Chapter 3: Bonds (End)

They headed away from the noise and down the dimly-lit cobbled street which lead to the entrance of Charlie's work's. Through an archway and then past a series or dark and vacant shops. Charlie began to reel off step-by-step instructions on how to go about the following act of crime. To Jemma, it seemed quick and easy but she was still feeling nervous. Soft moonlight made the place seem oddly unrecognisable and having no one else around made the walkway seem shorter. Both of the girls workplace's were at the end of this path. As soon as they arrived to an open paved square both shops became visible, Jemma moaned “Back at work again!” faking exhaustion. They both giggled before sharing a more serious glance, gaining focus before their operation.

In the silence, Jemma looked out whilst Charlie jingled her way through a set of keys. Within seconds the glass door slid open automatically, to reveal a heavy metal grating. Whilst Jemma hawked the desolate surroundings, Charlie began lifting the steel grate. Together they limbo-ed under followed by the grating clashing down behind and Charlie locking the entrance back up. After a pin code was entered at another barrier, they were faced with an empty supermarket.

The store emitted a consistent buzzing noise from the rows and rows of refrigeration, adding an eerie soundtrack to an even eerier atmosphere. Jemma and Charlie both seemed a great deal more sober than before, immediate regret began to set in.

“Lets get this over with please” Jemma insisted in a panicked, hushed voice.

“Sure, follow me. Its just through this door and up some stairs” Charlie rasped back.

The girls walked halfway through the fruit and veg section and went through a brown door with a porthole window, it swung back sharply with a loud thud and made both girls jump. They were met with a set of stairs, as they ascended all they could hear was the echo of each other’s footsteps slapping against the ceramic tiles.

“I am actually really curious about what happened to you” Charlie whispered, as she swiped a card to open the last door.

They walked into a large room furnished with solid wooden desks. Through the dim lighting from the emergency exit signs Jemma  could see each desk possessed a business phone, a swivel chair and a computer screen. Charlie, knowing where she was going, took Jemma's hand excitedly and led her to a separate office at the other end of the room.

Within this room was another generic desk, but was also accompanied by 4 glowing television screens hooked up to a large computer base  on the far left. Each screen flicked between different camera angles within the store and around the building. Charlie seemed to know what she was doing as she turned on a separate screen, sat down, and juggled between using the buttons on a remote and the keyboard and mouse. Jemma continued to watch the lifeless screen shots, noticing the time running in the bottom right corner was 23:11:53 hours. She had been gone for 15 minutes and her friends would be wondering where she was.

“So it was about 4 o’clock when it happened? Cereal aisle?” Charlie asked.

“Yeh, but closer to half past” . Jemma's nervousness was increasing now that she was getting near to seeing what happened. After a few more clicks she saw herself on screen, which drew her attention from the other four screens. Jemma leant over the desk next to Charlie and concentrated on herself. She was strolling past the fresh fish section  and turning left down the  aisle past the young couple at the end. Charlie then hit another few buttons and the angled changed to follow her. Jemma hated seeing herself on TV, awkward butterflies enveloped her stomach and she wanted to turn away.

“Do you want me to not watch?” Asked Charlie, who didn't seem to have any real intention on looking away.

The camera looked over the heads of the couple, down the rows of shelving. Jemma was heading straight through it, pushing her trolley to the checkouts. She had gotten about half way when a wave of static swept through the image from top to bottom, and the screen flickered. The time at the bottom on the screen seemed to freeze at 16:22:11 and go to 16:22:08. The on-screen Jemma was now on the floor in-front of her trolley, waking up suddenly. 

Jemma and Charlie shared a look, Jemma mouthed “What?” angrily and continued to watch the screen.

The image of Jemma got up, untangled her leg from the trolley, and once again a wave of static washed over the recording. Jemma seemed to dissapear for a second during this, and reappear. The young couple continued past her, the girl keeping Jemma in her eyeline.

“Well, what a load of bollocks!” Jemma exclaimed.

“Hang on a sec, I will go back by frame-by-frame” Charlie reassuered her.

The second viewing was hardly much more enlightening, it only increased Jemma's frustration. Before the time bounced back and the line of static interrupted what they were seeing, Jemma seemed to fall forwards into her trolley slightly. After that their view was obstructed, and when clarity was restored she was lying face first on the floor.  On analysis of the second distortion, it honestly looked like Jemma faded in and out of sight.

Charlie gave a look of confusion and started clicking away again “I'm gonna try and find some more angles”.

Whilst Jemma heard this she looked back at the current images on the 4 screens to her left, something had caught her eye. The top right screen had shown something. She waited until it flicked back to a camera covering an exit, the other side of the store. There was a figure outside it looking in, a tall dark man in a long grey coat.

“Charlie, who the fuck is that!?” She spat out in fear whilst turning the swivel chair to show her what she was seeing.

“Urrrr, I dunno. A creepy guy” Charlie didn't seem as bothered and started to turn away.

“Lets get out of here, this didn't help and I am starting to get freaked out!” Jemma was edging toward to door, still fixated on the screen as it flashed images of back rooms and walkways.

“Yeh, ok. Just deleting any images of us coming in” Charlie continued to type away.

As Charlie finished up, Jemma let out a short yelp. “He's still there, He just looked at the camera!” Her hand was over her mouth as she backed further away.

Charlie, now finished , got up to view the screen; but the screen had gone slightly fuzzy. A few seconds later the picture was restored and suddenly the man, who was previously behind the sealed exit, now stood inside the store. The girls hearts raced and they stood frozen in fear. The man surveyed the store and in doing so looked directly at the camera. His stare seemed intrusive and purposeful. Before they turned and ran, they could see his eyes were the odd colour of  purple.

“Who is he? Do you know him? Does he work here?” Jemma spat out in panic. She looked at Charlie pleadingly, hoping everything was normal.

“No idea. Follow me” Charlie ordered as she paced away, trying to keep her cool. Jemma took one glance back as she trailed behind, the screen had changed. Feeling like her heart was in her mouth, she pursued Charlie through the office and to the stairwell where they both stopped.

She could tell Charlie was extremely nervous and unsure how to go about getting out. Dozens of questions flooded Jemma's mind, on top of the questions she previously had from the day. She listened out for any sort of sound which would help locate his whereabouts. The tall, dark man could be anywhere in the store now and Jemma was worried that he was coming straight for them.

Charlie murmured to herself and limbered up. “After 3 we are going to run for it, OK?” She turned, Jemma nodded. Charlie threw herself down the stairs, her quickening paces echoed throughout the room.

Wishing she was in the nightclub, dancing with her friends, Jemma couldn't believe the situation she was in. There was no time to dwell on this though and she began to thud her way down the steps.  The overwhelming nerves and uncontrollable panic shook through Jemma's body and she felt a buzzing, floaty sensation. It was like every cell in her body was vibrating and a pulsing connection between her brain and heart seemed ever present.

Charlie glanced behind her ,looking unsure of herself, then burst her way through the door after a quick scan through the porthole. The door began to close but Jemma managed to squeeze through the tightening gap with ease.  Now in the main store, they made a sharp left towards the exit. With a all encompassing clap, the dim emergency lights went out and swamped the place in darkness. Both girls let out a short squeal, which helped Jemma locate and continue to follow Charlie whilst her vision adjusted. The buzzing from the fridges ceased, deepening the foreboding silence. Pale moonlight softly lit the outline of the building through its windows and Jemma could make out Charlie nearing the exit and soon caught up. Even though the electricity had seemingly just been tripped, the first set of sliding doors slid open , welcoming the girls. Charlie turned and concentrated on the surrounding area, Jemma assumed she was keeping watch. Once through she stumbled past Charlie and stood to breath, Jemma felt the tingling numbness release her as she relaxed slightly. The doors slid themselves closed forcefully and Charlie turned around, surprised to see Jemma standing there.

“I didn't see you come through!”

“Yeah, it's proper dark! Can we go now, please!” Jemma begged, exhausted.

Charlie went to try and get through the last set of doors. Jemma's eyes widened as she whispered “He's there.”.

20 metres away stood the man they had seen on screen. The moonlight outlining his large physique, still as a statue along the checkout aisle. He glared back at the girls with those deep set, purple eyes. His grey coat draped over him, touching the floor. An attached hood shadowing his features. He slowly stepped forward, heavy footed and with intent. Jemma was terrified and wanted Charlie to hurry up, but Charlie was entranced by the figure. She met and kept his gaze as step-by-step he grew closer. He seemed to act carefully and smoothly, as if they were wild deer who could easily be startled . He gently crept forward and positioned himself beside a display of large watermelons piled on top of each other. Confusingly, they seemed to be sharing more than just eye contact. Jemma felt the urgency of the situation and shook Charlie violently.

“PLEASE!” she whined.

Thud, A melon fell off the display, infront of the stranger. He didn't look down. Jemma grabbed Charlie's hand and pulled her away. Suddenly the whole collection of fruit tumbled after the first and Charlie snapped out of her state of hypnosis. She bounded back into action, using her set of key's and sliding up the metal gate and promptly fastened it at the bottom the other side. They had trapped the man inside, but Jemma did not care. Without thinking twice they turned and walked away. The fresh air, space and freedom felt amazing and they continued in silence for a short while contemplating what had just happened. It wasn't long though until Jemma wanted answers.

“Who was that?”

“I don't know.”

“What did he wan't?”

“I am not sure.”

“Did he want to hurt us?”

“I don't think so.”

“How do you know that!?”

“Not a clue.”

Jemma continued to ask inane questions regarding the faulty surveillance cameras, how the guy got in,  the electricity failing and the fruit display collapsing. Charlie calmly answered that she was unsure about it all, that she was equally perplexed. It was close to midnight now and she explained that staff were due in to the premises in 6 hours. That she wasn't concerned about the electricity as the frozen food would last until then, she had the next day off too so she felt it wouldn't affect her at all.

“And what was with that staring match!? What did he do to you?”

Charlie concentrated. “It was weird, it felt like he was trying to talk to me. I suddenly went from being terrified to feeling sorry for him. He seemed lonely. He needed us. ...I don't know. He just didn't seem to be a threat any more”

“Mental. You got that from a look!? He seemed deranged to me. You know he is probably going to be arrested now. Shouldn't we call the police”

“I don't want the police involved, how would we explain what we were doing in there? He got in somehow, maybe he will get out. ”

“Don't say that” Jemma looked full circle around them, searching.

“Right, we are going to forget about this ridiculous adventure, I have totally lost my buzz now. Lets head to IZI's and get our drink and our dance on!”

Reluctantly Jemma agreed and became less hung up on everything “If my friends ask, you had to vomit so we walked to the public toilets. Then we chatted to some friends of yours for a while. Sound believable?”

“Sure does” Charlie grinned.