Hanna was working the night shift because she had been too afraid to ask Lucas to take it. She had tried asking the others, but they all claimed they already had plans and couldn't cover for her.
In the end, she was left alone in the ward, and the silence dragged her thoughts back to memories she would rather forget.
She clenched her hands tightly. "What the hell is wrong with that freak?" she muttered to herself.
"Insulting me out of nowhere like that… I'll make his life miserable here. Just watch."
Her bitterness simmered as she finished filing the reports for all the patients on the second floor.
As she set the last file down, the hair on the back of her neck suddenly stood on end. Hanna froze and slowly looked around. The hallway outside the nurse station was empty, just as it always was at night.
Still, the hospital had far too many horror stories attached to it, and the uneasy feeling refused to fade. She shuddered and shook her head.
"Ugh… whatever. I'll just take a nap," she muttered.
She stood up and turned toward the restroom attached to the nurse station when a sharp sound cut through the silence. The emergency button was ringing.
Hanna turned sharply. Room 203.
Mrs. Haymitch.
"What now?" she groaned, already irritated as she left the station.
The room was farther than she liked, and as she walked down the corridor, the lights above her began to flicker one by one. Her pace quickened until she was nearly running.
She finally reached the room and hurried inside, closing the door behind her. Her heart was pounding hard enough to hurt, her breath shallow and uneven.
"Nurse… nurse… I feel so hungry…"
Mrs. Haymitch's voice echoed softly through the room.
Hanna jolted and forced herself to approach the bed in the corner. She hadn't noticed it at first, but every other patient in the room was awake.
They were still lying down, perfectly still, their eyes following her every movement.
Her unease deepened as she pulled back the curtain and found the bed was empty.
"Mrs. Haymitch?" she called out, her voice trembling as her gaze swept the room.
That was when she noticed the blood splattered across the wall. Hanna swallowed hard and stepped closer, her legs feeling weak.
She spotted the old woman on the floor beside the bed, her back turned.
"Mrs. Haymitch? Are you okay?"
Hanna asked, panic rising as she saw the pool of blood spreading beneath her.
She crouched down and grabbed the woman's shoulder. Mrs. Haymitch had a history of self-harm. That thought screamed through Hanna's mind as fear took hold.
The old woman slowly turned her head. Her mouth was full of blood with something dangled from her hands.
Hanna screamed as she collapsed backward onto the floor. Mrs. Haymitch was holding a severed arm, flesh torn and dripping.
Her smile stretched wide, exposing teeth stained red as she spoke cheerfully.
"Can I eat you too?" she asked. "I keep eating and eating… but I'm still so hungry."
Mrs. Haymitch rose unsteadily to her feet.
Hanna scrambled backward, her hands shaking as she covered her mouth, too terrified and weak to stand.
But it wasn't only Mrs. Haymitch anymore. One by one, the other patients began to sit up, then stand, their expressions twisted with rage and hunger.
They all turned toward her.
Then they lunged.
"AAAAAHHHH—!"
***
Lucas blinked and found the two security guards standing in front of him, surrounded by screams, laughter, and blood splattered across the walls and floor.
"It has begun," he murmured. "The Dance of Macabre."
This was exactly what Layla had told him about, the madness that erupted the moment Asmodei stepped into the mortal world.
In the past, the last person who summoned the devil had been satisfied with their revenge alone, never seeking more power. That much was clear now as Lucas felt the weight of the Grimoire of Wrath in his hands.
He stepped out of the room and into the hallway, where patients had already poured out of their rooms.
They moved like feral beasts, attacking one another without hesitation, turning the ward into a grotesque battlefield.
The weakest fell first, torn apart and devoured by those strong enough to survive. It was a brutal contest where only hunger and instinct mattered.
Lucas didn't waste his time watching. He needed to find Layla and leave this place before it was completely consumed. He could already feel it, the fire that would soon swallow the hospital whole.
No one dared to attack him. The patients shrank away as if they instinctively knew he was protected by Asmodei.
They parted before him, clearing a path to the stairs. Lucas followed it without hesitation. His instincts told him Layla was on the second floor.
When he reached the newer building, he realized the fire had already started, though not in the way he had expected.
Right in front of the nurse station stood a massive pile of wooden furniture, chairs, tables, anything that could burn easily, stacked together like a pyre.
Hanna was bound at the center, tied to a stake like a witch from an old execution.
She was barely recognizable.
Her arms and legs were gone. Half her face had been bitten away. When their eyes met, her expression shifted from shock to desperate pleading.
Lucas felt nothing but satisfaction. She had been one of his bullies, one of the people who made every day of his work a living hell. Seeing her like this felt… right.
He smiled as one of the patients set the pile ablaze. The fire spread rapidly, and Hanna burned alive without another chance to scream.
Suddenly, someone wrapped their arms around him from behind.
He didn't need to turn to know who it was.
"Are you done having fun?"
Layla asked softly. Their soul bond was strong enough that he didn't need to see the blood staining her hands when she touched him.
"Yeah," Lucas replied. "If only we could stay and watch until the end."
He agreed with her silently as he looked around. The patients were dancing now, forming a circle around the flames, moving wildly as if they had been freed from the torment that plagued their minds.
For this brief moment, their suffering seemed gone, replaced by pure, violent release.
To Lucas, it was beautiful. Liberation, at last.
---
Outside, Aluna Psychiatric Hospital was engulfed in flames. Firefighter sirens and police cars filled the night as they struggled to contain the inferno.
Lucas and Layla stood hand in hand as snow fell gently around them, settling on their hair and shoulders.
"The red fire against the white snow," Layla said quietly. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"
"What will you do after this?"
"Meet my parents," she replied with a grin. "We'll separate for a while, but don't worry. It won't be long. You're not finished with that doctor yet, are you?"
Lucas shook his head. "This is only the beginning."
He opened the Grimoire of Wrath in his hands, the pages shifting as new words appeared before his eyes.
[The Dance of Macabre has concluded. What a spectacular performance.]
[Lucas Ford can now activate the Grimoire of Wrath.]
[To ensure familiarity, the Grimoire has evolved into a system.]
[You may now view your status and objectives, as granted by Lord Asmodei.]
[Complete all objectives to grow stronger.]
[May wrath and lust forever dwell within you.]