been opening, but was stopped in his tracks.

“It’s locked?!”

“Why is this container of importance to you? Right now, you should be prioritizing your life.”

“Well right now, my life prioritizes what's inside this cabinet!”

The only thing surging through Effryn’s mind was getting into the cabinet, and getting Evvryn’s ribbon. Ever since he saw the doctor holding one of the last remaining pieces of her, he knew right then and there he had to take back her fragment.

He tried banging, hitting, even locking picking to some degree-all to get one hair accessory from Evvryn.

“This is very illogical; is this item really of high importance to you?”

“I’d compare it to my lifeline.”

The ghost remained silent for a moment as Effryn kept banging away, until he could have sworn he heard a ghastly sigh, followed by a click.

“I still don’t see why something could drive you as far as to do a costly move, when it’s much safer to just leave before increasing risk.”

The cabinet door fidgeted, then slowly swayed open before Effryn. It had been magically opened by the ghost.

Looking inside, Effryn saw the box the doctor had before and grabbed it without a moment's hesitation. He opened it revealing the same yellow ribbon Evvryn had wore the last time he’d seen her. It was minorly scuffed, but apart from that it was in nominal condition.

If Evvryn were to see it, she’d probably go along the lines of “Is this ragged ass of a cloth really belong in my hair?” or something…

Stop. Don’t think about her, just keep going. And now I know she really can influence the physical world around her at will…

“May we part now? If you stray any longer…”

“I know; we’re leaving.”

Effryn gripped the ribbon he held in his hand tightly, and reassured himself that all he needed to do next was get out alive. Why, the only thing in his way are a group of people out for him, and a cynical doctor. What more could he ask for?

“Where to?” He asked the ghost for exact directions knowing now his old route might be comprised.

“I’ll direct you, but I beg of you: Actually listen this time.”

The waxed floor reflected him in its glimmer, as if it were going to reflect his very sins. He crouched behind a water fountain, hiding from two search men with flashlights checking around the bathroom area.

“No sign of the brat here.”

“Either here. Have we heard from jake?”

Effryned honed in on their conversation as they searched for him.

“Not since he went with that doctor for some tip on the kid. Ever since, he hasn’t messaged anything back.”

“Should we go check on him? I don’t know about you but I feel like the doctor’s been playing us sideways ever since we found him.”

“Honestly, he kind of scares me. I don’t know why, but it might be the way he wears his medical clothes. And how he hasn’t showed us any part of his face-or even body for that matter!”

“Hey, you know what? Screw the doc! Let’s go show him who’s boss and make him reveal his face to us!”

“Dumbass, we have to search!”

“You think that, but what if he is hiding the kid? I mean, he already gave us two reports from which both beared nothing! I swear he’s hiding something.”

“...you actually might be right about something for once. Let’s go make some sense in that man, Kaid.”

“Yeah!”

The sounds of footsteps signaled the cost was clear to continue moving deeper in the hall.

“May those two souls find peace soon after. Left.”

Following the instructions of his guiding cheat code, Effryn obliged every order he was given. It would tell him when to stop, go, hide, whatever the best thing to do in the situation.

“Keep straight, then look for an exit. Once you find it, wait for further word.”

“Aye-aye.”

So far, everything went smoothly on the ghost’s word. Effryn wondered on how it was able to know where people were, and when it was safe to go or not. He deducted it couldn’t be right-out future sight, or it would have predicted when he was captured by the doctor, or when he left for the ribbon.

“Look, right there. Now wait patiently.”

So it had to be, or at his best guess at what it was, is human sensing. The ghost could sense humans from a distance, or through walls.

“The lock has been removed. Let me inspect…”

As for the physical movements, he was still completely clueless on what it was. The only thing popping in his mind was a pultagest of some sorts, but that’s about it.

“Wait...why is..?”

The ghost’s mimicked voice of Evvryn had a slight change of tune, something he had yet to see. It was a slightly higher pitch version, inching a small way to Evvryn’s original.

“Is something wrong? Did we take a wrong turn?”

“No...you need to ru-”

“Effffffrrryyynn! Where did you run offffff tooo?”

The halls echoed with a vile sound of insanity, shaking the ever-looming aura of death in the hospital. It was the doctor, but he sounded more crazed than ever.

“Ghost where did… Right, damnit!”

Remembering the ghost disappeared whenever the doctor was on him, he knew it was pointless to ask for its guide now.

“I’ll take a shot at the dark and guess you were going to finish with run, so I’ll do just that!”

Effryn bolted for the door hoping to finally escape this nightmare of a supposed heaven. But as he ran for the one chance of surviving, his eyes locked with the doctors, who was in his regular medical attire leaving no trace of his skin.

A feeling of despair grew in Effryn as he watched a wicked smile form along contours in a surgical mask.

“Boy, I don’t know how you did it, but you defied even the medical enhancements of a God! YOU SHOULD BE DEAD RIGHT NOW! Yet here you are, standing as if nothing happened!”

Effryn said nothing and ignored the mad doctor, slamming into the door. The impact was rough, but he could barely feel any of it, so why did it matter.

There was a hallway after the door which went on for a short while with a door neatly placed at the end.

“Nothing is making sense right now! You should be dead. Not even a miracle could cure that!”

The doctor went on and on, showing that he was clearly pissed. The medicine was the only reason why he was alive, and it was a kind of cheat. It was no wonder why the doctor was struggling on how he could have survived.

-It was higher than a miracle. It was a blessing from a being on par to God.”

The sounds of night became more audible the more Effryn drew to the end. He was in the home stretch.

“You have something, don’t you?! You have to, nothing else explains it! You somehow acquired a resource higher than a miracle! Fine by me, but just know, Effryn, that I, Zylar Von Labour, will inject you with a mix of diseases unlike any other! I shall endure the hardships of waiting until our reunion, and until then, I shall prepare the best mixture possible just for you!!”

The fanatic screams of the doctors own will pierced the hallways as Effryn sprinted. It was pure nonsense, but he technically hit the nail deadon. Zylar suspected foul play, and he was right to. If it weren’t for the cure all, he would definitely be with Evvryn…

Evvryn…

The thought of her made his everything weak; especially his mind. But…

“Sorry doctor, but I can’t. Not now, not ever!”

He felt a surge of inspiration overwhelm the past despair he felt, making him feel a small touch of light he’d lost ever since the day he lost her.

Effryn slammed on the exit door with all his built-up energy, and revealed the dark hallway to a dancing night sky. Part of his finger bandages became undone, but he could care less. He was free from hell, and had found a goal in life.

-No, he thought, running into a forest behind the hospital. This is my only reason for living.

“It’s the mummy kid!”

“Do we have to catch him or…”

Effryn could hear two men further back as he lost himself in the trees. The further away he got, the more they yelled.

“We didn’t get clear instructions, just to nip the kid!”

“So nip can mean either grab, or shoot, right?”

Run. Run faster than fast. Her life depends on it.

Effryn ran and ran throughout the forest he was in. He didn’t know where or what forest it was, but it didn’t matter. Only him running was what counted.

He jumped over and under branches, dodged trees as if they were oncoming traffic; all the sorts to keep him going.

There were some times when he could hear small yells of the men further behind, but he couldn’t hear much.

“...-it, we can’t find him, he-...”

“...-ere did the brat run off t-...”

Small nitpicks like that, but they were enough to keep him alert. If it weren’t for them then he wouldn't know if he was safe or not.

He kept on going, until the only thing on his mind was pure survival. If it meant something, he would make sure to vitalize everything down to its element if he could come out with his life intact.

-And so, he ran…