Ȉ̵̢͍̘̬̟͊͛̌̾n̸̪̓ ̸̛̘̝̭̍ã̷͚̄̂̎ņ̷̙͆ ̴̨̬̟̑ͅi̶̯͈̭̠̍̀̿̈n̵̦̹͍̠͛̓ḟ̷͍̘̝̫̮̆̂̍͝ȉ̴̫̣̮̩͂̇̈́̅n̷̦̙̋̎͐̾̐í̴͓̏͂̽́t̴̞͂͛̊̌ẹ̵̚ ̵̞͕̫̓͛̾͐̄p̶̹͗̋͑̚͠ö̴͈̰̻͔͠ŏ̵̭͕͈͕̜͠l̷̡̗͇̭͛̿͑̏ ̷̻̞̯̱͆̓̈́̊̕o̸̡̯̱͒f̵̢̜̅̀͗ͅ ̴͈̥͌̑͒v̸̟̩̣͎̂̆̍̂ë̸̫͈͖͋̚͝ͅr̵̢̯̬̝͑ṣ̵̿̉i̴͔̻̒̔͑͗̎ô̶̢̢̡̠̂̇̒n̷̟̖̓̇̈̕s̵͚̳̠͎͆̆̈̈́ ̸̯̻̦͛̀͒̕͠o̸̪̰̙̯͐͑̚f̵͓̞͒̑͆̾ ̶͚̝̏̎͋y̵̛̠̾ŏ̸͙͊̐͘u̵͎̳̮͖̐̅,̶̗̖͙̥̰̏̚
̸̣͉͎̦͊ͅ
̷̨͈͇̏͆͛͊͝E̶̘͎͗͂́̈́͒v̵̭̤́̋̔e̷̘͋͐̈́́r̴̹̭͠ÿ̴̠̭͚́̄̽ ̷̭͖̣̅̂̾̿s̷̥̩͂ḯ̶̭̮͐̉̎̈́͜n̵̟̭̔g̴̻͙͖̼̍͠l̴̨͍͑̃͑̉̚ê̵̤̯̲ ̷̛͕͊̆͋ỡ̷̡̙̤̌̈́͠n̸͓͈̣̲̽̓͗é̸̮͔̹̑͝ ̸͇̿̐w̷͕̲͇̺̠͒ḯ̷̙̮̈́̾l̴̛̦͕̤̙̫l̶̤̬͈̑̔̒͜ ̵̧͙̉̀͊j̵̨̮̘̭̦͒̽u̷͈̫̼̙͈̇͊̆͝ś̴̢͎̟͠t̶͔͇͖͊̈̎ ̸̹̹͔́̀͝͝ͅa̵̰̞̺͎̻͊̊̕͝s̵̫͈̼̓ͅ ̵͚͙̮̄e̴̡̙̠̟̺͋a̸̧̲̭̝̽̿̅͠ś̷̖̻̱̺̟̃̎̾̕i̸̯̜̖͆͠l̴̰̜̰͋ý̷̢͈̬̜͘ͅ ̷̢̤̱̈b̵̰̒ṛ̸̼͕̘̲̇ư̷͎̈̊͛̍i̶̧͎̹̙͈̐ṡ̷̘͖͓̓è̸̬͓͇̜̋͌̒̄,̵̱̲̅͐̏̀̂
̷̹̻̦͓̥̈T̷̨̡̍̈́h̷̼͍̻͔̊͂̆̒e̵͔̒̇͂̋̕ ̶̳͝s̷̲̜̆͂̌ǎ̵̘̉m̶̞͙͙̈́̀͠e̷̥̞̝̖̾̈ ̷͚̹̮̼̩̽̒ś̸̤̾̐͜h̸̲͚̭̲̮̋̀͌͝a̴̢̝͋͑d̴̛̼̘̰̄e̶͙͗̌̀̚ ̸̨͚̺͑̀̇̕̚o̵̧̤̝͌̀̇͛f̵̼̂̇͛̉͠ ̴̡͔̱̜̎̏̈́̅b̸̪̲̥̯̹̌̆l̵̲͔͓͋̊̏͗͠ò̴̮͇̓o̵̪̲̰̣̩͗d̴͈͑̂̐̈́ ̴̭̰͈̞̀͘w̵̰̮̻̱͔̍̎͐̏͘i̷͚̤̅̈́͠ͅl̴̼̺̪̹̺̆̒̈́͗͝l̵͔͚̞̓ ̴͐̅̀̓͜y̷͓͍̦̅̎͂͝͝o̴̝̚ṵ̵͐̇̚ͅͅ ̷̛̝͜͝ó̸͍͉̜͐ó̶̹̼͈̄̉͐̈́͜ͅz̵̡͇͊̒ȩ̵̻̌̓̑̆.̴̜͙̜͎̇̈́̚===
The moment I stepped out into the corridor, one last bang came from the other end of the corridor, around the corner, followed by the crash of the stairwell door slamming into the wall. The heaving breaths and heavy footsteps that followed were enough to shake me out of my stupor and get my legs moving.
My run was far from graceful, clutching my flashlight in one hand, my duffle bag in the other. It turned out that I probably hadn't been right in assuming whatever threat the Teddy bear was supposed to bring was gone. I had to avoid several puddles of the same viscous black liquid, and those which I failed to do so strangely felt like stepping through regular puddles of water. That was the last thing on my mind, however, as the booming steps of the thing approaching grew ever louder.
I didn't catch a glimpse of what it was that chased me until I was halfway across the stretch of corridor, when it finally reached the corner. Looking at it filled me with a different sort of dread, like I was hopeless in the face of this towering figure.
The thing that chased me was humanoid in form, but its resemblance to a human stopped there. In place of skin, it had brown scales covering its body, like a reptile. Its head was bald, sporting the same scales, with large red eyes bulging from its skull, and an elongated snout similar to a lizard's. Skinny arms held hands with dangerously long claws that dug into the wall as the creature stared right at me from across the corridor. It opened its reptilian maw to let out a screech like a power drill, its slithering tongue protruding from the depths of its mouth.
I did not look back again.
Exit sign at the other end of the corridor. It was the opposite direction from the staircase I'd come through, but did I really have any other choice?
The thundering footsteps, muffled by the carpet, mixed with the sloshing splashes of the black liquid being disturbed told me I was running out of time. I just had to get to the door under the glowing green sign.
Almost there. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears once more, nearly indistinguishable from the footsteps. Although I'd technically had a little bit of time to recover after my mad sprint on the second floor, it felt in the moment as though I'd been running since then. Was I really that unfit, or was this another effect of this cursed place?

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The Next Life (?? ?? ???)
Fanfiction"You found me once, you can find me again." - Jisoo x Male Reader - Jang Y/N never had much to call his own in life, but two things: his best friend Wendy, and his ability to see ghosts. When both of those things combine, and he ends up tagging alon...