Bloodied Converse

He watched, helpless, as the door closed behind her.

"Oh my god," Catherine said aloud, as the realization came to her. She had just closed the door on Jacob. But it would be understandable, right? Everyone would understand why she had had to do it. Of course they would, once they heard her story. They'd know that it would've been pointless to help Jacob. They had already gotten him and if she'd tried to help she would've died too. Yes, they'd understand.

But first, she just had to get the hell out of this god forsaken place.

She glanced down and shuddered as blood began seeping through the crack under the door, forming a pool around her Converse.

She didn't have long.

Catherine bounded away from the locked door and tore through the hallways of the abandoned asylum. Rusted signs hung from the ceiling directing to various wards, and a fine layer of dust coated everything else. The scent of mildew and old wood flooded her nostrils as she ran. Where she was going, she had no idea, but she hoped it was out.

The sound of the door getting ripped off its hinges and tossed away echoed through the labyrinth of hallways, urging Catherine to run faster. Her breathing became labored from both fear and exertion as she dashed through the halls. Suddenly, Catherine stopped and, looking around, found herself at the central staircase. The building was old enough to not have an elevator shaft and had relied on it for access between floors.

She looked down the steps and decided that she was on about the fourth floor. At the bottom, all she had to do was make a right and she'd reach her exit and safety. Wasting no time, she started her decent, taking two steps at a time in her desperation. At the second floor, she heard them.

They slid down the stairs after her with a gross wet sound but she refused to look back. She was too close to making it out and she would be damned if they got her.

Schlick schlick schlick they went, and that's when she tripped. Catherine was only at the second floor, but the steps were made of wood. For the first few steps she was sure she was fine, but then she fell on her arm with a crack. She called out but was cut short as she smacked her head.

Then everything went black.