Pitch Black

Phana's concentration broke as there was a loud thunder and instantaneously the electricity was out.

He checked his mobile- 12:30 am. He leaned back and sighed, waiting for the night guard to switch on the generator.

It was normal for Phana to stay in the office till early morning hours alone. He was a workaholic and he liked it. It kept him busy and energised, away from his other troubles.

He looked out of the window. There was a power cut in most part of the city. It was a cloudy night, with a continuous rainfall.

There was a loud thunder and his glass windows trembled again.

He checked the time again- 12:45 am. 15 minutes passed but still no power. A little irritated, he called the night guard at the basement, with no response.

He decided to go down and check the situation himself. He lighted his mobile and went out of his office.

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Phana slowly trudged down the stairs with a bleak light from his mobile. He rarely used the stairs. With the facility of lift who does?

And by the way the floor and railings were dusty, it looked like even the janitors rarely cleaned them.

His mobile beeped. Shit!! 20%!! He needs to reach the basement and turn on the generator before that.

As he was getting down, he heard some shoe shuffling. Phana got scared for a moment and his heart jumped up.

Then he reasoned that it must be the night guard. Yes, his office had a might guard. And he must be coming down too.

"Helloooo!! Somebody there?", Phana called loudly.

No response.

That's strange, Phana frowned. He did heard it correctly, or was it just his imagination?

He heard it again. And this time, there was no mistake. Because it was coming from just behind him.

He quickly turned back and scanned the area with his mobile light.

There was nobody.

Phana's body tensed up. He gulped nervously, just what is going on??

Then his eyes landed on the floor. There were his foot marks, but another set accompanied it which stopped right behind him.

Ok...now Phana was officially scared. Hurriedly, he went down the stairs.
Checking his back from time to time.

Right now, he wasn't feeling proud of having an office at 15th floor.

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Phana was sweating by the time he reached the basement. Because of the exercise and because of the anxiousness.

Ever since he saw those footprints, he had this vague feeling of someone watching and following him.

Basement, a creepy dark place. Which was pitch black now. Phana never liked going there. He always asked the guards to park his car and then bring it out.

He shivered a bit, as a cold wind passed by. It was a hot night, so it was kind of strange.

Gingerly, he made his way around the basement trying to search the generator room.

By now his back was wet and his hair was damp with sweat. Because of heat or something else, he didn't dwell on that.

Phana was on his edge already and he jumped up with fright as a door banged shut.