Berlin. 36 hours later.
The psychiatric hospital looked worse in daylight.
Less haunted. More abandoned.
Claire walked alone this time. No local officers. No backup.
Just the brass key in her hand. B.P.H. - Storage 9
The basement smelled like mold and metal.
Room 9 was at the end of the hall. The door was unlocked.
Inside: nothing.
No files. No furniture. Just concrete walls and a drain in the center of the floor.
And in the middle of the room... a table.
One table. One chair. One plate.
Claire’s flashlight hit the wall.
Hundreds of names. Carved. Scratched. Burned.
Going back 100 years.
Every 30 years, 10 new names.
And at the bottom, fresh:
LAURA REED
DANIEL REED
CLAIRE MORGAN
Her breath caught.
On the table, under the plate, was Dr. Hale’s journal. Last entry dated 1992:
_"It doesn’t take. It asks.
You have to invite it in. You have to set the table.
You have to be willing to wait forever.
I tried to end it. I set 9 chairs. I sat in none of them.
But it found a 10th. It always finds a 10th.
If you’re reading this, you’re the 10th."_
The lights went out.
A sound. Footsteps. Slow.
Claire turned.
Daniel stood in the doorway. Dry. No rain on him.
In his hands: a folded tablecloth.
“You came,” he said. “I knew you would.”
“This ends here,” Claire said, reaching for her gun.
Daniel shook his head. “You can’t arrest hunger, Agent Morgan.
You can only feed it. Or become it.”
He laid the tablecloth on the table. Set the plate. Set the fork.
Then he pulled out a second chair. And a second plate.
“For me,” he said.
Then he pulled out a third.
“For you.”
The drain in the floor gurgled. Like something was hungry under it.
Daniel sat down. Patted the chair across from him.
“Sit, Claire. We’re just waiting.
That’s all hosts do. We wait.”
Claire looked at the door. Looked at the names on the wall.
Looked at the empty plate.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Washington.
A text: Another apartment. Table set for 3. One missing.
It was spreading.
Claire slowly sat down.
Daniel smiled. “Welcome to the table.”
The door to Storage 9 clicked shut by itself.