Keep Moving

12:30-1:00

warning: brief mention of body horror (during the first paragraph after the first perspective change)

"Anyways, my name is Emerl! I'm the daycare attendant! What's your name, new friend?"

Miles stared for a second, glancing away awkwardly. This was oddly overwhelming. 

"....Miles."

"It's nice to meet you, Miles!" Miles was suddenly engulfed in a nearly bone-crushing hug courtesy of Emerl. "Oh, we're gonna have so much fun! We can play hide and seek, we can color, drink soda until our heads ex-PLODE! There's just two rules! Clean up," Emerl's voice suddenly dropped to something more serious as he stared into Miles- eyes. "And keep the lights on. ON." The two stared at each other in silence for a moment, Emerl holding Miles off the floor like that one elongated cat on the internet. Emerl's expression suddenly brightened. "So, what do you want to do first?!"

Miles was set down at that moment. Unfortunately, he was a little too close to the tower of toy bins behind him, as they crashed to the ground. The top bin's lid popped off, spilling an assortment of colored building blocks onto the ground. Emerl got a startled expression (well, the closest he could get to one) on his face and practically dove to the ground to pick the toys up, all the while muttering something along the lines of "Oh, clean up, clean up, so, so messy!"

Miles glanced to the other side of the play area. Against the wall, next to a large set of wooden double doors, was a medium-sized desk with some computer screens and a wheeled chair. With barely a second thought, Miles made the decision to bolt over while Emerl was distracted. He skidded to a stop and quickly turned behind the desk.

Miles searched through the filing cabinets that were beneath the flat top of the deal as Emerl skipped over. "Uhm, Miles? We aren't supposed to be over here! We could both get in troubleeeeeee!" Miles briefly looked over at Emerl before choosing to not give a crap. He spotted a small box on the counter, and opened the flip-top. A plastic badge was nestled into the thin plastic bottom. Miles reached into the box and grabbed the badge. Miles’ watch beeped, and a fancy emblem with a 2 appeared on its screen. Just as the box slammed shut, the entire area was suddenly plunged into darkness. The music slowed and lowered in pitch until it reached a stop. A sudden scream came from Miles' right. He turned, before recoiling at Emerl standing on top of the counter, seemingly pulling at his face.

"No, NO! STOP IT, STOP! T-TURN THE LIGHTS BACK ON! I warned you, I WARNED YOU!!" Emerl froze up, every joint going rigid, before falling backwards. Miles slowly, cautiously approached the counter, where he had fallen off. Suddenly, a hand shot up and grabbed Miles' wrist. Miles tried to struggle away from the hand, but it wouldn't budge. A new, recolored face peeked over the counter. What once was orange and friendly was now black and yellow and murderous glowing red eyes that cast an unsettling aura over the area.

"Ņ̵̢̾a̵̯͆̅u̶͇̣͝g̷̛̘͐h̴̜͎̋ť̸̙̠y̷̫̲͊̽ ̴̣̼͝b̵̭̉̒o̴͉̐̀ÿ̷̻̪́̄.̸͕̙̿.̵̓͘͜.̵͖͚͗N̸̘͊å̵͎ų̷̝̊g̷͕̊h̴̡͝t̴̡̒̚y̴͙̎ ̷̺̉ḃ̷̥̳ǒ̷̢̥́y̶̟̹͂̎.̸͕͖͛.̴́͜.̷̦͎͝" the thing said, dragging Miles over the counter. “I̸͙̯̊͐ṱ̶̫̣̣͇̰̃́̄̒'̶͖̭̍s̵̡̫̜͈̹͔̤̺̎̋̒͗͗͊͋ ̷̧̯͉̺͖̘͍̣͐̾p̸̨̛̩̘̭̖͎̙̀̑̈́͋͋̕ä̶̱͍s̵̯̐͑̂́̕t̷͖̤͖͑̎̚ ̴̥̭͎̫̿y̶̪͐̔͝ȍ̴͇̓ư̷̡̥͇͔̖͛̓̿̏̽̂r̷̰͓̩̮̘͉͎̥̆̓̈́́̚͝ ̴̧̢͙̈́̅̃̓̋͝b̸̲̀̈́̀̈́̍̔̓̚ẻ̶͈͖̞̯̻́̔͛͜͠d̴͇͍̫̑̈̐̓̀͌̚̚t̵̨̙̫̪̰̣͆̑̾̇̔ȋ̸̝̰̣̲̊̾͑̌̎̂m̷̱͈͙̿̒͂͆e̸͈̽͋͛̀͂̏͝͠,̵̢̧̤̪̊̀̉̍̍̄͜ ̵̡͔̠̈͊͂͆̍c̶͚̲̝̣̲̼̻͌͒͗͊̚͜h̵̳̱̮͑i̸̹͕̩̮̜͎̜̇̂̅͋̋͜͝l̷̢̙̭̝̜͉̋̂͊̂͗̽̈́ͅd̸̛̺̝̻̮͇͈͉͊̏̇̇͘͠.̵̤̈́̽̓́ͅ” Miles reached backwards, grabbing for anything to hold onto, when finally, his hand connected with a flashlight laying on the counter. He took the flashlight and slammed it into the robot’s forehead. The robot recoiled in what seemed like pain, and Miles scrambled out of his range to the play structure closest, running up the spiral slide and taking refuge in a corner blocked by a giant cutout of Amy in a space helmet.