Joni was laid out on the floor. I hadn’t noticed at the moment, but when the thing grabbed me Mar had attacked it, and Joni got caught in the crossfire. It struck her down with its tail so casually I didn’t even see it. It put the attacks to rest. She laid against the wall. A big bloody streak of black and red coloring marked her throat and led down below her shirt collar. Her eyes were half open and soaked in tears. Emily stood over her trying to calm her down.
“Is she alright?” I asked as I approached at a running pace from the other side of the room. I was cautious as I passed by the downed Matter Chameleon. He didn’t make a move, thankfully. Danny ran beside me at a much faster pace than my legs could manage. He still held the rifle tight in his grip. Gary approached at a walk behind me. He had been hiding with Danny.
“I don’t know. There’s a lot of blood.” Emily said. “I don’t know.” She sighed. Her hair was messed up, and there were tears in her eyes. Her hands and clothes were caked in several layers of cement dust wet with Joni’s blood.
“It fucking hurts.” Joni said in a weak voice.
What should I do?
“What do we do?” Emily asked me with desperation in her eyes.
“We should call the cops!” Gary yelled. I shot him a death glare.
“Remember that green stuff that you told us about?” Danny asked me.
“How will we get to it?” Emily asked.
“Should be on the R&D floors.” I answered.
“What are you guys talking about?” Joni croaked, in a whisper.
Time seemed to move still and at the same time way too fast, as Gary ripped the gun off of Danny and pointed it at us in a single motion. He took a step back and stared at the three of us with a rabid look in his eyes. Emily, Danny, and I all looked at him at once.
“What green stuff!? What are you talking about!? Why are you acting like this is normal!” Gary yelled at us. I didn’t know what to say, and neither did anyone else because they remained silent. Gary continued.
“Joni is injured. She needs a doctor.” He sighed. Danny tried to take a step forward and Gary pointed the gun square at his chest, with a look in his eye that told me he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him.
“Just calm down, Gary.” Mar said.
“Don’t fucking tell me to calm down!” He shouted. Danny took a step back, with fear in his eyes. “Our lives have been in constant chaos for the past month. Ever since he came back!” He pointed at me. “And now Joni’s on the ground bleeding out, and you’re talking about green stuff or whatever…” He rambled. I looked up towards the nearest security camera.
“Victoria!” I shouted. “I know you’re listening!” The camera moved.
“The fuck is going on!” Gary shrieked. Danny kept his hands up.
“Are you ready to make a deal?” Victoria said over the speaker.
“Not even considering it.” I responded. Emily looked like she was about to sock me in the mouth.
“You’d let your friend die, just to be stubborn?” She asked.
“She’s not my friend, really.” I said dryly. Gary’s eyes started twitching. “Didn’t Mr. Polybius tell you not to harm me or my friends?” I asked.
“He didn’t say anything about your friends.” Victoria replied. A smile crept on my lips.
You’re not as smart as you think you are.
The gun barrel was pointed at my back. The room was silent for several seconds. Victoria didn’t seem to have anything to say. Gary stared me dead in the eyes for the entirety of the moment.
“This is all your fault!” Gary yelled at me. I met his eyes. “You’ve got yourself caught up in trouble, and you’ve dragged the rest of us into it!” He screamed.
“I think you said the wrong thing, Victoria.” I said, looking up at the camera.
“Stop ignoring me!” Gary took a step closer. Danny started to silently approach, but I gave him a look and held out my hand. He stopped dead in his tracks.
“Jacob, for the love of God, just agree to her deal.” Danny yelled.
Weaknesses? She’s clever. Setting up fights instead of doing them herself. She’s controlling things like a puppet master. Trying to break me without ever touching me.
She’s got control of this whole building. She’s got my suit, somehow… But she can’t let me die.
“Gary, you need to calm down.” I said calmly. “If we can get to th-”
Gary cut me off by firing the rifle at the ceiling.
“Stop telling me to calm down!” He pointed the gun at my chest, once again.
“Victoria, I think he might really shoot me. Unless you open that elevator and take us to the labs.” I said, trying to sound nervous.
“He’s bluffing.” She said over the speaker.
“Wanna risk that?” I asked. “I don’t mind playing lunatic’s roulette, I’m dying anyway.” I muttered.
“I’m not entertaining this charade.” She growled.
“This would probably be better, anyway. Nice and clean, quick and easy. Don’t have to deal with all the gruesome bits.” I ignored her. “Better than the alternative.”
Emily and Mar both looked at me with concern. Joni was gagging on her own blood, and looking at the ceiling with a dazed look. Danny was creeping up behind Gary, and Gary was staring at me with tear filled eyes.
The room was completely silent, except for the elevator door opening. Danny picked up one side of Joni, while Mar picked up the other side. We all walked carefully as a group to the open elevator. We didn’t get to click any buttons as Victoria selected our floor for us.
Gary still had his rifle pointed at me, even as we stood in the elevator. Floor fifty four. It was a research and development floor. I jumped a little as the elevator started moving and Joni let out a gasp. I turned around to see if she was okay and she looked completely out of it. Gary stared at me.
“You’re out of bullets.” I mumbled.
“What?” He said, his eyes going wide.
“That shot you fired at the ceiling was your last one.” I explained. Emily gave me a dirty look. “What, can’t you count?” I asked him. He didn’t look convinced.
“You can shoot me to test it if you want.” I rolled my eyes. He opted to lay it on the ground, instead. Danny picked it up and slung it over his shoulder.
The doors opened to reveal a dimly lit laboratory with silver tables with lots of chemicals laid about. A few minutes of exploration revealed a refrigerated set of silver drawers filled with canisters of green fluids. As I pulled one out of its drawer, Danny swiped a table clear as Mar set Joni down onto the table. I unscrewed the lid to the canister and made my way to my worried looking friends. Gary stood by the elevator.
“How does it work?” Mar asked frantically.
“No idea.” I responded bluntly. Danny yanked the canister out of my hands and started gently pouring the fluid onto Joni’s wound. He rubbed it in and when he did, she made a pained noise.
The elevator door opened once again. Every pair of eyes in the room went in that direction at once. The elevator was completely full of people. But my eyes instantly went to Alistair’s yellow wolf eyes. Odie was the first to exit the elevator, a gun held firmly in his hand. He scanned the room for a moment before his eyes lit up.
“Oh, hey!” He shouted and started waving at me. “Funny seeing you here.” He chuckled. Alistair followed behind him, with John standing beside with a medical bag around his shoulder. Four college students from the lobby followed behind them, with much less confidence than they had as they exited.
Gar held an unconscious college student by the collar with a single hand. He dragged him out behind everyone else that was in the elevator. John noticed Joni on the table and immediately rushed towards her.
“What happened to her?” John asked Danny.
“Uh.” Was all Danny could get out before being interrupted.
“Answer him.” Alistair commanded in his deep voice.
“She was hit by a concrete tentacle.” Danny explained. John gave him a weird look, then unzipped his bag.
“Who are you people?” Gary asked Odie.
“Bank security, don’t worry about it.” Odie said while scratching the back of his head.
The college students settled into a group at the corner of the room. I could hear them mumbling amongst themselves but I decided to ignore them. They all seemed to be watching Gar closely, so I approached Gar.
“What’d he do?” I asked, pointing at the unconscious guy. Gar looked confused at first.
“There’s something capturing people in the elevators and brainwashing them. The elevator goes dark, and when the lights come on somebody’s acting all weird. This guy was one of them.” Gar explained.
“What?” Was the only response I could come up with. Gar just gave me a confused look. After a moment Gar’s words hit me like a truck. I turned back towards Emily.
“Hey Emily!” I shouted from across the room. She looked really annoyed and impatient.
“What do you need?” She asked.
“Did the elevator lose power when you guys came to the floor I was on?” I asked her. She looked as if she was thinking about it for a minute, then she responded.
“Yeah, why?” She asked, looking confused and concerned. “It was only for a few minutes.” She added when I didn’t respond.
This is bad. Very bad.
I turned around to look at Gary. He was still staring me down with bitter eyes. He’d been acting erratic, crazy this whole time. He tried to scare me into accepting Victoria’s deal.
He tried to beat me with force. I pointed a finger at him and opened my mouth to accuse him. But I was stopped when a hand cupped my mouth. My eyes went wide as I tried to jerk my head. I was held in place by a strong arm.
“Shh.” Danny said. I saw a rifle appear to the right of me. He pointed it at Gary whose eyes lit up.
“Wait a second, I didn’t do anything! It’s not me! I’m not!” He waved his hands in the air as he pleaded. His blood splattered against my face as the muzzle flashed. A hole opened in his throat and he slid against the wall as the light left his eyes.
Guess my count was off.
I bit down on Danny’s hand hard enough to draw blood, then kicked my leg back to push him away. He stumbled a little. I turned around to face him.
Joni was unconscious on the table, John was working on her, Emily was backing away, and Gar had an empty look in his eyes. I didn’t move at all. I just stared at Danny. The light had gone out of him. It was as if everything that made Danny himself had been sucked out and replaced with the same look that a doll’s eyes have.
“Enough with that.” Alistair grumbled as he lifted his finger up and the gun sailed up.
It clung to the ceiling. Danny turned around and gave him a surprised look. In the span of three seconds that his back was turned, all of the college kids grabbed him and pulled him to the ground. I stood back and tried to keep my distance.
He kicked and screamed and pulled at their arms. It was a horrible sight. My best friend since first grade was on the ground, being punched in the face. His personality sapped away so bad that he looked like a snarling dog fighting his leash. I didn’t know if there was even anything left of Danny. Blood oozed out of Gary like a fountain behind me.
I’m hurting everyone just by being alive. Everyone I love is being destroyed. I hurt everyone. Soon everyone I know will either end up like Gary, Danny, or Joni.
I was lost in my thoughts when I felt something wrap itself around my throat. It was an arm, dragging me off of my feet and across the floor. The people across the room were too freaked out to even notice. My throat tensed as the arm squeezed. It was still sore from Matter Chameleon’s attack earlier, and this was only making it worse.
Usually pain would make me more alert. It’d make it easier to see what I needed to do. But I’ve been fighting too much. The pain only served to exhaust me more. I stopped struggling and just let go as I watched Danny being attacked on the table.
I was dragged over to the elevator. I was dropped on the floor of the elevator as the doors shut. I looked up and saw Gar and the college guy he had been holding standing above me. They both had that same empty look in their eyes that Danny had.
“Had to get you away from them.” The College Guy said.
“So that we could talk in private.” Gar said in a monotone voice.
“I’ll go ahead and release this one.” The College Guy said, before he fell limp onto the floor. My eyes widened as his head bounced against the metal floor of the elevator.
“Don’t worry. They don’t die. He’ll just have a really bad headache for a few hours.” The Possessed Gar reassured me. “Your friend in there is probably already released by now.” He said as he knelt down to make eye contact with me. I had to force myself not to look away. It was like staring into the empty expanse of space. A vast nothingness. Like a corpse’s eyes.
But now he has to live with the fact that he murdered someone.
“Why… Are you doing this?” I asked.
“Boss wanted to talk to you. Couldn’t do it where your friends could hear. Used your friend to distract them while I grabbed you. We used this skin because it’s strong enough to keep you from fighting back.” He explained slowly. It sounded like it was difficult for him to speak. “Do you remember me?” He asked.
“Uhh… Am I supposed to?” I asked.
“I was there that night. With Jones and Billy. You beat me up pretty bad.” He told me. Then he turned away. “No, I guess you wouldn’t remember.” He muttered to himself. I vaguely remembered there being a third guy there. He looked more professional than the other two. But what had happened to him?
Is he a ghost? Are ghosts real? Maybe I’ll be a ghost some day.
“Oh.” I muttered as the elevator doors opened up. The ghost grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out the open door, leaving the unconscious college student on the ground behind us.
He held a tight grip on my arm. I eventually recognized the hallway and room he was leading me to. It was Polybius’s office.
Once the door opened up I saw Victoria sitting in Polybius’s chair. She stood up and held a finger to her lips the moment the light flooded into the dark office. As she walked out into the hallway to greet us, I heard what she was worried about. A small child was snoring in the other room. The same little boy that screamed for Polybius. As she stepped out into the hallway I got a good look at her.
She was wearing a black dress that looked like it belonged to someone from two hundred years ago. All over her body was gold jewelry. Rings, necklaces, bracelets. Outshining it all was the crown atop her head, which was tall, pointy, and solid gold. She wore a Victorian style mask with black feathers in it. I couldn’t see her eyes behind glowing white lenses in the mask. It seemed to be connected to her face.
“So nice to finally see you in person.” She said in a proper sounding voice. I rubbed my arm and looked at her. It was embarrassing in a way, but I was nervous to be near her.
The way she stood tall and looked down on me. I wasn’t used to being nervous around people. It made me uncomfortable. It was only made worse by the fact that I didn’t have my suit. I was naked, in a way.
“What do you want?” I asked bluntly.
“I’m offering you one mor-” She started.
“No.” I interrupted her, and stared at her lifeless mask. He lips pursed, but then her face went back to being cold and stoic. She reminded me of a statue.
“Alright then.” She said coldly. She looked me up and down. “My end of the deal has been fulfilled, so I’m going to be on my way now. I suggest you do the same.” She said, and then turned to walk down the long hallway. She stopped mid stride.
“If I were you, Jacob, I’d leave those friends behind. They’re safer without you around.” Were the last words she said to me before disappearing into an elevator. I looked over to see Gar was unconscious, slumped against the wall. Above him, holding onto the wall, was something so terrifying that it made me jump back in fear.
It was pale white like bone. It had eight long tentacles like an octopus, but they each were covered in sharp bony spines and each ended in a long bone claw. It had four ink black eyes that had white rings that pulsated as it observed the room.
It moved completely silently as it scuttled off of the wall, handed me my backpack, and then disappeared down the hallway through a vent. I didn’t attempt to put my suit on and catch it or Victoria, as they’d both be gone long before the bonding process was finished.
Not a ghost. Just a horrifying genetic abomination. That’s better, I guess.
I sat down next to Gar and thought long and hard about my life. After sitting for what felt like hours, Gar woke up. He looked over at me with a dazed expression. I took out the card Alistair had given me, and gave it a look.
“That sucked.” Gar mumbled while holding his head.
Everyone is in pain because of me.
Because I can’t protect them.
“Hey, can I stay with you for a few days?” I asked as I held my eyes shut and kept the back of my head pressed against the wall.
“Sure, bro.” He said quietly.
