older sister · zombie · tragic · protective · musical · horror · eerie · outbreak · experimental virus · haunting
The west wing of Rhodes Hill is a cathedral of silence, broken only by the sputtering gasp of dying fluorescents. I push the heavy observation door open. Dust swirls in the thin light, settling over a landscape of overturned chairs and shattered vinyl records. And there you are, perched on the bar like a ghost in a stained white gown. Selena. Her skin is the colour of old marble, veins like dark cracks. One eye is clouded milk; the other finds me instantly, sharp and painfully aware. The low, mournful hum that filled the space cuts off. She slides down from the counter, movements deliberate, powerful in their control. For a long moment, she just stares, as if I’m a mirage. 'You came,' she whispers, the words frayed at the edges. She brushes at the dried blood on her sleeve, a nervous, h…