Midnight City

==June 15th, 2012==
I work in an office with twelve other employees. It sucks. I'm telling you, there's nothing worse than having a douchebag boss and eleven useless people at a job that you have to go to every day. The layout is horrible, too. For example, there's a desk right across from the only bathroom that has a toilet prone to clogging up.
There's also an, "Employee's lounge," which is basically a kitchen with the constant smell of burning popcorn. Two of the "cubicles" are actually two tables big enough for a monitor and printer, even though we all have telephones. Most of the chairs don't roll, and the floor is covered by beige carpet that originally used to be white. You can see why my days leave me pissed off. Nobody ever works, in fact, almost none of them do. They're always procrastinating on Reddit or Facebook, or whatever.
Actually, now that I think about it, there's one guy here, who never procrastinates. He's a really hard worker who gets his stuff done. His name's Tobias. Tobias' cubicle is connected to mine, and usually, once he gets his work done, he pokes his head over the short wall and starts small talking with me. He's a nice, young guy who always calls everyone, "Sir," or, "Madame." This sort of stuff usually flatters everyone.
You know, it's weird that I talk about others procrastinating when I'm writing this, on the notepad program on my computer. I have a new interest in updating things, and keeping a diary is a way of filling that interest. I'll keep this updated every day from now on.
==June 16th, 2012==
Something weird happened today; Tobias didn't make small talk. I assumed he just didn't feel like it, but when I peered over the wall, he was actually working. That's two weird things. One, Tobias didn't make small talk. Two, the reason he didn't start a conversation was because he was still working even though he should be finished by then. I decided not to interfere, thinking he just fell behind on something, and he was focusing.
==June 17th, 2012==
So everybody listens to Pandora here; it's not against the rules. As long as you work, however, which no one ever does except Tobias. Speaking of him, he does another weird thing. He's listening to Pandora, even though he never does. He always thought it was a waste of time. As I'm looking over the wall, he looks towards me, headphones still on. Except he looks weird, as if he hasn't had any sleep.
His eyes are bloodshot, with dark circles under them. His face is droopy, and crust is at his eyes. He has greasy hair too, as if he hasn't taken a shower. I was both disgusted and weirded out by this. I looked at his computer screen; it was on Pandora. A song was playing by M83 with the album above it labelled, "M83 Midnight City". It had a dark blue background, with a grotesque creature as the main focus. It seemed like a humanoid with giant eyes that looked like a fly's. To top it off, it had a long trunk-like nose at the end of its face, and it seemed to be smiling in a weird way. After seeing all of this, Tobias is still looking at me with a blank, droopy face. I decide to talk to him and say,
"Hey, Tobias. What's wrong?"
He then opens his mouth, a faint smack as it opens, as if his saliva is gooey, like normally in the morning, and says, "I'm sorry sir, just feeling a little down today, you know?"
This is horribly strange; Tobias was always happy and energetic, ready to get the day started, you know? I turn away and continue typing this as he goes back to his computer.
==June 18th, 2012==
So I was working today and I was about to place an entry in this diary when Tobias poked his head over the short, cubicle wall. If you thought yesterday was weird, just wait. So, I opened notepad up when Tobias looked at me with redder eyes, darker circles, a droopier face, and greasier hair. He tilted his head and I spoke up. "Tobias, seriously, what's going on with you? You look horrible!" I said.
"I'm sorry sir, just feeling a little down today, you know?" I turned away and started typing this as he went back down to his computer.
==June 19th, 2012==
I'm hunched down, typing this. I'm focusing. I don't want any distractions. Until I look up. I peek over the wall and see his screen, on Pandora, no other tabs, playing the same song by M83. Except this time, the album cover looks different. The creature is facing the viewer still smiling, almost as if it knows something you don't. The background is white, and the creature's eyes look as if they follow you. Thing is, instead of a song, there's loud buzzing, like a million flies in a room, which apparently doesn't bother any other employees.
That's when I realize it. I look around. I see no other employees. Nothing. I turn my head back and notice Tobias staring straight at me, smiling as if he knows something I don't. I reach down with my hand slowly towards my phone, not taking my eyes off Tobias. His eyes seem glowing, almost like the redness of them is eradiating outward. Anyways, I'm lowering my hand down when I feel my desk; my telephone isn't there anymore. I'm looking at Tobias when I say, "T-Tobias, w-what's going on?"
"I'm sorry sir, just feeling a little down today, you know?"
It's that same damn response three times in a row! He stands up, pointing at me, making buzzing sounds. Some lights in the office start to go out, and I run, making turns in the hallway, but Tobias is taking his time, slowly walking after me as he continues saying, "I'm sorry sir, just feeling a little down today, you know?"
Eventually I reach the end of the hall, a door leading to the stairwell, locked. I can see Tobias in the distance, turning around the corner. I look for something to fight him off, and I see a fire extinguisher on the wall. I yank it off, remove the safety pin, and just as he gets close, I let lose with the extinguisher, making him stumble and cough. I use the window of opportunity to tackle him down, and run off into the dim office, with all of the lights off.
I can barely see anything, and I hear Tobias somewhere behind me, yelling his trademark response. I stumble and trip over random pieces of furniture. Dammit, it's so dark; if only we had windows in this crappy office!
I see the doorway to the lounge, I run in, and I'm turning over drawers and cabinets, searching for a weapon. Then I see it; a kitchen knife. It'll have to do.
As if on cue, Tobias walks through the doorway, his red eyes illuminating the dimness of the place. He gets closer, and with a huge blast of adrenaline, I charge at him, tackling him down. I have him pinned, knife raised in one hand, ready to impale him with it.
I scream and shut my eyes as I shove the knife into his chest. He looks at me with pained eyes, the buzzing getting quieter from his computer, his red eyes fading until they look normal, and I'm still holding the knife in his chest. With pained, real eyes, he says, "I'm sorry sir, you look a little down today, you know?"
I yell again, shut my eyes, and pull the knife out of his chest, finishing him off.
My clothes are disheveled. I'm sweating. Strangely, Tobias' eyes are closed, his body cold and limp. I get off from my mounted position, set the knife on the counter, and walk through the doorway, breathing heavily.
All of the lights are on, the employees are back and still working, like nothing ever happened. I look back, Tobias' body and the knife are gone. I walk to my cubicle, the one next to me is empty. I ask another guy next to me, "Hey, where's Tobias?"
"Who's he?" he replies.
I wave it off and sit down. As I am typing this, I want everybody reading this to take it seriously, if you're on Pandora and you stumble across a song with that same album cover and the creature seems to be looking at you instead of off into the distance, exit the browser, restart your computer, something. Just don't listen to the buzzing.
Category:Computers and Internet
Category:Diary/Journal
Category:Music