Purgatech: Jess' Horror

Chapter 19

Jess ran for the front door. She'd only managed to get a quick glimpse of Dylan before it slammed shut between them, the same way the door upstairs had closed between her and Erica. She flung herself against it, pounding her fists, screaming for Dylan, but the door wouldn't budge. She could hear him calling her name on the other side of the door but it wasn't much help to her now.

Grace was off to one side, but she wasn't sobbing or cowering the way she had been through most of the craziness. She just stood there, practically comatose, her eyes wide and her mouth hung open at the chaos swirling around him.

The man who had come in came towards Jess and tried to shove her out of the way.

"Move out of my way!" he shouted, but before he could even lay a hand on her, he went flying across the room the same way Rob had earlier.

He fell onto the floor, hyperventilating. Jess spun around. He didn't look like any of the other staff that Jess had met throughout her stay here. He was dressed in a fancy suit with his hair slicked back and an expensive watch on one wrist.

"What the hell did you do that for?" he said, wide-eyed, cowering away from Jess.

"That wasn't me!"

"Bullshit! You've gone crazy in here, you all have!" he said, scrambling to get up.

"You really think that was me? Take a look around, whoever the hell you are! In case you haven't noticed, there's something else in here with us and it sure as hell doesn't want us getting out."

"You're crazy!"

He backed away from Jess, spinning around in circles, looking for something on the floor. Jess spotted it. He'd dropped a walkie-talkie on the tile. Just as he made a move, Rob went lunging for it. The man dove to the floor, but Rob snatched it up for he could get to it. Rob lifted it to his mouth.

"Hello! Is anyone listening?"

There is a brief pause of static before Dylan's voice came through.

"Marshall! Is that you?"

"It's me, Rob!"

"Here! Gimme that thing you idiot!"

Marshall lunged for Rob and the two started wrestling over the walkie-talkie. As they struggled, the whole house began to shake. Framed photos rattled against the walls before they fell to the floor in a shatter of glass. An intense tornado of energy swirled around them. It took every ounce of strength Jess had left to keep herself upright. Somehow, she mustered up the strength to move to where they were. As they continued to struggle, the walkie-talkie flew out of Rob's hands and went skidding across the floor. Jess pounced on it, snatching it up and moving away from the two is they continued shoving and swinging at one another.

"Dylan! It's me!" She said into the walkie-talkie. "Can you hear me?"

The walkie-talkie crackled in her hand.

"Jess! Jess, are you okay?"

"I am! I'm okay! But there's something going on in here. Something's trying to keep us in here. You have to get us out!"

"We're working on it! Just try to stay safe, okay?"

Jess nodded. She pressed the button on the walkie-talkie again. "What you said earlier about Erica? Is it true?"

There was a brief pause before Dylan's voice came through on the walkie-talkie. "I... I'm afraid so."

Jess squeezed her eyes close and shook her head. "Are you sure? I mean, how do you know when you're out there and she is upstairs?"