Dila's palms dragged frantically along the cold, jagged walls as she edged forward blindly, every scrape and bump making her flinch. Her soaked pajamas clung uncomfortably to her skin, each movement a struggle against both weakness and the slick floor. Her breath came in short, shallow gasps, mixing with the muffled thud of her heartbeat in the oppressive silence.
Suddenly, her foot slipped. She yelped, catching herself in a wide crack in the floor, just enough to cradle her frail body. She pressed herself into it, every muscle trembling as the wet stone bit into her skin. The thick, heavy thock-thock of whatever stalked her swished past her upper side, and for a moment she glimpsed it—or at least felt it—its presence huge, silent, but unmistakably there. A pair of glowing red eyes, sharp and cruel, swept past her, and then vanished into the shadows.
