"WATCHING"
Author's name removed by request.
It was a quiet night in the firehouse, the first one in the last week. Eduardo was stretched out on the sofa, watching a horror flick, while Kylie sat nearby, looking up from her book every once in a while, a look of disgust on her face. Save for the lamp above Kylie's chair, all the lights were out, the room bathed in a bluish-black darkness. The glowing TV screen seemed to reflect off Eduardo's face as he watched the blood and gore.
"What is this?" Kylie finally asked in an annoyed tone of voice. She set down her book and looked over at Ed.
"Huh?" he said lazily, looking back at her.
"What are you watching?" Kylie repeated, frowning.
"Oh, it's, uh, some slasher flick," Eduardo said, "nothing you'd be interested in, Chica."
"Yeah, I wouldn't think so," Kylie retorted, picking her book up off the floor,"slasher movies are just a bunch of stupid teenagers getting cut up by some whacked-out psycho who didn't get enough attention as a kid."
Eduardo looked at her blankly. "Uh, yeah," he said, shrugging, "whatever you say." He returned his eyes to the TV, watching as another hapless teenager was chased down by the knife-wielding killer. A loud scream emanated from the TV and Kylie looked up from her book again.
"Turn the volume down," she said, "I can't stand all that screaming."
Eduardo glanced over at her and picked up the remote control, pausing the movie. He yawned and sat up, stretching his arms. "I'm gonna go get something to eat," he said, standing up. He wandered off into the kitchen, leaving Kylie to read her book in peace. She smiled and let out a sigh, returning to her book, "Necronomicon Ex Mortis." She could hear Eduardo off in the kitchen, humming a rock song to himself. Other than that, it was silent.
She'd finished up a couple more pages and was getting ready to give up reading the book for a while, when she heard a door slam from somewhere downstairs. She frowned and looked up, wondering if she'd actually heard what she thought she'd heard. Egon was upstairs, sleeping, and neither Garrett nor Roland had been planning to stop by for the night. After a moment, she marked the place in her book and put it down, standing up.
"Hey Eduardo?" she said, walking over to the kitchen door. She leaned in to see Eduardo eating from a bag of chips.
"Yeah?" he said, rolling the top of the bag closed. He replaced it in the cabinet and licked his salt-covered fingers.
"Did you hear anything from downstairs?" Kylie asked.
Eduardo shook his head. "No, why?"
"I think someone came in," she replied, "I'm gonna go down and check it out. You want to come with?"
Eduardo shrugged and walked over. "Sure."
Kylie turned around and they walked over to the staircase, peering down into the darkness below. Kylie went first, going down the old, creaky stairs. As she reached the halfway point, she looked out at the dark garage and saw dark silhouettes, monstrous shapes in the night. She hurried down the remaining stairs, Eduardo following close behind her, and they looked around the garage. There was no one there.
Kylie frowned and walked over to the front door, seeing that it was closed. She turned the knob and the door instantly blew open. She quickly shut and locked the door, turning to Eduardo.
"That's strange," she said, "I could've sworn this was locked earlier. You don't know if anyone was going to stop by, do you?"
Eduardo shrugged. "No," he replied, "I don't think so."
Kylie sighed and turned around. "Ok, well, let's make a quick check downstairs and make sure everything's all right."
"Man, do we have to go down there right now?" Eduardo asked.
"Why not?" Kylie asked, looking over her shoulder at Eduardo.
"I dunno. It's just I've been watching that freaky movie up there, and the basement isn't exactly at the top of the list of places I want to be right now."
"Don't be a wuss," Kylie said, opening the door to the basement.
The basement was lit by a dim glow that seemed to cover everything in an orangish light. They could hear the containment unit humming, the sound comforting in the darkness. Kylie glanced around and then began to walk down. At the bottom of the stairs, she walked over to the containment unit computer. She checked it, but there didn't seem to be any type of containment breach: nothing had gotten out. She made a quick last check and then turned around, seeing Eduardo standing at the top of the stairs.
"Why are you standing up there?" she asked, beginning to walk back up the stairs.
Eduardo shrugged. "I was, uh, making sure no one was up here," he said, "yeah, that's what I was doing."
Kylie rolled her eyes and walked past him, shutting the door. "Uh-huh, sure Eduardo," she said, walking back towards the main staircase, "I guess it was nothing."
She walked back up, Eduardo following close behind her. They reached the top of the stairs and Kylie sat back down in her chair, Eduardo flopping down on the couch at the same time. "Time to get back to the movie," he said, picking up the remote. He was just about to take off the pause when the room suddenly went pitch black. "Aww, man!" he shouted, his voice piercing the darkness, "What just happened?"
"The power went out," Kylie said, her voice sounding far and distant in the darkness.
"Yeah, I can see that," Eduardo groaned, "but why? There's not a storm or anything."
"I don't know," Kylie said, standing up, "we'd better go and check the circuit breakers."
"Downstairs?" Eduardo asked.
"Yes, downstairs," Kylie said, managing to reach the stairs without falling. She put her hand on the railing and slowly began to walk down. "Come on."
She heard footsteps come up behind her and a moment later there was a loud crash. "Man!" Eduardo shouted, quickly standing up. He hurried over to the stairs and the two of them walked down to the bottom. Kylie felt her way over to the equipment lockers and found hers, taking her flashlight out of it. She switched it on, and a cone of white light appeared in the room.
"Ok, let's go," she said, nodding towards the basement door.
Eduardo reluctantly walked up behind her as she reached the door. Kylie glanced back at Eddie and then swung open the door, beginning to walk back downstairs. The lights from the containment unit still glowed, thanks to its emergency backup system. But it could only function for so long without a real power source.
Kylie turned and walked down under the staircase, where the circuit panel was located. Her flashlight beam moved back and forth across the wall as she searched for the box, and she finally caught sight of it. She smiled and walked over, flipping the cover open when she got there.
The smile on her face disappeared as she saw what had happened to the inside of the box. The panel had literally been ripped out, and the wires behind it had been slashed apart. "Oh no," she said, looking back at Eduardo. He instantly saw the worried look on her face.
"What?" he asked, walking over. He stopped in front of the circuit box and stared at the torn apart wires. "Oh boy," he said after a moment, "that's not good."
There was a sudden crash and both of them spun around, Kylie's flashlight beam bouncing off the wall. But there was no one anywhere. Once they were sure that they were alone, Kylie began to walk hurriedly towards the stairs. "Ok, someone's in here. Let's call the police and then go get Egon."
"I say we get Egon first," Eduardo said, looking around warily as they began to walk up the stairs.
"No, we can call from Janine's desk," Kylie said, "we'll do that first."
"Fine, whatever you say," Eduardo replied, as they reached the top of the stairs. Kylie peeked out into the garage, looking around for anyone. Satisfied that it was empty, she ran over to Janine's desk and picked up the phone.
"I'll just call the police," she said, putting the phone up to her ear, "and then-" She stopped in midsentence and looked over at Eduardo, the expression on her face becoming even more worried.
"What?!" Eduardo asked, trying to keep his voice low.
"The phone's dead," Kylie said, dropping the phone to the ground.
Eduardo stared back at her blankly. "Ok, we're really dead," he said. "Maybe we should, uh, get out of here? You know, before this dude finds us?"
"And leave Egon?" Kylie asked, hurrying over to her equipment locker again. She kneeled down and rummaged through her gear, pulling out her pistol.
"What are you gonna do, trap him?!" Eduardo snapped, wondering what Kylie was thinking.
"No, but it'll give us some protection," Kylie said, tossing Eduardo the flashlight, "unless you want to go up there completely unarmed.
"Ok, fine," Eduardo said, catching the flashlight, "let's go."
He and Kylie went over to the main staircase and began to walk up, looking around for any sign of the intruder. When they reached the top of the stairs Eduardo panned the flashlight around the room, but it was empty.
"This way," Kylie said, beginning to walk towards the kitchen. Eduardo followed right behind her, moving his flashlight back and forth around the room. When they reached the kitchen, Eduardo shined his flashlight inside, illuminating another empty room.
"Fine, it's empty," Eduardo hissed, moving the flashlight around, "can we go get Egon now?!"
"Wait, wait," Kylie said, holding up her gun, "shine the light on the refrigerator."
"Why?!"
"Just do it!"
Eduardo sighed and moved the flashlight back over to the refrigerator.
"Oh, no," Kylie muttered.
"What?!" Eduardo asked, through gritted teeth.
"Look at the knifeblock," Kylie said.
Eduardo looked up and saw the empty wooden knifeblock that was on top of the refrigerator. "Hey," he said. "all the knives are gone." He looked over at Kylie. "That's not good, is it?"
"What do you think?" she asked, glaring at him. She spun around and hurried towards the stairs that led up to the third floor.
"Oh, man," Eduardo said, running to catch up with her. "How do you know Egon isn't already dead?"
"He isn't," Kylie said, walking up the stairs. Eduardo followed close behind her, his flashlight beam bouncing off the ceiling.
"Ok," Ed began, as they neared the top of the stairs, "think about it. This dude's not in the basement, he's not in the garage, he's not on the first floor." He paused and looked around before he spoke again. "What's left?!"
"Shut up," Kylie hissed, reaching the top of the stairs. She held her gun out at ready and when she was once again satisfied that the room was empty, she motioned for Eduardo to come in. He followed her up, and they walked over to Egon's bedroom door, which was open a crack. Kylie glanced back worriedly at Eduardo and then nudged the door with her gun. It creaked open, revealing the empty bedroom. Eduardo panned the flashlight over the bed and stopped as he focused the beam on it.
The blankets were all rumpled, as if someone had just been in the bed, and the sheets were stained through with red.
"Egon?" Kylie said, running into the room. She looked around, but it was empty. The window next to the bed was open, and the curtains blew lazily in the wind, making a low snapping sound. After a moment she turned and looked at Eduardo. He was still standing in the doorway, shining the flashlight in. Kylie's eyes suddenly widened as she saw something move behind Eduardo.
"Eduardo!" she shouted, "Behind you!"
Eduardo spun around, but the figure knocked the flashlight out of his hand. The flashlight fell to the floor, focusing on Eduardo's terrified face as the dark silhouetted figure advanced.
"Kylie!" he shouted, "It might be a good time to shoot now!"
Kylie raised the gun and aimed it, but couldn't get a good shot off with Ed in the way. "Get out of the way!" she commanded.
Eduardo eyed the dark figure and then dived to the ground, giving Kylie a clear shot. She instantly squeezed off a proton beam at the figure, hitting it square in the chest. But nothing happened. It continued to walk forward, advancing menacingly.
"What the hell?!" Eduardo shouted, watching the figure move towards them. Kylie kept firing, her beam seeming to light up the room, but it did nothing to stop the figure. As it moved towards her, Kylie was forced back until she was up against the wall. The figure kept advancing, and stopped right in front of her.
Seeing that the proton gun was having no effect, Kylie let her finger off the trigger. The bright proton beam dissipated, and the room was once again filled with blackness. The figure stood in front of Kylie, seeming to stare at her. She could see red eyes peeking out from the shadowy face, eyeing her intently. The eyes seemed to swirl, like tiny vortexes, spinning around infinitely.
"What are you?" Kylie asked, trying to keep her voice under control.
"Kylie!" Eduardo shouted from behind her, "Get out of the way! It's going to-"
Before he could finish, Kylie felt something jab into her stomach, the force slamming her against the wall. She instantly felt a dull pain in her gut and looked down to see that there was a knife sticking out of her stomach, held by the assailant. She looked down in shock and moved her hands towards her stomach, feeling something warm and sticky.
"KYLIE!" Eduardo shouted, diving forward. He knocked the figure down and it let go of the knife, still imbedded in Kylie's stomach. She looked at Eduardo, a shocked expression on her face, and the gun fell out of her shaking hand. A moment later, she slid down to the floor, leaning back against the wall.
Eduardo ran over to the figure as it was picking itself up, and rammed it hard against the wall. It slammed against the wall with a loud bang, sending chips of plaster flying everywhere. The two red eyes seemed to stare at Eduardo for a moment, and then it crumpled to the floor.
Eduardo stared at it for a moment, and then rammed his foot into where he thought the face was. There was a sickening crack, and the figure seemed to convulse. He wound up, getting ready to kick it again.
"Eduardo?" A weak voice came from behind him. Eduardo spun around, now remembering Kylie, and hurried over to her.
"What did it do?" he asked, kneeling down next to her. He reached over and picked up the flashlight, shining the beam on her stomach. He gasped at he what he saw.
The knife was sticking out of her stomach, the steel blade stained with blood. The skin around the knife was covered with blood, and the clothes stained through with red. "Oh please," she said, moving her bloody hands away from the wound, "This isn't happening."
Eduardo looked around the room frantically, for something he could use to bandage the wound. "Don't worry," he said, trying to keep his own voice calm, "you're gonna be ok. We'll just-"
There was a sudden crash and Eduardo spun around, focusing his flashlight on the fallen assailant. It was gone. His eyes widened with fright, and he panned the flashlight around the room. Whoever it was, they weren't here now. Eduardo cautiously stood up and walked over to the empty bed, taking off a clean sheet. He tore a piece of it off and walked back over to Kylie, folding the sheet over.
"Ok, we're just gonna wrap this around the knife," he said, his shaking hands putting a piece of the cloth over the wound, "I think a doctor is gonna have to take that thing out." He slowly wound the sheet around her stomach, tightly so that it would cut off the blood flow. As he did it, Kylie stared forward blankly, her face half-hidden in the shadows.
Eduardo finally finished and tied the cloth, moving back just a bit. His hands were covered with the blood now, and he wiped it off on his shirt.
"You, uh, can't stand, can you?" he asked, feeling stupid because he already knew the answer.
Kylie frowned, summoning all her strength in trying to stand up. But she barely moved at all.
"No," she said hopelessly, her voice growing weaker every second.
Eduardo cursed and looked around. "I'd go down and get out, but I can't just leave you here," he said, standing up.
Kylie grimaced and motioned for him to kneel down in front of her again. He did as she commanded and leaned forward to hear what she had to say.
Lightning fast, she grabbed his goatee and pulled his face forward. "Look, I'll be fine. Now get out of here and get some help before I die up here, ok?" She loosened the grip on his goatee, and leaned back against the wall, half-shutting her eyes.
"Ok," Eduardo said, reluctantly. He stood up and turned towards the door, focusing the flashlight out on the empty hallway. He glanced back at Kylie one last time and then walked out, his eyes darting back and forth erratically as he searched for the intruder. He reached the stairs without any trouble and slowly walked down, his feet clanking on the metal as he went. The sound was hollow, and seemed to echo through the empty firehouse. Ed reached the bottom of the stairs and hurried over to the main staircase, his footsteps against the wood the only sound in the whole building. He walked down a couple steps and then shined his flashlight into the cavernous garage below. The beam bounced off the various objects, everything bathed in an eerie, dark-blue light.
Eduardo slowly advanced down the stairs, his flashlight continuing to bounce back and forth shakily. When he reached the bottom, he ran over to the door, throwing open the lock. Feeling a pang of relief, he turned the knob and pulled open the door.
But it didn't budge.
Eduardo cursed and banged the door with his foot, but it barely even moved. After trying for minute, he spun around, hearing someone laugh from behind him. But the flashlight beam shined on an empty wall. He let out a sigh and turned back around, continuing to try the door.
It was another couple minutes before he finally gave up and turned around, walking towards the basement door. The only other way he could think of going out was through there. He reached for the knob and tried it, but once again it didn't budge.
"What's wrong with this?!" he shouted angrily, his cry echoing through the empty garage. When the echo of his own voice finally died down, Eduardo looked around cautiously, hoping the intruder hadn't heard him.
He glanced over at the equipment lockers, and an idea suddenly popped into his head. He turned around, running over to the equipment lockers. Maybe he could use his proton gun to blow open the door. He stopped in front of his equipment locker and flung open the door, his expectant eyes searching for the proton gun. It wasn't there. His uniform was hung up on a hook, but all his equipment was gone.
His frown grew even deeper, and he looked into Kylie's locker, also empty. But she'd just taken out her gun a few minutes back. The intruder must have done something with the equipment while he was helping Kylie. Once again, he began to hear the deep laughing coming from somewhere nearby.
"Shut up!" he shouted, without turning around. He knew what he would see if he turned towards the threat: He would see nothing, nothing at all.
The chorus of laughter began to die down, until it was replaced by the whistling sound of the wind as it came in through the windows. Eduardo took a deep breath and walked over to the stairs, going back up. He had no idea what to do now. He and Kylie were trapped in the firehouse, Egon missing, Kylie dying, and they had no way out. He was beginning to feel like he should just give up. Proton beams, which worked on both ghosts and humans, hadn't even hurt it.
Eduardo reached the top of the stairs and walked over to the second staircase, going up the spiral. He hoped that Kylie was still all right. If she was gone ...
Ed reached the top of the stairs and walked cautiously over to Egon's door, which he'd left wide open. He stepped in and turned the flashlight towards Kylie, catching her in the beam. She was still sitting in the same spot she'd been in before.
"Hey Kylie?" he said, walking over.
No answer.
"Kylie?" he repeated, kneeling down. He saw that her head was tilted to the side, the open green eyes staring forward into nothingness. A dark red line ran across her neck, dripping blood down onto her pale skin.
"Oh no," Ed muttered, looking at her. "This isn't happening, this isn't happening. You're gonna wake up and be ok." He shut his eyes, taking a long deep breath. For a moment he calmed down, the tension going away. But when he opened his eyes, she was still staring forward lifelessly, her head tilted at a strange angle.
"NO!" Eduardo shouted standing up. "NO!" His hands suddenly went limp and he dropped the flashlight, which fell to the floor with a loud bang. He shut his eyes again and bit his lip, trying to force the horrible images out of his mind. She was dead, gone. And there was nothing he could do to help her. She was gone ...
That's when he heard it again, the laughter. It began quietly, once again crescendoing. Eduardo kept his eyes shut, hoping the laughter would go away, but it didn't. Finally he spun around, his eyes snapping forward.
"SHUT UP!" he screamed. "I'LL KILL YOU!"
As if to satisfy his desire, the shadowy figure stepped into the doorframe, the glowing red eyes staring at him. Eduardo glared back at the figure, unmoving. He clenched his hands into fists and took a reluctant step forward. When the figure didn't budge, he stepped forward again, until he was standing right in front of it.
The two glared at each other for a long time, tensely staring each other down. Eduardo wanted to see who this was, but the darkness was like a curtain, shrouding the figure in black.
"Who are you?" he finally asked, eyeing the figure cautiously. He wanted to hit it, to beat it down into the ground. But for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
The figure remained silent, the hypnotic red eyes staring at Eduardo. The laughter continued.
"Come on!" he exclaimed, growing impatient. "Who are-"
In a lightning quick move, there was a knife in the figure's hand. A moment later, Eduardo felt the blade go into his stomach, a piece of cold steel ripping through flesh.
A surprised look crossed Eduardo's face, and he felt his legs began to buckle. He looked up at the figure helplessly, but it didn't move, the red eyes still staring. He reached down and felt where the knife had gone in. He could already feel the blood, and it instantly covered his hands. His mouth opened as he tried to speak, nothing coming out. In one last futile effort, he held his hand out, hoping for some sign of pity. The red eyes stared forward.
And then Eduardo Rivera fell to the floor, his eyes shutting. His hand continued to move for a moment, twitching slowly. But then even it stopped.
And the laughter grew louder...
* * * * *
Eduardo bolted upright, his eyes snapping open. A bright light blinded him for a moment, and he blinked to make it go away. When his sight had returned, Ed found himself sitting in the living room, the movie still blaring in the background. He looked over and saw Kylie asleep in her chair, the book she'd been reading still held in her right hand.
As he watched, her eyes slowly opened, and she looked at Eduardo. "Did you just wake up?" she asked, with a yawn.
"Yeah," Eduardo said, the horrible nightmare beginning to fade from his memory. "Man, I had the weirdest dream."
She smiled tiredly. "Yeah," she said, "me too. It was really bad."
"Same here," Eduardo yawned, sitting up. A smile crossed his face, too. It had just been a dream. "I dreamed that you-" He stopped in midsentence, deciding it would be better not to remember it.
A strange look crossed Kylie's face. "What?" she asked.
"It was nothing." Ed shook his head.
"No, really."
"Why?" he asked.
"Because," Kylie replied. "Just tell me, Eduardo."
He sighed. "Ok, fine. I dreamed that someone broke in, shut off all the power, and killed you, Egon, and me."
The look on Kylie's face grew even more contorted. "Who was it?"
"Who?"
"The guy who broke in."
"I dunno. It was just a silhouette, with red eyes and everything," Eduardo replied. "Really weird."
"You've got to be kidding," Kylie said, putting down her book. "I had a dream about someone breaking in. He killed Egon, me and then you?"
"Uh, yeah," Eduardo said, the smile slowly disappearing from his face.
"That's so weird," Kylie said, "it's almost like-" She suddenly stopped in midsentence, staring at something behind Eduardo.
"What?" he asked, frowning.
"Eduardo," she said, her eyes glued to whatever she had seen, "look behind you."
Eduardo slowly turned around and looked at the wall behind him. Blood dripped off the wall, forming large, contorted letters. However, the message they were able to discern almost immediately.
Eduardo sat up and looked at the writing. There was a pool of blood forming on the floor. They stared at it for a long time, until the loud sound of blowing wind finally broke the silence. Eduardo glanced over his shoulder and saw that the window was open. He cautiously got up and began to walk towards the window, a window that hadn't been open before. He stopped at the window, relieved when nothing popped through. He took a deep breath and then peered through the window, staring out into the dark, New York night.
The End
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All fan fics appearing in The GBFF's Archives were edited by Doreen and/or Nora for use on The GBFF only. Posted: 06/08/02.
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