Outlast - More Than Just Survival

Oh, Hell on a Stick! Lyra POV

 After laying my head back for a minute or two, we all heard noises outside. "The ambulance must be here. Jessica jumped up and started towards the door. Suddenly, a sickening feeling came over me. "STOP," I shouted. Jessica froze and turned. Embarrassment flooded my cheeks, and I lowered my voice. "I mean, shouldn't we just let them come in on their own?"

"I was just going to get the door for them." Jessica began to walk towards the door again.

The voice in my head shouted, "STOP HER!"

"Wait!" I shot out my hand, hoping to stop with some sort of Star Wars force. "Let me just check the window and see. I just think it would be..." I trail off and begin walking towards the window, as Jessica looks at me as if I had grown a horn in the center of my forehead. It's extremely dark outside, and I can't see through the glass. I cup my hands around my eyes and try to figure out what's making the noise.

"Hey, Jessica. Could you please turn off the lights by the security desk? I can not see out the window at all."
Jessica turns toward Vance, looking for answers. Vance looks up, silently pointing to the light switches behind the desk. Vance has always been a silent, strong father figure, but I think the loss of Gretta is hitting him hard. They had worked together for years now, and like us, he has probably a very family-like connection.

They could have already been inside. Jessica must know something is wrong, right? Perhaps it is just an animal making all the noise. On the other hand, I have a feeling that something is very wrong with the world right now.

The lights suddenly flick off behind me and, in an instant, a flicker of movement fast and certain catches my eyes, and I am met with eyes that are as black as night, like bottomless pits of despair. I shriek and fall back on to the floor. The darkness presses against the window like a thick cloak, and behind the darkness is a pale, hooded man standing facing where I stood moments ago. His eyes follow me as I back away. Something primal floods my senses, chilling me to the core. Trapped in his terrifying gaze, I continued to move back. The man's gaze flicks up, and Jessica is at my side helping me off the floor. He smiles, and something dark oozes from his mouth. I can't see what it is, and I am almost sure I don't want to know. He looks towards the door, and Jessica and I both realize what is going to happen. As he turns towards the door, I notice something gleaming out from his back. It's a knife. I lunge to the door, trying to figure out if it's locked, but before I can, Vance is standing beside me. Vance checks and double checks the lock. "Thank you, Vance." I smile at him. He pats my hand like he always does and goes back to keep an eye on Gretta. The man continues to try to open it, looking for spots in the door that may come open. He is stronger than I expected, almost to the point I didn't think the glass would hold up to him. Jessica and I move back towards Vance and what remains of Gretta. Vance has been watching the man try to get in while he keeps his hand on his gun. He looks like he is stunned and horrified at what is going on.

"Have people gone crazy?" Jessica looks at me like I have the answers. "You seem to know more about what's going on."

I look at Jessica, and she is still staring where the man stands watching us and grinning with that evil grin he has. "No, I don't know. I just know I saw something pretty crazy at the mall a couple of days ago. When I saw Gretta's eyes, I just had a feeling it was the same thing. It was the same look or eyes the boy had in the mall. I don't know."

"But knife in the back, guy." She points to the guy still looking for a way in. "has black eyes."

"Yeah, I have never seen that." I stare at the guy following his movements.

Just then, I see car lights, and the hooded guy with the knife literally jumps around the corner like some cat. His movements are not at all like a person's. They were more animal than anything. "The knife guy parkoured around the corner, did you see that?" Jessica blanched and looked over at me stunned, trying to make sure I saw the same thing.