What lies beyond

Creaaak

"This place is so creepy," Inna said, her voice trembling as she nervously glanced around. She was visibly anxious, her hands shaking slightly.

As usual, Mar led the way, with C. and Leo following closely behind. Inna trailed just behind them.

The storage room stretched out before them, filled with crates that resembled the Electrical room but on a much larger scale. Cloth hung loosely, covering the walls and crates, some even suspended from the ceiling by ropes. Like the Electrical room, the walls were corroded and grimy, but here, the exposed wires were far less prevalent.

The group sifted through the crates, inspecting both their contents and the space beneath. They checked the shelves and lifted the occasional cloth draped across the floor. Aside from a few sheets of bubble wrap and electrical equipment, there wasn't much to find.

"Jeez, how big is this room?" C. muttered, clearly frustrated by the endless search. They still had a long way to go before they'd covered the whole space. Leo, crouched under a piece of furniture, emerged with a sigh before returning to his search.

"Ain't that the truth? This place is massive."

C. scoffed, continuing to scan the room. His eyes landed on an oddly shaped piece of cloth covering something tall and slim. Intrigued, he approached it cautiously. He hesitated for a moment but eventually lifted the cloth, revealing another robotic figure. This one, however, was standing still, its height far surpassing the previous one. Its head hung low, and it appeared deactivated.

"Uh, okay, what the hell is this?" C.'s voice trembled as he stepped back, his anxiety growing. The others quickly turned to him. Mar's face twisted with concern, Leo's expression was pure shock, and Inna collapsed onto the floor, her hands covering her face.

"What the hell, man?" Mar muttered, stepping toward the robot. He folded his arms as he stared at it, his gaze heavy.

"First in electrical, and now here... huh." He let out a deep sigh.

"Let's just keep searching and ignore it," Mar said, resuming his search. But C. stayed behind for a moment, staring at the robot. It was towering, easily 7 feet tall. Its head was bulky, the chest matching the width before narrowing sharply at the waist, giving it a gaunt, almost skeletal look. The ribs were visible, as if the robot were dangerously underweight. Its eyes were a dark yellow, but what caught C.'s attention the most were its arms. They extended far beyond its waist, ending in sharp, conical points where hands should've been.

I don't know what the hell this thing is, but it's creepy as hell, C. thought, before reluctantly turning back to his own search.

Inna remained on the floor, still in disbelief, but Leo quickly approached her and helped her to her feet, offering reassurance.

"Don't worry about it," Leo said, trying to comfort her. "It looks deactivated. We'll be fine." He flashed her a brief, comforting smile.

"Yeah... we'll be fine," Inna replied, her smile weak and forced.

Leo gave a small nod, then walked back to continue his search. Inna resumed looking around.

Hours passed. The group had opened countless crates, tossed sheets aside, and revealed things they hadn't expected, but the key they were searching for remained elusive. Tired and growing more discouraged, they pushed on. Finally, there was only one room left in the far back corner. It had a sign, similar to the three doors in the machine room. The sign read: "Janitor's Closet."

"Well, there's only one place left to check." Mar's voice was tired, though he tried to maintain a lively tone.

The group made their way to the room, and the door opened easily—it was unlocked. To their surprise, the room was immaculate, a sharp contrast to the rest of the building. The walls were clean and well-maintained, free of the grime and wear they'd seen everywhere else. It looked almost... modern, as if it were regularly cleaned, which was odd considering they hadn't encountered a single 'janitor'.

"This place is actually kind of nice," Inna remarked, her expression brightening.

"Yeah, agreed. This is nothing like the rest of this place," Mar said, walking over to an old desk. It was surprisingly clean, papers scattered neatly across its surface. Most of the writing faded beyond legibility, but there was one odd item: a small snow globe. Inside, a creature with long, curved horns stood atop a pile of ice. The snow inside the globe was more grey than white, giving the scene an eerie vibe.

C. was rummaging through a nearby locker. Inside, he found dozens of dark blue jackets, each with a white "Janitor" name tag stitched onto them.

"Makes sense," he thought to himself.

C. turned to Mar, walking over to him and gazing at the snow globe.

"That's an unusual thing to have in a room like this," he remarked.

Mar looked at it too, nodding. "Yeah, and what exactly is that thing inside it?" He tilted his head, studying the figure. "It looks like some kind of mushroom creature with long horns..."

The two of them stood there for a moment, staring at the globe in silence. Then, C. walked around to the other side of the desk and sank into the leather swivel chair. He spun around a few times, then stopped, his gaze landing on a set of drawers.

"Got a few drawers here. They might hold the key."

He opened the first drawer, finding nothing but pens. He sighed. Mar walked over to join him.

"First one's a dud," C. said, closing the drawer.

He opened the second drawer, only to find it empty. Finally, he reached the lowest drawer—the third one. Inside, there was a lone bronze key. It was unlike any key they had seen before—jagged and strange, with sharp and dull points, some long, some short. What was even stranger was that both sides of the key had blades.

"Well, that's a weird key," C. muttered, picking it up and inspecting it closely. The others gathered around, intrigued.

Leo spoke up first. "Well, we've got the key now, right? Let's see if it opens the room."

C. nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's check it out."

They made their way out of the room, ready to see where the key would lead.