Just for confirmation, I cracked the window open slightly.
…
Shit.
I yanked it shut, turned to the others, and hissed, 'Put everything back the way it was. We need to get out of here. Now!'
To their credit, none of the three players wasted any time questioning me.
Within moments, the panel above the hidden space was readjusted, the carpet was smoothed back out, and the small trunk was returned to its place.
Mason grabbed his flashlight, and helped Sheila put the photograph she'd found back in its place. Aron…
Aron made sure the blade he'd nicked was still safely tucked away.
And then, as quickly and quietly as we could, we were out of the door.
We were on our way down, when Mason suddenly stopped us all with a gesture.
He was barely visible in the dark. His flashlight had long since been turned off.
Thankfully, our eyes had adjusted enough.
Eyes widened, he was quietly pointing a finger towards the steps opposite us, leading up the stairway.
I listened carefully.
…
…Thump.
…
Thump.
…
Thump.
It was the disconcerting sound of unnaturally heavy, dragging footsteps.
Someone was coming downstairs.
I immediately understood why he'd stopped us.
If we could hear that person, it meant we could also be heard by them.
Quiet as mice, we shuffled to the darkest corner of the landing, hoping that the shadows would keep us hidden.
…
Thump.
…
Thump.
There was something wrong about the sounds.
It was almost like the person walking was being weighed down by a burden they could barely carry.
I shrank further back into the shadows.
…
Thump.
In the dark, I saw a large, shadowy mass slowly trudging down the stairs.
Coming closer…
Closer…
I forced myself to keep my breathing in check.
…
Thump.
The shadowy, oddly misshapen figure climbed down the last step, and turned to walk into the corridor we'd left.
It was mere feet away from where we hid, cloaked by the dark.
'Unngh…' A pained, gravelly voice suddenly groaned.
'Even… even nicotine doesn't… help anymore…'
It was a man's voice, distorted and rough.
'It hurts… It hurts so… much…'
Immediately afterwards, there was a soft snicker.
'But it will be fine soon,' a second voice whispered. The top part of the large, misshapen shadow seemed to fold itself in half.
With a sickening lurch, I realized why the figure looked so misshapen.
The lower part was a tallish man, bent over and painfully dragging his feet along the floor as he walked. On his back, its legs around his neck, sat an even taller, shadowy creature.
Its position was like a gross mockery of the way young children often sat on their parents' shoulders.
It bent its torso in half, and spoke directly next to the man's ear.
'Once you bring your little boy back, everything will go back to being fine, hm? Everything will be fiiine.'
It dragged out the last word in a condescending way. It almost sounded like it was having fun.
'Hurts…' the Director groaned again, his heavy footsteps dragging down the corridor.
The creature on his back snickered again.
'Keep going. Keep going…'
The two voices faded as the figure trudged in the direction of the office we'd just vacated.
No one moved an inch.
'It's… so painful…'
'It won't be, soon. Keep going, and it won't be.'
The creature's singsong voice sounded far away now.
After a moment, Mason nodded.
Quietly, he led the way downstairs.
I followed, Aron and Sheila right behind me.
'But… it hurts too much…'
'Oh? Oh no. How do we make this fun for you again, hm?'
The fact that I could still hear the faint voices meant that the Director was still in the corridor.
I wondered why he hadn't entered his office yet.
We tiptoed to the bottom of the stairway.
Thankfully, Mason remembered the tripwire alarm just in time, and pointed it out before any of us could set it off.
'How do we make this fun? Oh…'
We reached the door. As Mason carefully turned the handle, Sheila, who'd been peering out through the glass panels frowned.
She caught my eye and silently mouthed, 'Where the fuck is John?'
Mason opened the door, and I looked outside through the gap.
John, who was supposed to have been waiting in front of the building with the newbie, was indeed nowhere to be seen.
'Oh… Oh! I know!'
Aron gestured for us to quickly get out.
I didn't need to be told twice.
'I know! I'll do some cleaning up!'
I felt a shiver run down my spine.
Why… why did the creature's voice suddenly sound so much clearer?
'I'll clean up! I'll clean up! I'll clean up the rats scuttling around in here!'
With an otherworldly roar, an empty, unending darkness suddenly descended down upon us like a physical weight.
I was standing right by the door.
Before my mind could even form a thought, my legs had carried me out of the building.
The door trembled, then seemed to want to shut.
I jumped towards it, and quickly pushed against it with all the strength I could muster.
'Get out!' I yelled, all stealth forgotten.
I looked in, and saw Aron and Mason struggling, each pulling at one of Sheila's arms. Her legs…
One of her legs was trapped underneath the weight of the dark, undulating mass of shadows.
There were horrible, giggling sounds coming from within the darkness.
I could tell that she was being sucked into it.
I had to help!
Aron turned to yell at me just then, 'Don't come in! Keep the door open! Don't come in!'
He was still pulling at her arm. His shoes were scrambling on the ground, trying to find some hold against the tiles.
I could see Mason's profile. He was gritting his teeth, veins visible in the sides of his neck as he put all his strength into pulling his companion out of the deadly shadow that kept sucking her in.
'Leave me! You both, get out! Leave me!' Sheila was yelling hoarsely.
There was a sickening crack, and I saw her leg bend the wrong way at the knee.
Then, everything happened all at once.
Two heavy shapes flew past me with a whoosh.
Something caught my side, and I was painfully thrown to the ground with them.
BAM!
The door to the administrative building slammed shut.
My head slammed hard against the ground outside.
Fuck!
But I couldn't stay here!
Heaving from the pain, I tightened my muscles and pushed myself up to my knees.
'Aaaargh! Aargh!'
I looked up, my vision spinning slightly, to see Sheila sprawled on the ground, screaming.
I then saw her leg…
Her right leg, below the knee, was missing. The tattered leg of her trousers hung down limply, and dark red liquid spurted out of the stump.
'Aaaargh! No!'
Her eyes were wide with pain and fear.
I suddenly realized she wasn't looking at her leg.
I followed her gaze to see Aron desperately slamming his whole body against the shut door of the administrative building.
'Fuck! Open! Open!' he was yelling like a crazy man, using every part of his body to hit the door, trying to get it to open.
Mason was nowhere to be seen.
…no.
I dragged myself to my feet, swaying slightly. My ears were ringing.
I ran up to Aron, who had pulled out the knife he'd stolen and was trying to jam its blade in the gap between the door and the frame.
It was to no avail.
It was like the door had fused with the wall.
There was no give at all.
'HA! HA! HA!'
There was a sudden, high pitched sound of laughter from inside the building.
It was followed by the most sickening sound I'd ever heard in my life.
The sound of something large being slowly squished.
Aron gasped and took a step back.
I wasn't fast enough.
I looked down to see my shoes being soaked by the pool of fresh blood flowing out from underneath the door.