It was the sound of my jaw shattering that made me realize the terrible mistake I’d made.

I was on a job training exercise for a gig I’d just landed. I’d be a security guard for a condominium in South Dakota. It was just at the edge of a small town, so I doubted I’d have much to do besides keeping crazy drunk people from a nearby bar from trying to get into the building. <br><br>The boss pointed me towards a small door off of the parking garage. “The stairs go all the way up, but we’ve recently had some trouble with priceless artwork going missing in the higher floors. So, you’re going to be working in the stairwells tonight.” He handed me a radio. “If I call, just go to scan, hit any buttons, and it’ll automatically acknowledge the call. All of the other guards are headed down to the parking garage to search under the cars.” <br><br>I made my way to the third floor and sat. I was feeling pretty good about the gig, until I heard the first call come through. *“Radio check: Mark? Laura? Kelvin? Mark? Laura? Kelvin?”* My stomach flipped over and I shivered. I hit the talk button. “This is Kelvin, I’m on floor 3.” Almost immediately, his voice came back on. *“I am not your boss, I am the one who’s been stealing all the artwork. If you’re listening to this, you are a terribly stupid person and you are now part of a game you cannot quit.”*<br><br>I keyed the mic. “Boss?” There was a pause, then a voice identical to my boss’s voice said “Wow, you must be very thick in the head. I just told you what’s going on, and yet you’re still acting like you don’t get it. You’re a truly blessed individual. I suggest you go find a nice place to get comfy, because this is a game to the death.”<br><br>I was so terrified that I stood and ran back down to the parking garage. As I pounded down the stairs, I noticed that there was a perfect square of missing paint at every landing. I thought very, very briefly about stopping at one of those landings and touching the square, but I decided that wasn’t important and kept running. <br><br>When I reached the garage, there was no one to be found. I didn’t know what to do, so I sat on the cold concrete floor to think about it. That was when I heard the radio crackle again. *“Kelvin, did you think you could outrun me? I have a message specifically for you”* <br><br>A deep, raspy voice was the next thing I heard, and it was so loud and clear I had to take the radio away from my ear. “My name is Daniel. I was the guard here from 1976 to 2002. This guy that’s been stealing all the artwork, his name is Daniel too. <br><br>In 2002, Daniel was hired as a second guard to work alongside me. I thought the guy was a creep, but he was the boss’s nephew, so there wasn’t anything we could do. <br><br>One night, Daniel told me he found a secret passage hidden behind some broken drywall in one of the landing supply closets. I didn’t believe him, but he showed me photographs of hidden passages all the way up and down the building. <br><br>Daniel convinced me to explore with him. We only made it one floor up before we were confronted by a man in a plague doctor mask. He beat us savagely, and before he left, he told us that we had broken the rules and that he’d be coming for us. He disappeared into the shadows, leaving us bleeding on the landing. We never went back, but we never told anyone about it either.<br><br>A month later, Daniel was kidnapped. A ransom note was sent to his family, demanding $250,000 for his safe return. The family sent the money to the location that was given to them by the kidnapper in an email, but Daniel was never seen again. They tried investigating, but the email was sent from a dead man’s computer, and it was the only lead they had. <br><br>Three years after Daniel disappeared, he showed up at my doorstep. He wasn’t Daniel anymore. He was actually… It was so difficult to see. Daniel was eating kicking screaming, but it wasn’t Daniel. When he had gotten enough to eat, he told me that the man in the plague mask had taken him away and locked him in a room deep in the building with no food or water at all, and that he had been living in there for three years. He told me that he was going to steal all of the artwork from the building and get rich, and that I was going to help him. He told me that if I didn’t, he’d kill me. <br><br>The first piece he stole, he used a surveillance camera to throw me under the bus. We had no proof that he had done it, and no one had seen him since he’d gone missing three years before, so they believed it was me. I have not been able to get a job since. <br><br>When I told him I couldn’t take any more, that I either had to turn him in to the authorities or kill myself, he reminded me that he had threatened to kill me. But then he told me that for an old man, I had done a good job and that he would let me keep my life, under one condition.<br><br>He would give me a radio. Once a week, he’d contact me on it. If I didn’t answer, he’d kill me. If I told anyone else about the radio, he’d kill me. If I told anyone else about the game, he’d kill me. He gave me the radio and told me that at some point in the future, I would have to play the game, and that he would contact me with all the details at that time. <br><br>He didn’t contact me again until he gave me this message for you. I’m very sorry, and if I could go back and tell my younger self to just call the police, I would. Now I can only hope that you are cleverer than I, and that you can outsmart Daniel and survive the game.” As the voice finished, the radio crackled again. *“You are now part of the game. Until you die, the imposter will be in control. Exit the garage, and start heading up the stairs. Remember, the only way to win is to make it to the top.”*<br><br>If I had been thinking correctly, I would have gone up to floor 3 and touched the square of missing paint. I didn’t even remember that thing until a few days ago, and now it’s too late. I didn’t know what else to do, so I took the stairs. <br><br>I only made it one floor. The man in the plague mask was waiting for me. I tried to fight him, but he was too strong, and he clubbed me over the head with his wooden cane. <br><br>When I came to, I was being eaten alive. I was in the most pain I’ve ever been in. The man in the mask was eating my leg. I tried to scream, but a piece of duct tape had been slapped over my mouth. I tried to struggle, but I was tied to the floor with thick ropes. I saw Daniel standing off to the side, eating my fingers. I realized then that I was going to die.<br><br>I’m no longer in pain, so I assume that I’m dead now. I don’t know how I’m talking to you, or how long I’ll be able to keep talking. The man in the mask left while I was still alive. He said something about being late for the meeting and then he was off. Daniel is still here though, eating away at my body, forcing me to watch him violate my corpse.<br><br>I’ve been listening to his eating, grinding and ripping, for so long that it’s become background noise. I have no idea how long it’s been since the man left. Daniel has eaten almost my entire body, and is now working on my face. It was the sound of my jaw shattering that made me realize the terrible mistake I’d made.<br><br>I didn’t die. I’m still alive. And I can feel everything.