I didn’t feel safe going back downstairs. Not with the rotten smell closing in down there. My only option was to head up to the fourth floor. The medical level. Joseph was a lot to carry but I was able to drag him to a stretcher that was on the floor. I wanted to get us somewhere safe before listening to the tape. Now that we were away from the hell of level three I could listen. Though honestly, I really didn’t want to. My finger pressed play before I could doubt my actions anymore.

“Level three. The bloody floor. The patients were all dying. Not dead. Not yet. He wouldn’t let them go that easily. Oh god. The screaming. The agony. I tried to just look ahead as I walked but the sound of my shoes stepping in blood kept the images clear. Joseph was up here. I knew it. It all felt like a nightmare still. Every bit of it. The whole floor existed in a red tint. Like my eye sight had been covered in a red tone. Red was the color of blood. Red was his color. When I got through the sea of bodies I found a quieter place. The shower room. Inside was Joseph. He was on his knees. I could only see his back. I called out to him. He just stayed on his knees. I approached with caution. When I got closer I could see what was keeping him there. I could see the red tentacles protruding out of the body on the floor. The tentacles were sticking into josephs chest. I grabbed him and tried to pull him off. He grabbed my arm and looked at me. His eyes were red. His eyes were Odom’s. He said my name.”

The recorders play button clicked up in midair. I had dropped it and turned to the stretcher. The sound of the recorder hitting the floor matched my shock. Joseph was gone. A sound from the operating room pulled my attention. A door creaked three quarters of the way open.

“Joseph?”

My father seemed to think that something had happened to Joseph. That he had been possessed. Taken over by this demon called Odom. I didn’t want to believe that. Something was going on here. That was for sure. But Joseph had talked to me in the elevator. He was lucid. It was Joseph. I was sure of it.

I moved towards the operation room. There was a sound coming from behind the operating table. A horrible stabbing, wet sound. As I approached the sound got louder. I reached the operating table and looked over it. I’ll never forget that sight.

Joseph was looking up at me. He was reaching for me. His eyes were calling for help. I couldn’t move though. Two red horns were protruding out of his head.

“Help me. Bryce. Please make it stop.”

Joseph pointed to a scalpel on the table. He wanted me to kill him. I didn’t have that in me. Not at that time anyways. His eyes glazed over red. He coughed hard. It sounded like he was dying. Then he went quiet. His skin turned red. His muscles twitched in a violent fashion. He rose. He was no longer Joseph. Now he was the monster from the tape. Odom.

Odom stood much taller than Joseph. Nearly ten feet tall. His horns added another few feet. They poked into the ceiling. My body told me one thing. Run. It said run. So I did.

“Bryce. You will be mine next.”

I sprinted out of the room. Odom threw the operating table aside and followed. His horns dragged against the ceiling, making an awful screeching sound. I turned to head towards the elevator but he smashed through a window and cut me off. He was on all fours like a hell hound. He snarled at me.

“Come join the others. There’s always room for fresh blood.”

I turned and ran down the hall. At the end of the hall was the psych ward. It had a special security lock on it. I wouldn’t be able to unlock it. I was going towards a dead end. The beast was closing in behind me. This was the end. I hit the psych ward door and turned to face my end. Odom had stopped. He looked straight. But he wasn’t looking at me. The lock beeped. It made an odd sound, then unlocked. It had malfunctioned like the locks downstairs. I opened the door and fell backwards into the psych ward. The door closed and locked. I never took my eyes off Odom as it closed. I was saved. But something about the beast scared me more now that I was in the room. Odom was a devil. A horrific creature. But he had stopped when I reached the door. His eyes fixed on the door. His eyes were scared. Something about this place scared him. I couldn’t imagine what would scare the devil. Then I heard a click behind me. I turned to see a recorder running. It had turned on by itself.