Horror Game Developer: My games aren't that scary! Chapter 797: Overwhelmed [2]

"You’re next!’

I stepped away from the doorway.

"You’re next!’

His voice followed me into the corridor, growing hoarse as someone moved past me and hurried inside. I remained beside the wall until a nurse pulled the door partly closed.

Even then, I could still hear him.

’You’re next!’

"....."

I looked down at my hands.

After a little while, Geneva came out. She stopped in front of me, her sleeve wet where the water had spilled over it.

"Did you know?"

I lifted my head.

"Did you know this was going to happen?"

My lips parted, but I couldn’t quite find an answer.

I did suspect it. In fact, I knew it was going to happen.

But I had to go.

I needed to make sure.

"I could see it from the face you made when you entered... How you weren’t surprised at all by the reaction. Right, now that I think about it, when I called you, you asked if he’d said anything strange..."

Her fingers tightened around her sleeve.

"Why?"

"...."

"Did something similar happen with the other victim?"

I looked straight at her.

That seemed to be enough of an answer.

She took a small step away from me.

"You still came anyway... Right when he..."

She bit her lip.

"....."

"You could’ve told me."

Her voice was low. Somehow, that made it more difficult to listen to than if she had shouted.

"He was talking to me... He was asking me to get some rest. It had been so... long since I had last talked with him. And yet..."

Red trickled down her chin.

I didn’t look away.

From the start, I expected this sort of reaction.

For a moment, she looked as though she wanted to say something else. Then she pressed her lips together and turned towards the ward.

"The BUA is coming."

My hand stopped against my wrist.

"I didn’t call them. I did promise you I wouldn’t, and I didn’t. This is just something the hospital did. I tried my best to stop them, but this incident has forced their hand."

"I understand."

"Don’t ask me to stop them. I can’t."

"I wasn’t going to."

She looked back at me before returning to her brother.

I remained where I was for several seconds. Then I walked towards the chairs against the wall and sat down.

My head was still clear.

There wasn’t another voice interrupting my thoughts or making it difficult to think. I could remember every decision that had brought me here.

That wasn’t helping.

I lowered my face towards my hands and waited.

Eventually, the sound of hurried footsteps made me look up.

Several people entered the corridor. A man in a dark coat stopped near the nurses’ station, holding up an identification card.

"Chief Investigator Vincent Hale. BUA."

A nurse immediately approached him.

They spoke briefly before he looked towards the people gathered nearby.

"The hospital is being placed under lockdown. Please remain where you are until an agent speaks with you. Medical staff can continue their work."

Someone near the elevator started protesting.

Hale left another agent to speak with them and approached me instead.

"Seth Thorne?"

I nodded.

"You are not to leave this floor."

"I heard you."

"An agent will take you to a separate room. Until we understand what’s happening, you’re to stay away from the patients."

My fingers tightened slightly.

Then I nodded.

***

Geneva sat in a small room down the corridor, her hands resting in her lap.

Chief Investigator Vincent Hale sat across from her. The other man had introduced himself as Senior Investigator Elias Ross before taking the seat beside him.

He seemed to be writing down everything that was being said.

Geneva went through what had happened to her brother, from his earlier condition to the moment Seth entered the ward.

"He mentioned a cold?"

"Yes. And feeling feverish. That’s what... my brother said. He was answering questions, but we couldn’t hear anyone asking them."

"Was he responding to either of you?"

"No."

Hale glanced at the notes in front of him.

"And this led you to suspect an infection?"

"It could be something inside them. A disease. Some sort of plague."

Geneva looked between the two men.

"If it affects their minds, that would explain why nobody has found anything. Their bodies are here, but they could be somewhere else."

"That’s a real possibility."

Hale said, looking at his partner.

"At the moment, we haven’t established how it moves between people. Or whether it does."

"But the two cases..."

"Are being investigated. We’ve already contacted Silver Lanterns."

She nodded, although her hands remained tightly pressed together.

"When did you first suspect this?"

"Before he woke up properly."

"Why wasn’t it reported?"

Geneva lowered her eyes.

"I... made the call myself. I thought we’d lose the chance to investigate if the hospital was closed."

Ross’s pen stopped briefly.

"This was solely your decision?"

"Yes."

She looked up.

"I... thought I might find something."

Hale remained quiet for a moment before closing the folder.

"Your brother will continue receiving care. For now, don’t question him about what he experienced."

"What about Seth?"

"We’ll speak with him next."

Geneva looked towards the door.

"He hasn’t told me what happened with the other patient."

"We’ll ask him."

She rubbed her hands together before slowly nodding.

*

Hale closed the door behind him and glanced towards Ross.

The Senior Investigator was looking through his notes as they walked down the corridor. He stopped at one of the pages before closing the folder beneath his arm.

Neither spoke until they reached the room where Seth was being kept.

The agent stationed outside straightened.

"Has he asked for anything?"

"No, Chief Investigator."

Hale nodded and opened the door.

Seth sat at the table with his head lowered, his sunglasses held loosely in his uninjured hand. He didn’t look up when they entered.

Hale paused near the doorway before approaching the table.

"Team Leader Thorne."

There was no response.

He pulled out a chair and sat down while Ross closed the door behind them.

"We need to ask you a few questions."

Only then did Seth raise his head.

Hale met his gaze, waiting while Ross took the remaining seat and placed his folder on the table.

"Senior Investigator Elias Ross."

Seth looked at him briefly before returning his attention to Hale.

"How long will I be staying here?"

Hale rested his hands against the table.

"We can’t give you a definite answer yet."

"An estimate?"

"It could be a very long time. Until we understand the situation, we can’t allow anyone who may be affected to leave."

"....."

Seth’s gaze remained on him.

"Please don’t worry. Some of our best agents are being assigned to this investigation."

Hale waited for a response.

Instead, Seth lowered his eyes towards the sunglasses.

"What about my team?"

"We’ll contact them. We need to establish who you’ve been around."

"They aren’t showing any symptoms."

"We don’t know whether that means they’re unaffected."

Seth’s thumb stopped against the frame.

Hale noticed the movement before continuing.

"We’re not suspecting anything this far, but we do believe that there’s reason to be concerned. Two people have reacted severely to your presence. We need to understand why before letting you approach anyone else."

"I don’t know why."

"Then tell us what you do know."

Ross opened his folder and picked up his pen.

For several seconds, neither agent spoke. Hale watched as Seth slowly set his sunglasses on the table.

Then he started talking.

His account was brief. He told them about his visit to the Silvern Lantern Guild, and how he wasn’t the one who actually rescued him. In general, there wasn’t much that he had to say since he really didn’t have much to do with the Guild Member.

Ross occasionally stopped him to clarify something, but otherwise let him continue.

"What exactly did the patient say?"

Seth looked towards him.

"It was a bunch of nonsense. Talking about someone being present, but there wasn’t anyone in the room. I am quite certain of that."

Ross wrote the words down.

"Did he explain what he meant?"

"No."

"And you didn’t see anything?"

"No."

Hale glanced at his colleague’s notes before looking back at Seth.

"You think you may have been affected as well?"

The room went quiet.

Seth’s hand remained beside the sunglasses.

Eventually, he shrugged.

"...Maybe, or maybe not. The fact that you’re here with me could also mean you’re infected. I don’t think it was very smart of you to come knowing that."

"....."

"I see. You don’t have to worry about that. We’ve already accounted for that."

Ross’s pen moved again.

Hale studied Seth for a moment. There were several things he wanted to ask about that answer, but before he could continue, his phone vibrated.

He took it out and read the message.

"The hospital director is waiting."

Ross looked up.

"I’ll finish here."

Hale nodded before standing. He collected his phone and turned towards Seth, who had lowered his head again.

"Remain in this room. Someone will bring you anything you need."

There was no answer.

Hale waited another moment before heading towards the door.

Outside, he spoke briefly to the agent stationed in the corridor. His voice faded as the door closed behind him.

Ross continued writing.

Across the table, Seth hadn’t moved.

The pen stopped a little while later.

Ross looked over what he had written before setting it down beside the folder. He remained quiet for several more seconds, watching the man seated opposite him.

Then he smiled.

"So...?"

Seth’s head slowly lifted at the sound of his voice.

"It looks like you’re infected."

"....."

Ross leaned back in his chair.

Seth stared at him, his fingers becoming still against the edge of the table.

The smile on Ross’s face grew a little wider.

"We’re very curious to see how you get out of this one."