Story No.3

Chapter 1: J

August 31, 2024
11:30 PM - Manhattan, New York

Jerry loved his job. Whenever he told someone about it, they always apologized, or said that they felt bad, or tried to console him, but he didn't care. He really loved his job. Jerry stood on the 10th floor of the Lordes building, mop in hand. He was probably going to be working until about 3:00 am, but he was always a night owl anyway. Plus he loved the peace and quiet. The Lordes building was always bustling with people all day, running, calling, and dashing around with papers. He clocks in at 7:00 PM and is supposed to clean about 3 floors per day, cycling around until the whole building would be cleaned about once a month. Despite that, he always strived to clean even more, and even though the other employees seemed not to notice him ever and would leave their trash everywhere, his boss always appreciated him and his work. His boss even said something about it today, "Hey Jerry! I know today you're supposed to hit floors 8, 9, and 10, and I know you're going to try and go back to the basement but just stick to those three today please!"
As Jerry danced his way back to the elevator to the music in his ear, he thought about his boss's word. Why would he say anything about that? He knew the Lordes building started some new project in the basement, but they had never asked him not to clean an area because of it. In fact, he always followed protocol and had never messed up any of their experiments. He rolled his bucket into the elevator, finished the 10th floor, and clicked basement. If he was going to get that raise he needed to put in all the extra effort he could.
The elevator sunk its way down all ten floors, continuing one more, and stopping at the bottom. Jerry's stomach dropped, something was wrong. He had no clue what, but he had never felt this fear before. He needed to escape, he was sweating and fighting back the urge to puke all at once. He stepped back and his back hit the wall of the elevator. Finally after what felt like an eternity waiting, the doors creaked open...

September 1st, 2024
10:00 AM - Manhattan, New York

Chief Freddie hated his job. He had been chief for 7 years now, but in the police for much more (he hated to think about it, but probably over 30 years. Joining the military at 21, and the police force after he left, he had reached 50 years old now and was ready to retire). "What's the case, Orlan?" He said to the younger rookie on scene at Lordes tower already.
"The Janitor here was working late last night, when we think he saw something." The janitor in question was huddled in a blanket, muttering to himself and rocking back and forth. "All he's saying is Dread, over and over. Lordes has no security camera footage, and nobody was in the building when whatever happened, well, happened."
Freddie looked at the man, and then noticed something. A crumpled sheet of paper in his hand. He walked over and discreetly took it, whispering in the guys ear "It's ok". It looked like the man was trying to hide it, maybe from Orlan, or maybe from the Lordes employees...
On it were tons of intersecting lines and symbols, circles, and nonsense. Nonsense to most people at least. "I'll be back." Freddie said, and he turned around and left the building. On the street corner he pulled out his phone. Not his iPhone, but a flip phone, and dialed in a number he hadn't typed in a long time. "Hey Mav." he said.