Chapter 4: 8-1-12-12-21-3-9-14-1-20-9-15-14-19
After having stayed up for the night and seeing the sun rise from the distance when morning arrives, I finally managed to get up after having laid in bed, having done nothing but stare at the ceiling for the entire night. I knew, that if I fell asleep, I would get a nightmare from what happened in campaign hours ago. And thus, I didn't even get any sleep whatsoever at all.
The first thing I did as I woke up, was go to my kitchen and get myself a cup of water to wake myself up and ready myself for work as usual in just a few hours while getting myself some breakfast. Ironically enough, the place I work at is an aquarium, where many types of fish, animals, and marine life are displayed and explained by the staff there to the people whom are interested in what the ocean has to offer. I was the one who fed the fish and sea animals there, and it was an overall fun job to do. However, today wasn't as fun as I hoped it to be.
I got in my car, and began driving through the town earlier than expected, not many people having woken up due to it only being 6:38 AM, which was far too early for me to go to work. However, I needed some fresh air before work even started, so once I arrived to the aquarium all by myself, I got out of my car and began walking around the driveway, breathing in all of the air I could as I took a look around my surroundings. Hours passed by as I just enjoyed the view of the ocean, until I heard the sound of a car door opening and shutting behind me.
"Hey, Sam! What are you doing here so early in the morning?" My boss, whom I'll refer to as "Richard" walks up to me with a surprised look on him, to which I turn to look at him, trying to form a smile on my face.
"I just couldn't sleep tonight, Richard. So I had to get some fresh air, and relax a bit before work." I bluntly say to him, my boss responding to me with a nod, and proceeding to ask me if I want to take a day off with a hint of concern in his voice.
"Nah, I don't really need a day off. I kind of need the money and all that to live, you know." I barely crack a smile under my tired facade, as me and my Richard went inside of the building where the fish and sea animals are. He and I proceed to go up to where he usually is during work, and he opens the fridge, taking out plastic containers containing the food required to feed the animals.
"Take all the time you need before work, Sam. I'm not going to rush you, since you almost look like a damn mess!" Richard politely smiles at me before going to work on his computer. I just stare at the plastic container for a while, before grabbing it and getting to work on feeding the fish for today. I won't go into too much detail of what happened, and just skip the unnecessary details. But there was something strange with the fish today. The fish were acting a little more aggressively toward me than they usually were when I tried feeding them, and even some of the stingrays and small-spotted catsharks tried attacking me while I was feeding them while the others just splashed water on me, which was unusual, since the fish never harass or attack me whenever I tried feeding them before.
After about two hours pass, I manage to finish feeding the fish and sea animals, and walk up to the second floor of the building where Richard is to let him know that my job is done.
"I'm done feeding for today, Richard!" I exclaim as he looks at me with a smile on him, taking off his glasses. "Alright, Sam! I'll give you your paycheck when everyone's work for today is over!" I proceed place the plastic containers in the sink, and walk out of the room back downstairs as I sit by the table and wait for everyone's work to be over.
I soon hear the door open, and hear children giggling and talking as they all run inside of the building with two adults looking after them. One of the adults look at me, and walks over to me.
"Hey, do you know where your boss is?" The female adult asks me, to which I call for Richard, and he soon comes down from upstairs, chuckling upon seeing the children and teachers.
"Howdy! You all must be here to see how life in the ocean is like, aren't you?" Most of the children let out excited giggles, cheers and laughs, already giving my boss the answer he needs as he smiles at everyone. "Alright! Allow me to give you all a tour, and show you what kinds of fish we have here for you children to learn about!" Richard nods at me, then tells me to go check up on the fish in the nursery and hatcheries as I leave the aquarium and walk to the building next to it.
Upon opening the door and stepping inside of the nursery, I greet two of the employees inside, and check up on the fish as I begin feeding them shrimps that my boss gave me before leaving.
"So, how's today's work, Sam?" One of my co-workers, whom I'll refer to as Lucy asks me as one of the cods eat the shrimp and secludes itself somewhere in the corner. "Oh, just the usual. Had fun feeding the fish, and all that." I smiled, feeding a small turbot as it swallows the shrimp in one gulp after swimming a close enough distance toward it.
"Should've known that you would have fun as usual, Sam. Anyways, there's been something unusual happening to the fish here lately." She looks at one of the cods inside of the large plastic containers along with stingrays and flounders, the cod seeming to be even more aggressive than it usually was, as I proceed to feed it in an attempt to calm it down, only for it to splash some water onto all three of us as it violently takes the food.
"Yeah, I can obviously tell from their behaviour. Should we report this to Richard?" I ask Lucy and her friend, to which all 3 of us agree on doing so, and leave the building. Before closing the door, however, I could a faint crying sound from inside as I stop in my tracks.
"Do you two hear that sound?" I ask them both, as we all just remain in silence, the two of them looking at me with a confused expression. "What sound? We're not hearing anything." Lucy says to me, as I look at the door behind me and continue hearing the faint crying from within.
"You two should report the fishes' behaviour to Richard. I'll go see what the sound from inside the nursery is." I say with a somewhat serious tone, as both Lucy and her friend go inside where my boss and the group of children are while I enter the nursery once more.
Once I step inside, I could start hearing the crying somewhere in the building even clearer now, but I didn't know where it was coming from at the time. I began walking in the building, hearing the water running from the pipes stop all of a sudden as I began feeling a bit uneasy. I let out a sigh, calming myself down from my paranoia as I continue walking through the silent nursery, hearing the sounds of the fish in the containers swimming and quiet water splash. I looked inside, seeing the fish inside just remaining motionless and idle as if they were frozen in time. I shrugged it off, and began looking around the building to see if I could find the source of the crying.
Recommended Ambience: Heartbeat
Suddenly, everything in the building went completely dark as my fear began to settle in. I took out my phone, input the password and turned on the flashlight application as the darkened building began to light up a bit. I was scared, I was nervous, and I was sweating at the same time. I quickly walked to the door, wanting to get out of the dark building, only to find out that it's locked. I tried unlocking it, but it wouldn't budge and open.
I was just dumbstruck at how the door couldn't be unlocked from inside the building, so I had to resort to finding a spare key that will let me open the locked door. Looking around the area, I shined the flashlight into one of the aquariums, only to see that the fish that were in the there are now completely gone along with the decorations. I soon felt a splitting headache afterward, placing my left hand on my head while trying to regain focus as I sluggishly begin walking to where the crying is coming from.
I open one of the doors, hearing the crying become slightly louder as I begin shaking. "I must be heading in the right direction..." I think to myself, overwhelmed by nervousness as I feel sweat drops roll down my face. Eventually, I open the door leading into the construction room, much to the door loudly creaking as I step inside. Nothing but boxes and containers inside along with construction equipment, as I try turning on the light switch, but to no avail. I soon notice, that the crying has stopped, and I just stand perfectly still and remain quiet as I begin to hear something. Quiet footsteps along with the sound of my heartbeat.
My heart begins to race, as I slowly back away into the room I came out of, and slam the door shut as I hear something familiar that grabs my attention afterward.
Recommended Music: Luna Game Soundtrack - The End Is Neigh/Evil Enchantress
A distorted scream of Callie is heard as I dash away, and try to find a hiding spot as I hear the door being busted open and kicked down. I quietly look up from behind one of the fish containers, and to my utter horror and dismay, I see one of the Squid Sisters standing where the door is, the door having fallen to the ground as she begins walking around the area I am in.
But something seems much, much more different with Callie as I examine the finer details on the Squid Sister. Her clothes have been ripped and tattered, along with some of her tentacles that form her hair having been slashed and cut off with dark ink dropping out of it. The most disturbing part, is that she completely lacks a body, save for the white glowing eyes that barely illuminate the area and the clothes she usually wears. Just by looking at her, I begin to feel something painful in my head along with a screeching noise as I shut my eyes completely shut and continue to hide. I hear footsteps echoing around the building, as I begin to sneak past Callie as silently as possible without grabbing her attention.
At this point, I so badly wanted to get up and start running like a crazy mental patient. But judging by how Callie managed to bust down the door with a swift kick, running from her would be futile, as she would just catch up to me and do something bad to me. I look to my left and right while hiding in between the containers, seeing Callie walking to the left and flipping over some of the containers as water flows out of it. Callie doesn't seem to be affected by the water once it touches her shoes, since she doesn't have a body.
Eventually, after sneaking past the Squid Sister, I enter the room she came out of and turn on my flashlight. In hindsight, this was an incredibly stupid idea, since it would give away my position to the Squid Sister, but I would need the light to see where I can find the door leading back to the aquarium. I begin looking around, turning off my flashlight whenever I hear Callie's footsteps come towards me and remain silent until her footsteps go away. Thankfully, it doesn't take too long for me to find some keys hidden somewhere on a table in the room I am in, and I grab them as soon as I see them.
Recommended Music: Cry of Fear OST - Sawrunner
I quickly make a mad dash through the containers and boxes in the construction area after grabbing the key for the locked entrance door, not caring whether or not Callie is behind me. I hop over a set of crates, and soon begin to hear rapid, loud footsteps behind me along with the same droning sound when I saw the Squid Sister bust the door down. I dare not to turn around, knowing that the nightmarish Callie is inches behind me, ready to catch me and do whatever she wants with me. What should've been an easy and straightforward path after I left the construction room has now turned into a maze of containers, crates and boxes blocking my path to my exit.
My head begins to get a headache again, but it feels much, much worse as I let out a painful cry, hearing loud footsteps behind me again as I begin running through the maze with Callie chasing me down. I turn to the right, and follow the path in front of me, hoping in vain that it's a way out of this darkened building. There is no way in HELL that this is real, but instead, a hallucination that's eating away my mind from me having a lack of sleep last night. I soon hear a distant, but faint cry somewhere in the building that sounds human, but at the same time, doesn't. I turn to the left after reaching the end of the corridor of boxes and containers, and continue dashing through the maze.
I so badly wanted to scream for help, but I didn't want to catch the attention of the demonic Squid Sister as I just ran through what seemed to be an endless hall. My liver began to hurt from running and sprinting, and the headache just made it worse overall. But thankfully, at the end of the hallway, I saw some light. The exit. With the last of my stamina, I ran as fast as I could to the door at the end of the maze, but not before hearing something horrifying some meters behind me. Before unlocking the door, I look behind me, and see Callie running toward me, her gloves turning into razor-sharp claws as she proceeds let out a demonic roar and leaps at me in order to kill me with the claws. Just before she can do that though, I hastily open the door, and slam it shut as I end up back outside, seeing my boss and co-workers with worried looks on them once they see me.
Recommended to stop the music
"Sam! Are you alright!? You look like you've seen a ghost!" My boss exclaims in worry before I all of a sudden fall onto the asphalt, beginning to gag and throw up from all the running from the nightmarish Squid Sister. Richard soon helps me back up to my feet while I try to hold back from vomiting, as I point to the door containing Callie inside.
"Do NOT go in there, Richard... Something's in there, and it tried to MURDER ME AND SHRED ME INTO BITS!" I scream in fear, beginning to form tears in my eyes as I curl up into a fetal position. Richard looks baffled at first, and soon enters the building containing Callie inside. However, he soon closes the door behind him, and looks at me with a confused look.
"What are you talking about, Sam? Everything looks just as normal in there like it should!" He says, to which it confuses me as I open the door back inside, and see that everything has returned back to what it was. Part of me was right, it was just a hallucination I suffered.
I began explaining everything that happened in the hallucination to my boss and co-workers, ranging from how the fish inside just stopped moving, how the building went dark, and how the demonic Callie chased me down inside and tried to kill me. Needless to say, my boss told me to go home and get some sleep for tomorrow, sounding concerned as well as he proceeds to give me my daily paycheck of about 29 dollars. I thank him, and wish everyone goodbye as I get inside of my car and start driving back home to my house, seeing my boss and colleagues go back inside of the aquarium where the children possibly are.
As I was driving back home, I couldn't help, but wonder about why a hallucination of Callie tried to kill me without remorse or regret. Then I remembered about last night, about how I was to blame for her death alongside my inkling character being the executioner. While thinking about this, I look at the rear-view mirror to see for any cars behind me, only to let out a shriek as I see the demonic Callie behind me, and quickly turn to look behind me. Nothing. It's as if she never existed, as I just let out a sigh of relief and knock some sense into myself, slapping myself in the face.
"FUCK! Keep it together, Sam! Stop thinking about these hallucinations!" I say out loud, and drive through the familiar neighborhood where my house is, parking my car on the driveway. I begin walking to my house after exiting my car, rubbing my eyes and letting out a yawn as I unlock the door to my house and enter it. I take off my shoes, jacket, and sweater as I walk to my the kitchen to get a glass of water. While opening my fridge and pouring some water into the cup, I hear the something come from my room as I place the bottle of water back inside of the fridge and walk to my room and take a swig of my cup, only to nearly spit the water out as I see that my Wii U having been turned on, as well as my television along with the view of Cap'n Cuttlefish's house, rain falling down along with the sound of a thunderstorm coming from the television.
Author's Note: Welp, now we're into creepypasta/horror story territory from this point on.
I won't say much, but this won't be the last time you'll see Callie's hallucination whom I'll refer to as "Hallucination Callie". And there will be two main gimmicks in this story. The campaign itself, and the hallucinations stalking and trying to kill the protagonist. And yes, you heard me right. "Hallucinations". Hallucination Callie won't be the only hallucination stalking the protagonist.
Let's move onto Chapter 5, shall we? Oh wait, it's not out yet. Or is it? Oh well, depends in what timeline you all live in. Heheheheh... =)
EDIT: Regarding a question asked by Splattifying Agent 2, if one of the hallucinations touch the protagonist, he'll die from epilepsy, a fatal heart attack along with seeing disturbing imagery before dying.