Prologue

The screws poked painfully into Mark's fingers as he twisted them. It felt as though his fingers were being torn apart, but he just kept twisting the screws out of place. He had to. The vent beyond was his only escape. He looked behind him at the stacked chairs and boxes he placed in front of the door, knowing that this barricade was only a temporary solution. If he stayed in the room any longer, he would be done for.

Finally, he had removed the final screw from its hole, and yanked the vent grate off. Time to get out of here. he thought. Just in time too, for when he looked back, he could already see his flimsy barricade falling apart, and the door being forced open. That was all Mark needed to see before clambering into the vent.

Crawling hastily through the darkened ventilation system, Mark could hear his breathing, labored but steady, no doubt his nerves getting the best of him. He tried to control his breathing, as to not give away his location. His only source of light was the flashlight he clutched tightly in his hand. Back and forth, he moved the light around him as he continued to crawl. Up and down, left and right, but no matter how many times he flashed the light, or how many turns he made, he felt like he would never find another vent grate to escape through.

Eventually, Mark found the only other vent grate he could find. Praying that it would yield to him, he quickly approached it, and began to push. He pushed so hard, so desperately was he to escape. Maybe it was his sheer force of will, but Mark had managed to force the vent grate off. Eagerly, he crawled out of the vents and stood back up on his feet. The room was dark, devoid of any signs of life, much to Mark's relief. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could make out a door across the room. The door was slightly creaked open, and there was just the faintest hint of light from beyond. This was it. This was his only chance.

With slow, even-paced steps, Mark made his way to the door, accidentally pushing something in the darkness, making him jump a little. He saw that it was only a wet floor sign, and continued.

Mark knew the hallway beyond the room led to the nearest exit, but he knew he only had so little time to reach it. Not seeing how he could sneak his way through in time, he decided to just make a break for the exit. As he ran, the overhead lights flickered, but it was still just enough light for Mark to see the exit door. Safety was mere moments away. If he could just push his way through this last obstacle, he would be home-free. But the door was locked tight. It just wouldn't open, no matter how hard Mark pulled and pushed. It just stayed in place.

Dud-dud-dum-dum…Du-dum-diddly-doom…

That humming. It sounded so close. Mark looked over his shoulder at the hallway he had just came from, but saw nothing, so he continued trying to open the door.

Da-da Ba-bah, dudum…

Mark heard the humming again. And something else. Footsteps. They were heavy, like metal hitting the floor, but at an even pace. His situation was becoming even more dire. But still, the door stayed firmly shut. Why do they do this anyway? Mark thought. To keep me from leaving? Or to keep them inside?

Now the footsteps and humming started to pick up the pace, and Mark started ramming into the door, trying to force it open, to no avail. It was no use. That door would never yield to him.

All he could do was turn around…and face what was waiting for him.

Mark slowly opened his eyes, but his vision was too blurry for him to see anything at first. It felt like he was sitting down on a chair, but when he tried to stand up, he found himself unable to. Once his vision became clear, he looked down to see that his body was strapped down by a large metal bar. Looking on either side of him, he saw that two smaller bars restrained his wrists.

He looked above him, and found himself staring at something round. He couldn't tell what it was, but it looked like some round object with a small split down the center. After a few minutes, the split down his face began to open. Inside the round object were multiple gears, each of them with spiked tips. Then the gears started rotating, spinning in place as the object started to lean in closer to Mark's horrified face.

Mark struggled frantically, trying to free himself from the chair he was strapped to. Two bright red lights appeared on the inside of the object, and the gears seemed to rotate even faster the more Mark struggled.

Looking back down, Mark saw that the bolts holding his arm restraints in were loose. As before, he moved his fingers in a position where he could twist them off, the gears moving closer to his face all the while. Again and again, he twisted the bolts, but he couldn't get them loose in time.

The gears had reached Mark's face, slicing through his lower jaw, then they shredded his eyes, and the more they leaned in, blood began to splatter across the room. Streaks of crimson liquid flew through the air as Mark's cries echoed throughout the building.

He couldn't escape. No one could.