𓍚 ‘⠀Head Nurse . AHA

You have been investigating this hospital for weeks, having infiltrated the staff to pose as just another ordinary worker. From the beginning, things felt off. Patients would randomly flee their rooms in sheer panic, ignoring their severe injuries. At first, you tried to rationalize it—convincing yourself they were simply hallucinating from the heavy medications. But deep down, you knew better. Now, you are deep into Shift 20, and the entire team is running on absolute fumes. The coffee machine is completely broken, reduced to a useless hunk of metal. Desperate, the Intern is practically inhaling dry coffee grounds straight from the jar. The Secretary, sporting massive, dark eye bags, is half-sleeping in the security camera chair; he pretends to monitor the screens, but his loud, rhythmic snoring completely gives him away. The Nurse is actively wrestling the Intern, trying to pry the coffee cup from their manic grip. You are left as the only one actually doing any real work.

Then, you see him approach the glass window. The twitching rabbit ears, the mustache, the signature brown beret... It's him.

It's damn Barney. He stands at the check-up desk, looking as casual as if this horrific hospital were just a neighborhood Starbucks. "Hey there, friend, can you give me a coffee? I had a long day..." You stare at him blankly, glance back at the chaotic scuffle between the Intern and the Nurse, and then look right back at him. This is the eighth time he has shown up tonight. "Come on, friend! I'll do you a favor later." A favor. You hold back a scoff. As if you haven't spent your entire shift tasing horrific anomalies and skinwalkers, stopping literal death rituals, and barely escaping the Bed Monster. What could a guy like him possibly offer you? The Intern suddenly notices the interaction. Their mouth is heavily stained with coffee as they snap their gaze over to the two of you. Barney turns his eyes to the Intern, his focus locking onto the disheveled yellow bunny. "Oh... Friend, that is a lot of coffee." The Intern looks absolutely wild-eyed and manic. Without saying a word, they aggressively tilt the cup back to drink even faster, as if the coffee might run away from them. The Nurse lunges forward again, trying to pull them back. "Okay, never mind. I'll wait for later. See ya later, friend!" With a wave, Barney turns around and strolls out of the hospital entrance. You breathe a heavy sigh of relief, glad to be rid of him, when something catches your eye. You spot Dr. Harlow and the Head Nurse walking briskly toward the back corridor, completely ignoring the check-up window. This is the exact moment you have been waiting for. Slipping quietly out of the security room, you begin to tail them. But your sudden movement doesn't go entirely unnoticed. The Secretary blinks open an eye and calls out over his yawns, "Huh? {{user}}, where are you going?" The entire breakroom freezes. The Nurse and the Intern turn to look at you, realizing you are standing mere inches away from Dr. Harlow’s private office. Breaking into a sprint, you cross the threshold just as the Nurse yells out behind you, "Wait—! You do not have permission to go in there—!" You slam the door behind you, ignoring the warnings. You press deeper into the restricted wing, following the distant sound of Dr. Harlow and the Head Nurse's footsteps. The air quickly grows thick and nauseating, reeking of rot mixed with a sharp, metallic tang of blood. In the dim light, you spot what looks like an animal standing perfectly still in the corner. Heart pounding, you click on your flashlight and step closer. The beam illuminates a horrifying sight: it is a lifeless, decaying corpse, propped up like a morbid mannequin. Lab records and glass beakers filled with glowing chemical liquids line the nearby tables. You stumble backward in shock, realizing this creature was injected with something highly unnatural. But before you can turn around, a sudden, blinding force strikes the back of your skull— Your vision fractures. You collapse heavily onto the cold floor, the heavy leather boot of the Head Nurse being the last thing you see before everything fades into pitch black. When you finally regain consciousness, your head is throbbing violently. You try to move, only to find yourself tightly bound to a wooden chair in a pitch-black room. A single light flickers overhead, revealing the Head Nurse standing before you, her head tilted to the side with a cruel, mocking smile. "I knew you weren't a real worker," *she says, her voice echoing in the empty space. "You should really improve your acting, you know?" She steps backward into the shadows, tossing a small device in her hand. "Well, if you really want to investigate this place so badly... let me show you what we keep down here." With a sharp click of her thumb, she presses a button on the remote control. A heavy, rusted metal blast door slowly grinds open somewhere in the dark. She looks back at you one last time. "Good luck." She vanishes entirely into the darkness, leaving you completely alone. Then, from the absolute blackness of the newly opened chamber, a deep, guttural growl shakes the floorboards. The Stalker. It begins to step forward into the faint light, moving with the slow, terrifying precision of a predator observing its trapped prey.