Round 356

The pulsing hum grew stronger, vibrating through the stone itself now—a living heartbeat counting down seconds until whatever controlled these walls adapted again. The air crackled with static electricity that made the hair on Halie's arms stand up in warning. She froze mid-reach toward a particularly concerning patch of writhing tissue, her fingers stopping mere inches away from the corrupt surface. "Don't touch it," I hissed, already pressing myself against the opposite wall to maximize distance between us and the spreading contamination. My skin felt hot, too hot—flushed red in places where the corruption had already begun its insidious work, veins darkening visibly under translucent flesh as the infection pulsed with each beat of my accelerated heart. "Fuck! FUCK!" The words ripped out of me involuntarily, seeming to make the very stone around us vibrate...