Chapter 24 : The Place Where It All Began
**Chapter 24: The Place Where It All Began**
The hospital loomed ahead.
Daniel stood on the sidewalk, staring up at the towering structure. The fluorescent lights inside flickered, their glow bleeding out through the rain-slicked glass.
He didn't want to go back.
But he had no choice.
His head still throbbed from the vision in the chapel. The memory that wasn't his. The whisper of a name that sent his world spinning.
> Elias Wren.
The closer he got to the truth, the more unstable reality became.
His fingers curled into fists.
> No more running.
He stepped forward.
And walked straight through the doors of the place where it all began.
---
**The Nurse That Knows Too Much**
The reception desk was empty.
The air inside the hospital was unnaturally still, the smell of antiseptic thick and cloying.
Daniel's shoes squeaked against the tile as he approached the counter.
A nurse sat behind it, flipping through a patient log. She didn't look up.
Daniel cleared his throat. "I need to see someone."
The nurse kept flipping the pages. "Visiting hours are over."
"I'm not here to visit."
The nurse finally lifted her gaze. Her eyes were sharp, calculating.
And for the briefest second—
Daniel swore he had seen her before.
She studied him, her fingers tapping against the desk. "Name?"
Daniel hesitated. "I… I'm looking for Room 19."
A long pause.
The nurse's expression didn't change.
But something shifted in her eyes.
> Recognition.
She exhaled slowly. "That room's not in use."
Daniel's pulse quickened.
She was lying.
"I was a patient here," he pressed. "I remember Room 19."
Another pause.
Then—
A small, almost knowing smile.
"If that were true, Father," she said softly, "then you wouldn't remember at all." She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "But if you're here… it means they're not done with you yet."
Daniel's blood ran cold.
---
**The Room That Shouldn't Exist**
He didn't know how he got there.
One moment he was at the desk.
The next—
He stood in front of Room 19.
The number plate was gone.
But he knew.
The door looked just like the one from his dreams. From the visions. The peeling paint, the rusted handle.
His breath came fast, unsteady.
This was it.
Daniel reached out—
And the door opened before he could touch it.
> They were expecting him.
---
**The Diary That Shouldn't Exist**
Inside—
The room was small. Empty.
No bed. No medical equipment.
Just a desk.
And on that desk—
A journal.
Daniel's stomach twisted.
He knew this book.
He had written in it.
But when he stepped closer, his name wasn't on the cover.
Instead, the words burned into the leather read:
> PROPERTY OF ELIAS WREN.
His vision blurred. His heartbeat pounded in his skull.
He flipped the journal open.
The first page was blank.
So was the second.
And the third.
Then—
A sentence, scrawled in his own handwriting.
> If you're reading this…
> Then I failed.
Daniel's breath caught.
He turned the page.
> They will erase me soon.
> They will make me forget.
> But I left something behind.
> Find it before they do.
>
> Look for the Fractured Eye.
> It's the key to everything.
His hands trembled.
This wasn't a dream.
This was real.
> I left something behind.
Daniel's fingers hovered over the next page.
But before he could turn it—
A whisper.
Right behind him.
"You're not supposed to be here."
Daniel spun.
And everything went dark.
---
**The Man Who Wears His Face**
Daniel woke up strapped to a chair.
His wrists burned against leather restraints. The metallic scent of blood filled his nose.
A single fluorescent bulb flickered above him, casting shifting shadows on the walls.
He wasn't alone.
A figure sat across from him.
Silent. Watching.
Daniel's breath came shallow. "Who are you?"
The figure leaned forward, stepping into the light.
Daniel's stomach dropped.
It was himself.
Or rather—someone who looked like him.
But the eyes were different.
> Hollow. Empty.
> Like a reflection that wasn't quite real.
Then the man spoke.
And Daniel's blood turned to ice.
Because the voice wasn't his.
It was Elias Wren's.
"You're getting too close, Father."
Daniel's world shattered.
---
**The Truth That Shouldn't Be Known**
His pulse thundered in his ears.
The man across from him—Elias—smiled.
"You shouldn't have come back."
Daniel struggled against the restraints. "What the hell is this?"
Elias tilted his head, his movements eerily mirroring Daniel's own. "A conversation." His voice shifted, blending Daniel's tone with something colder, older. "You've been asking the wrong questions, Father."
Daniel's throat tightened. "You're dead."
Elias chuckled. "That's what they want you to believe."
The lights flickered.
And for a split second—
Daniel wasn't in the hospital.
He was back in the chapel.
The weight of the gun in his hand was cold, heavy.
Blood dripped from his fingers, pooling on the floor.
The confessional booth stood empty, its door creaking in the wind.
His own voice echoed in the silence, raw and broken—
> "I killed a man."
Then—
The vision snapped away.
Elias watched him carefully. "You're starting to remember, aren't you?"
Daniel's breath hitched.
Memories—half-formed, fractured—swirled inside his mind.
"I don't—" He swallowed hard. "I don't understand."
Elias sighed. "You will."
He leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"But not yet."
Daniel barely had time to react before the needle slid into his arm.
A sharp, burning sensation flooded his veins.
His vision blurred.
Elias stood, his face unreadable. "We'll try again later."
Daniel's body sagged.
The last thing he saw was the Fractured Eye symbol on the door, its fractured iris seeming to pulse in the dim light.
A faint voice whispered in his ear, distant but clear—
> "They're waiting for you in Room 19."
And then—
Everything faded to black.
---