April 2, 2023
My eyes were glued to the door leading out of the secret tunnels. The way out was easy enough. All I had to do was push a button to the right of the door for it to open. But that wasn't what keep me stuck like gum to my spot. What had me shaking in my metaphysical shoes was the thought of what was waiting for me. If I opened the door at the wrong time, The Wolf could effortlessly take me apart, literally. Should I open the door and he was on the other side, I would be helpless to his clear and damning will. And the worst part was, I had no idea if that moment was now, or if it would come later. They say the anticipation in scenes like this is the worst part, and I was a hundred percent feeling that in the moment.
I clapped my hands together and began a prayer. "God. Just don't let me get eaten today. Please." My prayers were always straightforward, but hey, I figured he'd appreciate that, given the amount of prayers he probably hears in a given second.
I sighed. No more procrastinating. If it's my time, it's my time. With that in my head, I pressed the button, and the door slid open. My heart took a breath of relief as I clearly saw no wolf-monster-thing waiting for me. From here, there was only one thing to do: Run. Run until my feet were out of the Employee Ward. And I did just that. I didn't look back or take any unnecessary steps. One, two, three, four, five, six strides, and I was out of the Employee Ward.
I carried myself with fast strides until I phased through the metal, barred door into the Recreation Room. Now safe, I let myself slow to a walk. The usual suspects or, in other words, the same spirits as before were lingering in this particular room, with the exception of Doctor Caduceus.
"Troy!" I heard Blake let out a strong whisper from behind the piano. He peeked his head over the wood.
"Blake? What are you doing there?" As I asked, Kaylee raised her head. She was beside Blake, and they both came over to me.
"As soon as you left, we bolted like hell. Lucky for us, we managed to leave the Employee Ward before The Wolf saw us. We hid, and he came to the edge of his domain. He did his little weird sniffy thing with his nose for, like, a minute before he left, saying, 'The Wolf's time to feed isn't today', or something like that."
I shrugged. "Sounds about right for him," I agreed, then sighed. "Too bad it was all for nothing."
Kaylee's eyes fell to the floor, and her smile flipped. Blake clicked his tongue. "So, nothing on how we can escape was in those tunnels?"
"No good news, I'm afraid."
"Back to square uno, then?"
"Yeah, sadly. Everything there was strange and didn't make sense to me."
"How so?" Kaylee asked.
"For one, the spirits there were crazier, and there were many, many bodies. They seemed to be some kinds of scientists and doctors, with maybe a few patients mixed in."
Blake looked back towards the door. "Hmm. Makes me wonder, though, you think The Wolf got to them?"
"Doubt it. He seems to be able to interact only with spirits," I said.
"Do you think he needs to eat sprits, though? Like, would The Wolf die if he didn't get food?" Kaylee jumped in.
"I think it's darker than that." I scratched at my check and jaw.
"Darker? What can be darker than a soul eating monster?" she asked. "Which we're trapped with, by the way," she mumbled slightly under her breath as a quick add-on.
"There've always been mythological creatures and legends of pure evil creatures. Maybe The Wolf is an incarnation of that - an incarnation of evil."
"I don't think there is such a thing as true evil. No one person or being is all evil or all good. I don't think such a thing exists in nature," Blake disagreed.
"Just look at concepts such as Satan. He's a being that exists only to create darkness and spread evil. Nothing about him is redeemable. The Wolf may be similar in the sense that he exists merely to spread misfortune - a being of evil."
Kaylee half-shrugged. "Maybe The Wolf is Satan or his pet or something."
Blake shook his head at me. "Coming from the religious background you do, Troy, I understand why you believe in pure evil and good, but I was never into those near-fantasy-like concepts. I don't believe The Wolf to be like that. Likely, he's forced to eat souls to survive. I mean, he isn't a spirit in the same way us three are. He's different somehow; unnatural, maybe. I assume different rules apply to him than us."
Kaylee added, "You know what I think? I think both your theories have just as much of a chance of being correct. But neither of them matter in the end. This place--" she waved her hand over her neck, "--it doesn't matter to us. Our goal remains the same: Move on from here."
"So what's the plan?" Blake asked.
"We ask around, see what the others know."
"Sounds good to me," I added.
"Good," Kaylee acknowledged. "Then let's move."