The man in the crisp suit sniffed out of frustration. This was meant to be a snatch and grab operation; three units. In and out. Fifteen minutes at most. He checked his watch, set to a timer. 43 minutes and counting. He had already sent in five units and was about to call for another three to be sent when one of them scrambled back out the door he had been sent into twenty minutes prior.
“Well?” the man, who was called Burt outside of his professional life, but didnt have a name in it, snapped.
“Its not a level four,” the man gasped, pulling himself to his feet and trying to regain his composure. “It has to be an six, maybe even a seven.”
“You expect me to believe that this operation was misrepresented that badly?” Burt asked, his voice even again.
“Sir, I dont know who assigned this, but they fucked up.”
“The others?” Burt asked.
“Gone.”
“Dead?”
“No bodies, no death. Theyre just gone.”
“Hm,” Burt said, turned on his heels and stalked back to the off the shelf RV which served as a mobile HQ for his work. He spoke briefly into a phone which only rang a single number before hanging up and heading back outside. He looked at the man who had emerged from the house, who had already changed into a fresh suit and was tying his shoelaces back up. “Whats your name?”
“Bryce, Sir,” the young man said.
“How did you escape whatever happened to the units that went in before you?”
“It let me out, Sir,” Bryce said. There was no shame or equivocation. No attempt to make excuses; just the straight truth.
“What is it?”
“Hands, Sir,” Bryce said. “Under a bed. Reaching out about three feet.”
“We’ve seen that before,” Burt said. It was mostly to himself; the best notebook he ever had was inside his head. So long as he made the notes.
“Yes, Sir.”
“Was there ever anything above a five since you started here?”
“I’ve been here for seven years, Sir. I was here for the eight down in the city.”
Burt looked at the man. This was a deeper look than he had previously given him. This time the older man really took the agent in. Examined him. “And is that how youre judging this to be higher than a six?”
“Ive had the training, Sir. I know how these things are judged.”
“Of course. I just need to have some foundation for making my report.”
“Sir?”
“I sent five of you in already. Youre the only one to come out. Thats not enough for me to justify bringing in the arsenal.”
“Agreed, but how do you plan to change that?”
“I just requested another three units to be sent from home. Theyll be here in half an hour. You get them up to speed. Dont mention your speculation on levels. Just the facts; what you saw, how it relates. All the basic stuff. They stay put until I give the order. Understood?”
“Of course, Sir. What are you going to do?”
“No mistakes, Bryce. A single one means this goes wrong in every direction. Given that you are the only one here with the hands on experience, you’re it until I get back.”
“Sir, youre not going to go in there, are you?”
Burt took a deep breath, doffed his coat into the arms of a waiting assistant and rolled up his sleeves. “I need to know how bad it really is,” he said.
The building Burt and his people had been called to had been a motel. It was outside the city, but close enough that it used the name. It had been abandoned for many years but no one cared enough to do anything about it. Once upon a time it had sat on the side of the only road between the two nearest cities, but highway upgrades and other towns cropping up along the way had driven this whole area to abandonment. The perfect place, although not the only one, for events such as this.
Burt had set up his operation across the street from the motel. They had been here for nearly two hours now and not a single piece of traffic had come down the road. He still looked both ways before stepping out onto the asphalt, Bryce watching on from the RV door.
As Burt walked with quick, decisive, steps towards the motel, he rolled the sleeves of his crisp white shirt up to his elbows. Strangely, the edge of a thick tattoo line edged out from under the sleeve.
“Well well, we have another,” a voice said the instant Burts shoes crossed under the arch that led from the street into the parking area in front of each room. Burt didnt reply as he slowly made his way towards the rear of the complex. Statistically the most likely place for one of these things to occupy was as far from the entrance as possible. Gives them time to get into your head before you can start fighting them.
“Youre supposed to talk back to me,” the voice said. “Give me something to do while you look for me. You wont find me, of course. One or two of the others did, but they were much better at this than you are. They all spoke to me. They were all full of bravado and confidence. And then they found me and it all went away, just like them. I suppose youre just another sacrifice. How sad, especially after I let that other one leave. He was meant to tell you to leave me alone. To tell you that I will keep taking your things until you do. I guess he failed to pass that along. I wont let you go though. Youre stuck here with me and if you find me, Ill take you too. Until then, though, I would really love you to talk to me.”
Burt had to admit that keeping the voice out of his head was difficult. Just that alone, the hypnotic power of it, the desire to have a conversation with it, made it more than a level four. Whoever had designated that, and he had a distinct feeling he knew who it was, would get more than a mouthful when he got back. He had the information he needed now. This was, by far, a six.
Turning on his heels and marching back towards the entrance only to find the wall where the archway was had been replaced with another row of motel rooms.
“Ah,” Burt said.
“You didnt think I would let you out before you had spoken to me?” the voice said. “You arent in charge in this area.”
“Maybe a seven,” Burt muttered, making another note in his head.
“You should really speak to me,” the voice said. “Maybe I can give you a hint to get out of here. A way to trick me, perhaps. You dont know my rules.”
The rules. There were always rules. But the higher the level, the harder they were to understand. The easier they were to break. The level eight was a mess because a rookie broke one of the rules. There must be something here that Burt could use to determine this particular set.
Bryce had mentioned a set of hands from under the bed. That meant he had to access the rooms. Presumably there was a way to determine which one.
Immediately he dismissed the ones from where the entrance should be. They would just be constructs. Not real.
The last rooms on the lot were the most likely, but entities like this didnt get to be this strong by being predictable. He would have to search every room. One by one and hope that he didnt break any rules in the process. He turned to head to the room which had a faded 1 on the door.
“You think you can do this logically, dont you?” the voice said as Burt’s hand grasped the door handle. “What if I said that you had three choices and if you didnt find me in that time, the game was over?”
Burt paused. He released the door handle and walked back to the center of the complex. He turned slowly and considered each of the 15 rooms surrounding him. He couldnt discern anything obvious, but if the thing was giving him this warning, then there must be something around here that gave the game away.
“Ask me,” the voice said as if reading Burts mind. “Ill tell you the truth.”
“Show me which room you’re in,” Burt said. His voice was strong. It rung out and echoed around the open space. He looked straight up into the sky.
“You should ask me nicely,” the voice said.
“I will not ask you anything,” Burt said. “I am in control here, not you.”
“You say,” the voice sounded like it was laughing. “But you need to prove that.”
“Show me,” Burt intoned again. A flash behind his eyes. Something primal. “Ah,” he said again. “Its you.”
“Its always me,” the voice said. It was the same voice, lilting and hypnotic. But there was another layer to it this time. A feel of domination.
“Hypnosis only works on the willing,” Burt said. He made it sound like he was talking to himself. “You cant force it onto someone.”
“You can if theyre desperate enough,” the voice said. “If they want a way out. Need something to do their thinking for them.”
“Imagine if there was someone who thought I needed a way out,” Burt continued. He surveyed the doors again. He knew which one the creature was hiding in, but he didnt know which one that was. The numbers on the doors had changed. Burt closed his eyes and spun around on his heels. “Show. Me.” he insisted and saw the flash again. The number 7 burned into the back of his retinas. He opened his eyes and looked at the door he had stopped at. A bright gold 7 was screwed into the door. He smiled. “I found the rule,” he said calmly and stepped towards the door into room 7.