Alaire’s elbows were starting to hurt from crawling in the vent. Her clothes were bloody and wet and were sticking to her skin. She shivered. How long had they been here, she wondered, hours, days? It felt like an eternity since they woke up in that room.
She was leading the way with no certainty of where to go. Blake was close behind her which put her at ease for some reason. Having at least someone from her group alive was reassuring, and it made her feel for Matt and Aaron who were now the last in each of theirs.
The image of Jane’s head rolling made her stomach clench.
“See anything?” Blake asked.
“N-no, not yet,” Alaire said, “Although it’s dark so… Hopefully- EEP!”
Her arms suddenly felt nothing but air underneath her. She was going to fall! Blake quickly grabbed the back of her legs, “What is it!”
“It drops here!” Alaire said in a panic.
“Damn, I wish we could see…”
“Wait… There’s a light down there.”
Alaire reached out, hoping there were walls next to her. Yes! She pressed both of her hands on each wall to the right and left of her to hold her body as she tossed her legs over the edge. Next, she did the same with her feet, “Just spider your way down with the walls,” she instructed, “Oh… and try not to fall on me.”
It was almost pitch black, but there was a light source below that looked like another vent with the lines it cast shadowed. Honestly, she felt safer hiding in this vent, but they had to escape.
Her feet touched the floor, again, “It’s not too far, come on down,” she said. She had to crouch again before hitting her head, and she followed the light. The boys were sliding down the vent with much less grace. Their loud thumping made her jump.
The room the light was coming from looked like an office. The brightness was coming from a large panel of computer screens. This time the air vent was close to the ground, thank goodness, and Alaire pushed against it with all her might. This one felt screwed into the wall, but the screws were fairly weak. She punched the vent with the back of her arm, as to not damage her already scabbed knuckles, and she managed to break one of the screws.
With that, Alaire forced the rest of the screws out and entered the new computer room. Blake, Matt, and Aaron soon followed, looking banged up.
“You could've given me some kind of warning,” Matt said, “Like ‘hey don’t fall on me’”
“I didn't think I had to,” Aaron replied, then looked captivated by the computers, “What is this?”
It reminded Alaire of a security room. Each screen had a camera capturing a different area, and after a few seconds, they’d switch to a new location. Some filing cabinets were in the corner, along with a large map heavily marked with a black sharpie.
The files on the computer desk made Alaire’s heart stop.
“These…” she opened one of the files, “These are us…”
Blake hastily grabbed one of the files as well, “It’s Jessica.”
Matt and Aaron joined them, “This one’s Dwight’s… and Kord.”
“Katie,” Aaron muttered.
There were fifteen files, each filled with pictures of each of them. Alaire cringed when she saw the pictures of her. Some were directly from her Facebook page and some were taken of her at school while unaware. “Ugh! Creepy…”
“Wait…” Matt was pulling papers out of his file, “This is… my handwriting.”
“Yours?” Alaire started looking through her own file, and it was true, there was a piece of paper that she clearly wrote herself.
“I’m so confused,” Matt moaned.
Aaron suddenly looked very serious, like an idea was brewing, “Oh… oh, wait. I remember writing this.” He looked over at Alaire with realization, “And you! All of you!”
“All of us what?” Blake said.
“We were all there!” Aaron said, “It was a seminar we had to attend for psychology, and we filled out these papers… Professor Kellor and… That blonde chick. They hosted it.”
“I… barely remember,” Alaire admitted, “But I was obviously there. This is definitely my writing…”
“It’s…phobias,” Blake muttered, “A seminar on phobias. Ah… I remember. There were lots of people there, it was pretty interesting…”
“And out of all those people they picked us,” Matt looked angry.
“Maybe we weren't the only ones…” Alaire ran to the filing cabinet. Just as she suspected, several files were inside all labeled with names and photos.
“Macy, Ryan, Tina, Gerald… There's so many…”
Blake cursed and pointed at one of the computer screens, “Alaire, it's Wonder World.”
On the screen Blake was watching a clown was sluggishly walking around with a weapon in hand. The ground below him was streaked with blood, and Alaire remembered too well that that was where Jessica was killed.
“Oh my gosh…”
“They could’ve triggered the clowns,” Blake looked all over the desk for the keyboards, “Watch this…” Blake clicked something, and the clown froze. Alaire remembered the clocks and imagined the tune that would bring out and take away the clowns. The clown started walking away and disappeared.
“No…” Alaire couldn't believe it.
“The spiders… the water…” Matt said thoughtfully, “I bet that’s how they did this too.”
“So it really was staged,” Aaron said, “It was all set up, and they’d watch us all die.”
Blake’s eyes paused on one of the screens, “Where is that…?”
Alaire looked at a few more screens, one had the hospital lobby, one had the room with the bathtubs, and one looked like an empty hallway. Empty, except for a dark figure. And that’s exactly what it was, just a dark figure. It had no face, no clothing, just a black ominous mass in the shape of a human.
“It’s just standing there…” Alaire said, “Hey!”
On the same screen, Taylor was walking, apparently unaware of the dark figure ahead of her. Her head was turned backward as if watching out for something. Her hair was flat against her back, wet and pressing against her damp clothing. Once she turned around and saw the figure, she looked how Alaire felt. Taylor ran.
“Oh no…” Blake said.
Suddenly, Blake ran for the door in the room and bolted out.
“Wait!” Alaire said, but it was too late, “We don’t even know where that is…”
“It might be closer than we think…” Aaron said, “I mean, where did Taylor go when she came through the vent?”
“Not here, or the vent opening wouldn't have been screwed in still…” Alaire said, “I’m not sure where she went.”
“Well let’s follow that loony,” Aaron headed out as well.
“What! Why!” Matt said, “Let’s not compulsively run around with creepy everything everywhere, right?”
“I know,” Aaron, “But let’s also not get separated.”
Alaire didn’t want to leave all of this evidence behind, but they also didn't have a route to escape yet. So Alaire, Matt, and Aaron left the room. The hallway definitely looked like the same layout the dark figure was chilling out in. A shiver ran up Alaire’s spine.
“What do you think that dark personage was…” Alaire said.
“Nothing good,” Aaron said, “Nothing good at all.”
“Where did he go!” Matt said, looking irritated, “Does he know this chick or something?”
“I don’t think so, but he’s been protective of her since we got into this mess,” Alaire said. It was a cute and sad relationship, she thought. Matt rolled his eyes, not convinced.
Then, they heard Blake shouting.
His shouts were distorted in pain and surprise, and he wasn't too far away.
“Blake!” Alaire called.
*****
Taylor clutched her open wounds as she ran down the hallway. She clenched her jaw, feeling each cut reopen with every step. The cuts were all over her body from the razor blades, how inconvenient.
She was almost there, just a little farther, but someone’s voice came from behind her.
“Hey!”
Oh no, her heart flinched.
Blake was running towards her. She threw up her arms, “Stop! Don’t come any closer!”
He looked bewildered, but slowed at least into a walk, “What?”
What could she say to stop him, she frowned, “Please…”
Blake looked like he understood something. It was obvious he was hurt, but Taylor was surprised by his reaction.
“Look… We figured some stuff out. And honestly… after you took out that clown, I kind of knew already.”
Taylor's mouth gaped.
“Then… why didn't you say something?”
Blake shrugged, “I figured you were in some kind of trouble. Heck, we all were. Are.”
Taylor’s body trembled, “You really need to go…”
“I came to find you, so let me help.”
“No!” Taylor begged, “Please go, now!”
She gasped, and her terrified eyes made Blake realize something was behind him. Blake whirled around, and the black faceless figure was there. It twitched, and made hollow growling sounds.
Without warning, it thrust its arm straight through Blake’s chest.
“Not him! I said not him!”
