hush.

hush.- the third chapter

⚠️ IMPORTANT NOTE⚠️

The story so far has been happy and lighthearted. This chapter ends that portion. The following text contains frightening situations that may upset some viewers. The beginning and end of this section will be marked with a ⚠️ so you may skip it. Thank you clicking on this story, and DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AND FOLLOW ME! It means a lot :).

december 8, 1956

mountain view, california

I walked to my mailbox, spring in my step. For the past few days, I had been constantly checking my mailbox, eagerly awaiting feedback on my application. I opened my rusty blue mailbox and to my delight, a Manila envelope with the CIA seal emblazoned on it lay inside. I grabbed my prize, ran to my house, almost stepped on a stray cat, and ripped into the envelope like a toddler opening a Christmas present. I finally finished maiming the envelope and took out a crisp white letter. Dear Alfred F. Jones, it began, We are proud to welcome you to the United States Central Intelligence Agency. Please report to the Joseph Rochefort Building in San Francisco on December 9th, by 7:00 AM Pacific Standard Time. Sincerely, Roberto T. Ruben, Directorate of Operations.

My heart skipped a beat. This was gonna be so cool! I was gonna beat all the Soviets, and the USA would be victorious! I then headed off to bed, even though my excitement would not allow me to sleep. It took 5 hours for my heart rate calm down enough to let me go to Dreamland.

⚠️I was strapped to a chair, unable to move. The white fabric of the straitjacket scraped against my skin, and a strange barbed wire crown bit the flesh of my head, sending droplets of blood flowing like crimson tears on my face. Faceless men in white coats shuffled about, their words nothing more than incomprehensible murmurs. One of the men turned towards me, and his face turned to that of a spider, black eyes absorbing my sheer terror and bleach-white fangs dripping with bloody human entrails. As my eyes darted around the blank cell I was kept in, they met those of many other fearsome beasts. In my primal panic, I vomited onto my lap, chunks of the brown gruel I was given earlier seeping through my gown of suffering, acid biting at my skin. One of the spiders began to morph into the figure of a woman. However, this creature looked nothing like any woman I'd seen. The creature was dressed in a white gown, the front of it was slashed open, intestines and dead tissue pouring out from the wound and onto the floor. The monster's nails were jagged claws, but it was the face that was the most grotesque. The abomination had no lips, just strands of bloody tissue surrounding the dark cavern that served as its mouth. One eye was completely black and dripping the same dark liquid it was made of, the other a grotesque hole of black, decaying flesh and festering pus. Slowly, the woman-creech lumbered towards me, its dead, black eye locking gaze with my two living ones, draining the last ounce of feeling from my body. Suddenly, the creature lurched forwards, clawed hands poised to rip my throat. As the creature's claws reached my torso, I passed out from sheer terror, my eyes rolling back in my head.⚠️

I awoke with a start and frantically looked around. So it was just a dream. Even though it wasn't real, the scene had felt so vivid. I had smelled the blood dripping from my forehead and felt the creature's claws rip into my flesh. Eh, it was probably nothing. I was likely overthinking it. I checked my clock- 5:45 AM. It was time to get ready. I quickly showered, got dressed, grabbed the letter and got in the car.

The trip to the CIA base was uneventful, to say the least. The Joseph Rochefort Building was waaaay far from society, probably to preserve the CIA's secrets. Unfortunately for me, that meant a long drive through the uninhabited California wilderness for me. The only sign of life I saw the whole drive was a vulture eating roadkill, so it was a relief when I saw my destination in the distance and realized I wasn't gonna die alone in the middle of nowhere. As I pulled into the gates, the guard eyed me with suspicion. "ID?" he grunted. "Um...no. I have this letter... I'm a new intern." I murmured, fumbling for the letter. I may be the hero, but this beefy dude's New York accent was intimidating! The man examined the letter. "Very well, you may enter." the guard grunted, clearly ready to get rid of me. I drove through the gates, gazing up at the state of the art building in front of me. The shiny metal gleamed in the sunlight, and the rows upon rows of glass windows extended towards the heavens. Many smaller buildings shot off from the main one, forming a large square. People rushed in and out of the main entrance, a gigantic set of double doors covered by a futuristic-looking archway made of glass and steel. As I pulled into the front, a man wearing a shirt with the word valet on it knocked on my window. "Your keys, sir?" I rolled down my window "How much?" The man smiled at me "Free, sir." "Sweet!" I exclaimed, tossing him my keys. I grabbed the letter and hopped out of the car, skipping towards the entrance. "ID, sir." the guard demanded. "Um, I'm a new intern." I told him, holding up the letter. The guard inspected the letter and grunted, swiping his own card so I could enter. As soon as I entered, I had to walk through a metal detector. Fortunately, I was able to pass through without my metal belt buckle setting it off. As soon as I saw the interior, I gasped. The Joseph Rochefort may have looked nice on the outside, but it was absolutely gorgeous on the inside. I could see through the railing in front of me that I was on one of many floors, as I could see the balconies of others below me. At the bottom, people scurried about in the shadow of the massive waterfall that ran through all floors. Glass elevators ran up and down all around. "Beautiful, isn't it?" a voice behind me said. I turned around and saw an older man in a suit, his mustache twitching upwards as he smiled, his slicked back gray hair almost shining in the harsh light. He held out his hand "Roberto T. Ruben. And you must be Alfred F. Jones. Fredrick told me all about what a productive young man you are." I chuckled. Uncle Fritz was good. "Yeah, that's me. An overachiever." Roberto smiled "Great! We need hard workers on our team! Now let me show you to your office! You can fill out the starter paperwork while the cameraman gets ready to take your ID photo." I then followed my new boss through a labyrinth of hallways, stopping only when Roberto had to greet a coworker. Eventually, we advanced into a portion of the building that was, well, different. While the rest of the building was state-of-the-art, this wing resembled a abandoned asylum. Lights flickered on and off, and paint was peeling off the walls. "Don't worry boy, you won't be working in here. Your office is in our newest wing." I gulped and began to walk faster. Suddenly, a blood-curling scream split the air. I jumped, almost hitting my head on the ceiling. "W-what was that?" I asked Roberto, my voice small. He, however didn't seem concerned. "Eh, Ryley probably just stubbed his toe again, he works in this wing." I didn't believe it. The sound sounding muffled and strangled, as if someone was being murdered far away. "Are you su-" I began, but Roberto cut me off, firmness in his voice. "I said it's nothing." Suddenly, his face lit up and he quickly changed the topic. "Here's your office, son!" He said cheerfully "The basic paperwork is on the table, I'll be back with the photographer in a moment!" My new boss then quickly rushed out of the room, shutting the door behind him. I knew I should start on the paperwork right away, but questions tugged at my mind. Where did the scream come from? Who made it? Why? These thoughts, crowded my brain, all hissing in unison, until I finally pushed them away with the most obvious explanation. Roberto was right. It was probably nothing.

~A/N~

Chapter 3 is here! I apologize for the wait, as I was a bit busy. Plus, I thought my story was published on Sunday, but Wattpad said no.  Aaaaand I didn't realize the mistake until today. So sorry about that. Anyway, since Christmas is coming up, updates should become more frequent. Also, expect similar horror parts in the future. I will always include the warning and safety signs so that readers who don't like scary stuff can still enjoy the story. And as always, don't forget to vote and follow me!