Day 1 (part2)

"Alec, there you are!" a voice called out from behind, causing me to turn and find the senior guard who had guided me earlier in the afternoon.

"Hello? I thought you said you had urgent matters to attend to?" I queried, tilting my head in confusion. After all, Max had assured me that his duties were complete for the day and that we would reconvene tomorrow. His sudden appearance was unexpected, to say the least.

"What? I think you've mistaken me for someone else. I haven't been here all afternoon. In fact, I was in a meeting with the head chief and just got back," he clarified, a puzzled expression crossing his face.

A chill ran down my spine as I processed his words. If this wasn't Max, then who had I been speaking to earlier? The voice, the face—they had been identical...

Wait, why was the man's face earlier so blurry in my memory? And why couldn't I recall his name?

Unease gnawed at me as Max, the real one, began to explain the same set of rules that had been relayed to me earlier. Despite the familiarity of the guidelines, I couldn't shake the feeling of dread that gripped me.

"Thank you for the document and the heads up, but I don't think a tour is necessary after all..." I murmured, my troubled expression not escaping Max's notice.

"Well, that's fortunate because it's already evening. Remember the rules we discussed. I must be off now," Max responded briskly, giving my shoulder a reassuring tap before departing.

Left alone with my thoughts, I couldn't help but dwell on the unsettling encounter. Had I unwittingly conversed with a ghost or some other spectral entity? The implications were chilling, to say the least.

As I mulled over the events of the day, a sinking feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. Had I made a grave mistake by disregarding Max's warnings? Only time would tell, but one thing was certain: things were about to get a lot more complicated within the confines of Shadowvale Prison.

...𖣎...

...𖣎...

...𖣎...

The dim glow of my watch revealed the time—11:40 p.m. My footsteps echoed softly against the cold, unforgiving floor of the prison corridor as I patrolled the cells, lost in my own thoughts. Suddenly, a sharp buzz from the walkie talkie jolted me from my reverie. I hesitated, glancing at the time. It was still a few minutes shy of the forbidden hour, but curiosity gnawed at me. What if it was urgent?

"Hello?" I spoke tentatively into the device, but there was no response. Unease crept over me as silence greeted my inquiry.

With a sense of foreboding, I released the button, cutting off the connection. The walkie talkie fell silent, but a chill lingered in the air, prickling at my skin.

I stole a glance at my watch once more, only to find my heart lurching in my chest. It was midnight—12:00 a.m. I had unwittingly broken the rule, and fear clutched at my heart like icy tendrils.

Desperate to shake off the unsettling feeling, I continued my patrol, my senses on high alert. But as I encountered another guard along the way, a new sense of dread settled over me.

The guard seemed oblivious to the rules, casually answering the buzzing walkie talkie as if it were a routine occurrence. Panic bubbled within me as I watched his strange behavior, his features contorted in an unnatural grin.

"Why did you pick up the walkie talkie? Aren't you afraid of the consequences?" I stammered, my voice trembling with fear.

The guard's gaze snapped to mine, and horror washed over me as I beheld his grotesque visage. His eyes were like voids, devoid of humanity, and his mouth twisted into an unsettling grin that seemed to stretch from ear to ear.

Paralyzed with fear, I watched in horror as his features morphed before my eyes, shifting and contorting in ways that defied comprehension. A wave of terror washed over me as I realized the true nature of the entity before me—a being not of this world, wearing the guise of a guard.

My mind raced with fear and confusion as I struggled to comprehend the nightmare unfolding before me. Time seemed to warp and bend, the minutes slipping away like grains of sand through an hourglass.

I glanced at my watch once more, only to find the hour hand stubbornly pointing to 1:00 a.m. How could it be? It felt like mere moments had passed since midnight, yet here I stood, staring into the abyss of time, trapped in a nightmarish reality of my own making.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***