Koji couldn’t sleep. With his eyes closed, he listened to Sam’s easy breathing. Still, it wasn’t helping. He couldn’t relax. There was a steady stream of was sounded like whispering surrounding him. He couldn’t tell if it was all in his mind or from somewhere outside.

Of course, Koji knew he shouldn’t be able to hear anyone whispering. Sam was the only other person in the room, and he was asleep. The walls were too thick to hear the patients in the other rooms. And yet, Koji heard voices. Soft, barely discernable voices, but still voices. And no matter how he strained, he couldn’t quite hear complete words.

Not every night was this bad. And somehow, if he was next to Sam, right up close, the voices faded almost away. But Sam hadn’t seemed very happy to wake up with Koji in his bed that morning. Koji couldn’t do it twice in a row.

With a sigh, Koji rolled over. Wait, was there light in his eyes? He knew both the beside lamp and the overhead light were off. So what light was shining across his face?

Unable to stand it any longer, Koji opened his eyes. The light seemed to be coming from the direction of the room’s door. That didn’t seem right. He sat up. Sure enough, their door was open just a little bit. It was enough that light from the hallway had been falling across Koji's face.

This was wrong. There was no way the door should be open. It was always closed and locked while Sam and Koji were in for the night. As far as Koji knew, the room was kept locked during the day as well. It wasn’t as if they were allowed back to get anything. And every night, an orderly would unlock the door with a magnetic card before letting Sam and Koji go in.

So why was the door open? Who had opened it? Or was it all Koji’s imagination? Well, there was only one way to find out. Besides, Koji didn’t want them to be blamed for the open door.

He was tempted to get Sam to help him. No. Sam was fast asleep, let him sleep. Koji was just going to close the door. He didn’t need help for that. Even if things didn’t feel right.

Koji slipped out of his bed, staying as quiet as he could. The floor was cold against his feet. As he got closer to the door, he began to notice the whispers again. They almost seemed to come from outside the room. Curious, Koji peered through the crack. No one was out in the hallway, but he definitely heard voices. Then, louder than everything else, clear through the whispers.

*Koji….come here…*

Koji backed away from the door, shaking slightly. Who was that? A glance backwards told him Sam was still asleep. So was someone out in the hallway, calling him? If so, was it a trap? He knew he should just close the door and try to sleep.

*Why won’t you come? Won’t you help?*

If someone needed help, then he had to do something, didn’t he? Maybe that was why the door was open. Koji didn’t know what he could do, but someone was calling him. He had to at least find out.

His heart beating so hard he thought it would choke him up in his throat, Koji snuck out into the hallway. Everything looked normal enough. No one was there.

“H….hello?” Koji’s voice cracked. There was no answer.

His feet began to move without his consent. At least, that’s how it felt. Step by step, Koji slowly moved down the hallway, looking for anything unusual. He’d never been out of the room by himself. An orderly or doctor was always with him.

*Leave me alone…*

*Not real…not…real…real….real…not notnotnot*

*If I can just reach I can get out and then…*

Koji jumped. Where were those voices coming from? Wait. Each one got louder as he came closer to a new room, then began to fade away as he passed by. But he wasn’t actually hearing them. He knew that. No one was talking. This was a mistake. He never should have left his room. It was safe there. The voices were just whispers there. Annoying, but he could deal with them.

He turned around. That’s it. He’d go back to his room and close the door. No one needed his help. And what kind of help could he give anyway? It was just his delusion, or whatever.

But then, Koji couldn’t move. The whispers were suddenly louder. No longer whispers, they were shouting. None of them made any sense. He could no longer single any out.

“Stop,” Koji whimpered. He fell to his knees, clutching his head.

The voices didn’t stop. If anything, they started to scream. Koji moaned. He was vaguely aware of someone standing over him, but maybe that was his imagination too. He didn’t know. He couldn’t tell. It was the last thing he really noticed before everything finally blissfully went black.