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TNAC

004

I was walkin' down one of the hallways, on the thirty-thousandth floor, I'd just gotten a call from Yorm Uldanthra Lord of all of Ebsenka, the ten armed warrior king, ravager of the plains of Ulmanu. They get very touche if you leave out their titles. Them and their minions had just preformed the rites of the death god Bublamu in the fifth lobby on the floor. It was a complete mess, the walls were painted in yellow blood and they'd left the remains of the hulmbaba right there on the coffee table.

I'm all about folk around here being able to be themselves and live out their culture to the best of their abilities, but seriously? Leavin' the ritual sacrifice right there on the coffee table? So unsanitary. I don't get paid enough to clear up hulmbaba's. Too many arms and eyes. Twitches for hours after death too. An absolute nightmare to clean up.

Anyway, I'm there tryin' to shove all twenty hulmbaba legs into a single trash bag, my first mistake, when all the lights start flickerin. Not usually concernin' on that floor since the Royal Electric theater rents a room there, but this felt different. There was a cold wind and some quiet whispers, they felt evil you know? Couldn't make out what they were sayin' but whatever it was was dark.

Whoever was whisperin' didn't know me, but they wanted to hurt me.

They wanted to hurt me real bad.

₩Ɇ'ⱤɆ ⱧɆⱤɆ. ₩Ɇ ₥Ɇ₳₦ ɎØɄ ₦Ø Ⱨ₳Ɽ₥.

₩Ɇ'ⱤɆ ⱧɆⱤɆ. ₩Ɇ ₥Ɇ₳₦ ɎØɄ Ⱨ₳Ɽ₥.

₩Ɇ'ⱤɆ ⱧɆⱤɆ. ₩Ɇ ₥Ɇ₳₦ ɎØɄ ₦Ø Ⱨ₳Ɽ₥.

The hulmbaba started twitchin' in my arms, so I took my eyes off the hallway to try and shove it back in the bag and make sure it didn't break the table and when I looked back the lights had stopped flickerin' and there were three . . . three things standing there.

They weren't there, but they were there. They were the absence of anything. Not darkness, not shadow, but just . . . nothing. But shaped like a human, or at least humanoid. Two arms, two legs, torso and head. They just stood there for a minute while i tried to shove the damned animal into the trash bag but didn't dare take my eyes off them.

The damned thing stopped twitchin so i took the chance to get it all the way in the bag. My second mistake was lookin' away from the hallway for a moment, to get it's stupid giraffe head into the bag. When I looked back the things were closer.

They'd made no noise while movin.

Didn't even sound like they breathed. They were just not there.

The whispers started gettin' louder, meaner too. Didn't feel like they were comin from the . . . the entities. When you've been doin this as long as I have, you get good at pickin up on these things. The whisper's accompanied these entities but they did not emanate from them.

ⱧɆⱠ₱ Ʉ₴. ɎØɄ ₥Ʉ₴₮ ⱧɆⱠ₱ Ʉ₴.

I managed to tie the bag without lookin away, but the hulmbaba started thrashin' and knocked over the table. My eyes were off the hallway for a second but when I looked back they were right next to me. The whispers were deafnin' and the middle entity started reachin out to me. I . . .

₩ⱧɎ ĐØ ɎØɄ ⱤɄ₦? ₩Ɇ ₦ɆɆĐ ɎØɄ. ₩Ɇ ₩₳₦₮ ₮Ø ₵Ɽ₳₩Ⱡ ł₦₴łĐɆ ɎØɄ ₳₦Đ ₮₳₭Ɇ ₩Ⱨ₳₮ ₩łⱠⱠ ⱧɆⱠ₱ Ʉ₴.

It was askin for help. I just know it.

₩ⱧɎ ĐØ ɎØɄ ⱤɄ₦? ₩Ɇ ₦ɆɆĐ ɎØɄ. ₩Ɇ ₩₳₦₮ ₮Ø ₵Ɽ₳₩Ⱡ ł₦₴łĐɆ ɎØɄ ₳₦Đ ₮₳₭Ɇ ₩Ⱨ₳₮ ₩łⱠⱠ ⱧɆⱠ₱ Ʉ₴.

I'm ashamed to admit it but I ran. Somethin inside me yelled that if that thing touched me it'd be ugly. That somethin' inside me would be ripped out and something dark and inky would crawl into that empty space and follow me around until the day I died. I tripped over the bag as I tried to escape, incident papers all spilled outta my bag onto the floor but I didn' stop.

₩Ɇ ₩łⱠⱠ ₭₦Ø₩ ɎØɄ ₳₦Đ ɎØɄ ₩łⱠⱠ ₭₦Ø₩ Ʉ₴.

I ran passed the other two, they didn't even reach out, just watched me leave. Didn't stop runnin till I got to the elevators and then when I got to the first floor I ran to my room and called The Guardians. Figured I better use 'em if they're gettin' paid. It was just him when I opened the door, guess they didn't believe an senile old woman babblin about shadow people enough to send the whole crew.

His names Colt, by the way. It's changed since he was a babe but that doesn't surprise me. I've changed my name a few times too, runs in the family.

He was very polite, walked with me back to the floor and wasn't even sarcastic when we got there and they were gone. Even helped finish the clean up. His mama certainly raised him right. . .

Anyway, I'm tired. Had to haul those trash bags down to the incinerator all on my lonesome since Colt was called to a different floor.

I'll write again later.

Be well, and watch your back.

₩Ɇ ₳ⱤɆ ₴₮łⱠⱠ ⱧɆⱤɆ. ₩Ɇ ₳ⱤɆ ₩ł₮Ⱨ ⱧɆⱤ.

₩Ɇ ₳ⱤɆ ₴₮łⱠⱠ ⱧɆⱤɆ. ₩Ɇ ₳ⱤɆ ₩ł₮Ⱨ ɎØɄ.

₩Ɇ ₳ⱤɆ ₴₮łⱠⱠ ⱧɆⱤɆ. ₩Ɇ ₳ⱤɆ ₩ł₮Ⱨ ⱧɆⱤ.

#fiction #spacebetweenspaces #eldtrichnightmares #TheNightwoodApartmentComplex