The Office

Part Two

Fifteen minutes had passed and I found myself walking the streets of downtown. But here's the thing...there was little to nobody here. And I'm talking New York. Who in there right minds would not be walking the streets of Buffalo, New York especially at night?

I watched a tumbleweed fly across the road and felt a shiver up my spine. The sheer atmosphere felt too eery and too dark. Something was wrong, which I seemed to be noticing a lot.

What the hell is happening tonight?!

I clutched my jacket tighter around myself, attempting to shield myself from the outside world. Yet I couldn't get that thing out of my head. It was stuck in my mind like a fresh a new cut.

I groaned and felt bile rising up in my throat...Don't think about blood. But as much as I tried, I couldn't stop, the images were too much. The broken body, the distraught soul, how it was positioned like it was giving me a message, and the worst part was that I sort of understood it. It scared the life out of me.

Stop it, stop it, stop it, no no no no no no n—

The sound of static instantly jumped me out of my thoughts. Static? Where.

My head whipped to the side and I saw a tv store, Sonic Electronic, plastered at the head of the store, the name in neon lights. Below, there was a large window display with multiple racks of cheap velvet. Televisions were lined up one after the other and these weren't the new Samsung or Sony ones, these were the old, box like, brown-framed televisions, with the antennas sticking out at the top.

The static picture flickered and I stopped walking to peer closer at the screen. Black and white static lines were covering the entire picture on all of them.

Well at least it looked like the security camera at the office had a reason for looking like a frizzy zebra.

I rolled my eyes and smiled to myself, knowing that nothing was wrong and it was just the sleep-deprivation talking. The raven was just a coincidence, it probably felt out of the tree and accidentally landed in my basket.

Quit being so paranoid! Talking about messages and all. Seriously? 

Then suddenly, the televisions switched on and I jumped back at the shock. That was not supposed to be happening. Was there someone even inside the store? The channels kept switching through and I took in a sharp breath. Stepping to the glass, I cupped my hands around my face and squinted my eyes to adjust to the light. And sure enough as I suspected, no one was here.

So then why are they on?

I sighed and stepped back to look at the tv's. What should I do? I mean, I can't just break in and switch them off. I watched in confusion as channels from all satellites loop quickly again and again, finally landing on a news channel.

I narrowed my eyes and listened to the middle aged man broadcaster with short brown hair and perky black glasses. But he didn't seem happy or cheerful, or have any emotion at all. He stared straight into the camera with a black face and a dead expression, face pale and eyes dark. They seemed to be looking into my soul and I immediately felt squeamish and uneasy under his eery gaze.

"Hello folks, this is Robert Waldo from GNC, Greatest News Coverage, brought to you by Pamaley, where blankets have never become more comfy. Today I bring you an important news update. Just a couple minutes ago, employees of Lex Corps, a funeral planner business, have mysteriously gone missing. Policemen say that it may have been an act of kidnapping by an unknown civilian attack. Or a surprising disappearing act. Just fifteen minutes ago, reports from an anonymous source revealed to the authorities that ten employees have mysteriously disappeared with their whereabouts unknown—,"

I stumbled back, at first unable to grasp anything. They were missing just as I left the building? Fifteen minutes ago? That—that has to be a coincidence.

Then a thought hit me...Penny. Oh my god, she has to be okay.

I stared dumbfounded as my mind slowly processed what was happening. But it couldn't be happening, because it couldn't have been possible! Suddenly the ultimate dilemma dawned over me like a sun slowly rising and turning the once dark night to the brightest day...Would I be accused? Should I run? Or should I go and find Penny? I didn't even realize that the screens shut off. I didn't even know that the streets were now empty and cleared out completely. Almost as if the black plague came in and swept everyone away. I didn't even acknowledge the fact that everything shut off. Every single billboard and electric ads, they all disappeared into rectangles of black. The many many posters and banners and commercials that decorated the sides of large buildings were there no more.

My brain was jumbled up at the moment so I did what my heart told me to do...and that was find Penny.

The next twelve minutes back were torture as I ran as fast as my pencil skirt and heels would allow me too. Chanting one phrase over and over and over again in the back of my mind. Penny is fine. Penny is fine. Penny is fine. While the rest of it was thinking about everything else.

Would there be the authorities outside? Would I be accused of the civilian attack? I did come out right before it happened. The security cameras must have seen me walk out the door...wait. They were broken at the time. But then would the police interrogate me for coming back? Thinking that I was the only one that made it out. What would I say? Why would anyone even want to kidnap 10 innocent employers? There must have been many people in the coup for 10 people was a lot to just magically disappear.

I reached the last corner before I turn and could see the building. I held my breath and closed my eyes, listening for sirens, but I didn't hear any. Why weren't there sirens and the vehicles of reporters and news channels? The parking lot should have been filled with sounds.

My heart was pounding again. This time it was louder.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

I took a shaky step and turned to the left, awaiting the mystery.

But there was no one there.

No sirens.

No vehicles.

Just silence and empty space.

I stood there, staring, thinking and debating. Did the televisions lie? No, Robert doesn't lie, he's a trusted news reporter, he wouldn't. He could go to prison for it! I felt myself going faint.

This all doesn't make sense.

I closed my eyes by instinct and suddenly images popped into my mind.

A raven. A strand of rope. A piece of glass. And...a basket. All the emotions of fear, struggle, agony, sadness and pain rushed out at once. I could't hold it all in. I didn't want to go to jail for a crime I didn't do. I didn't want to loose my best friend. I didn't want to loose the best job in the world. Then came the dreadful questions. Why did that accident happen just after I left? Why did Robert lie? Why was there no power? Why was there no one outside? Why were there no police cars? Why did no one care? Why would the kidnappers even bother? What was so important to kidnap these people? Where was everyone? Where was Penny?

I fell down to the ground on my hands and knees, head spinning and my mind ready to burst with emotions. I couldn't take it anymore, it was just too much for me to handle. It's like believing in fairytales when magic doesn't exist, it's like saying that pigs fly, its like holding a hot pan, when you want to just drop it. So that's what I did...I dropped. Dropped my bag, my feelings, my hurt, my worries, everything, and closed my eyes and heart and mind. Just until I could figure it all out.

****

I think this part was much more spookier! Don't you?

<3 Bika

P.S. I'm not feeling it...in other words I lost the interest to write it haha, I'm crazy like that, so I might update next in a long LONG while... :D 

****