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Chapter 20 - The Warehouse

Ethan couldn't see straight. 

He felt like he was in a dream- darkness pressed in on him from all angles as he struggled to stay upright. 

He was in a massive room with one light source. It threw a halo into the darkness on the ground beneath it, where Ethan was standing alone. The ground was rough, worn concrete like in a warehouse or a stadium. 

There was a knife sitting on the ground in front of him, next to his phone. 

Ethan shook his head as if throwing off water, trying to be rid of his double vision. He eyed the knife warily, hands shaking as he lifted the phone. The screen was dark, even when he tapped the power button. But then, a little string of text appeared in white lettering. 

I'm going to kill you. 

Ethan's heart started pounding immediately. His vision blurred, as if Blank was about to steal his mind again. Ethan grunted, hitting the ground on his knees and forcing himself to focus. 

"No..." he muttered, shaking his head furiously. His eyes landed on the knife again- did Blank plan to kill him with it?

Quit resisting, the phone read. Don't make this harder for me.

A desperate laugh escaped Ethan as he winced, shaking his head. "You... you don't scare me," he growled. 

The phone's screen flickered. 

:/ Have it your way, then. 

Suddenly, it was as if a switch had been flipped. Ethan's mind cleared, and he could stand again. His brain was still buzzing, and his vision skewed, but it seemed as if Blank had vanished, if just for the time being. 

- - Meanwhile - - 

Jesse's mind raced. She ran down a dark sidewalk, every so often consulting the directions Blank had given her. The streetlights lit up islands of asphalt in the dark of the old back street. These houses had been empty for years, closed up like coffins. 

The only thing Jesse knew for sure was that she was walking into a trap. She didn't know what Blank had waiting for her- she wasn't even sure now if Ethan was alive... but there was only one way to find out. 

So she'd strapped on her boots, picked up an old metal baseball bat from the back of her closet, and set off to save the damsel in distress. 

But when she reached  the address Blank had given her, she hesitated. Her eyes traced the door, a rusty, old, metal thing set into a dark, imposing wall three stories high. Boarded-up windows and grimy stains marred its surface, and Jesse felt a chill run up her spine. 

It occurred to her that she could, hypothetically, just leave. It would be the safer option to turn around, walk back to her apartment, and pretend it had all been a bad dream. Blank had nothing of hers- nothing, of course, except for Ethan. 

But no sooner had his name crossed her mind than Jesse stepped toward the door. 

When her fingers brushed the metal, the streetlight giving her a view of the alley blinked out, throwing her into darkness. Jesse tensed, locking her jaw as she pushed the door in anyway.