The Journal

Chapter Three

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me!" Daniel yelled as he slammed his fist on the steering wheel of his truck. "My luck, I'd get stuck behind this school bus again!" he groveled to himself as he intently stared at his wrist, time ticking away second by second on his analog watch. Daniel was already late and wasn't saving any time being behind the local school bus. He turned sharply onto the side road that split off the main thoroughfare. The side road ran parallel to a gently rolling river and led toward the entrance of the university he attended.

Daniel raced down the road, hitting the speed bumps along the college parking lots situated in front of each building at nearly triple the fifteen mile per hour speed limit. The shocks of his old truck groaned with a metallic bang as he bounced over each one. He turned once again into the parking lot in front of the old sand-colored, three-story brick building that housed the university's science classes. Daniel expertly whipped the four-wheel drive vehicle into a vacant spot. The hard rubber tires squealed in distress and came to a sudden halt as he stomped on the brake pedal. Jumping out of the truck, Daniel slammed the door behind him with a crunch of the locking mechanism and took off at a sprint through the shaded, dew-soaked grass toward the science building.

Daniel flung the front door open, sending it crashing into the doorstop. Running past the elevator, he opted for the quicker route; the stairs. Daniel made a mad dash up to the top floor, taking three and four steps at a time with each bound. When he reached the top, he took a hard right turn leaving black, rubber shoe streaks in his wake, heading down the hallway toward Mrs. Collins advanced microbiology classroom.

Daniel started to slow his pace as he passed multiple illuminated glass cases full of countless donated items consisting of fossils, minerals, gems, and Native American artifacts. Nearing his classroom, Daniel eased his pace to a comfortable, consistent walk wanting to portray the appearance that he was nonchalantly walking up, oblivious to his tardiness. Just as he reached for the worn, gray door handle, the oddity hit him; the classroom lights were off, and the room was empty.

Daniel looked around, confused as he took a minute to catch his breath. He snapped his wrist upwards, checking his watch, wondering if somehow he had managed to be early, which he knew wasn't the case. He spun around in a full circle and realized every single classroom within his sight was in the same state as the one in front of him, empty and dark. He yanked his bulky smartphone free from the confines of his pocket, checking the date and time.

"Hmm, it's definitely Tuesday, and it's definitely well past the eight o'clock start." He said, berating himself. "Maybe they just went down to the science lab for something... but why would all the other classrooms be empty too? At least half of these rooms have a morning class." He knew that no one would answer his question due to the lack of other humans in the vicinity, and he'd have to solve the mystery himself.

Returning to the top of the stairs where his crescent moon shaped shoe marks were at, he took notice of his first clue that had eluded him earlier; the entire building seemed devoid of students and staff alike. He walked down the stairs to the second floor and turned toward the right where the towering glass walls separated the administration offices from the crisscrossing hallways, the highways for the students. Some lights were on within the offices; however, many remained off. Daniel noted even the illuminated rooms were deserted.

"Man, this is weird," Daniel whispered to himself, as if trying to cloak his presence from the unknown force that had abducted the building's occupants. "There were a ton of cars outside. There's got to be somebody here!" He rationalized to himself.

He continued his search returning to the third floor, but this time heading to the left and checked each room and the testing areas as he traversed the spooky, windowless hallway. After confirming that the third floor was indeed vacant, Daniel methodically made his way throughout the second floor, ascertaining the same result as the third; empty. Daniel's investigation was narrowed down to the first floor.