He stood.
Was he a 'he'?
He was confused.
His vision had cleared.
A flash of black eyes consumed his thoughts.
She lay awake all night, her thoughts swirling. Her skin felt sweaty and her breath was shaky. Why had she agreed to do this? Curiosity? She squeezed her eyes shut until she started to see colors, sleep not even in the picture. Armin had laid out a game plan. She would claim she had extra work to do and stay late to avoid raising suspicion. This time, she had to stay until much later, Armin recommending to go down at around 10 pm. After taking the stairs to avoid unwanted noise if someone was still around, she would survey the area and head back to the double doors and use her I.D. to get back in. She would go the same way she had gone before and make her way back to the laboratory, and on the off chance it was unlocked, go inside. They had not discussed what would happen after that.
That had been a week ago. It was the night before her break-in and she was trembling in her bed. I can't do this, I can't do this. But her thoughts kept returning to the emotion in the eye.
Fear.
Pain.
Hopelessness.
That kept her in the game. Deep down, she wanted to help it. She pitied it. These emotions plus her extreme curiosity kept her going. She hated to admit it, but she related to the emotions she glimpsed. Fear of being evicted and unsuccessful, letting down her parents. While there was no way that...thing felt that way, she saw herself in those eyes. Her kind nature encouraged her to help others, even if if she was over analyzing the needs of a fifty foot monster. She shook her head.
I'm going crazy.
The next morning, she shakily got dressed and managed to down some coffee, not able to stop by the shop because of her schedule. She opted to wear sneakers in case she needed to run. Just in case. After slamming her broken door, she rode the subway and walked the rest of the way to work. Since she was early, she sat in her office and completed her breathing exercises. Mr Ackerman came in and showed a flicker of emotion on seeing an employee at work before him, but went back to his normal scowl and ordered her to make him tea. People started flooding in and she got to work to take her mind off her mission that night. She even talked to Jean a bit, him seeming shocked that she initiated communication. The day seemed to drag by at an agonizing pace, to the point where she almost chickened out, but her curiosity kept her going.
When the last person clocked out for the day, she was practically vibrating with fear and excitement. When Mr. Ackerman walked out with his briefcase and saw her still at her desk, he narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but he turned around and left after a moment of hesitation. Letting out a breath, she grabbed her phone and waited until it was time to leave.
After waiting another hour just to be safe, she did her breathing exercises to calm herself so she wouldn't faint. After grabbing her phone and bag, she rode the elevator downstairs and exited, immediately looking around for any witnesses. Her and Armin had deliberately planned for her to go in on a Friday, when most workers were tired and/or had plans, gambling that attendance would be down. Their bet had played off. She silently made her way to the back of the lobby and swiped her badge, her frame vibrating with anticipation. The light turned green and she vaguely wondered why an intern's I.D. would work on an obviously high security area. The steel doors opened with a loud click, and she looked over her shoulder one last time before stepping into the dark hallway. There had been minimal staff last week but now it was deserted, making her worry she had walked into a trap. Her breath picked up, her thoughts beginning to spiral into what if scenarios, and she nearly fell over from the onslaught of emotions. Stopping her assault, she inhaled and exhaled slowly, attempting to catch her breath. If I get caught I could just lie and say I'm new here and I got lost. She sighed after calming down, standing back up and continuing down the hallway.
The winding halls were dark, and she wondered why all of the lights were turned off. This is not helping my anxiety... She was attempting to follow her path from her previous encounter, but she seemed to be getting nowhere in the near darkness. At this point it was so dark she turned on her phone flashlight, lifting it to the walls to look for any maps. She felt like she had wandered in circles for hours and she was beginning to loose her bearings. After stopping and looking around, she signed and decided that this was going no where and she would most likely not find anything. I should be relieved, but I'm more... disappointed. She stood up and began heading back down the hallway, silently upset about her failed search.
She froze in her tracks.
A low moan tore through the halls, her hair standing on end. Posed to bolt, she slowly looked behind her, but it was still just a dark hall. It must have come from somewhere else in the facility. She relaxed only in the slightest after she realized she was in no immediate danger. She began to panic again after thinking about what she should do. Should I leave? Should I follow the sound? Trembling, she approached the next corner and peered around the edge, her eyes widening at what she saw.
There was a door that was slightly ajar, with a faint red light pulsing inside. Beads of sweat fell down her face as she recoiled around the corner and fought an internal battle. This is going to far, I need to leave now. But what on earth is in there? The noise repeated itself, now much louder than it was before. She shuddered as she realized: It must be right behind that door. But the thought was still pulsing at the back of her mind.
Why is there no one here?
Wiping the sweat off her brow, she stared at her feet and chewed her lip, debating on what to do. She let out a shaky breath. I've come this far.
She rounded the corner once more and approached the door. Once she reached it, she looked through the crack and saw a large laboratory, much like the one she saw before. Swallowing, she opened the door enough to squeeze through and stepped inside. The red pulsing immediately stopped and her breath caught. I can't see a thing! Standing stock still for what seemed like hours, she waited for her vision to adjust. The room around her came a little bit more into focus, and she fumbled around to find something to hold onto. She grabbed what she was sure was a table, and leaned on it to catch her breath. 1 2 3 1 2 3 she counted in her head. Her heartbeat slowed and she opened her eyes slowly. She then began surveying what she could see around her. It seemed to be a pretty large room, with papers scattered around and many tools lying everywhere. The disorientation made her eye twitch. You should never leave your work space a mess. Realizing her thought, she scoffed. I am looking for a monster in a pitch black room and I'm thinking about cleaning. She immediately thought of Mr. Ackerman, who was rumored to have an obsessive cleaning habit. She rolled her eyes.
Shuffling around the room and feeling for different items, time seemed to pass slowly. After jabbing her hip bone into the side of a table she winced and reached out to stabilize her balance. Her hand landed on something cold and smooth and after a moment her brain registered it as glass. Regaining her bearings, she felt around and realized it was a large glass window. Her mind flashed to the giant eye staring at her and she stepped back, heart rate picking up. After scanning what she could see past the glass, she determined that there was nothing there, so she took a step closer. Peering through the window, she strained her eyes for any sign of movement, but after a minute or two, she sighed and gave up. Turning back around, she began shuffling through some more items, looking for anything useful in order to answer her questions. She picked up many random things and was beginning to lose hope. This is all standard biology equipment. She reached out to grab a shadow on the table she thought was a tea tray, but her arm froze and her breathing shuttered to a stop. Her arm was glowing a faint green. Panicking and thinking that she had been exposed to radiation and was glowing green like something straight out of a sci-fi movie, she frantically reached to scrub her arm. When her other arm was caught in the light immediately, she put the pieces together. This is coming from a light source. Swallowing, she slowly turned around, her eyes widening and her mouth dropping open.
Hovering in front of the window were two huge green lights. No, eyes! She curled in on herself as her logical mind struggled to put together the pieces. They have to be the same eyes as before! But why did I not see them earlier?! What is happening! Her thoughts were running at a million miles per hour, struggling to process what was in front of her.
The lights shifted and seemed to dim a bit, and she sucked in a breath as dark, dialated pupils came into view. By now she was up against the back wall frantically trying to find the door as her eyes stared into the other pair across from her. A single pupil was the size of her face. This can't be happening. An organism of this magnitude defies the laws of physics! She finally felt a door handle and was ready to bolt out when a low moan, the same as before, vibrated through the air. Freezing halfway through the door, disobeying ever instinct inside her, she looked over her shoulder. The eyes had widened and seemed even bigger than before, but her breath caught as she realized.
It doesn't want me to leave.
A flicker of sadness shot through her before her logical mind took over.
To hell with that.
