I Watch Security Cameras In An Old Government Building: Part Three

Read part one here

Read part two here

So there I was, simply at the grocery store, stocking up on various things for the house when I had received a cryptic text from Larry.

I reached into my pocket as I heard the sound of the notification and pulled out my phone. I see the message, and it reads…

“Please come in early, got some things to discuss.”

You see, you’d think that would excite me, bring me some relief, but no. Larry wouldn’t send a text like that, it’s far too risky and is literally a written record of our “activities” shall I say.

Someone else had gained access to Larry’s phone, I just knew it. I also knew that whoever it was, wouldn’t have our best interests at heart. So I had to be cautious, it was a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation.

If I’m too careful, I’ll have eyes looking my way that will notice my “safe” behavior. If I’m not careful enough, I could end up putting both Larry and I in serious danger, as if we weren’t already.

I didn’t respond to the text, instead I simply marked the notification as read, and continued on with the rest of my shopping trip. I’ll say first hand it wasn’t easy to just pretend like everything was perfectly fine, but it’s not like I really had much of a choice.

I headed into work the next day with a pit in my stomach. I stopped at Larry’s office before heading into the surveillance room, and to my relief he was in there, chipping away at a stack of paperwork.

“Evening Olivia,” He posits. But the expression on his face isn’t that of comfort, not at all. I stepped forward and entered his office.

“I got your text, sorry about not replying, was just busy with a few things before I got here,” I announced in a tone I hoped wouldn’t raise any eyebrows, should anyone be listening.

“That’s more than fine, just as long as you saw it is all that really matters,” Larry responds. Darting his eyes between his desk and me.

I caught on to the signals he was trying to convey. And that’s when I knew something was going down, and it was gonna involve us. Larry reached over to his filing cabinet and grabbed an unlabeled folder, gripping it under his arm before marching over past the threshold of his office to out in the hall.

“Let’s go outside and have a chat.” He stated in a tone that just barely concealed his unease.

“Let’s,” I reply with exaggerated enthusiasm.

“Alright.” Larry huffed as we made it outside. “My boss came in, not too long before you got here. He’s still inside visiting with the rest of the staff. He’s smarter than to say anything about us to any of them, It’s above their pay grades anyway, so we should be fine for now, but in the event we aren’t. Take this, and don’t open it until you get home. And if anyone asks what I handed you out here, tell them it’s your first quarter bonus check and benefits package documentation.”

My heart sank as the words left his lips, but I maintained my composure regardless.

“How much do you think he knows?” I grilled.

“I can’t tell, which is why I need to tell you to keep your head down, anyone talks to you or even looks at you the wrong way. Let me know, we should be in the clear for now, but from the conversation we had. We might be on his radar, and potentially people even higher up the food chain as well.”

Now, before I say what I’m about to say, I look back with the benefit of hindsight and see it was a pretty risky move to bring up at the time. But obviously, I’m still here writing this, so it didn’t turn out horribly. What am I referring to you might be asking? Well, I brought up the file I saw in the drawer some nights ago, the one with the heading that read:

“Incident Report 17-B Personnel Disappearance”

“Why were you looking around in there?” He quizzes, raising an eyebrow at me.

“Come on let’s not act like I’m the only one who’s done some snooping on stuff they shouldn’t have.”

Larry shakes his head in a manner that signaled hesitant agreement. But agreement nonetheless.

“Fair enough, but you didn’t touch it at all did you?”

“No, just caught a glimpse of it, didn’t lay a finger on it. I promise.”

“Thank god.” He huffs.

“Well… Do you know why it exists? Who’s it talking about?” I push on, to which Larry suddenly raises a hand, implying he wanted me to stop talking.

At first, I was a bit annoyed, but then he darted his eyes to the left without moving his head, I allowed mine to follow and see what had got him extra spooked out of nowhere.

In a second-floor window of the building stood a middle-aged man in a suit, his arms crossed and staring down at the both of us. An expression that screamed vexation on his face. But judging by Larry’s reaction, I knew that it was his supervisor, whom I had yet to meet.

“I’m gonna stay with you tonight on your shift, there’s something that needs to be done, and I don’t want you doing it alone.” Larry stammers.

“What?”

“I can’t tell you right now, I’ve gotta go run a few errands, but I’ll be back within the hour. If he’s still here by the time I text you and tell you that I’m on my way back, send me a plus sign, and if he’s not, a minus sign, nothing more or less.”

“I will.” I nod just before he starts walking to his car.

I turned my attention away from Larry and back up to the window, seeing that it was now empty, which left me standing there uneasy. If it was true that Larry’s boss had found out about what we had been discussing, then it was only a matter of when, and not if, things escalated further. The real question is if we would even be prepared when that time came.

I went inside and headed to the surveillance office in order to start preparing for my shift. And to the surprise of pretty much no one, Larry’s supervisor had appeared, and as I sat there in my chair, gathering up my pen, energy drinks, keys, and documentation book, he stopped by, leaning against the doorway while his arms were crossed with a disingenuous smile.

“Hi there Olivia,” He greeted, prompting me to respond with haste.

“Oh hello, Mr…”

“Roger will do just fine.” He interjects as his smirk remains.

“Great, well it’s nice to meet you Roger,” I reply, standing up and offering my hand to shake. To which he reciprocates.

“You as well Olivia.” Roger declares, his smile becoming just a bit wider.

There was a brief period of silence between us, one that was broken by Roger re-crossing his arms and beginning to lean against the doorway once more.

“Well I don’t mean to sound uptight, but obviously I’m not just here for a meet and greet. I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions face to face.”

“Sure! What’s it about if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Oh, I’ve just been gathering some feedback from the building staff in order to make sure everything is running smoothly enough for you all to perform your job duties. Plus I’ve gotta take this stuff back to the home office with me. Seems to be that you’re the only person I haven’t gotten a chance to speak to today. So I would just like to ask, how would you describe Larry’s management style?”

I pause, sifting through several potential answers. All of which posed some risk to either me, or Larry’s reputation, but if I was really being honest, I didn’t think it was about that at all, and when this ‘feedback’ of mine did make it back to the home office, it wasn’t gonna be under the guise of a simple performance evaluation.

“I’d say he’s great, always on top of things, he listens, and makes sure I have what I need to be able to perform my job duties.”

Roger’s expression suddenly turns sour, but it only lasts for a fraction of a second. As if he accidentally revealed something to me he shouldn’t have and needed to course correct.

“Well, that’s great to hear, really. Is there anything you think he might be able to improve on or correct? Don’t worry, whatever you say here won’t come back to find you.” He posits in a way that was meant to sound reassuring, but only succeeded in sending a chill up my spine.

“I’m sure maybe something might pop up in the future, I haven’t been here for very long but he seems like he’s pretty open to feedback. So perhaps I could get back to you?”

Roger’s smile fades once again, but unlike last time, He made no effort to correct or change his expression. Instead, he takes a step forward, keeping his arms crossed as he peers down at me, his lanky frame vertically filling out the doorway.

“You’re… Completely sure? There’s nothing he does that may impede your work? Nothing that you feel is holding you back from being as productive as possible?” His tone had gone from that of genuine interest to a threatening one.

“Unfortunately no.” I retort firmly with a slight head shake, doing my best to resist his attempt at intimidation.

Roger doesn’t respond verbally, purposely staying silent and likely hoping I would crack under pressure. But I remained strong, staring him down as he did the same to me.

“Well, that’s great to hear,” He laughs, his demeanor completely switching. “If you have any questions or concerns though, Larry has some copies of my information in his office, and he’s obligated to give you one if you ask.”

“I appreciate it.”

Roger then turns his back to me, facing the hallway in order to begin walking away. But before he even takes a step, he turns his head, and only his head slightly. As if feigning the desire to look at me as he spoke.

“I have to get going, got a few meetings to attend to tomorrow bright and early. Have a good shift… Olivia.”

I kept silent as he exited out into the hallway. Waiting until he entered the elevator to pull out my phone and text Larry the minus sign. And just for good measure, I went to the window to watch Roger get in his vehicle and drive away.

Later on that night, Larry and I sat in the surveillance office together. He brought in an extra chair and did some paperwork on the right corner of the desk, while I sat in the middle, staring down the monitors to look for any abnormalities.

We talked about the whole ordeal while working, but also obviously made sure to change up our exact wording, and make it sound as if whatever we were discussing wasn’t work-related.

There weren’t any cameras or listening devices in the surveillance room, but on the off chance we were wrong, we didn’t wanna shoot ourselves in the foot.

“Don’t let him intimidate you,” Larry grumbled in reference to Roger.

“I didn’t,” I replied absent-mindedly, my attention still focused on the monitors.

“Good, gonna guess he had a couple things to say about me as well?”

“He did, but it wasn’t anything too direct, just mainly implied incompetence on your part.”

“That figures.” Larry huffs, trying and mostly failing to hide his indignation. “He’s always been a dick, guy walks around like he owns every square inch of the ground he walks on. Never met someone so up their own ass.”

I didn’t blame him for being irritated, and if that’s what he has to deal with on a regular basis then I feel bad for the guy in all honesty.

We sat and worked in mostly silence for the time being, occasionally going back and forth about personal lives. Larry had informed me about his love for video games, and we went back and forth on a few that we both played, discussing both what we liked and disliked.

“Like I get that it’s not real, but getting shot in the head twice, virtual bullet or not, should make whoever it is sit their virtual ass down.” He posits with a chuckle.

“Shoot for the body, way too easy to miss headshots when they can just crouch or maneuver.”

“Yeah but then I feel like it takes way too many bull-”

Larry was interrupted when both he and I caught something off on camera four, the administration office. In the corner of the room sat a fridge that the staff used to store their various food for lunch breaks and snacks, The door to which was slightly cracked open, but the light inside the fridge was off. Which was odd, seeing as its function was connected to the door itself, when it shuts, it turns off, and when it opens, it turns on.

I grabbed my documentation book and began writing down the abnormality, keeping my report as exhaustive as usual. Larry peeked over at what I was writing, seemingly more interested in my work than his own.

His engagement would only increase once I focused in on camera two, the elevator interior, and saw something that had both of us freeze right there in our seats. There was a figure, shadowy and slightly transparent in nature, tall, broad, and humanoid in its shape. It simply stood or rather, levitated there.

It didn’t move or shift at all, it just floated there, mere inches off the ground, and by the outline of its head shape, it almost seemed as if it was staring directly at the camera, and by extension, us as well.

We both wanted to say something, to acknowledge what we were seeing, but the first few seconds of our dual observation was nothing but silence.

There wasn’t any particular protocol for me to follow regarding this scenario, as this kind of thing wasn’t meant to happen, or at least, it hadn’t before from what Larry told me. So I sat there hoping that he would be of some help.

“That’s… That’s…” I began, stuttering due to my disbelief.

“It’s the one you saw that night… Isn’t it?” He asks, his tone no longer confident.

All I respond with is a simple nod of my head.

The figure, who I know dubbed as The Shadow Guy, held his position firm, not moving one bit as he continued to seemingly stare down the camera. And I sat there, just as still as he was, looking at the monitor like a dumbfounded child with Larry.

But our near-immobile states were quickly disrupted once we heard the sound of a deep, groaning creaking coming from the ceiling above us. Although we had no visual on the source of said sound, and it wasn’t your typical “old building makes a noise” deal.

I gripped my documentation book before I looked back down at the monitor and saw that The Shadow Guy was no longer present. Squinting my eyes and leaning in closer to the monitor did nothing but confirm it. Just as he appeared, he vanished.

“We need to leave,” Larry curses with an expression of desperation manifesting. His plummeting level of confidence made me uneasy by proxy. He stood up hastily before walking over to the door and putting a hand on the lever.

“What?” I asked in a way that broadcasted I was desperate for an answer.

He simply turns his head, looking at me with a deadpanned but unsettling stare, broadcasting his fear to me.

“This room…it isn’t safe anymore.”

Credit: mrmills45

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