The clock struck midnight, and the hospital corridors were eerily silent. Outside, the wind howled, rattling the windows as if trying to break in. CUTIS, a small, isolated medical facility, stood alone in the dark, its lights flickering as if something unseen was draining its energy.
Dr. Alan Reed had just finished his rounds. Exhausted, he leaned against the nurse’s station, sipping cold coffee from a paper cup. The night shift was usually quiet, but there was an unsettling feeling in the air tonight—something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
Suddenly, a loud, blood-curdling scream shattered the silence.
Dr. Reed dropped his cup, coffee spilling across the counter. He exchanged glances with Nurse Emily, who looked pale as a ghost. “That came from the ICU,” she whispered.
Without hesitation, Dr. Reed ran towards the sound. As he approached Room 306, the hallway lights flickered wildly. A shiver ran down his spine as he reached for the door handle. Slowly, he pushed it open.
Inside, the patient, a young man named Jason Cole, was thrashing violently against his restraints. His eyes were wide, filled with pure terror, and his body convulsed unnaturally. The heart monitor beeped erratically, and then—
Silence.
Jason’s body went limp, his chest no longer rising and falling.
Dr. Reed rushed forward, checking for a pulse. “Code blue!” he shouted, signaling for help. Nurse Emily and two other staff members barged in, scrambling to revive him. They worked frantically, but something was wrong.
Jason’s skin was ice cold. His veins, dark and twisted, bulged beneath his pale flesh. Then, just as suddenly as he had died—
His eyes snapped open.
A chilling growl erupted from his throat. His lips curled back, revealing jagged, blackened teeth. With unnatural strength, he broke free from the restraints and lunged at Dr. Reed.
Screams filled the room as Jason tackled the doctor to the floor. His grip was inhumanly strong, fingers digging into Reed’s throat. Nurse Emily grabbed a syringe from the emergency cart and, without thinking, plunged it into Jason’s neck. The sedative took effect almost immediately, and Jason slumped to the ground.
Panting, Dr. Reed crawled away, clutching his bruised neck. “What the hell was that?” he gasped.
Emily shook her head, trembling. “I… I don’t know.”
The other staff members stood frozen, staring at Jason’s motionless body. A deep, ominous dread settled over the room. Something unnatural was happening at CUTIS.
The Origin of the Horror
Dr. Reed knew he had to find answers. He pulled Jason’s medical file from the cabinet, flipping through the pages. Jason had been admitted two days ago after a severe seizure. No history of aggression. No signs of mental illness. But there was something odd.
A handwritten note at the bottom of the file read: “Patient was found unconscious near Old Willow Cemetery. Unknown substance in bloodstream.”
Reed’s heart pounded. Old Willow Cemetery had a dark reputation. For years, locals whispered about strange occurrences there—disappearances, shadowy figures, and voices in the wind.
Just as he processed this information, the power went out.
Darkness swallowed the hospital.
Panic set in as emergency lights flickered to life, casting eerie shadows along the hallway. A deep, guttural laugh echoed through the corridors, chilling everyone to the bone.
Then, Jason’s voice. But it wasn’t his voice. It was layered, distorted, as if multiple beings were speaking at once.
“You should have let me die,” the voice rasped.
Dr. Reed spun around, flashlight in hand. Jason was standing at the end of the hallway, his body twitching, his head tilting unnaturally. His eyes were black voids, reflecting nothing but darkness.
Nurse Emily screamed as Jason began walking toward them, slow at first, then faster—too fast.
“Run!” Reed shouted.
The group scattered. Reed grabbed Emily’s hand and yanked her into a supply closet, slamming the door behind them. He fumbled for his phone, but there was no signal.
Outside, Jason’s footsteps grew louder. Then, scratching. The sound of fingernails scraping against the door.
“Dr. Reed…” Jason’s distorted voice whispered from the other side. “Let me in.”
Emily sobbed quietly, her hands covering her mouth. Reed gripped a scalpel from a nearby shelf, his mind racing. How could they stop this nightmare?
Then, silence again.
Cautiously, Reed opened the door a crack. Jason was gone.
The Final Stand
Reed knew they couldn’t hide forever. He needed to end this. He remembered something—a rumor about Old Willow Cemetery. The land was cursed, they said, and anyone who disturbed the graves risked being possessed by vengeful spirits. If Jason had been found there, perhaps he had brought something back with him.
“We need to take Jason back to where he was found,” Reed whispered.
Emily’s eyes widened. “Are you crazy?”
“Trust me. I have a feeling it’s the only way.”
They regrouped with two security guards and made their way to the parking lot. Jason was nowhere to be seen. The air was thick with tension as they loaded into an ambulance. Reed sat in the back, holding a syringe filled with a powerful sedative.
They drove toward Old Willow Cemetery. The moon hung low in the sky, casting an eerie glow over the tombstones. As soon as they arrived, the temperature dropped drastically.
Then, Jason appeared.
He stood at the cemetery’s entrance, his body convulsing, his blackened eyes locked onto them. The voices returned, screaming in unison, shaking the ground beneath them.
Reed wasted no time. He lunged forward, plunging the syringe into Jason’s neck. Jason shrieked, his body collapsing to the ground. The earth trembled, and a shadowy mist rose from his body, swirling angrily before vanishing into the wind.
For a moment, everything was still.
Then, Jason opened his eyes. They were no longer black but his normal hazel color. He gasped for air, confusion washing over his face. “Where… where am I?”
Reed let out a long breath. “You’re safe now.”
The nightmare was over.
Or so they thought.
As they turned to leave, Emily let out a horrified gasp.
On one of the nearby tombstones, fresh words had been etched into the stone:
I will return… at the next midnight.
