The Key Jangler

Too Close To Home

After a long day of volleyball practice, Taylor headed for the campus gym to work out some kinks in her shoulder. She planned to do some yoga and sit in the hot sauna afterward. She knew the gym was closing soon but she figured she might be able to get a good session in before it did.

She went inside the weight room, put her earbuds in and laid down her yoga mat with her water bottle by her side. She spent what felt like an hour doing various poses while listening to calm vibes music. She sat down on her yoga mat, took a sip of water, and closed her eyes. One of her earbuds fell out because of her sweating, she thought to herself "I gotta get me some of those big over-the-ear headphones so they don't fall out of my ears again."

She opened her eyes to put the earbud back in and realized the lights were off in the weight room. The room was completely dark except for the warm glow of the sauna lights.

She figured something was wrong with the lights and made a mental note to file a complaint to the maintenance department.

She got up and packed her yoga mat, water bottle, and earbuds in her bag. She walked towards the door and pushed but it wouldn't budge. She checked the handle but it was locked.

She tried the other door to the weight room and that one was also locked. She assumed they must have closed the gym without her paying attention. Then she remembered that a killer was on the loose, a huge wave of anxiety suddenly rushed through her body. She thought: "Fuck, I'm gonna be the next victim!" She started to panic. She pulled out her phone and called her boyfriend, Officer James Brown.

He answered right away:
"James please come help me, I'm locked in the school weight room in the gym! This is what happened to Sabrina before she died! I don't wanna die!"

"Ok tell me what you see, there's help on the way." James said sternly.

"I'm so scared!" Her voice trembling.

"I need you to stay calm. Look around, try to find a way out of there."

She quickly scanned the room for another exit and just then she saw a dark figure with what looked like a big metal thing on his waist.

James could hear his girlfriend's heavy breathing getting louder.

"No, no! Please God no!"

A few moments of silence passed.

"Taylor, are you still there? What's going on? Talk to me!"

Taylor started to scream hysterically, "He's stabbing me! Help, he's stabbing me. James, please help! Please!" her screams blaring through the other line where Officer James was racing to the scene in his police car.

Lights and sirens ablaze, Officer James and practically the whole town's emergency services showed up along with Chief Brown.

Chief Brown quickly set up a command center in front of the college campus with a wall of police and ambulance vehicles parked outside of the gym building.

Taylor could hear the sirens wailing outside but she was going in and out of consciousness.

Officer James led a SWAT team into the building, each team member clearing rooms as they went. They eventually came across Taylor, she was lying unconscious in a puddle of blood. James horrified at the ghastly sight, looked away for a moment to regain his composure. He knelt on one knee to check for a pulse as the other officers were on their radios reporting what they had found.

"She's got a pulse, she's still alive! Get a medic in here now!"