Something I found while going through my word documents · 5:56pm Jan 20th, 2019

I actually remember making this for a creative writing class from last year. Just figured I might as well share to anyone willing to read it. Apologies for any errors contained within, it is largely unedited.

In a dark room lit by a single lamp hanging from the ceiling, all was quiet. There were no windows, and the only way in or out was a steel door that was to be locked at all times. There was nothing inside the room save for a table, a chair, and camera mounted on a tripod.
The camera faced the wall opposite a steel door; smooth and featureless, the wall was not made of the surrounding brick, and for all appearances looked more like an opening to an empty abyss that existed just beyond the boundaries of the chamber.
For hours, sometimes days at a time the room was empty, and would go undisturbed. It was only when those that had commissioned for the room to be built decided to make use of it that the door would finally open, letting in the pale light of the lamps in the hallway to stream in as a sturdily built man walked inside, briefcase held in his right hand.
The man was well dressed in a grey suit, his thinning hairline combed over to cover up the growing bald spot upon his brow. He set the briefcase on the table, producing a dull thud on the steel surface.
Before doing anything else the man walked over to the camera, turning it on and setting it the proper function and checking to make sure that it was working as it should, per standard procedure.
He sat down on the chair and undid the latches holding the briefcase closed, exposing its contents as a collection of papers and checklists, as well as tape recorder. He organized them into two little stacks on either side, and when the briefcase was emptied he closed it, setting it on the floor next the chair.
With that he began his work, reading the papers thoroughly and marking off the checklists with a ballpoint pen. He checked the time on his wristwatch, then pressed the record button on the tape recorder.
“Time is fourteen-hundred hours,” he said in a bored manner, writing down everything he said on a blank sheet of paper. He glanced up at the wall and the camera, the red light blinking at regular intervals. “As always there seems to be no reaction from subject Type-N upon arrival. Now commencing standard observation procedure. Awaiting further instructions.”
The man waited, staring at the wall in disinterest. Every half hour he would write his observations on the paper before making a mark on his checklist depending on what he did or didn’t see. In due time the list was almost filled entirely with boxes marked with a red X.
He sighed in boredom, privately wondering what his purpose here even was. Not once in the time he had been stationed in this God-forsaken place had he ever been given a clear explanation as to what he was doing in this small, claustrophobic room. The most clarification he had ever received was that if were to see anything, anything at all, then he was to immediately write it down and inform his superiors when the time came for him to eventually leave the room. When he asked about what he was supposed to be watching for, all he had been told was that there was something in there. What that something was, he apparently was not allowed to know.
At first, he had been anxious at the thought of being locked in a small room with something he knew almost nothing about, but the mystery of the task quickly lost its charm after the second day. Or maybe it was the third? In all honesty he was not entirely sure how long ago that had been. At this point, it all might as well have been one long day that never ended, dragging on incessantly as he waited for something to happen.
It was enough to give him a headache, and he pressed his fingers against his temples in an attempt to assuage to dull ache in his brain.
When his wristwatch indicated that he had been sitting there for four hours, he checked the wall and made note of it with another X in the checklist.
He glanced at the camera, and for a brief moment afterward he did not realize that the red light was no longer blinking. He froze, caught off guard by the sudden development and for a long moment he wondered if he was supposed to do anything about it. He stood up and walked over to the camera, unsure if he remembered something like this happened before. Usually it was
charged at all times as it had been plugged in since the day he first knew about this room. It was always a constant that never ceased to function and yet now, for some unknown reason, it had stopped working.
He checked the camera from all angles. There were no loose wires. Nothing seemed to be missing. It was mounted securely on the tripod. The little screen on the side was undamaged. By all accounts it should still be functioning as it always had.
The man knew that he should go and tell someone about this, but the door was still locked, and would remain as such until the it was time for him to leave, and not a moment before. It lacked even a doorknob. In the meantime, he supposed he ought to make note of it in his papers, if only so that it could be looked at by someone who actually knew what they were doing.
Just as he was about to sit back into the chair and record his observations, the camera suddenly flared to life once again, startling him as it let out a low whine.
“What the hell?” he muttered, feeling his frustration increase along with his headache as he walked back over to the camera. The screen was blue, and a single line of text could be seen at the top.
HEL4444
Confused, he decided to take matters into his own hands as he turned the camera off, hoping it go back to normal. He waited a minute, then turned it back on, standing idly by as he waited for it to reboot. When it finally did, he once more checked the screen to ensure that it was behaving as it should. The screen flickered a few times before returning to recording, the red light blinking away.
He then saw something move within the murky abyss.The screen once again flashed blue, and the same line of text scrolled across.
HEL4444
The man looked away from the camera, his gaze going to the wall, where he saw it.
Huge.
Pale white in coloration.
Lacking eyes yet staring at him all the same from within its glass cage.
The thing drew closer, tapping its long, toothy snout against the glass, and the man found himself shaking in terror as he desperately hoped the barrier was thick enough that it would not simply break through. Just then he felt a spike of pain in the back of his head, causing him to grimace as a noise vaguely similar to that of static permeated his thoughts, drowning them out and making it hard to think.
In the corner of his eye, he noticed more text on the camera screen. Reluctant to take his eyes off the thing, he risked a quick glance only to see the same message, repeating over and over across the blue backdrop.
HEL4444
“What in the world?” he muttered, wanting nothing more than to just leave. Suddenly the screen went to static, emitting a piercing whine that seemed to echo throughout his skull.
He couldn’t scream. It would not let him scream, as it forced him to listen. He could hear it, its thoughts overriding his own while he desperately clung onto anything that would keep him from being erased. Struggling to stay upright he staggered towards the door, but did not get far as he fell to the ground, unable to focus on anything.
The sound of static grew louder with each passing second, and within moments it felt as though his skull were about to explode from the pain that this thing was enacting upon him.
He couldn’t run. He couldn’t move anymore. All he could hear was its voice echoing in his head, smothering his thoughts and turning his mind into a perpetual state of agony.
Hello.