The Code of the Neuri

Chapter 1: In the halls, a horror

Angela Burkstead was stuck on the nightshift again. It was all part of the career choice she'd made of course but that didn't make it any better when her turn on the rotation came up. Coffee was more than just a necessity, it was a requirement. Her pale eyes and greying hair (once golden blonde) told the tale of a life of dedication.

The corridors of the hospital were quiet in their own way. Save for the occasional beep of a monitor somewhere or the airy hums of the respirators. She made her way through to the nurses station where she could find her much needed caffeinated elixer when a shadow caught her eye. It must have been Shantel doing her rounds in the maternity ward just ahead...except...no, just a trick of light. Nobody wears derbies anymore except on Halloween. She rubbed her eyes and it was gone. "I definitely need coffee".

Thank god...it was already made. Fresh too, it seems. Shantel would need to be thanked later for that. She filled her mug (shaped like a tabby cat) nearly full and added a couple sugars. As she was stirring, a metalic clank echoed down the hall from maternity. "Shantel? What was that noise?" Silence. Taking a long sip from her mug (it was a Valentine's gift from her ex), she listened intently. "Shantel? Are you ok? You drop your clipboard or something?" Silence.

She stared down into the cup (gaudy gift really. Jim had terrible taste), it's goofy cat eyes staring off in the distance, peering into the darkness as if to find the source of the noise. She set it down on the counter gingerly (Jim was a no good cheating bastard) and walked slowly towards the double doors which separated the nurse's station from the maternity ward. Something wasn't exactly right, though she couldn't put her finger on it. And then there was that shadow earlier...now her heart began to beat a little harder and with slightly more urgency.

The double doors were designed to open towards her at the push of a large button, conveniently labeled "Door". But she couldn't press it, something was freezing her in place.

The shadow exited the neonatal unit and turned quickly down the next hallway. It was male, large and wore a strange hat. It stopped and half turned in Angela's direction. A dull red flash where an eye would be and then, he was gone...just gone.

"NO...THE BABIES" she screamed as she found the strength in her hands again and pushed the "Door" button, running through them in a direct line towards the neonatal unit when her feet were no longer touching hospital lineoleum and in fact, were no longer beneath her. She hit the tile with a thud that surprised more than it injured. She looked down and saw liquid darkness, still spreading beneath her, flowing river-like from behind her.

The face on the ground behind her belonged to Shantel, but now was barely enough to indicate that the rest of what lay there was once a beautiful, young african american nurse. The dark, sticky mass of redness now covering the hall, however, was a pretty good sign that life once existed in that now lifeless, twisted horror.