Black Iron

David wandered the dimly-lit halls, a single hand pressed to his forehead. The headaches had plagued him so relentlessly and for so long, he could hardly remember what it was like to not be in pain. He reached out with his other hand, seeking support for the wall. With a low groan, David slowly collapsed to the floor. His groan turned to a pained cry as he gripped his head with both hands. Through his immense pain, he could feel, or rather hear, the very air around him emit a low hum. David let out a loud scream as his headache worsened, and then, in an instant, faded.

Shocked, David raised his head and gradually pulled himself to his feet. The world around him seemed the same, yet somehow unusual. David studied the halls around him. Nothing seemed to have changed, but that didn't ease his feeling of discomfort. David groaned again as he felt a throbbing sensation behind his left eye. It was then that a flash of static washed over his eyes, not unlike that of an old video casette. Within that instant, David was horrified to see the world change in such an extreme manner.

No longer were the hallways clean and sterile, but now, they appeared cluttered with junk. The walls were painted with splatters of a deep red, and a material seeming akin to flesh could be seen, pulled taut in some areas.

And then, he heard it.

David looked over his shoulder into the darkness behind him, and could see nothing. But the sound was unmistakable. It was not of this world, the product of something crafted by the devil himself. A fiendish chanting far behind, and it was drawing closer. David's instincts took over as he bolted down the hall, climbing over debris in a frenzied escape attempt. David ducked into a small room further down the hallway and pushed the door nearly closed, leaving only a small crack to attempt and survey the creature from his hiding spot. David winced as the devilish chanting grew louder, causing his head to throb. He took in a deep breath as the sound of heavy footsteps approached. David peeked out through the door and could hardly contain his horrified gasp as the beast came into view.

It stood roughly the height of an average human, and shared the same body structure, but this beast's hide appeared to be made of pure, jet black iron. Despite this, it moved with great ease, and paused outside the door to David's hiding spot. The beast looked back and forth, as if in search of something. Its gaze fell upon the door, and David cupped one hand over his mouth to conceal his horror from the beast.

A single great eye was visible upon the beast's face, which opened sideways, and a tremendous maw upon the thing's chest. Now that David had seen the beast more clearly, he also noticed that the edges of the creature's frame seemed to blur, as though his mind were already trying to purge itself of the memories of this thing. David reached his hand out, searching desperately for a weapon, and he found one in the form of a broken shard of glass. The beast approached the door and slowly pushed its way into the room. With a vicious cry, David lunged at the beast and buried the shard deep into the creature's shoulder. David then bolted from the room and hurried down the hall, as the creature let out a blood-curdling roar.

David ignored the sound and could only press himself to carry onward. If he stopped, anything else in this horrible, twisted, world might attack him and overwhelm him. As David fled, he could hear the chanting growing louder again. It came from all around, now. David yanked open the door to a staircase and began to hurry downward. In here, the chanting was horrific. It echoed throughout, and sounded as though dozens of these beasts could be waiting to attack him. But even so, he had to press on if he wanted to have that chance at survival, to avoid damning himself. David rushed down the stairs, and then he froze at the horrible sight before him.

Just down the flight of steps, stood three of the beasts. David turned to retreat, and above him found two more. David backed himself into the corner and, accepting his fate, collapsed to the floor where, again, a flash of static washed over his vision.

The walls and floor were no longer covered in blood and flesh, but in clean linoleum and brick. David looked to the beasts, only to find the hospital staff. A look of horror washed over David's face as he looked down onto his hands, to find they were covered in blood.