Level 2 – Chapter 1: Introduction

Imi spunea Pebbles acum ceva timp, dupa ce mi-a citit o compunere, ca ar trebui sa scriu mai des. Ei bine, asta seara ma lovi creativitatea asa ca ma apucai de ceva, zic eu, mai serios si mai diferit. Ma gandesc sa scriu ceva mai mult, insa nu voi face totul deodata. Mai jos e primul capitol. Nu stiu cand va veni si al doilea, dar cred ca va fi destul de curand.

Level 2

Chapter 1 – Introduction

Friday
11:14 PM

It was quiet in the small Alderney hotel on the east side of town. The guests had all fallen asleep inside their rooms, leaving the hallways empty and silent. The only two people awake were John and Al, the security guards.

‘Boy, can you believe this weather?’ radioed Al to John as he glanced out the window.
‘It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen,’ replied John through his walkie-talkie.

They were talking about the snow storm. It was probably one of the worst New York had ever seen and there was no sign of it calming down. The weather reports were far from optimistic and what was more unsettling was everyone’s lack of knowledge regarding what was going on.

‘I tell you, Al, if this keeps up, we might find ourselves snowed in in no time.’

‘I hear that,’ said Al grinning towards the ceiling, with his hands under his head and his feet on the desk.
‘Well, at least we’ve got enough food,’ shrugged John at the security camera, waving a tired smile.

Suddenly they heard a loud bang coming from outside. The power went down and every light in the hotel disappeared.

‘Whoa! What the hell was that?’
‘I don’t know John, but it didn’t sound good.’

Al looked out of his office window and saw the power lines on the ground, next to the pole that had been supporting them.

‘Crap!’ he sighed. ‘John, it seems the storm took down the power lines. The backup generator should kick in in a couple of seconds.’ And it did. The lights slowly went back on throughout the hotel.
‘Damn storm,’ ranted John.

Al turned away from the window and looked at the monitors. For a moment there, he thought he was seeing things. He took off his glasses, wiped them with his sleeve and put them back on.

‘What the hell?!’

On the monitor that said Level 2 – Hallway he could see a little girl standing in the middle of the hallway, facing the doors. She was just standing there, with what seemed to be a doll in her hand.

‘Uhm… John?’

‘Yeah, Al?’
‘I think there’s a little girl lost on the second floor, could you go and check it out?’
‘Sure thing.’

Al watched John on the security cameras as he went up the stairs to the second floor.

‘I’m here Al, where is she?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘What do you mean ‘what do you mean’, where is she?’
‘You’re kidding, right? She’s right there, at the end of the hallway, near the camera.’

John looked left and right but could see no one.

‘Al, there’s nobody here, man. Are you sure she’s on the second floor?’
‘For Christ’s sake, John, yes, I can see you both on the camera! This isn’t funny, just go and see what the hell’s going on and get it over with!’ Al wasn’t in the mood for jokes.

John could sense the impatience in Al’s voice. Still, he had no idea what he was talking about. There was only one person in the hallway, and that was him.

‘Look, she’s even coming toward you now.’

John was at a loss of words.

‘What are you doing? She’s right there, you idiot!’

‘Damn it, Al, there’s no one here!’

‘She’s 8 freaking feet from you, how can you not see her?!’
‘Al, you’re scaring me, man, I’m telling you, there’s no one he…’

Static. Static was all that Al could hear now, and all that he could see. It was like someone had disabled every security camera at once. He gazed out for a couple of seconds at the monitors. He was bewildered.

‘John?’
‘John, what the hell’s going on? All the cameras are down. Can you hear me?’

Then Al heard something on his radio. Beneath the static, he could here someone’s voice. John’s voice. But he wasn’t talking. He was screaming. It stayed like that for several seconds, when it suddenly stopped. Al stood frozen in his chair, with his radio against his ear. He stood like that until the cameras suddenly went back on. The static was gone. When he saw the monitor, his jaw dropped and he let the radio fall on the ground. Al was now completely stunned. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He had never seen anything like this in his entire life.

He saw John. He was everywhere. Literally. Bits and pieces of his body had been scattered all over the hallway. The floor, the walls and even the ceiling were all covered in blood. He could see John’s blood sliding off the camera lens. The little girl was gone. Al had never been so afraid in his entire life. He was literally shaking with fear.

He remembered about the radio. With his eyes on the monitor, he reached down to grab it. As he held the object in his hand, he realized it felt weird. When he looked in his hand he saw a doll.