Chapter 1: The Place That Shouldn't Exist
There were some nights that felt wrong.
Not dangerous.
Not stormy.
Just... Wrong.
The kind of night where the air felt heavier than usual.
The kind of night where silence itself seemed to be listening.
Steve Carter hated those nights.
Unfortunately, tonight was one of them.
The suburban streets were almost completely deserted as he walked home beside his best
friend, James.
The overhead streetlights were dead.
Not flickering.
Not broken.
Just... dead.
Darkness swallowed the road in every direction.
Steve shoved his hands into his jacket pockets.
"Man, this place feels creepy tonight."
James laughed.
"You say that every time we're outside after midnight."
Steve rolled his eyes.
"Because weird things always happen after midnight."
James smirked.
"Like your nightmares?"
The smile vanished from Steve's face.
A brief silence followed.
James immediately regretted mentioning it.
"Sorry."
Steve looked away.
"It's fine."
It wasn't fine.
Not really.
The nightmares had been getting worse.
The same endless corridors.
The same feeling of being watched.
The same sound echoing somewhere in the darkness.
Splash.
Splash.
Splash.
Every single night.
Steve never told anyone the full details.
Not even James.
Because the dreams felt too real.
James suddenly stopped walking.
Steve nearly walked into him.
"What?"
James didn't answer.
He was staring ahead.
Frozen.
Steve followed his gaze.
And immediately felt his stomach drop.
There, in the middle of an empty street...
stood a brightly illuminated indoor pool complex.
A massive one.
White walls.
Glass entrance.
Fluorescent lights blazing from inside.
The structure looked completely normal.
Except for one thing.
It had never existed before.
Ever.
Steve knew this road.
He had walked through it hundreds of times.
There was no pool complex here.
There never had been.
Yet there it stood.
As if it had always belonged there.
Waiting.
"Do you remember that being here?"
James whispered.
Steve slowly shook his head.
"No."
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them spoke.
Something felt wrong.
Terribly wrong.
The building looked normal.
But every instinct in Steve's body screamed at him to leave.
Now.
Immediately.
Before it was too late.
Then James grinned.
"Dude."
"No."
"We should check it out."
"No."
"It'll take two minutes."
"No."
"It might be abandoned."
"No."
"It might be haunted."
James was already walking.
Steve cursed.
Then followed.
Because that's what friends do.
They follow each other into terrible decisions.
The moment they crossed the entrance...
Steve felt reality shift.
Not physically.
Not visibly.
But something changed.
The air became warm.
Heavy.
Humid.
The strong smell of chlorine filled his lungs.
And suddenly...
the world outside was gone.
