2026-02-13 01:30:45
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CHAPTER 39 — THE DAY THE HOSPITAL LOCKED ITSELF
The first scream came from the seventh floor at exactly 3:17 a.m. It was sharp. Animal. Wrong. James Wood was awake before it echoed a second time.He stood by the window of his office, hands clasped behind his back, watching the city lights flicker like dying stars. When the scream cut through the hospital walls, his lips curved, not into a smile, but into something colder. James (quietly): “So it begins.”THE PATIENT WHO SHOULD NOT HAVE SCREAMED. Nurse Elina burst into the corridor, breathless. Elina: “Dr. Wood! It’s Victor, Room 712. He’s, he’s screaming about fire under his skin!”James didn’t turn immediately. James: “Vital signs?”Elina: “Pulse unstable. Blood pressure spiking. He says his nerves feel like they’re, like they’re burning alive.”James picked up his coat. James: “Good. Stage One has fully activated.”Elina froze. Elina: “Stage… One?”James finally faced her. James: “Prepare the isolation room. And notify the others.”Elina: “The others?”James: “All seven. Tonight,
CHAPTER 41 — PHASE TWO: THE DARK THAT REMEMBERS
The darkness did not feel accidental. It felt chosen. Total blackout. No emergency glow. No hallway lights. No machine hum. Just breathing. Seven different rhythms of fear. And one steady pulse of control.James Wood stood unmoving in the pitch-black room. He could hear them. Victor’s shallow gasps.Maria’s trembling inhale. Michael trying to mask panic behind anger. Rebecca whispering numbers again.Samuel muttering prayers. Sandra choking on silent sobs. Reeves pacing blindly. Then James spoke. Soft Precise. James: “Now… we remove distraction.”Maria’s voice cracked. Maria: “James, please… stop this.”James: “You said that before.”Silence swallowed the room again. THE SYSTEM HE BUILT IN SECRET Emergency backup lights flickered on, but only dim strips along the floor.Just enough to see outlines. Not faces. The monitors behind them rebooted. A new interface glowed on screen. PHASE TWO, COGNITIVE RESTORATION PROTOCOL Michael read it first. His voice shook.Michael: “Restoration? Wha
CHAPTER 42 — THE AUTOPSY THAT SHOULD NOT EXIST
The first mistake James ever made… Was believing he was the only one who could plan. The second… Was believing the past stayed buried. The Oversight Director did not blink. Security escorted the seven patients out of the sealed wing one by one.Maria looked back at James as they wheeled her away. Not hatred. Not love. Something worse. Unfinished truth. When the doors finally shut, only three people remained inside the dimmed chamber: James. Elina. The Director.The Director held up the tablet again. “Three days ago,”he said calmly, “an anonymous petition demanded the exhumation of James Wood.”James did not move. “Grounds?”he asked. “Suspicion of financial coercion before death. Alleged irregularities in the inheritance transfer.”Maria. Or one of the seven. Or someone else entirely. The Director studied James carefully. “You’ve taken a remarkable interest in these patients, Doctor.”“They are under my care.”“You’ve built an entire research wing around them.”“They volunteered.”Th
CHAPTER 38 — THE CONTRACT OF FEAR
Rain hammered the hospital roof like fists demanding entry. Inside St. Haven Medical Center, the air felt heavier than before, like every wall remembered what had been said yesterday.James Wood walked through the corridor, coat swinging behind him. Nurses stepped aside. Patients lowered their eyes. The silence that followed him felt like a crown, and a warning.He had returned to the world not just as a man. But as something reshaped by betrayal. At the nurse’s desk, Elina hurried after him.Elina: “Dr. Wood, your seven private patients are here again. They came early. All of them.”James: “Good. Let them wait.Elina: “They look… terrified.”James paused.James: “Terror means progress.”THE KILLERS GATHERIn Room 12B, the seven conspirators sat around a table. No laughter. No arrogance. Only fear. Samuel’s left arm twitched uncontrollably. Rebecca blinked rapidly, her vision flickering like broken film.Victor massaged his temples, murmuring to himself. Clinton Reeves fought for bre
CHAPTER 37 — THE SYMPTOMS OF GUILT
The storm rolled across the city like a warning. Thunder rattled the hospital windows. Lightning flashed through the halls, white and violent. The air smelled like rain and electricity, like a world about to change.Inside St. Haven Medical Center, the waiting room overflowed with patients, but seven chairs remained reserved. Seven chairs, separated from the rest. Seven chairs with seven names.Maria Wood. Michael Tenneson. Sandra Blake. Dr. Clinton Reeves. Rebecca Hall. Victor Dane. Samuel Cray.Every one of them here. Every one of them trembling. Nurse Elina rushed to James with a clipboard. “Doctor,”she said, anxious, “they’re all waiting. They want answers.”James slid on his gloves. “They’ll get them,” he replied.“One by one.”CONFLICT IGNITES IMMEDIATELYBefore James could step forward, Samuel Cray staggered out of his seat. Sweat drenched his face, and his left hand twitched uncontrollably.“Wood! We need to talk!”Samuel shouted. The room went silent.James turned slowly. “M
CHAPTER 36 — THE UNSEEN HAND OF JUSTICE
The morning fog clung to the hospital windows like ghostly fingerprints, distorting the light and giving the corridors a muted, dreamlike glow.Dr. James Wood walked through those halls with measured steps, his lab coat swaying behind him like the cloak of a monarch who ruled in silence.His face remained calm, professional, reassuring to anyone who saw him, the very image of a kind, brilliant doctor. But beneath his skin, beneath his pulse and breath, something darker flourished.Vengeance had roots now. It was growing."Seventeen years they've lived without guilt,"James thought, passing a group of nurses. "Seventeen years since they stole my life. Seventeen years since they murdered James Wood the first time."Now, he was ready. Not for their death, not yet, but for their descent. Slow, crawling, inevitable. Like sickness.He reached his office, closed the door, and stared at the files spread across his table. Each one had a name. Each one belonged to a killer.Maria Wood. Michael
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