2ISGREATER

DEAD SILENCE

Micheal was too hard-headed to know what he was doing wrong. Once everyone's shift had ended, he went back to the employee's only room. To fix a computer that had been lended to him by the AHPD. Not to fix, but to destroy. However, he decided not to do what was asked of him, curious as to why they wanted it to be destroyed. Based on the stickers, he was rather shocked initially to see it belonged to his friend Alex. He figured if he fixed it, he might figure out why Alex was acting so weird, get him some help, so they could finally work together again after so much time.

He worked into the early morning, it being about 1:30AM when he finally rewired and repaired most of the damage. All that was left would be to plug it in and pray that it would work. Yet he found himself staring back at himself from the reflection on the blank screen. His hands shook anxiously. Mike knew he wasn't doing the right thing. But it was for his friend, right? Did that not justify his actions? The hours he spent working on the device? Why did he only now feel anxious? When it was finally in working condition?

He shook the feelings off for the most part, attaching some cables to the device and plugging them into a nearby outlet, staring back over at the deactivated computer. Mike was disoriented by the sinking feeling in his stomach, but it had not deterred him. He forced himself over to the computer, ignoring his faintness, turning the computer on. It made a horrid noise. Before he could pull his hand away, there was a bright flash and burning sensation, knocking Micheal over as it all faded to black.

He'd genuinely thought he had died for a second, but awoke drowsily no more than thirty minutes later. All the power had gone out. He pushed himself off the ground, sore from what he assumed were burns caused by electricity. He tried turning it back on, to no avail, remembering there was a switch at the very front of the store. He limped his way over, sore all over. He was only a few feet away from it when he felt it again, the shakiness and unreliability in his limbs. He looked around for a moment, about to press forward before doing a double take. He stared, and the darkness stared back at him with peculiar eyes.

Micheal stood there, frozen in place. He was frightened. He had never seen eyes like those before. He rubbed his own eyes, blinking. It didn't go away. He swiftly stumbled towards the door, not even seconds after did he hear shuffling behind him, adding to the dread weighing him down. He tried opening it, but it had been locked. From the outside. He pounded at the glass, trying to get it to break. His struggles echoed through the small store. Nobody was around to hear it. A frown spread across his face as he exhaled, only feeling the helplessness of his situation as he felt a cold breath upon his back.

And it wasn't the ventilation.