Top Spoop for actual things

Night has come. Outside it is nothing but inky blackness. The television is on, but I’m not watching it. Its background noise, the colors and movement help me fall asleep. Billy Mays finishes telling me about the wonders of Oxy Clean, and a blue screen with the “Local 58” logo appears, calming flute music coming in. It previews the lineup for the next two hours: 12:15 is Public Eye, 1 am is Paid Programming, at 1:30 is the City Council Minutes, and at 2 am is Focus On…Faith. Abruptly, the screen fritzes out, and the emergency tone begins to play. The screen stays black for a moment. White text comes up,
EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM
COUNTY AUTHORITIES
ISSUED
WEATHER WARNING
FOR YOUR AREA
This flashes twice before the tone changes from a dial up modem tone to someone holding down the five button on a telephone. The text disappears from the screen and static plays for a second or two before what appears to be a picture of the night sky. The words “Cam B” are in the upper left hand corner and in the upper right the moon swings into frame for only a moment before the screen dissolves to white again.
This…this wasn’t supposed to work like this. Weather warnings were supposed to be calm, orderly. This seemed rushed, panicked even. And what was with all the static, the quick cut to the night sky?
The screen went black again, and more white text appeared.
WEATHER WARNING
THE COUNTY WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A WARNING FOR A METEOROLOGICAL EVENT.
THIS WARNING IS EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY AND CONTINUES UNTIL SUNRISE TOMORROW MORNING
My mind begins to awaken a bit. A meteorological event? Do they mean a meteor shower? That’d be neat to see. Maybe I’d go out and take a look-
The text changes again.
DUE TO ITS BRIGHTNESS CITIZENS ARE ADVISED NOT TO OBSERVE THIS EVENT WITH THE NAKED EYE.
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The street is the table upon which I walk
I am an ant in search of sugar
This gingerbread house blocks my path
I eat the door
The statues before me block my righteous path once more
I exonerate them
They leak their suffering across the floor
The King must be praised
I cover myself in offerings and walk my path
Before me lies a palace, within it a portal to purgatory
The light from it offends the King, I know this
I grab one of the statues gears and throw it at the portal
The light flickers
I throw another
A moth peers out from it
I must show it the greatness of the King, only then will it be free
I point towards to his glory
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Odd…maybe it was a lunar eclipse? I’d heard of those happening before, but certainly not around here.
The screen falls black again, and the modem tone returns, this time beeping regularly. I realize I was sitting forward, rapt with attention, and lean back into my chair. The calming flute music returns and the Local 58 logo appears again. At least they knew when to rerun the schedule down at the station.
The line-up begins to come up again: at 2:15 it’s The Blood of th-
The screen fritz out to red, and the modem tone returns, playing solidly. New white text appears.
EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM
COUNTY AUTHORITIES
ISSUED
CIVIL DANGER
ALERT
What sounds like a dial tone for an answering machine plays, and the red backdrop begins to warble, with black fading in from the bottom. The text changes
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Laughter peters out in the break room and we all fall into contented silence. I loosen my tie a bit more and undo the collar. It was late enough for formalities to be dropped.
Todd gestures with his coffee cup towards me. “Mike, any word from Peter on the weird thing with the moon for tonight?”
I shrug. “No clue man. Why don’t you go ask him?”
“That’s the thing man, I haven’t seen hide nor tail of him ever since he went for his smoke break.”
I check my watch. It was nearing midnight, we’d all been putting in the overtime. This was my last day, I was just here to squeeze as much cash out of them as possible.
“When did he go out?” I ask.
“Around eleven I think. Should we go check on him?”
Lucy snorts. “Who cares? It’s not like we’ve got anything to do. We’ve got our stories lined up for tomorrow, if he doesn’t write anything up for the moon thing it’s on his head.”
I nod my head in agreement.
“I know, it’s his story to live and die on, but it’s been an hour. Even for shirking work that’s a long time. Can we at least check the security cams?”
I hop off the table I was sitting on. “Sure, why not? It’ll be a nice distraction. Maybe we’ll catch him picking his nose or something.”
Todd and Lucy shrug and follow me out. We twist and turn through the building heading up a floor before we come to the door marked “Security.”
I try the nob, but it doesn’t budge. “Door’s locked. Todd, you got the key?”
“Yeah man, here.” He hands me the key ring.
Walking in I flick on the light switch while Lucy and Todd begin to turn on monitors.
“When did security head out? They’re usually the last to go.”
“Eh, Frank had some family issue so he never came in, and Joe doesn’t like working late. Gives him the creeps.” Todd turns away from the monitors. “Why, think we need em?”
I shake my head. “Just curious why the door was locked. We should be good.”
We all turn to the camera set, Todd and I on either side of Lucy who’d taken a seat at the console.
Flipping through the cameras we search the outside of the news studio for Peter, looking for his signature cigarette smoke or the glowing ember.
“I don’t see him on any of these, guys. Do you think he just went home-“
“There!” I point my finger towards a television in the upper right hand corner, and Lucy brings it up on the main screen.
The camera is angled to show both the parking lot and the door leading in from it, the feed fish-eyeing slightly. Peter is standing well into the parking lot, unmoving, staring straight into the night sky. We can’t see the sky from this angle. In the background we can see orange streetlights illuminating the street nearby.
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My parents are asleep in the next room, so they don’t see the light coming from underneath my door. Hidden under my covers, I hold the flashlight in one hand, and use the other to flip the page of the comic book on my lap. I’ve lost track of time, but its Friday, I don’t have school tomorrow. Right now, Shaky (short for Shakespeare) is trying to convince the people of Cava that the drift fleet is planning to attack. I anxiously turn the page. I hope Shaky’s plan will work-
I hear a knock.
My room is on the second floor.
I turn off your flashlight, and listen. Maybe mom or dad had gotten up to pee and seen the light?
The knock comes to the window again.
I slowly remove the blanket.
The room is bathed in moonlight, it seems unnaturally bright.
I turn and peer out the window.
A man is standing outside. He’s grinning widely, and his teeth are shining in the moonlight. His whole body seems shiny, as if he was covered in paint or something.
He raises his arm and holds his open palm to the sky.
I look up.
I was blind
But now I see Truth
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 “What’s he doing?” Todd mutters.
This was odd, even for Peter. If he was smoking, he liked to stand close to the building to avoid the worst of the winter breeze, but he was simply standing stock still well away from the building.
As if he sensed us, his head turned sharply towards the camera.
We all jump slightly. “What, is he trying to scare us or something?” Lucy asks.
“No,” I reply. “He couldn’t know we were watching him, there’s no indicators on the cameras or anything.”
Peter turns his whole body and stands stiff as a board, staring into the camera.
A shiver runs down my spine.
“What’s…what’s he doing?” Todd whispers.
“I think he’s just…staring at us.” Lucy whispers back.
“But…why?”
Peter begins to move again, this time walking towards the camera. He walks in an unnatural waltz, along to some unheard tune. He stops directly below the camera, staring up.
The fish-eye lens warps his face, his eyes appearing huge and without any whites. His hair is plastered to his head as if he was sweating heavily.
His hands dart up suddenly, and he begins to grab at the camera, pawing at it like a cat.
I stand up. “Alright, he must have done this earlier, there’s no way he could’ve known when we were watching. He must be right outside the door and loaded up the tape, trying to scare us.”
Lucy and Todd don’t respond, staring fixedly at the screen.
I turn and open the door, peering outside. No one is there. I call down the hall. “Peter! I know you’re around here, you’ve got us creeped the hell out with this tape but you can stop now!”
No response.
I step out into the hallway completely and begin to walk towards the elevators.
“Peter? Seriously man, the video is creepy but you’re going a little overboard mate.”
The door to the security room suddenly slams shut, the clap making me jump and yell.
I walk quickly towards the room and yell “The hell, you assholes! Scared the shit out of me!”
No response.
I knock on the door. “Hello? Are you guys trying to scare me too?”
No response again.
I jimmy the door handle to find it’s locked.
I pull out the key ring Todd had handed me and begin to insert the key.
A voice comes from within the room, both Todd and Lucy’s voice speaking at the same time.
“Do you wish to see the King?”
“Excuse me?” The voice sounded warbled.
“He does not know who the King is?”
“We should show him.”
“I’m sure our brother-in-arms could show him.”
Their voices once again turn to one as they speak to me.
“Please wait here. Someone will be along shortly to show you the Truth.”
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CIVIL DANGER ALERT
THE COUNTY WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED THE FOLLOWING CORRECTION FOR THE WEATHER WARNING IN EFFECT:
FOR YOUR SAFETY REMAIN INDOORS.
DO NOT LOOK AT THE NIGHT SKY.
MORE INFORMATION TO FOLLOW
This flashes just long enough for you to read it before the screen fritzes to black again, as if someone were fast forwarding a VHS tape. The red background with white text appears again, though this time markedly changed.
CIVIL DANGER ALERT
THE METEOROLOGICAL EVENT IS SAFE FOR ALL TO VIEW. WARNING HAS BEEN L I F T E D .
The last word is typed upon the screen as if someone had just made the change. But why were they contradicting each other? The television is eerily silent, I almost reach for the remote to make sure I hadn’t muted the TV. The modem tone comes on, and the text changes again.
EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM
GO OUTSIDE N O W
CIVIL DANGER
ALERT
Again, the last is typed up as if someone is doing this on the fly, but this time it feels…different. Something crawls up my spine. This wasn’t normal, the weather service didn’t tell you to go outside ever, if anything they said get inside and low to the ground if there was bad weather. But this wasn’t a weather warning…this was a civil danger alert.
The screen fritzes out again, playing a horrible buzzing sound and shows what appeared to be clouds through a seriously damaged camera, but this lasts for barely a second.
A new screen appears, this one half black with red bleeding through, as if it was through a dark room, a shadow covering half the screen. You can make out in black text
CAN YOU READ THIS
I shiver.
LOOK AT THE MOON
A box surrounds it, changing it to negative space within a white box.
DO NOT LOOK AT THE MOON
The scene changes, half of a pixelated forest view. The text changes. Back to static.
STAY INSIDE
DON’T LOOK AT THE NIGHT SKY
I fight the urge to leap up and look. For some reason someone was telling me this on television, and not just me but everyone in town. They needed people not to do this, there was a reason.
FACE AWAY FROM ALL WINDOWS
AVOID MIRRORS
DO NOT LOOK UP
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“I’ve got to warn them, they’ve got to know not to look,” I think to myself as I sprint down the hall. Footsteps follow close behind, Peter is near.
“Please, you must heed his word! All you must do is gaze at his visage!”
I’m breathing hard, I haven’t had to run this hard before. I haven’t had to run for my life before?
I turn left at a junction, using the wall to bounce off and keep my momentum. I hear the footsteps skid past the intersection, Peter screeching in dismay. I glance at the door labels as I run past and almost miss the one labelled “Emergency Broadcasting.” The door is hanging open, the console inside lit up.
I sprint inside, turn, and slam the door shut. Turning the lock, I frantically glance for something heavy and solid to throw against it. A metal bookshelf heavily laden with binders and books sits just beyond the doors arc. I lean the bookshelf onto the door just in time as footsteps rapidly approach. The door knob jiggles, and then who I assume is Peter throws his body against it. The shelf moves slightly, but holds. Peter’s voice comes behind the door, muffled.
“You cannot hide from his divine light, the King must. Come. Down.”
He punctuates each word with violent bangs upon the door. I turn to the console and try to slow my breathing.
Only then do I realize that someone else was in the room.
Joe, one of our security guards, is standing at the emergency broadcast console, typing slowly but deliberately. I can see on the screen he is telling viewers that the alert was lifted.
“Joe.”
He does not look up, and continues typing.
Click. Click. Click. Click.
He’s telling viewers to go outside.
I step forwards slowly, and place a hand upon Joe’s shoulder.
“Are you here to stop the word of the King?”
I swallow, my throat dry.
He turns his head and looks at me.
His eyes are gone. Where they should be are empty sockets.
“Not all can gaze upon the King. But they will hear his doctrine.”
I scream and shove Joe away from the keyboard. He stumbles and falls in a heap. He remains there, unmoving.
I walk slowly towards him, afraid to speak. Nudging him with my shoe, he does not move.
Shaking, I move back towards the keyboard. Small drops of blood stain the letters. I try my best to ignore them.
Peter continues to bang against the door, I’m sure he’s hurt himself. I focus back upon the task at hand.
I need to warn them, they need to know. I consider briefly that few will be watching television at this late at night, but push the thought away. Anything that can help is worth doing. I type a brief warning, hoping it will air as soon as possible, the antenna still operational.
The banging at the door abruptly stops, and I turn to look. The bookshelf is still leaning heavily upon it, there was no way anyone was getting in through there.
The window on the door, the one with the reinforced class and heavy wire interlacing it, is empty. I slowly approach it. I hadn’t noticed it before, hadn’t seen anyone through it when the banging was going on.
Peter is lying on the ground clutching at his shoulder. It is unnaturally out of place, and bone is sticking out from his forearm. He isn’t cringing at all, however. He simply is staring at the door. At me.
Hands fall upon my shoulders and grasp lightly.
“Not all in his world are worthy, I see.”
One of his hands moves to the back of my head, and lightly strokes my hair.
“Do not worry. You will be with the King shortly.
His palm rests flat against my skull, and shoves forward suddenly. My forehead impacts against the class, and my vision pools.
He pulls backwards, and pushes my head against the class again. I feel the skin split, and warm blood seeps down.
He pulls backwards, and shoves forward.
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The television fades to black.
A blue screen appears. The local 58 logo fades in. I wonder for a moment if it was over.
The television screeches the warning tone, the sound alarmingly loud. I fumble for the remote, sure that someone—I don’t know who or why I don’t want them to—has heard and is coming.
The black screen appears.
WEATHER WARNING
THE FOLLOWING IS A MESSAGE FROM THE COUNTY WEATHER SERVICE:
IT’S IN THE LIGHT
I grip at the blanket covering me.
THE MOON CAME IN
HE FOUND ME
THRU THE MIRROR
I keep my neck stiff, but my heartrate skyrockets. I look to my left as far as I can. The mirror I placed on the wall is just out of my vision. I’m scared to turn.
MOONLIGHT WHITE
WHITE LIKE EYES
The messages speed up.
NOT LIGHT BUT BLOOD
I DROWN IN HIM
I swallow, my throat is itchy, and my lips are dry.
IF YOU ARE AFRAID
WE WILL LOOK TOGETHER
The television cuts to black.
Cam B comes back.
I drown in him
The King come down