Last time I talked to you guys, I lost Tom. Well, I didn’t exactly lose him, he just got dragged off to the “Shadows”. Today, I tried to figure out why the hell all of this is happening. As most of you have noticed, the security guard was… off. Luckily, I got some information on him today.
If you are trying to figure out who Tom is, and why he is somewhere he shouldn’t be, start here.
I decided to draw up a quick sketch of the office, so y’all have a general sense of where I am. I am NOT an architect, so it is not an exact 1:1 model, but this is the closest I can draw to the actual layout. I won’t bother with the second floor because it’s practically a large space with a big wire cage in the middle, the security desk in front of it, and the staircase in the back of the room.
I came into my shift armed with my laptop, two mango flavored energy drinks, and my research dedication from my college years. I say that like I’m old, but I’ve only been out of college for like two years. Trust me kids, time goes by fast.
Jonah was in today, and asked me to step into his office. We started out with the usual small talk, excitement over the newest FPS, but his tone changed shortly.
“John, I think it’s time we talk about the things you’ve been seeing around the data center,” he said grimly.
I was excited but terrified at the same time, waiting for whatever he had to say.
“I was hoping Tom would be able to explain this to you, but he’s occupied. He will be safe, don’t worry. I already put up the sigils to guide him back. If you notice that one or two of them leaves a small circle in its place, it just means that it worked.”
“Sigils? Wait, are you like some sort of witch or something?”
“No, you can actually thank the security guard for it.”
“Wait, what?
Jonah explained how the security guard, Louis, and his family were here for generations, trying to protect the lands. His father was a fire watcher, and used his job as an excuse to watch over this section of the forest. It was sold to the company when he was still a fire watcher, but they didn’t start building until Louis was in college, so roughly 20 years ago. As soon as it was built, he applied for the job. It wasn’t difficult considering he had previous experience, working security for his college.
I wonder if he has any stories from his night shifts, I’ll ask him about it sometime.
However, there was another group, one with darker intentions. They wanted to do harm to others, and decided to use this forest for their rituals. This group has been at war with Louis’ family trying to fight for the control of the forest. Unfortunately, the other group had enough control and were able to make this a spirit hot spot.
I guess that’s another thing to watch out for, an evil cult trying to summon something evil. For now, I am going to let Louis handle that front, unless he asks for help.
After the long backstory, he left me on my own to get my thoughts together. He also left a UV flashlight and a can of invisible ink. so I can see the sigils, in case I need to rewrite them. He used invisible ink, so it does not freak out any of the customers.
I guess another thing I have to do before the end of my shift is to make sure the sigils are still up.
I completed my rounds, after waiting a couple of hours, and made sure all of the sigils were intact before going back down to relax.
A few hours passed and I noticed that the clock on the wall, above the window to the lobby, stopped ticking. I don’t know why we need a clock on the wall when we have computers, laptops, and phones, but we have one. It stopped at exactly 11:39.
I went to look at it, when I noticed that there was someone standing in the lobby. I was about to say something, because it looked like a relatively normal person, but its entire head was blurred. Have you ever taken a picture and someone’s face was blurred because they turned to look at something? That’s what it looks like, but from the neck up. The rest of its body was normal.
I quickly turned around, and sat down to watch the cameras. I watched on the screen as it strolls up to the window, and pressed its “face” to it. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen, I knew if I looked at it again, something would happen.
It started pounding on the window with its fists, trying to get my attention. Then I heard the elevator doors open. It was Louis.
He started chanting something while holding a book, and the entity started screeching. It fell to the ground and vanished into a cloud of black smoke.
I walked out of the office to greet Louis.
“Holy shit, thank you so much, you totally need to teach me how to do that,” I quickly said trying to stop my heart from jumping out of my chest.
“No problem, but it would take many years just to learn the language. Let alone trying to cast a spell,” he said with a smirk.
“How did you know it was down here? Also what would’ve happened if it continued?”
“Well, I just had one of those feelings that something wasn’t right,” he looked off in the distance, trying to seem sincere. “Nah I’m fucking with you, I was just coming down to get a coffee when I saw that thing. But it probably would’ve stopped if you gave it time.”
“So you have no idea?”
“I mean I know that those fuckers will leave you alone if you ignore them long enough, as long as you didn’t piss them off,” he trailed off his sentence while walking towards the break room.
I was going to ask him for more details, but he seemed pretty uninterested.
As usual, the rest of the night goes without any issues. I did another check on all of the sigils, but one of them left a circle, just as Jonah has described. I guess Tom will be back.
I went back to the office, finished my energy drink and kicked back. Matt came by in the morning, and brought beignets. I decided to stay and give him his usual dosage of small talk in exchange for a sugary fried dough.
I’m glad I was able to get a good chunk of information about these things from Jonah and Louis. If the timeline is right, Tom should be back by the time I come in for my next shift, and hopefully I can give you guys some good news.