The tension in the room was suffocating as Dean Nash pulled up the surveillance footage on his laptop. Everyone crowded around the screen, their faces illuminated by the pale glow of the monitor.
"The timestamp shows someone entered the ward at 2:47 AM," Dean Nash said, his voice tight with anticipation.
I stood behind Maya Vance, watching the grainy black and white footage unfold. My exhaustion from the soul retrieval procedure still weighed heavily on me, but curiosity kept me alert.
The video showed the empty hallway outside the ICU ward. For several seconds, nothing moved except the timestamp in the corner.
Then a figure appeared at the edge of the frame.
"There," Officer Aaron Wells pointed at the screen. "Someone's coming."
The figure moved cautiously down the hallway, glancing left and right as if checking for witnesses. The person wore hospital scrubs and a surgical mask, but their gait was familiar.
"Can you enhance the image?" Maya asked Dean Nash.
"I'll try."
