New Beginnings || PURPLEPHONE

Chapter 2

"Scott? Can I see you in my office for a minute?" the manager called out from his office while Scott was sitting in the dining hall with the other guards. It was the end of the day, and Scott was excited to finally go home.

Everybody fell silent once the manager called for Scott. He never really asked any of the guards to come talk to him unless they were being fired or they were in major trouble.

"Ooh," Mike whispered. "Somebody's in trooouble."

Vincent punched Mike in the arm, "Shut up, Schmidt."

Scott gulped and stood up, slowly walking down the hallway. Honestly, he felt like he'd just been chosen for the Hunger Games. He entered the manager's office with a million things going through his head.

     He breathed a long sigh of relief when he heard the manager say, "Don't worry. You're not in any kind of trouble."

     "Oh, that's good...," Scott's tensed-up body relaxed and he put a smile on his face. "What is it, then? What do you need me for?"

     "We opened a position for the night shift. You know, the security guard position. You're the only person I trust to have it. It's from midnight until six A.M. All you have to do is watch the security cameras and make sure the robots don't cause any trouble," the manager explained, pointing to a camera in the corner that Scott hadn't noticed before. It moved every so often, panning over the room. There was a red light on right next to the camera's lens, meaning it was in use. It gave Scott the feeling of being watched, and he didn't really like that.

     "Are... Are the cameras on right now?" Scott leaned forward and lowered his voice a little bit.

     "Yes, they are. Everything is visible through the office screens."

     Oh, great.

     This meant the other employees were probably watching them and listening to their conversation. Especially Mike, who was probably hoping to see Scott get in trouble. He was always amused when one of the day guards got into trouble, so long as it wasn't him. He still clearly remembered the first and only time Scott had gotten into trouble; he was caught by the manager, putting slices of pepperoni over Vincent's eyes when he had fallen asleep in the chair.

     That had earned the newer guard a scolding loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear. Probably, anyway.

     "Is that all you need me for?" Scott was prepared to get up and leave, wanting to go back to the office and see who was watching him so he could kick their ass.

    "Yes, that's it. You can go now, Scott, you look like you're about to pass out."

     As soon as Scott heard, "you can go now", he got up. He said goodbye to the manager and went down the hallway, towards where the office was. 

     "Miiiike!" he called out. "I'm going to kill you, get away from the camera, you-" 

     He was cut short when he actually entered the room.

     It had seemed before like somebody was controlling the camera and focusing it only on Scott, but there was nobody here.

     Scott had been prone to panic attacks sometimes. Especially if he was frightened. 

     And this was scaring him.

     He called out for Jeremy. Then Mike. Then Fritz. Then Vincent. There was no answer from anybody. Instead of allowing himself to panic, he hugged himself to try to stop the shaking and called out, "If this is a joke it's not funny!"

     There was no response from anybody.

     "Guys, please! Come on!" Scott was terrified of being left alone in a place as creepy as this. "Come out!" His breathing became shallow and ragged as he walked around, a hand on his chest as he looked around.

     Scott turned the corner, and Vincent and Mike jumped out, screaming to try to scare him.

     The small male yelped and turned around, running away as fast as he could. He heard Vincent and Mike laughing somewhere behind him. They'd scared him before, yes, and it irritated him, but they hadn't done it in a long time before today, and Scott was now terrified.

     "Assholes!" Scott yelled out, nearly in tears now. It wasn't fair that they did this to him so many times after he'd asked them to stop, and explained about his panic attacks.

     He returned to the office and slammed on the buttons, both of the doors sliding shut behind him. He sat in the corner and curled up in a ball, shaking and whimpering.

     Meanwhile, Vincent sat with Mike in the hallway, just staring ahead. Scaring Scott had been fun at the time, yes, but Scott had never reacted in this way before. It made Vincent feel awful.

     Wait, why?

     He'd scared the smaller male plenty of times before, and each time was funnier than the last. Scott always ran off and hid, yes, so was him hiding himself away in the office really that surprising?

     Vincent decided, that didn't matter.

     Who cares if Scott ran off and cried like a baby? Not him.

     Definitely not him... Right?