Chapter 5 - The Midnight DeliveryArthur sprinted through the corridors, his boots slamming against the floor tiles. When he burst into room 204, the scene defied every law of biology and logic.
There were no doctors present. No sterile delivery trays.
Eleanor sat on the bed, breathing heavily, drenched in sweat. Wrapped tightly in a coarse, gray hospital blanket in her arms was a newborn infant. But as Arthur stepped closer to inspect the child, his heart skipped a beat.
The baby was silent. It didn't cry. Its skin possessed a translucent, pearl-like quality, and its tiny fingers clutched the edge of the blanket with unnatural strength.
"Who delivered the baby?" Arthur demanded, grabbing Eleanor by the shoulders, his voice cracking with panic. "Who was in this room?"
Eleanor looked up, a serene, chilling smile stretching across her pale face. She didn't look insane anymore; she looked enlightened.
"The Doctor," she whispered, her voice echoing with a resonance that sounded like multiple voices speaking at once. "He never left, Arthur. He lives in the walls. He feeds on our sorrow and plants his seeds in our dreams. And soon... he will come for your family too."
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Suddenly, the newborn in her arms turned its head toward the open window.
Outside, standing on the narrow ledge three stories above the ground, was a tall, gaunt figure wearing a vintage 1950s surgeon’s coat and a tarnished steel plague mask. The figure raised a gloved hand, tapped twice on the glass pane, and vanished into thin air before Arthur could even blink.
