Night Guard

This is a short story I have polished over some time, but I know it can always be improved upon.

Description: A Campus Security Officer reflects on his life during an isolated night.A mysterious phone call puts him on the path to death.

Night Guard

“Don’t talk to that girl,” a deep voice of a security guard spoke from the darkness.

“I have a mental problem,” a response echoed throughout the hallway.

“Yes. You do…”

“Whatever, I’m going to check the basement,” said his partner. The building was nearly cleared for the night. He surveyed the walls nearby with his flashlight. Hanging frames of the old founders riddled the area. Static faces watched his every move as he approached the stairway.

Loud echoes erupted throughout the stairwell as he moved rapidly down them. A low rumble invaded his hearing as he reached the murky basement floor. He walked past a doorway labeled “BOILER ROOM”, the creepiest part of any building.

He pressed down on the handle of the door, but it did not move. The door was locked as it should be. He moved down the hallway as the deep rumble from the boiler room faded away. A new sound crept into his hearing. Exaggerated heavy breathing developed close to him. He stopped breathing himself to listen to the sound of the unknown lungs closing in on him. Surprisingly, the heavy breathing stopped only seconds after he did.

The security guard gripped his flashlight tight and viciously turned around. He was shocked to find what was making the deep breathing behind him – nothing. He pressed down on the handle next to him on the door to make sure it was secure and marched out of the hallway. He made his way back up the empty stairwell and out of the silent building. The door locked behind him as he walked toward the dark courtyard.

He glanced back and looked at the black windows of the old building. Not one was lit, which meant his task for the night was complete and he could return to the security desk. As he walked back, a tiny siren went off in the pocket of his pants. He hastily reached inside and grabbed his buzzing phone. It was an alarm set to go off at 3:00 AM, which he set for the night. It was the halfway mark for his shift, and by the off chance he fell asleep, this would wake him.

He found himself back at the security desk in no time. This isolated area of light was his safe haven amidst the shadowy sea around him. The clock on the wall ticked emphatically through the thick silence surrounding him. It was an annoyance that reminded him of every second he was there.

The hardest part of the job wasn’t surviving the silent nights, it was surviving his thoughts. Many hours alone at a desk reflecting on unwanted memories. That is why he welcomed any partner for the night. Someone to help keep his mind off of his past. He was constantly self-evaluating himself and the relationships he murdered.

His partner had not returned to the desk yet. He looked out of the window and did not see any lights coming from the building he just secured.

He must have clocked out early, he thought to himself. The clock continued to tick nearby. He looked at the time - 3:04 AM.

How am I going to last the night, he wondered as his eyelids grew severely heavy. Each breath he took was a small step towards a sweet slumber. His eyes closed and he listened to his silent surroundings. Not even the sound of the ticking clock bothered him anymore.

A high-pitched noise suddenly pierced his ears. His eyes burst open and he looked to the desk phone next to him. He picked it up and cleared his voice.

“Campus Security, how can I help?” He spoke professionally into the phone.

“Hi this is Scarlett. Is this Seth?” the sound of an innocent female voice responded.

He lowered his professional tone into a more personable one. “Yes, this is. Is everything okay?”

“Sorry for calling at such an odd time, I don’t know if you remember me, I met you at the café late last night. We were both about to begin our third shift jobs.”

He knew exactly who she was. Black hair, pale skin, and piercing blue eyes.

“Yes I remember you, back from work already?”

“Yeah, payroll had to be met, so they sent some people home early.”

“I see, so is everything okay?”

“Oh! Sorry, you see I walked out into the field for a short moment to gaze at the beautiful stars, and as I walked back I realized I didn’t have my keys anymore. I figured I must have dropped them out here in the grass somewhere. I was wondering if you could just get me into my dorm, since it’s too dark to try to find them now.”

“No problem, I will meet you at the dorm entrance.”

“Thank you so much!”

Seth hung up the phone and grabbed his set of keys. He exited the building and began walking down the dimly lit sidewalk. It was a silent walk accompanied by the clanging of his keys and the sound of his shoes pressing against the cement ground.

He finally approached the dorm entrance, yet no one was there. He clicked the button on his flashlight and shined it onto the grassy field nearby. Scarlett was nowhere to be found.

She must have found her keys, he thought to himself. He clicked his flashlight off and began walking back up the sidewalk.

A subtle whimper came into hearing from the field. Seth turned his light back on and shined it back out onto the grass. This time a girl was lying face down on the field with an odd object attached to her back. He slowly made his way past the parked cars and walked onto the field.

“Pull it,” said the girl laying on the ground. He was not sure if she was talking to him. He walked closer to her and could finally see what was sticking out of her back.

“Pull it!” the girl ferociously repeated. A syringe full of blood was sticking out of her spine. Her face still met the ground so he could not identify who she was.

“But-“

“DO IT!” she screamed. The girl stood up staring the opposite direction while Seth grabbed onto the syringe. He pulled back on it as the needle bit by bit exited her flesh. The long needle was eventually out of her back, but blood began to trickle from the hole. The girl fell forward onto her face and remained motionless.

“Are you okay?” Seth subtly asked as he walked closer to her.

“Help me,” an unknown voice whispered into his ear.

Seth jolted around to see who it was, but no one was there. He turned back only to find the girl no longer on the ground. She had disappeared without a trace.

His hand felt strange as he looked down to find that he was no longer holding a syringe, but a hand. He looked up at the girl holding his hand, but her face was turned the other way. He stood there unsure of what to say to this different, unrecognizable girl.

“Hello?” he asked, but the girl refused to show her identity. She began to squeeze his hand tight and wouldn’t let go.

“Hey!” He tried to pull his hand away. “Let go!” his hand began to feel constricting pain. “This is hurting!” he exclaimed as he raised his other hand. “Let go!” Seth yelled out one last time as he swiped his hand at the girl’s thin elbow. With little force, the bone in her arm snapped and popped out of her skin.

She screamed out in at terrifying manner and let go of his hand instantly. The girl ran a couple feet away and cried out in agony. She lifted her limb as a gruesome view of her forearm dangled from her elbow. Her face still remained hidden to him behind her hair.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” he said quivering while stepping backwards slowly from her. He tripped on an object behind him and fell to the ground. It was the girl he had pulled the syringe out of. Both girls were beginning to cry out in pain.

“HELP!” a girl screamed into his ear. Seth glanced backwards for a moment, but nothing was there other than the orange glowing streetlight along the sidewalk. He looked forward to find both girls now gone. Now a new girl stood before him facing the opposite direction.

He jumped up and approached the girl. “Who are you!?” He roared to the girl with her back turned to him. She stood perfectly still as her head began to turn. It twisted over her shoulder accompanied by the sound of cracks from her spine. Her body faced the opposite direction, but her face was looking straight at him. The mangled being began to stumble away from him.

“What is going on? Why are you doing this!” he cried out as fear of the unknown filled his heart.

She let out a demented laugh. “Trying to move forward while looking backwards, isn’t that what you do all the time?” she boldly questioned.

Seth backed up toward the sidewalk as the humming from the street light grew loud.

“Do we frighten you Seth?” The girl with a bleeding back appeared to his left and asked.

The girl with a dangling limb appeared to his right. “Maybe you should ask yourself who the real monster is.”

Their faces remained obscure as they walked backwards towards him. The humming of the street light intensified.

“Stay away from me!” he yelled out as the three girls crept eerily close to him.

“Save me!” an unknown girl screamed into his ear. The street light blew out causing Seth to be surrounded by complete darkness. He was mauled to the ground and held down by the three.

“I trusted you!” the unknown voice shrieked as hands began to grab all over him ripping as hard as they could at his body. He could not see the hands, but he could feel them.

“Get off me!” he roared as he grabbed his knife. Seth plunged it into flesh all around him until the grabbing stopped. Weak and dying screams arose through the whole process as warm red liquids drenched his hands and stomach.

“You brought us here Seth.” Silence followed this eerie statement as he stared off into the darkness.

I just want to go home, he thought to himself. A bright light exploded ahead of him. It illuminated a bright path to itself. Seth arose from the ground and began walking cautiously along the path. It brought a sense of calmness to him as he grew closer.

Seth approached the blinding light with his eyes closed. He tried but could not open his eyes, they felt sealed shut.

“Stay with us Seth,” the three girls spoke from behind. They walked close to him and gently wrapped their arms around his body. He couldn’t move as he stood before the light trying to open his eyes. They were beginning to constrict their arms. His bones were instantly crushed and pain shot up his spine.

He opened his eyes and could hear the sound of a very familiar siren.

A bright sun just beginning to peak over the horizon dominated his view looking out of a window. A telephone lie before him off its hook. His head lay flat against the desk he had been working at. He sat up in his chair and picked up the phone.

“Hello?” he cautiously asked, but it was silent on the other end. It was now 8:31 AM and his shift was over.

“It was all a dream?” he asked himself. He slowly placed the phone back on the hook. Immediately the phone rings and terror strikes his heart. He let it ring three times before finally answering.

“Hello?”

“Seth! Where have you been! A woman was murdered last night! You were the only one working, I need to know what you know! The students who found her say she had an emergency phone in her hand. Did she try to contact you?”

Oh no… he thought to himself. I fell asleep and let a woman die while on duty. She must have tried to contact me while the phone was off the hook.

Seth stood up and was about to respond to the phone. “I…” He paused for a moment. Something caught his attention. Something red on the palm of his hands.

“Just hold on Seth, I will be there in a few minu-“the phone dropped from his hand as he realized the blood soaked shirt he was wearing.

“I shouldn’t have talked to that girl” he spoke to himself.

His voice lowered into a deep tone, “You have a mental problem.”

He raised his voice back to normal and responded to himself. Tears began to well up within his eyes as a look of sorrow overtook his face.

“Yes… I do.”