My name is Michaela, I'm twenty- two, and I work as a journalist. Well at least, I'm trying to.
I've only been working here for nearly a month but yet all the stories I've worked on have all been a bust. None of them ever made it past the editing stage.
"Have you heard of that terrorist guy?" My co-worker and best friend. Jamal asks.
"That Apothis guy?" replied my other friend, Justin.
"Yeah, I heard he's just escaped a maximum security prison somewhere in Arizona, reports said he left over ten officers dead."
"Ten? God he's racking up a count." Justin shook his head and then took a bite of his ham and lettuce sandwich as I took a sip of my diet Dr. Pepper.
Jamal looks at me, "Hey maybe you can do a story on him."
I snorted, "It'll be a dead story before I'm even able to get to typing.
"Oh come on don't be like that! He's a pretty big deal you know, it might just save your job!" He persisted.
I sighed, "Everyone who hadtried to write a story on him either came up dead or missing. Hard pass."
Justin looked at me and then to Jamal, "She has a point."
Jamal didn't look like he was going to give up, he opened his mouth to speak and then his eyes widened as if he suddenly got a good idea.
I mentally groaned. "Jamal-" He cut me off by standing up and bolting from the table, catching both of us by surprise.
Both of us gapped after him as he vanished behind the corner.
"Well that was quite odd." He mutters and then he checks his watch and swears loudly. "I have to go, sorry!" I didn't even get the chance to say bye before he was throwing away his trash and hurrying to the office.
"Bye.." I whispered after both of them.
I sighed and tossed the rest of my salad in the trash. I have a certain phobia called Autophobia, the fear of being alone. I'm not even going to tango with my anxieties; Today I'm simply not in the mood.
I stood and slung my over-the-shoulder bag with my laptop safely stored inside and pushed in my chair, grabbing my drink before finally departing.
My cozy place, as I'd like to call it, consists of a "lap desk"and a bean bag, but in order to get to it, I'd have to pass the office where my boss is currently. I mentally cringed at the thought of her stopping me again today, so we can once again address my failures. I found myself picking up pace the closer I got to her big glass windows.
My anxiety gathered in the form of general discomfort and uneasiness settled in the bottom of my stomach, as I passed half of her first window. I turned my head, glancing in, expecting her to be on her way but what I found made me stop.
Jamal and her were seeming to have a heated disagreement. For a moment I could only gawk and allow curiosity to take hold. And then Kaitlyn locked eyes with me and the swirling thought immediately froze. Jamal turned and looked at me too. I don't know why but I got the feeling I was seeing something I wasn't supposed to, my feet reacted quicker than my brain could process.
Suddenly I was seated on my bean bag with my laptop on and my drink already placed within arm's reach.
What was that? What's he doing? Why did he look at me like that?
Around and around the questions went to seemingly no end.
Is he planning something? Is he planning to get me fired?
I threw myself into my work, knowing my brain wouldn't stop unless it had something else to tune into.
I started typing before my brain registered what I was doing.
I was surprised to see the video that popped up after the search
"Arizona Prison Escape"
The name of the video was, "I saw the attack! I saw him in person!" With over half a billion views.
I clicked the link but I didn't let the video play. Instead, I read the comments.
"This is fake."
"No way this is real."
"This is staged."
"This is probably really what happened, just edited."
I stopped reading and let the video play.
The video took place on a deserted road, the video creator stood, in what seemed to be an abandoned building.
The man pointed out the transport vehicle as it neared its destination.
All of the sudden there was a loud squeal of tires. Shocked, the video creator went, "What the?" and turned the camera to the sound. It wasn't long after that a silver unplated jeep sped into sight. I gaped at the red haired man hanging out the side of the car with a gun. He fired at one of the six cars escorting the transit.
The first car veered off and into a huge rock, the other two behind it came to skidding stop and officers got into position as the silver jeep neared, now more people firing from it.
"Oh my god!" the creator cries more from excitement than worry.
While the video was focused on the silver jeep, my eyes were tuned on the corner of the camera, the transit. Nobody within the video even noticed when the driver and passenger of the transit fell onto the road. Nobody noticed when HE slipped out of the passenger side of the vehicle and looked up to the sky.
His dark hair dangled past his ears, he stood out in his pink shirt and striped pants. The chains on his wrists were broken and dangling loosely as were his chains at his ankles, broken clean off at the cuff.
"Allen take care of them!" A girl's scream was heard as the jeep came to a stop. The inmate seemed to have disappeared, followed by the closest officer screaming.
That got everyone's attention and the camera focused on him immediately.
My eyes widened as my brain processed what it was seeing. Ice completely encased the inmate's left arm, giving it a deadly sharp edge where his fingertips were supposed to be.
Fingertips we aren't supposed to see, for it poked out of the officer's back and now dripped crimson.
We were all stunned as he effortlessly pulled his arm free of the corpse and let it drop to the ground. Shamelessly facing the rest of the officers.
"Oh my god.." The content creator whispered, now with horror as he watched the next victim's head go rolling down the road. I covered my mouth, wondering how this video wasn't taken down already.
Now the jeep was shooting again and the officers fell faster, gruesomely at the hands of the Inmate and riddled with bullets from the jeep. I could see no escape route for the officers. The only way was through the plain deserted lands of the desert. It was done and the inmate looked at the sky again. His face and clothes now splattered with blood.
Without any alert of the content creator's presence the Inmate looked dead at us. A very slow and cold smile pulled across his lips. I felt my heart stop for a moment. But then the red haired was in view of the camera and the Inmate looked away to catch the man as he lunged at him. They twirled in an embrace and then a red haired woman joined the hug. Then a white haired woman came dashing at an impossible speed, freezing instantly once she got into the direct camera line. Her right foot poised in the air. She slowly turned her head and looked at us too, then looked at the inmate who clearly shook his head. The corner of her mouth pulled into a frown but she relaxed and gave the trio a hug.
When the hugging ceased, she very loudly asked, "Why are you letting that one live?"
He chuckled, I guess, and grinned widely. His response was not audible but it seemed to greatly annoy the woman.
This...is what Jamal wants me to research? No wonder why no one has lived. THE MAN IS A MONSTER!
