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Chapter 21 -The Monster

Ethan jumped, looking around as he heard a metallic whine.

I would pick up the knife, the phone flashed.

Ethan didn't have to be told twice. He scooped up the knife, eyes scanning the warehouse as his heart pounded furiously in his chest. The whine came to a silent halt as suddenly as it had started.

But a garbled snarl rent the silence, like a robot gone rogue. It was a malicious, altered sound- a poorly executed autotune with a hundred audio filters layered over top.

"Stay back," Ethan tried to shout, but his voice shook. He steeled himself, stepping backward in the ring of light. "Stay back!"

The noise returned, wailing like a broken audio track. And a dark figure appeared on the edge of Ethan's vision, where the inky black warehouse swallowed up the shadows. It stepped forward slowly, babbling in some horrible altered language. It was a glitching, jumpy shadow, carrying a club or a long knife. The details were hard to make out, but Ethan could see it tilting its awful head back and forth at him, crooning evilly in that ear-tearing voice.

It's giving you a free shot, Ethan's phone buzzed, and he stole a glance at the screen. Make it count, blue boy.

Ethan ground his teeth, stepping back and forcing the monster to advance into the light. It was even more dreadful up close- all dripping shadows and pixellated skin, glitching and rendering itself right in front of him.

Ethan gulped, fighting back fear.

Jesse was confused at the look of horror on Ethan's face.

"Hey," she said, stepping into the light. "It's me, Ethan. Let's go- I'm getting you the hell out of here."

Ethan's eyes were wide, terrified as he watched her advance.  He raised a knife in his hand, holding it threateningly.

"Don't you... recognize me?" Jesse asked, nerves kicking in. She certainly didn't see anything wrong. So... what was Ethan seeing?

"Stay away from me," he insisted.

"Okay, okay," Jesse said, about to step back. But some invisible force kept her feet glued to the floor. She was frozen, she realized, dread spreading like ice in her stomach. The baseball bat stuck in her hand, held menacingly above her head.

Ethan's phone buzzed.

KILL IT. 

Ethan jumped forward and the monster flinched, as if glitching out of a loading screen. He swung his knife down with vigor, only to have it bounce pointlessly off the monster's weapon with a warbled, metallic ring.

He lunged again, thinking of Jesse. He'd do whatever it took to keep this monster away from her. But the creature kept blocking, sidestepping under his attacks and frantically backpedaling away.

The monster let out a long, glitching wail. It took a swing at Ethan's head, which he had to duck to avoid. Ethan's heart was in overdrive, but his mind was clear. He couldn't let Blank win.

Jesse shouted periodically, hoping to god Ethan would somehow hear her. She only swung at his head once, but realized that wasn't a good plan. If she could just keep dodging, surely Ethan would realize she didn't mean to hurt him... eventually.

But as his knife passed just an inch away from her face, Jesse realized she might not have that long.

That had been Blank's plan- to lure her here and convince Ethan she was some... something else. To have her killed by the man who so badly wanted to protect her.

"Ethan!" Jesse shouted desperately, making her voice echo.

Ethan froze up for an instant. He swore he heard Jesse calling his name, muffled by the howling creature in front of him.

"Jesse?" He replied, taking another stab. The creature blocked and froze where it stood, contemplating Ethan. It let out a  blood-curdling wail that rang through the warehouse. But when the sound cleared, he heard an echo of Jesse's voice: "It's me!"

"Stay away from here!" Ethan gasped desperately, swinging again at the inky monster, which seemed to be glitching more and more with every passing second. The creature blocked, lowering its weapon. It howled again, a sound that made Ethan want to claw his ears off.

"Ethan, STOP!" came Jesse's voice, a faint echo from somewhere in the warehouse. The creature was standing still, its skin bugging out furiously as he watched.

Ethan's phone buzzed. KILL IT ALREADY! read the text.

Something clicked. Ethan froze, knife hanging limply from his hand.

The monster held its hand upside down, shaking the baseball bat as if the bat were glued to its hand. It babbled irritably.

"Stupid glitchy jackass," Jesse snarled, her voice cutting through the static. The bat fell to the ground with a clatter, flashing back to its silver color. The "monster" rolled its shoulders, shaking off dark pixels like water. After a moment, the glitches drained from her skin.

Jesse stood in front of Ethan expectantly, half-worried she'd have to run.

"Oh my god, Jesse," he gasped, throwing his arms around her.