The dream from the previous night seemed to nip at my mind for the rest of the day. Bits and pieces resurfaced, and from what I had gathered I was a clerk or janitor for some run down establishment. I remembered i walked the halls of the building in my dream, thinking how disgusting everything was, but having a sense that I needed to be here. A strong sense, a strong feeling, that it was my purpose.
There were a few more things I would eventually remember about the dream; frantically watching the doors to my office, keeping an eye on the employees, feeling anger towards my boss just to name a few. Everything else just seemed to slip away. Eventually the memories from the dream were to slip to the back of my mind, never to bother me again, or so I was to believe.
My day would pass uneventfully. I made a few calls to Action World Pizza to clarify everything I would be needing for the night ahead, who I was to be meeting, and if I would need to pack a lunch. I would need my provided security outfit and twenty dollars for the walkie-talkie and flashlight deposit; unusual, but I would comply. I would be meeting Timothy Johnson, a night guard of ten years for the company. It was recommended I bring my lunch, but since they had an employee lounge with vending machines, I could just bring money instead.
Before the woman on the other end hung up, she would tell me I would apparently need to be one hour early to have a talk with my trainer. Something about the unique job requirements necessary for the position. I didn't think too much about it, giving my compliance before hanging up my cell.
The hours would wane, and I would eventually realize I needed to head out. I chose money for lunch that night. Probably the better option considering I had forgotten to go grocery shopping again. Ramen noodles just wouldn't cut it this time.
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I pulled up into the parking lot of Action World Pizza. Getting out, I got a good chance to look at my surroundings. The pizza establishment took up a couple hundred square feet and was made up of three buildings. In the front was the original restaurant area. Just by looking I could tell where exterior renovations had been made over the years, but overall it appeared to be in nice shape. The front of the building, facing me, had an entrance with a lit sign above it with the words, "Action World Pizza!", and below in smaller format, "Thanks Leston for Thirty Years!".
To the left of the property, just beside the original building, was the Action World Pizza "Fun Zone". It took up about the same space as a high school gymnasium and had within it several play areas for children; bounce houses, mazes, trampolines, ect. It was connected to the main building by a on-ground, covered walkway some ten or fifteen feet long. Presently the lights were off, signifying it being closed, and could barely make out its sign, "Kids Fun Zone!".
To the right of the property was a relatively new addition, constructed only about one year prior. I remember reading about it in the newspaper back then, something about the need for a "young adult" playground. Within it was planned a laser tag arena, skating ring, and several other attractions I never got around to reading. The buildings lights were off, but I could make out the sign words on the building thanks to a parking lot light. It read, "Awesome Arena!". I noticed that this building was also connected to the main building by a similar walkway.
All three buildings had the same color pattern of gray and white, with the exception of the sign letters on each front face; red with white outlining. Each one had a similar entrance to the other; sliding doors into a walk-in area, then another set of sliding doors leading to the building area. The parking lot connected to all three, and around the property was carefully planted trees, bushes, flower beds, and even picnic and eating areas. Thirty years gave a business a long time to improve on itself, it appeared.
I was impressed with the sight of it. Despite it being at the dark hour, the street and lot lights revealed enough for me to get a good idea. I had no idea why I had missed this visual of the property before, concluding thereafter that it probably wasn't important at the time.
Looking down at my phone for the time, I realized I had but a few minutes before my shift was to start. I checked my Night Guard outfit; standard white buttoned shirt with black pants and a pair of nice, clean black dress shoes. There was a patch on right chest area with the words "Awesome World" at the top and "Night Security" at the bottom. A similar patch was on both upper sleeves, and to the left chest area was a spot for a name tag, now only having "Night Trainee" on it. Satisfied I looked proper, I adjusted my security hat, going inside.
The main building appeared to still be open, and I took note of a few couples still in the restaurant area eating either pizza or other assorted foods. They were being watched by a few servers near the front desk, and they all appeared to be teenagers. I continued my observations, noticing that the party area was closed down and curtains closed. I remember as a kid that this area harbored the famous animatronics, but for the life of me I had forgotten what they were. I made a mental note to find out, looking elsewhere.
I took note of several other areas of the main building, all identified or marked with signs. The kitchen was behind the restaurant area four bathroom areas were located around the premises. Just beside the party area was a door leading to an "Technician Only" area; probably where the animatronics were repaired. There was a small play area for kids to my left, undoubtably the original play area. It appeared fully restored, with ball play area, slides, and playground. It was quarantined off from the rest of the building by a rubber fence, undoubtably for the parents benefit. Warning signs and what appeared to be an employee area was at its entrance.
I proceeded towards the area marked "Employees Only", getting a few looks from the servers and staff before they turned to indifference as I walked down a hallway. Everything back here was marked as well; employee lounge, offices, manager office, staff room, meeting room, sales/delivery, and Security. Remembering my instructions from earlier, I followed the signs for Security. It felt like a long walk, and I eventually ended up at what felt like the back of the building.
The door to the Security Office was opened and I knocked on the wooden door frame. The person at the desk looked up to me; late forties, early fifties by the look on his face with a chubby appeal. I noticed him look toward my badge, and in an instant he smiled, closed the gap between us, and shook my hand in his.
"You must be Edward Reign! Welcome! Come in!"
I started in after he released my hand, smiling myself, but as I touched the door to close it he added, "Leave it open please." I complied, following where he motioned for me to sit. The seat was comfortable, having a swivel base and positioned in front of a monitor area. I quickly gazed over, realizing the four or five flat screens were divided among views to ALL three buildings; the two adjacent building cameras dark due to after hours save for a few dimly lit rooms.
The rest of the Security Office didn't have any further electronics, save for a camera in both corners which I found odd; someone needs to watch the watcher? There was two other doors besides the one I came in at. One lead to a private bathroom (I liked that) and the other had no label on it. I was sure I would find out its purpose eventually. My attention returned to the one who had so boisterously welcomed me. I caught a glimpse of his name patch (T. Johnson). i logically concluded this was indeed Timothy, my trainer.
When he had settled back down on the other side of his metal desk in his chair, Timothy looked up to me. "I'm sorry about last night Ed - can I call you Ed? - I was just not feeling too well. But we're here tonight, so, are you ready to get down to business?"
I maintained my smiled. "Absolutely understandable Tim - can I call you Tim? - and Ed is fine. I'm pretty excited personally, so, sure."
Timothy laughed, "Yeah sure, why not? Anyway, I saw you looking around as you came in, so I'm sure you know where everything is. What you saw is basically what you get. Any questions about that?"
"Not really," I replied. He nodded. "Good, smart kid. Shane said you would make a fine employee, and I'm already starting to see it. Alright, so well go over some rules that weren't covered in your orientation. What you went through was basic company stuff, what I need to go over is the important stuff. You might want to take notes so here-" he procured a pad and pen from a desk drawer, handing it to me as I took it "-take that. Alrighty, ready?"
I nodded, pen at the ready. Boy this was going faster than I anticipated!
"Good," Timothy continued. "First rule of Action World Pizza is to never, ever go into the party area after hours. I don't care if you hear something funny or out of place during your rounds. If you feel it needs it attention, log it down on the pad I just handed you, and I'll look it over in the morning. And if you hear anything that you might think needs investigation - say a scream or something - you call me first, got it?"
I put two and two together. Animatronics, company waiver. Made sense. The scream part kind unnerved me, though. "Got it," I replied, taking down the appropriate notes.
"Alright, second rule is while you're in training, you are not to leave this building. Eventually you'll get the freedom to wander between all three buildings, but until I feel your up to the job, we're gonna restrict you to here. Got it?"
That made sense too. "Got it," I replied, again taking down a note. Timothy continued.
"Finally, the last rule is that you stick to your shift. You'll be here from twelve o'clock at night to eight in the morning. From six o'clock to eight employees will be coming in for work, so it'll be your job to verify ID tags and let them be on their way. Not hard at all, just ask for their company ID, verify their picture and name, blamo you're done. Got it?"
I nodded, making definitely sure to take this part down. "Got it down," I replied.
"Good man!" Timothy said, standing. "Why don't you come with me so we can get you set up and I'll let you start your first night, sound good?"
I blinked, standing. "Wait, you're allowing me to stay here - by myself - on my first night?"
Timothy looked at me, confused for a moment, then laughed. "Oh come on man, you're not a kid or anything! Cameras watch us, and we watch cameras, so there's really no use for me to stay. I've told you everything you needed to know and, provided you do it, you'll be fine! Now, come on, let's get your stuff."
It still didn't make sense to me, but for some reason I believed they were putting a whole lot of trust in me - or maybe Mr. Watson had. Regardless, with cameras watching my every move, I suppose it made some kind of sense. I followed Timothy to the unmarked door I was curious about earlier. He procured his set of keys, unlocking it. I peeked in, noticing it was a storage closet for security supplies, then watched as Timothy turned around with a walkie-talkie and flashlight in one hand, along with holders to go on my belt. He extended his other hand, asking, "You got your twenty right?"
I nodded, providing it from my wallet. He took it, I hearing him unlock some type of box - probably a lock box - then turning around again. I held out my hands taking the supplies as he handed to me, putting them appropriately on my belt, and further taking a set of keys as he grabbed it from the closet. He looked at me for a moment, then grabbed something else, providing a telescopic steel baton to me, with holder. I looked at him questioningly as I took it.
"Don't worry," he said with a reassuring smile, "I usually hand these out after a week of training, but you look like you know what you're doing. Besides, never know these days, you know? Don't want to see my potential replacement without a way to defend himself while I'm gone."
I put the telescopic baton in its holder, then onto my belt. I maintained my questioning gaze. "From what, exactly? People trying to steal the animatronics or something?"
I noticed how the word "animatronics" caused a twitch to his eye, but other than that he kept his smile. "Something like that," Timothy replied, "they are high end, advanced pieces of machinery. Never know what'll happen."
I noticed how when he stated that Timothy appeared to be alluding to something. His expression remained the same as we stood in silence, me being unable to decipher what he meant. I eventually resorted to just nodding, not really knowing what to say besides, "Thanks, I guess?"
"You'll do fine," he reassured me, closing the closet and locking it before heading toward the exit to the office. "Drinks and food in the employee lounge, and you're pretty much set for a safe first night. I locked all the doors - except the entrance, of course. Whenever the last love-struck couple leaves, lock it down will ya?"
With that, and a nod, he was gone. I was left alone. I sighed, gazing down at my new baton, then shaking my head. After a moment of contiplation, I sat in front of the flat screens, watching the camera feeds as I formally began my shift.
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By twelve o'clock I had escorted the last of the "overnighters" out. They had been chatting non-stop and I decided that since it was kinda, well, twelve in the fucking morning and the other employees had already left the building, that they should probably go. Turns out I was really good at convincing people to leave, they complying with a few friendly waves and out they went. I locked the doors, then sighed in relief as I took in the scene.
The lighting in the building changed almost as soon as I had locked the doors and turned around. The majority of the ceiling lights that had been on turned off, but the remainder was more than adequate for me to see. I figured it was an automatic function set when the night guard would lock the door. Still, it had almost spooked me.
Recovering from whatever side-effects the lights had caused rather quickly, I proceeded to walk to make sure there was no additional messes in the restaurant area. Confirming its cleanliness (if only for my own sake!) I continued to the play area, figuring a check to make sure no one had hidden out was in order. I had just finished checking the ball pit when I heard a noise coming from the party area; clanking of metal, from the sound of it. I turned my attention towards the closed curtain and, for a brief moment, I swore it moved like something behind it had disturbed the curtain.
Had to be the air conditioning, I figured. I did hear the silent hum of the overhead unit above. It was probably a temperature difference between the rooms that caused it. I exited the ball pit - and playground area - to return to my rounds. I looked at my phone, seeing that a good forty-five minutes had passed. I had been on the premises since eleven o'clock, by my figuring, so maybe a brief respite in the lounge was in order. Just as I was to make way, however, the power went out.
Everything went dark.
From behind me I heard something, mechanical almost, and I began to reach for my flashlight.
ns 15.158.61.18da2
