The Endless Escape: Part 2

Ann put her phone away and sat back in her chair. This conversation had gone better than expected; maybe she hadn't screwed up that bad after all. She sighed and pulled out her laptop again. Time to finish this damn article for the magazine. Maybe she'd finish it today, or at least try to. Maybe there was a chance she would succeed on her deadline next week, and maybe not. A couple more hours of work, and she could finally go home. Just then, the phone rang again. Ann hesitated, debating answering it or pretending she hadn't heard it, before she sighed, picked it up, and set the receiver back into its cradle. She could ignore it, but her curiosity won out over self-preservation.

“Mr. Wright! I'm so glad you called. How are things going?”

She listened as Mr. Wright explained the progress he'd made and his plan to move forward with the case. For most of this, he went on without interruption, but then he mentioned something that caught Ann off guard.

“Are you alright? You seem preoccupied.”

Ann bit her lip and considered ignoring the question, but then she shook her head, remembering the promise she'd made earlier.

“Things are great. I'm just busy working.”

“I hope everything goes well. I trust that you're finding it a bit tiring at times, but I'm sure it'll pay off someday!”

“Yeah, it will. Thanks, Mr. Wright.”

As she hung up the phone, Ann wondered why she had made the promise, or if it even mattered anymore. She sighed and reached down to turn on her computer, but it didn't start. Instead, a light flashed on and illuminated the screen showing some kind of message from an unknown account. Ann frowned as she recognized it.

Hey, this might sound weird but… are you Ann Chase?

The words appeared on her screen and she felt as if someone had kicked her hard in the gut. She could almost feel the familiar pain of her chest tightening with fear.

This isn't happening right now! She yelled internally. This doesn't happen! Why is this happening?! Why? Why?!

Ann was panicking. The last thing she needed was to have this person follow her home. Sure, that'd probably happen sooner or later anyway, she doubted she'd have anywhere private to sleep after this, but still; she couldn't let anyone else see her like this. Ann looked up at the camera above her desk once again. happening?! Why? Why?! WHY?!!

But nothing happened. There was nothing in front of her except for blank white. It didn't help that it was just so quiet… so still… she was starting to feel as if she was floating along, just waiting for something to happen… anything.

Suddenly though, a noise broke her out of her trance. It sounded close by. Like something was falling. Or… moving. Ann turned her head to look behind her and saw that the elevator door had opened while she'd been staring at nothing and was slowly lowering itself until it was hanging just a foot or so from the ground.

“Who's there?” she demanded. It was loud; far too loud to be coming through any ordinary system. There were screams somewhere; women screaming and crying and crying.

“What was that?” Ann muttered under her breath as she jumped up from her seat. There was something wrong, very wrong. “No… no, it can't be. No way. No fucking way,” she repeated, shaking her head in disbelief. “Please God doesn't let this be real, I can't take it right now. I swear to God I'll kill myself before I'll accept this.”

Ann spun around frantically searching for a way out of the room. This can't… I've got to stop it.”

She ran to the elevator; her legs suddenly feeling heavier and heavier with each step she took until the ground seemed miles beneath her feet as she stumbled into the elevator. The doors opened almost instantly, and Ann stepped inside, pushing the button for the fourth floor. She watched the doors slide shut, sealing her in with a sickening screech that filled her ears for several moments and sent a shiver down her spine before it faded into silence.

Her heart was hammering violently against her ribs and pounding loudly in her ears, echoing around the metal confines of the elevator car.

“Just stay calm Ann, you can handle this. You're strong. You got this! This is just another case. Just like any other.”

And as soon as the doors reopened, everything was different again.

It felt as if she had somehow stepped out of another dimension altogether. All around her, it was completely silent and completely black. But somehow Ann knew that she wasn't alone. Somewhere nearby, she could hear voices whispering, but they seemed so far away, as though they belonged to someone she'd never met before in her entire life. She struggled desperately to find them, looking around frantically but failing to locate them. She stood frozen still, her breathing heavy as she fought back panic. What the hell was going on?

After what seemed like an eternity, she suddenly began to feel a presence standing behind her. As she turned around she saw a face and a face that should have been impossible to see at this exact moment, as it had no color whatsoever, like a ghost.

“I am dead... I am dead, right?” Ann said to herself,