Bare feet slapped against the cold steel floor as I sprinted through the sterile halls of the research facility. Sirens blared, and boots thundered behind me, but I didn't dare look back. I already knew they were there.
"There it is! Don't let it escape!" one of the guards shouted.
The glow of a doorway shimmered ahead—a rectangular beacon in the endless corridors. My heart surged. This is it. My way out. My freedom.
"Don't let it get away! If it gets through that door, we can't stop it!" another voice roared.
I pushed harder, lungs burning, every muscle screaming. Closer. Closer. Freedom was just a step away—
—and then the floor vanished.
The light framed only a yawning tunnel, a black throat plunging into the unknown. My scream tore free as gravity seized me, dragging me down toward the bottom of whatever fate awaited below.