Slice of Perfection

Part 1: Old Multiverse, Chapter 4; Hidden within the darkness

It was still the dawn of night on the planet, and everyone was soundly asleep. The hour was marked at approximately 4 A.M. Suddenly there was movement, a swift and calculated move from a man inside the shadows, going from one place to the other looking through stuff and searching for "something". The man continued to search for that "thing" until he accidentally made a wrong move and dropped a plate from one of the kitchen's counters. The plate fell onto the ground and broke, making a loud noise. 

Some of the people who were sleeping were rudely awakened from their slumber by that distinct noise of the plate breaking into a thousand pieces, one of them was Jacob. Jacob left his room and saw a bunch of people outside their rooms with flashlights investigating what was happening and what had made that noise. 

Everyone unanimously thought the same thing; "Perhaps it was something else" was the prominent line of thinking, but their curiosity made some of them get up and investigate.Jacob found himself following the small group of 4 people, including himself, who were heading to the kitchen to investigate what had made that noise. When they arrived they found the broken plate on the floor and nothing more.

"It's probably a rat." - Said one of the people in the group still wearing his pajama outfit and hat.

"Or it maybe just fell because of how it was placed." - Replied Jacob, making the situation make sense.

"Though, I really can't shake the feeling of being watched right now..." - Stated another individual, who was just behind Jacob.

"Relax, it's just the stress from the work." - Jacob said as he talked to the stranger.

"We should head back to our rooms since there's nothing here, I'll stay here for a while to clean the broken parts." - Announced the 3rd member of the group as he began grabbing a broom to clean it up.

Before they left, Jacob saw something in the darkness moving, like it was watching them and actively hiding from them, but he just attributed it to the fact that he had just woken up and from all the stress of being here too. 

The three of them went to the hallway with doors and each one of them went to their rooms and went back to sleep. However, Jacob noticed that he was unable to sleep. He tried moving in different ways and even turning the pillow to the cold side to see if it would do any good but nothing worked. He gathered that since it was a new bed it would be difficult to sleep again because he wasn't used to that specific bed. 

Jacob decided to simply leave the room and maybe try to investigate some more. It was more peaceful and he liked it that way, being a calm person he always preferred to stay away from huge crowds. He recalled that the only one in the group who liked partying and going out more than the four was Michael, as he was quite the troublemaker at parties. Everyone else was very reserved like Mary or Jane. 

As he began making his way out to the darkness with the flashlight of his mobile phone, he saw that there was more dust in his flashlight than usual, like the place itself had more dust. He also noticed a significant hole in the ceiling, one that could easily fit an adult man.

"Was that always there...?" - Thought Jacob to himself as he observed the hole that he swore was never there the day before, but there it was.

As he began to delve deeper into the facility, the sensation of being watched increased dramatically. The only thing that kept him from going back was his logical line of thought.

"There's nothing here, it's just the stress." - Jacob said to himself over and over again keeping himself calm in the darkness.

That line of thought accompanied him up until he heard a noise... right behind him. Jacob quickly pointed his flashlight toward the source of the sound, and there, he saw a man with a dark hoodie, whose face was not visible even with the help of the flashlight. The man had some strange items in his hands and was just about to put them in his pocket. Jacob didn't give it another thought and just ran, ran away like a little boy who thinks he's going to get caught by a monster in the dark. 

The man did not follow, and Jacob got to the hallway with the rooms he first tried to wake up Michael as he was the strongest of the group and was the best bet to protect him. However, when Jacob opened the door to Michael's room, there was no one in the bed. The room was empty, and the sheets were cast aside.

"W-Where is he...?" - Pondered Jacob, before turning tail and trying to wake up Mary next. Mary had heard the noise, but she dismissed it and went back to sleeping instantly. Jacob entered her room and moved Mary's arm to wake her up.

"Mhhh... leave the cookies in the counter Ma..." - Spoke a tired Mary toward the action of Jacob.

"Mary... Mary wake up come on...!" - Said Jacob as he shook Mary harder to try and wake her up.

"Whatdyawant..." - Replied Mary, frustrated and still tired.

"There's someone out there and he's stealing-" - Tried to tell Jacob to Mary before being interrupted.

"I don't care... it's probably one of the staff that works here... now shut up and go to sleep." - Uttered Mary as she moved to the other side, ignoring Jacob.

"No, no I'm sure he was stealing, he was taking it into his pocket and was literally in a dark hoodie instead of a staff costume!" - Whispered Jacob, trying to get Mary to his side.

"Then ask Michael to help you, what can I do about it?" - Asked Mary, trying to make Jacob leave her room at once.

"Michael's gone, he isn't in his room" - Replied Jacob with a bit of nervousness.

"He's probably at the toilet, try waiting for him or go yourself there... just let me sleep man." - Mary said as she put her bed sheets on her head.

"I'm not going out there with that guy around." - Stated Jacob.

"If you're so scared of a burglar then try searching for Nol" - Said Mary.

"It's not just a burglar Mary, this man just trespassed all of the security in this place and is probably up to no good" - Answered Jacob as he took his hand off of Mary.

"Okay fine geez, I'll help you. Just let me get dressed." - Told Mary to Jacob as she turned around and looked at him.

"Alright." - Jacob said as he went outside the room and waited for her.

Jacob began thinking about the whole ordeal again, how could a man from out of nowhere bypass all of the security? Surely he was the one to drop the vase and maybe he even came from that hole in the roof... But anyone would've noticed right? This shook Jacob and made him scared, he wasn't calm anymore.