Read previous chapters of Infected here.

Hadera crept slowly down her office’s semi-darkened hallway. She started to hear eerie noises coming from the nearby office rooms. Hadera was shaking as she tried to steady her breathing. Something felt wrong as she tried to make her way down to the main lab. Hadera hadn’t seen a soul since arriving over half an hour ago. She made her way to the main lab door and tried to punch in her security key code.

Her password wasn’t going through. Someone must have changed her key code. For over five years of working with this company, she never changed her passcode. Just as she tried for the fifth time, she felt a cold breeze pass by her neck. She turned to look back but there was no one behind her. She continued attempting to figure out her keycode, but every time she punched in the numbers, she kept feeling a slight chill that felt right behind her.

Hadera got frustrated and turned around quickly. With this one move, she was face to face with the demonic creature that has been stalking her. With his sharp black teeth and with his demonic red eyes, Hadera screamed in terror as she tried to run away from him.

”I need your soul!”

The demon started to follow her slowly down the long white hallway. Hadera ran in complete terror. The corridor changed from its white interior offices to the deep, misty woods. She was surrounded by thick fog and a musky feeling of nature. Just as Hadera came to a dead stop, she realized that she was back in the middle of the forest. “Where is the office!?” she thought wildly. Just as she was ready to turn around, she felt the demonic creature grab her by the neck.

He hoisted her into the thickened air. She tried to scream in agony but the lump in her throat made her gag and cough in pain. The creature took her and slammed her to the hard earth. The wind was knocked out of her as she hit the ground. But the moment she gained consciousness and tried to get up, Hadera was met with the white interior walls and ceiling of her office building. Hadera stood and quickly looked at the door.

”Something is up,” she said out loud to herself in the empty room. This vivid delusion felt real as Hadera held her abdomen and slowed her breathing down. Hadera started to believe she needed to get to the bottom of whatever was causing this much chaos.