Tom opened the window, letting out a grunt as icy cold raindrops splashed against his face. He climbed out and dropped down onto the fire escape. He could not see the street below, only blackness. But what choice did he have? He started the climb down to the ground.
When he finally reached the bottom, Tom took out his flashlight and clicked it on. With a thin beam of light to guide him, he followed the wall around to the front of the building. That is where the camera was filming, and so that was where Judy would be.
At least that is where she should have been, but when Tom got there it was deserted. He carried on around the other side of the apartment block, feeling his way along the wall, softly calling out her name. He circled the building twice in total but could not find her.
He went back to the front entrance and peered through the window, into the foyer. It was empty, but then he noticed a shadow moving across the wall. A pair of feet, walking down the steps, came into his view.
"Gott'ya," he smiled.
He was just about to go inside when he noticed something familiar about the black outfit the person was wearing; it was not because he had seen Judy wearing it earlier. He stumbled backwards as he saw the white mask appear in the window.
He turned and fled; running back around the building, feeling his way along the wall and scrambling back up the ladder. He climbed, all the time dreading the feel of a hand grabbing hold of his ankle. He climbed, and prayed Judy was safe and sound. He climbed, and when he reached the window he flung it open and tumbled inside.
Before he even hit the floor, someone had jumped on him; pining him down.
"Tom?" Doug exclaimed, climbing off of him, and helping him to his feet. "What are you doing coming in through the window? You scared the hell out of me!"
"The door's stuck," Tom reminded him crossly.
"What?" Doug said. Tom watched as he went over to the door and opened it with no trouble at all; "It's fine," he said.
"Guys, can you keep it down?"
Tom spotted Judy on the couch, propped up on her elbows, he was unable to control his temper as he snapped; "You're here?"
"Where else would I be?" She replied, yawning.
"Tom, what's going on with you man?" Doug said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Tom shrugged it off; upset that they were playing him for a fool.
"I've just spent the last fifteen minutes running around in the rain looking for her," he said pointing at Judy, "and she was up here all the time! What's the score? Did you rig up the door, wait until I had gone, and then all have a good laugh at me?"
Tom's shouting had woken Harry, who was now sitting up and looking questionably at him.
"Tom, buddy," Doug said, speaking softly, "Nobody's been laughing at you. Judy was never outside; you went down to look for those mask guys."
"No, I didn't," Tom replied, shaking his head. "You did. Then I came down, and then Harry came down and…"
"I've been asleep since you guys took over the shift," Harry interrupted him.
"Tom, what's the matter with you tonight?" Judy asked.
"Yeah," Doug said. "You've been acting really weird, I'm kind of worried about you man."
"Oh whatever," Tom replied angrily. "I'm going to take a shower."
Tom stomped off into the bathroom, picking up his overnight bag as he went. If they wanted to play silly mind games with him, he was just going to ignore it and not take the bait. He was sick of it; he was sick of Doug teasing him about being too uptight, and he was sick of them thinking he was hot-headed. How did they expect him to react when they had played such a childish trick on him?
He stripped off his wet clothes; he was shaking with cold, but also with anger. If he got ill, he was blaming it on them. He looked into the mirror; his black hair was stuck to his forehead so he pushed it back, before running the tap and splashing warm water onto his face. It felt good, and he could not wait to get under the shower. He reached to turn it on and then returned his eyes to his reflection.
As the water heated up, the room was filled with mist, clouding up the mirror. It was quite a relief for Tom not to have to look at his tired, hanging face anymore.
After he had taken a long, hot shower and towelled himself dry, Tom pulled on a fresh pair of jeans and a black sweater. He dried off his hair, took out his comb and wiped the mirror with his palm. He let out a cry of surprise when he saw the masked figure standing behind him. He spun around but there was nobody there. He must have imagined it; he repeated this over and over in his head, but he was still frightened by it, and he sank to sit on the floor.
"Tom!" Called Doug from outside, and there was a hammering on the door. "Tom, are you alright in there?"
Tom climbed slowly to his feet and went to unlock the door.
"Why'd you shout man, what's wrong?" Doug demanded.
"I burnt myself on one of the pipes," Tom lied. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."
Doug stared at him for a moment, and then he said in a hushed voice; "You are scaring man, what's the matter with you tonight? Maybe you should go home, one of us could give you a lift, make sure you get there okay."
"Doug, I'm fine," Tom insisted.
"Yeah, well okay," Doug said. "But I'll be happy when tonight is over."
"Me to," Tom agreed.