Our world is full of evil, greed, and corruption around obscured corners. Sometimes the line of immorality is hidden behind the agendas of one's purpose, trusting strangers always takes time. Time needed to adjust. Breaking down walls isn't easy. I'd do anything for her, but these walls aren't down yet. Thinking about love makes my body tremble like an astronaut touching Mother Earth's ground, fear and anticipation rise within me, yet I can't help but smile. 

The car locks, and the building looks as haunting as ever. The chilling walls blend into the darkness. The elevator rises until it stops at my floor. The door opens, my body crashes into pieces as my heart begins to slam against my ribcage. The office chair swirls once his gaze meets mine, blonde hair, brown eyes. My mouth falls shut, questions now buried within the depths of my mind.

"Shit, sorry, didn't mean to scare you." the world around me comes to a halt as the ticking drives even the sanest person to insanity. If honesty were present in this room, I wouldn't even be here. Only certain people work with passion. I can't do that anymore; this is my fight for survival now, my life. "Not very talkative, huh?" The half-empty glass of water rests as a drop of water trickles down the glass. 

The letters were dissolving like smoke. A force within me rises, my surroundings blur into obscurity as the struggle for survival overfloods me. The ringing drives me crazy, he's talking, but the words. I can't hear them, their muffled.

"What's your name?" The question shatters my state, "Ethan." I was never talkative, kids would always avoid me, my family is always supportive, and my best friend wants to propose to his girlfriend. me? I'm swimming, then drowning.

"You look terrible, man, take a seat on the couch." he takes a sip of his coffee, "Want a coffee?" Not many people care about me, but why does he care?

"Sure, thanks," he says, sitting back onto the chair, clearing his throat. "Rough night?" I nod, taking a sip of my coffee. "I'm Aiden." We divide our hours. Aiden takes this floor, me the second, Aiden takes the first floor, and the ground floor is where we patrol together. Our bored eyes remain on the monitor, Finally, I'm not alone anymore. "Got a girlfriend?" I pause, the question personal, something I would never answer to. "Complicated," he takes a sip of his coffee, hands now resting on his legs.

 "Can't be that complex," my deepest fear, strives within me. The unknown, does Jule even like me the way I do with her? "I fell for her, I just don't know if it happened to her," he chuckles, taking a sip of his coffee. "Complicated indeed," the clock's striking hands land upon the 1 am mark. Aiden gets up from his chair, grabs his stuff, and heads out. Camera duty, anything better than strolling around the creepy halls and rooms. Aiden's flashlight illuminates the dark as he enters each room accordingly. My breath hitches, but Aiden leaves each room unscathed. The walkie talkie sounds"Alright, everything clear so far, last room."

 The door swings open, and Aiden's tension releases from his stiff posture. Aiden disappears into the abyss. "Hey, so, there's a bunch of paper scattered on the floor." My hand occupies itself, writing the note. The absurd dread tackles me, it happened again. "Anything, out of the ordinary?" the walkie talkie crackles to life, a short pause from his examination. "No, there's just this ocean of paper." The coffee's bitter taste spread in my mouth. "Anything on the paper, a letter or number?" he shakes his head, "Not a single letter." I rummage through my backpack, searching for the paper I found days earlier. 

My eyes scan the paper, yet nothing's waiting for discovery. 

"Take the paper with you, it might come in handy." The utter confusion is etched on his face as his knees touch the ground, the paper stack disappearing in his backpack. I've been isolated, doing better on my own, at least that's what I've been thinking. Now the uncertainty of it all makes me question myself. Aiden gets up, swinging the backpack around his arms, landing straight on his back. He turns to leave, turning around for the final check. After a certain time, eventually the door opens, and Aiden rests his backpack against the wall. No activity on any of the camera's monitors. until something darts across the halls, on floor 2. But the moment realization hits me, it's already gone. 

"Hey, d'you see that?" The questioning expression on his face tells the tale. "Nope, not a single thing." for a moment, my perception of reality seems to shift. But I am tired, when people get tired, their minds  create illusions in the dark. for a moment each room holds their usual state, until a set of pink tulips lay scattered on the floors of hallway 2. sceptic, I take another look, turning my head to Aiden.

 "Do you see those tulips on the floor in the hallway on floor 2?" he pauses, his eyes scan the monitor cams, a puzzled expression painting his face. "What tulips?" I point towards the monitor, but it's to no avail. Am I losing my mind? The alarm clock rings its tune, signaling my turn on patrol. Once again, I find myself in the hallways of floor 2. Silence, pure silence, no matter how hard I try, the tulips won't leave me. Each room seems normal, and I find myself in the same room, where a bird crashed against the window.

 In the darkness, I stand, my flashlight firmly in my hands. The crashing sounds of porcelain, the clinking sounds, and the collapsing of tables overwhelm my senses, as the utter chaos becomes too much to bear. I guard my ears. My breath hitches, a deep, malevolent humming, the location of it unknown, now creeps into my mind. My breath grows shallow, as my fingers tremble. The chaos only seems to escalate. "Hey, what's going on over there? Open the door." 

Hesitation and resistance creep into my body as I struggle with myself. armed with a flashlight, I swing the door open, taking fast steps back. Time seems to hold its breath, for moments I stand in silence. Once I enter the room, tidiness and order are everywhere my eyes take me. Confusion leaves the room with me; none of it makes sense. not the tulips or the destructive sounds of war, coming from the office seconds ago. Cate's favorite flowers were tulips. Cate, the conflict of whether to hate or dislike her, drives me into a state of questioning.

But the other rooms on this floor have to be checked. My sixth sense tingles, the sense of dread growing as I stroll through each of the rooms, yet nothing is apparent to the naked eye. The hallway's open space sends my body into a wave of uncertainty. Can I feel them? The piercing eyes watching my every move? Yet when I take a note of my surroundings, nothing is there.

 My conflicting thoughts clash against each other, whilst the hope for finding nothing in the remaining rooms grows only stronger.  But after checking each of the remaining rooms, nothing out of the usual boring stuff would appear. "Ethan, come back now!" the walkie-talkie crackles to life, cutting through the terrifying silence. No longer walking, I pause in my tracks. "Already on my way, why so distressed?"

On the way back, the realization of no longer having to check each floor alone settles in. 

 After a few seconds, a response arrives. "Just come back, no time to waste, trust me." The door behind me shuts once I enter the room. "Aiden, what's going on?" his face, now a paler tone. His finger pauses on one of the monitors, "See that? Right here, look." The confusion rises within me, staring at the monitors for a longer time, doesn't help either."No, I can't see anything." Aiden's eyes squint, drawing back his finger. The perplexion is written on his face as his eyebrows scrunch, no words, staring. He switches cameras, his eyes scanning for something I can't see. But after a while, he seems to give up.

 "Alright,t my turn, on patrol." One last look before Aiden walks out the door, once I settle into the seat. The different rooms have my attention. Its dark figure remains still watching from the shadows. Its details are indiscoverable, something must be there, I know it. "Aiden, shine your flashlight into the room behind you." Aiden complies, his light cutting through the darkness. As he redirects his flashlight back, the form has vanished.

 Now my certainty begins to crumble, my eyes remain anchored to the spot, each pixel now visible to my observational eyes. Nothing, how can that be? "AAAH!" Suddenly, my heart jumps, as I'm pulled back. My chest tightens as I inhale, and the tension then slowly fades away when I catch my breath. "Jesus Christ, Aiden!" The couch folds into his embrace as Aiden sits down. "Your soul almost left your body." his face loses color, as his eyes squint from confusion. his finger points towards the monitors.