I continued down the sterile corridor, the monotony of my steps echoing against the walls like a repetitive rhythm. my mind wanders, but it's like i can't escape the tight grip of the asylum. It's as if the walls themselves are closing in on me, like they've grown taller, further apart, or… thinner?
My eyes flick over the familiar doors, the sterile white stretching endlessly, mocking me with its consistency. But something is wrong. Something always feels wrong, like there's a faint hum just beyond the edge of my consciousness.
I walk for what feels like hours. Or maybe it's just minutes. Time is hard to gauge here. Nothing changes, but everything feels off.
As i turn another corner, something catches my eye. A door.
But not just any door, this one feels different. It's not the same as all the other doors I've passed, one after another, for so long. It's a heavy wooden door, an old thing, with a tarnished handle that glints just enough in the dim light to catch my attention. It stands out in the sterile white hallway, almost as though it's calling to me.
Something shifts in the air, too. I can feel it. The usual stale, recycled atmosphere is thinner here, and for the first time in what feels like forever, I smell something other than the familiar hospital antiseptic scent. Fresh air?
No. That can't be right. But there's something else, something that makes me step closer to the door without thinking.
I reach for the handle. My fingers are trembling as I wrap them around the cold metal. The door feels real, solid, alive in my grip. I tug it open slowly.
At first, all I see is darkness. But then, my eyes adjust, and I catch the faintest hint of light. I see it—the outside world. A glimpse of the sky. It's gray, overcast, maybe even a little bit stormy, but it's real.
It's been so long since I've seen anything like this, anything beyond these walls. The outside feels like something from a dream, something impossible.
My hand shakes as I push open the door further. For a moment, I think I'm dreaming. I have to be. This can't be real.
I can see the sky, the gray clouds. I can hear the wind.
But then, a noise, distant at first, but unmistakable. The slow click of a door. A lock sliding shut.
Footsteps. Someone is coming. I freeze.
The sound of heavy boots and the scrape of shoes against the floor. I glance over my shoulder, and my stomach drops. The hallway I just walked down, the one that led me here, doesn't look right. It's different. The door I just opened?
Gone. Vanished. In its place is nothing but more white walls, more polished floors, more of the same sterile nothing.
I stare, disoriented. This is impossible. I know this hallway. I've walked it a thousand times. But now? It's wrong. The door i held open,the one that would have led to the outside, isn't there anymore. And I didn't imagine it. I didn't dream it. It was real. I felt the handle. I saw the sky. I was this close.
But now… now I don't know where I am.
The footsteps are getting louder, drawing closer. I hear the shuffling of a nurse's shoes and the quick rhythm of a guard's boots.The walls stretch out in front of me, like a maze I never asked for. I run my hand over the walls, searching for something familiar. But nothing makes sense. Nothing is the same as it was a moment ago.
It's like the building itself is alive, reacting to every little movement. And now, as the footsteps grow closer, I realize the horrible truth; The Asylum itself shifts.
But i didnt have the pleasure of thinking, i had to act before the people the footsteps belonged to would find me. So, i turned another corner, acting oblivious to the people behind me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was back in my Room. Plopping onto my bed, i heaved a sigh.
what was that?
No wonder i always got lost, the asylum building itself was changing. and that door.. how did it appear? Was it always there and i simply never came to see it? No that cant be. i walked through every cranny and crook this place could have.
So what if, perchance, theres a reason the place always changed? What if theres a system that, if turned on, would show me the door to my freedom again?
Its not like i never tried to find a way out. God knows how often i tried to run away from this awful place, but i never came across a door that leads outside.
I needed more information.