Chapter 9
The overhead lights in the passage were barely flickering by the time Sue stepped inside. She hadn’t been in the Maintenance areas for years, and she still didn’t like them. A narrow and angular hallway stretched on to the left, right, and straight ahead, with walls, floor, and ceiling a dark, non-reflective gray.
When the lights finally managed to stay on at full, harsh brightness, the surfaces seemed to absorb the light so they could hold onto their shadows.
The surface absorbed sound, too, leaving Sue feeling like her ears were stuffed full of cotton. Normal shifting and shuffling noises of four humans crowded together barely registered.
Her flattened sense of hearing only brought the stim-induced ringing in her ears back into her awareness in full unpleasant force.
Marti
