The Secretive Guest: Night 07

       It would’ve been better if I had sought refuge in my room or maybe even made a break for the exit. Instead I kept wandering through these halls like a lost ghost. As a result, I came across a room that I really should’ve avoided.

       The sound of the young woman’s footsteps was soaked in by the floorboards and the darkness that consumed each end of the hall. Even though there were pairs of wall candles set up beside every other door, their dim light would not appear until their viewer was within a few feet of them.
       She paused, noticing a slightly open door, which stuck out as all of the surrounding rooms were shut tight. What also caught her eye was a sign on the door, which read in gold letters, “Infirmary”. Light came from the room, but she couldn’t hear any noise come from inside, nor could she see any movement through the crack in the door.
       The young woman glanced around before edging towards the door, moving as silently as she could. As she got closer, the interior of the room that she could see became easier to make out; glass containers either filled with red liquid or tweezers sat atop a metal, grey cabinet; overhead of the cabinet on the checkered floor, there were two massive syringes, each half her size, mounted on the wall. The sight of this alone was enough to cause the young woman to start to back away. Suddenly, a pink, scaly hand grabbed the door and opened it a little wider, revealing most of a lizard-like figure inside.
       “Hello there,” the creature purred with a deep, womanly voice. She wore a long, white, dress uniform with a matching cap, which bore a red cross. In order to look over the young woman, she turned her pink spotted head. Past a half-closed and purple eyelid with luscious eyelashes, a red-ish eye slid over the visitor.  Her thick, dark pink lips curled into a smile and a forked tongue flickered out of her wide mouth as she spoke, “Mmm, you must be a new guest…I’ll be more than happy enough to give you a check-up while you’re here.”
       “…No need to waste your time. It won’t be necessary,” the young woman quietly responded, continuing to discreetly edge away. However, the nurse’s gaze was gleefully locked upon her.
       “Oh, but I must insist. You seem far overdue for a blood test,” the nurse replied, her voice falling into a gurgling chuckle. She then moved the door completely out of the way, revealing the massive syringe that she had her other arm wrapped around.
       The nurse then began to walk towards the young woman, who now actively began backing away. The reptilian woman continued to talk excitedly, pleasure dripping from her words, “Ooo, I can’t wait to take some of that red blood from your juicy veins.”
       “I’m weak. And I have a small frame. You wouldn’t get much blood from me,” the young woman insisted fruitlessly.
       The nurse’s eyes widened for a moment, a wicked smile taking up most of her face as she purred, “I can‘t help it. I have to see for myself!” and let out a laugh as she rose the massive syringe over her head. The thick needle glinted in the light. With a moaning grunt, the nurse brought down the syringe.
       The young woman hastily jumped back; she felt the floor shudder as she watched the dull, thick point of syringe stab into the wooden floorboards with a splintering crack. Immediately, the young woman turned heel and bolted down the hall. However, the nurse heaved the syringe out of the ground, licking her leathery lips in the process, and followed after the guest, holding the massive, medical tool above her head.
       Without daring to look back, the young woman ran down the hall, which she could see split in two directions at the end. She could hear the thudding footsteps of the creature giving chase and, unfortunately, it was rapidly getting closer. The nurse let out a throaty laugh, which sounded to be only a few feet away. All the while, the wall ahead was getting to be not too far off. The young woman paused, starting to stop and turn. Right then, the reptilian nurse thrust her syringe at her.
       The young woman had tilted to the side, just enough for the syringe to move past her and jam into the lower part of the wall with a crisp crunch. As the nurse started to try to wiggle the tool free, time seemed to slow for the young woman; she shifted her body weight, holding her inwardly-turned fists up and raising her knee in front of herself; the young woman then kicked her leg out, allowing her weight and momentum to follow her leg as she brought it down, right onto the glass surface of the syringe. There was a cracking noise, followed by an icy shatter, and the young woman pulled her leg away, watching as a large shard of glass tumbled from the syringe. It clattered onto the ground and the nurse cried out.
       She moaned and gasped desperately between sentences, “My syringe! It can’t take any blood like this!”
       The nurse set a burning, venomous glare on the young woman, growling, “You…you’ll pay-” but the reptilian creature paused worriedly, attention drifting back to her broken device. With another cry of agony, the nurse pulled her syringe out of the wall and ran off, back towards the infirmary.
       The young woman wasted no time in hurrying off in the opposite direction, down the right turn at the intersection. As her footsteps faded into mere whispers, the sound of a shuffling walk approached from the left. Gregory, candle in hand, appeared and glanced at the large, glass shard lying on the ground. He scoffed and pointedly looked in the direction that the young woman had run off to, “She should know better than to leave such dangerous rubbish lying around.
       "Things you throw away or ignore carelessly tend to have a habit of resurfacing at the most inconvenient of times. He, he, he.”