It is cold here, how long have I waited for? A month? Two? No, it has to be more…but the clock says it’s only been a week. How does it know? It only keeps counting up, so it can’t know what was before-there it is, that’s how it knows, the scratching. The sound is still permeating, but ever slightly more so each time, I hate it. I want to get rid of it, but I’m scared of what awaits me behind that door.
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“Should I open it Pawnies? It can’t hear me no, I’m whispering see? Right, you can’t, can you even hear me? I suppose not.”.
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I should sleep, even though I hate it, it’s better than hearing those scratches…those foul scratches. They haunt me and my dreams, they haunt my room, even though it’s just me and Pawnies. It wants to haunt…no, it wants to kill…no, it wants to…I don’t know what it wants.
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Here I go, “Keep an eye on him Pawnies.”. Stupid cat, can’t do shit and still expects both of us to get out alive…
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WOO-WOO-WOO; AHH! Ahh, what’s happening?! WOO-WOO-WOO; The alarms are-
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“Wake up Michael!!”
“Wh-what’s happening? Why are the alarms going off?! Are we being attacked?!”
“No, I mean, I’m not sure, but the captain said we have to take arms,” that sounds like we’re being attacked, Jim, “we don’t have time though, apparently it got in here.”.
“What got in here?”
“Don’t know, the captain said he wou-”.
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WOO-WOO-WOO; Tahuhh! Huhh, huh, there it is again. The scratching keeps going. I suppose I should wait until it’s over and then open the door…but what if it wants that. I could also try to call the captain, but if it hears me speaking, it may break through the door. It is steel, but what can steel do against something that got inside this thing? Is the captain still alive though, I wonder. Jim has to be, right? He always knows what to do, I rely on him and he relies on my knowledge. We got each other, Pawnies doesn’t like me like Jim does.
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Ahh, no more water, just a day’s rations for food, what should I do Pawnies? I know you can hear my thoughts, you’re playing coy so I talk with you, stupid cat. There! You looked at me when I spoke in my head! Fuckin animal, thinks it’s smarter than I am. You do you though, I’m out of here. The clock says two weeks, so let’s see how far you’ll-there it is again, the scratching. I can’t do anything now, thanks to you Pawnies. You always distract me, and I always let you distract me, we’re not good for each other.
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Ahh, ahhh, AHHHH! Fuck you Pawnies! I mean it this time. I’ve been stuck for how long?! A month?! Two, or more?! I don’t even know, cuz the damn clock keeps counting up! Round and round, it never goes lower…is it the captain? I haven’t thought of it, he-he’s screwing with me! Yes, th-that’s it, that can be the only explanation. And the scratching…it was you Pawnies, you conspired with them haven’t you?!
What do you ask me for?! How should I know?! I bet you were doing it from between my feet or something, or-or you had something, like a knife tied to a rope. I don’t know where a fuckin rope is in this room, it seems I don’t know anything that goes in this room!
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There it is again…slowly, like a rusted knife digging into the wound of a machine. Like the gritting of metal teeth, slow and painful as it goes, grinding the gears of my mind. Now it’s closer, and closer…and closer. The door isn’t that thick, it can’t be. It did it for every hour on every single god forsaken day I’ve been stuck in this room. Although, maybe it’s been just a day, there’s only the clock that tells me, and it works against me. Counting up, never down, so why should I trust someone like that? Tell me Prawnies. You can give me the cold shoulder only for so long, then we have to step out, and I think today is the day I do it. I’m tired of waiting Pawnies, I want out…now.
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I’m not stepping out, not after that. I don’t know if it was a dream, I don’t know what’s real, are you real Pawnies? Of course you aren’t, you’re a pile of rotten bones, ate you at the end of the first week. You enjoyed it too, why wouldn't you? Squeezing the life out of you, seeing your eyes bulge as you scratched my hands for forgiveness to survive. I won’t forget your beautiful eyes Pawnies, I ate them last. Yes, your guts too, I got so hungry I had to eat everything inside, putrid or not, it tasted like shit. Probably because a lot of it was shit, heh, you were literally full of shit Pawnies when I ate you. HAHAHAH! Ahh, that was good, I didn’t laugh in a while…how long is a while? I’m tired of looking at the clock.
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“KILL ME!! KILL ME NOW YOU SACK OF SHIT!! Do you think I give a single damn any longer?! I’m going to open it!! I have a gun and a knife and a grenade and-and much more! You think I’m scared of you, YOU SHIT?! This is it!!!”. VRRRR.
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Th-there’s no one. The hallway, it was empty all this time? Then-no scratches either…no, no, no no no no no-NO! This is in my mind, all in my head, there is something behind the door! I know there is!! The clock! I have to look at the clock…it’s not there, what about Pawnies?! Maybe I imagin-augh-bleargh. I can’t even puke, but so foul is the smell of piss and shit, and the rotten bones standing there.
This is fine though, everything is fine. I-I just have to find the captain, yes, the captain.
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His room is around the corner…around the corner. Is it there? Did it hear me scream and now is waiting? Probably, it has to be. It stole the clock too while I was panicking, wiped the scratches from the door, it has to be. Gun, I had a gun, where was the-
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WOO-WOO-WOO; Tahh!
“Don’t snooze off Michael, the captain will chew you off if you do,” I know he will, so why are we waiting here? Should I ask Jim?. “He said the upper floor is compromised, he had to stop it completely, it reacts violently to sound.”.
“What does? You still didn’t tell me-”
“Atten~tion!” The captain will, I'm sure. “Lieutenant Jimmy Armstrong!”.
“Sir yes sir!”
“Are the cadets well equipped?”
“Yes sir!”
“Good, we’ll send three of them up. Let’s see,” he’s looking at me, now at a few others. “Liam White, Noah Adams and-” he’s looking at me.
“And me, sir! They still don’t know the standard procedure!”
“Very well, take them and-”
WOO-WOO-WOO
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Shit, I fainted. I thought it was because I’m bored, but it seems my body barely holds. I need water, and food, god I wish I had some steak. Even before, the last time I had one was a month prior, just before I was called in. I bet there is some steak around the corner…is there? Could be. Pawnies, go look…don’t make me wait!
Grr, okay, I’m forcing you to-and there, that’s good, knock yourself against the walls, make it aware of where you are, and then it can have you.
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Nothing, it’s been…an hour I think, or two? I should go around the corner now, maybe just peak a little. Even if that’s what it wants, I want something too, I want steak. And I know it has it, it has to have it, just around the corner. And-HAAA!!!
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DUN-DUN-DUN
“OPEN THE DOOR MICHAEL!!”
“I can’t! It hasn’t been an hour Jim! The captain said-”
“The captain is fuckin dead Michael, and so are we if you don’t open this damn door!”
“I-I will, but please, just another ten minutes, I’m watching the clock-”
“There is no clock in there Michael, do you think I’m stupid?! We’ve been out here for hours, waiting, and now it’s out there!”
“You still haven’t told me what it is, what are you so afraid of?”
“If I told you, you wouldn’t open this door, so do it now and do it fast before we-AHHHH!” It got him! I can hear his body hitting the floor, carrying him away. His screams are agonizing and filled with liquid, the others too. I-it’s torturing them, why would it do that?!
“Leave Jimmy alone you-” silence. What should I do, there’s only me, Pawnies and that-that thing. Srrrt…srrrt….srrrt. Scratching…it’s waiting for me.
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My head…it feels light. I saw something and fainted, but now it’s not here any longer. It’s that thing, wherever it is. It stole something from the hallway here, something important. But I’m not hungry anymore, so I guess I had my steak, and I see the door. Even if the captain isn’t there, I can take us back to the surface Pawnies. It didn’t want you, only what was in here. There is a lot of blood though, too much. It killed everyone I think, and took them up I bet.
I see the latch Pawnies, it seems locked to me. So Jim was full of shit, just like you. He wanted me out so he could have the food and water! I hate him, Jimmy. I love you now Pawnies, you took care of me, let me eat you so I could get us both out of here. You’re a good friend Pawnies, I’ll keep your head where it can’t reach you.
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Now I have to enter the captain’s room. There is a key, I know where the captain keeps it, if I use it, I can drive this thing back to the surface. It’s the only way to power it…but what if it’s in there.
You’re right Pawnies, we opened the door and went past the corner. It had to be large, and that room isn’t, so it can’t be in there. And if it is, we can run back. I had my steak, you’re still with me, we can do this. I just have to turn the knob…34Please respect copyright.PENANAKv1YPVfSuN