“The nightmares haven’t stopped. For weeks now I have been dealing with them. They just keep latching onto me. Holding me in their claws. Not every claw is the same though. I dream of the red horned demon. He lives in a pool of blood. He is the pool of blood. He was waiting for someone to come to him. Waiting for someone to get close enough so that he can become part of them. I fear he is trying to lure me in. I won’t go. I’m stronger than that. After a while he stopped showing up. Maybe he moved onto another. Someone weaker. Something else joined me in my dreams though. Somethings. They stand side by side holding hands. Decaying rotten hands. Their eyes pierce me. The decaying flesh fills my nose. That smell sticks with me even when I wake up. I smell it in the halls while I’m doing my rounds. It seeps up through the elevator shaft. It comes from the basement. I’m not going down there. Not alone. Maybe Joseph will come with me. Maybe he will show me that I’m just losing my mind. Insanity would be welcome. It would be much more welcome than the alternative.”

The recorder clicked as the tape ended. My father sounded crazed. Something in him had snapped. I needed to find him before he hurt himself or others. I worried that he may have done something to Joseph. I also worried that his words had gotten to me. Something awful wafted into the room. I was sure the smell wasn’t there before. I stepped out of the room and the smell got stronger. It was coming from down the hall.

I walked through the hall keeping my eyes alert. I wasn’t sure how far gone my father might be by now. I wasn’t sure how long ago the tape had been made. The smell kept getting stronger until I reached the north stairs. Then it got unbearable.

I gagged. The spoiled stench covered me. It was definitely coming from the stair case. I covered my face with my jacket as I opened the door. My fabric shield offered very little reprieve from the air of rot that kept pummeling me. It was coming from downstairs. The basement level. Once again I questioned my decision making ability as I considered going down there. A light flashed from down the stairs. It was pointed at the wall, then it turned away. Someone was down there with a flash light.

“Hey! Dad! Joseph!”

I went down the stairs and into the must. I turned the corner and found no one. Just the doorway leading to the basement. Again I saw the flashlight from under the door. I went down the next set of stairs and opened the door. The entrance to the basement was on a concrete platform with a small set of stairs leading to the level ground. I stood on the platform and looked down. The basement was flooded.

A flashlight was on and floating in the water. The water made it spin, shining its light around the basement and under the door. No one was down here. I got close to the water and picked the flashlight up. The water was thick and more like oil. The flashlight probably reeked but I honestly couldn’t tell. Everything reeked down here. I pointed the flashlight around the basement. Nothing as first, then I spotted something sticking out of the water. Two bumps, black and oily like the water. I kept the light trained on them. Then they started to rise. I saw the eyes first. Horrible puke green eyes. Two sets of piercing eyes. I didn’t wait around to see what was attached to those eyes. I turned and ran out the door. I didn’t stop there. I ran back to the first floor and to the security office. I slammed the door behind me and locked it before getting low to the ground. I didn’t know what I had just seen but it looked awfully similar to the things my father had described on the tape. While I was hiding, my hand hit something on the ground behind me. Under the desk, there was another tape.