Nightmare of an Endless Night

Chapter Eleven

I watched speechlessly as Kaiju’s eyes unnaturally toggled in circles and inside her head and back. This was not humanly possible, but Kaiju was indeed not a human anymore.

I took in a deep breath of courage and pushed Kaiju down. She fell in the same heap she had when she jumped off the building. I raced to the stairs, not looking back, exiting the apartment complex buildings, for a new adventure waits.

It didn’t take long for me to locate yet another building. This one I recognized as the security forces’ for this town. I went inside the building and the closest door winded up being an office. The lights were still on, and a cap and a bowl of microwaveable soup rested on the desk.

I went to it; the computer monitor was still on also. Had this place not been affected? On the desktop there was a picture of a family: a man, a woman, a boy, a girl, and a dog. The picture was in black and white and the faces were shadowed out, even the dog’s. Could this perhaps be an older person working here?

But the people in the picture’s clothes looked much too modern. Maybe they had done that on purpose to hide their identities or whatever the reason.

I heard static and looked over to the trio of televisions lined up on a shelf. One of them turned on by itself and showed a silhouette of a person, most likely female because of their long hair, walking toward a door, and then the image went out.

A few seconds afterward the power went out. I looked quickly through the drawers of the desk and found a flashlight.

I exited the room, sighing in relief to find that Kaiju hadn’t found her way here. Why had she and Naoki decided to harass me back at the apartments? For now that would remain a mystery, I had to finish my business here. I found a map of the building, it was actually smaller than it looked on the outside, the offices had taken up the most of the space here.

I turned down to the hallway. I doubted that the person on the security footage was another employee, not at this hour. But I figured I ought to do something about the power here, it was previously working just fine. Maybe I could get the phones to work and call for help.

When I got to the other opening a pile of cardboard boxes knocked down, revealing a mannequin of a male child behind them. For a moment I thought he was real, I had already prepared myself to run out the building in case of another encounter.

Walking farther down I saw another mannequin, this one was of a female. One of her arms had popped off and she was legless. The elevator kept on opening and shutting on her, and she would slightly move and her plastic hand scratched against the wall around her.

Why was I referring these objects as “he’s” and “she’s”? They were not real, just a device to put in windows to sell clothes. Anyways, those thoughts weren’t important right now. I had to find the right room.

I looked back down at the mannequin “woman,” but she had disappeared and the elevator was closed. It then opened, and out came Kaiju.

I stared helplessly at her, she was truly everywhere, was there nowhere to hide? She didn’t move, and the elevator door closed again, and when it opened the female mannequin was inside. But this time there was a plastic smile on her face, as if she was sickly happy. It felt like the smile was mocking me.

I walked on. My brain convinced me that if there was another illusion of Kaiju I would officially go insane. I probably already had.

There was a door with a window and a bright yellow frame on the right-hand side of the hallway, but it was locked. I groaned in frustration and turned back to the hall. Was my life forever going to be dark hallways, lost keys, and close encounters?

Coming closer I saw Naoki standing in a defensive stance as if he was ready to start a fight. He did not say anything or mutter a sound of any kind and ran off into the darkness. The real Kaiju must be nearby now.

As predicted, Kaiju walked past me in the hallway ahead in her usual bent back posture. She didn’t lift her head up to look at me and she didn’t come back. Maybe now she’ll leave me alone. But of course that wasn’t true.

I went in the hallway she and Naoki ran off to. Another pile of boxes were there, and another boy mannequin, maybe even the same one, was standing in a puddle of dried blood by them. But this time his arms were different, his hands were fluttered outward as if any moment he’ll take flight.

On the turn of the hallway I saw graffiti on the floor and walls, but it looked unprofessional, as if a wild group of children had come with pack of crayons and did a freely scribbled everywhere. Some spots were rubbed away, as if the janitor and given up on scrubbing mid-way.

I took the turn and the graffiti was still there, there was also a full drawing of a familiar looking anime character on the wall.

I came upon another elevator and saw Naoki inside this time. He was in his usual stance, hands on his knees and rocking back and forth, when I stood directly in front of it he looked up and screamed as the elevator closed.

I walked on. The light of the flashlight began to dim. I couldn’t run out of batteries now! I raced on despite my heavily decreased energy level and came upon a small waiting room. A soda and candy vending machine was still lit and a water fountain was perched in the corner.

I bent down on my hands and knees by the machine and found two alkaline batteries that must have fallen out when it was being installed. I replaced the batteries quickly in my flashlight and marched on.

Perhaps there was hope after all.