The Graveyard Shift

Old Scars

BEEP BEEP BEEP BE- 

You groggily pushed the off button on your alarm clock. You sat up, and looked around. You saw your uniform at the foot of your bed, neatly folded up. That was different. You picked it up, and put it on. You thought about what you had seen the day before. There was something wrong with that place. You knew it. You grabbed your phone and shoved it into your pocket. You made a bowl of cereal, and sat down on your couch to eat it.

As you were spooning mouthfuls of Cheerios, your phone buzzed. You set the bowl aside, and looked at your phone. It was a message from your Boss, Mr. Afton. Strange, you didn't remember giving him your phone number. You read the message out loud. 

" An unforeseen incident has occurred, and I request that you make it to the pizzeria as fast as possible." You spooned the rest of the cereal into your mouth, and added the bowl to the growing pile of unwashed dishes in the sink. 

You got in your car, and drove to the pizzeria. You began to grown concerned as you neared the location.  What had happened?. You took the exit, and turned into the Pizzaria's parking lot.  You saw Mr. Afton talking to Vincent in front of the building.  You parked your car, and stepped out. Mr. Afton saw you, and moved towards you. 

" (Y/N)," He called to you, " Everyone else is inside. I want you to help them out." You looked past him at the building. 

" What happened?" You asked. Mr. Afton grimaced, then spoke.

 " Our nightguard, Cal, has gone missing. I suspect criminal activity." Mr. Afton shook his head slowly, then ushered you to move inside. You reluctantly did.

Scott, Jeremy, and Mike were standing by the main stage. Once they saw you enter, they waved you over. 

" We've been waiting for you. Now we can finally start looking." You were about to question why they waited for you, but Scott interrupted you. 

" Jeremy, if you can go with (Y/N) and look at the employee only areas, then Mike and I will go check the more public areas." Jeremy nodded at Scott, then looked at you. Scott and Mike began to make their way towards the Nightguard's office. 

You watched them for a second, then you turned towards Jeremy.

 " I think we should split up an-" 

" No!" Jeremy interrupted you. He shied down a little bit as he realized that he had yelled. " I mean, well, it's not really g-good for us to split u-up in a situation like t-this." Jeremy seemed to really hate your idea of splitting up, so you resigned to stay with him. 

 " Fine, then let's check the breakroom first." Jeremy nodded, and you took the lead. Before you had even taken a step, you noticed a small red splotch on the floor. Jeremy noticed what you were looking at.

 " It's probably just a sauce splotch. The children can be pretty messy." You could tell that Jeremy didn't even believe what he was saying. You looked at the suspicious red spot, and checked the surrounding area. 

It reminded you of some horror film. You being the detective, and Jeremy being your shy sidekick. You shrugged off the thought. This was serious. You had to walk for a little bit before you came upon another splotch. This confirmed what you thought. This was a blood trail

. " Go get Scott and Mike. "  You ordered Jeremy. Jeremy nodded, and ran towards the way Scott and Mike had gone. You found another blood splotch a few feet away from the other. You looked up, and realized where it was taking you. The Backstage room. It made sense to you. If you were a killer, you would hide the body where no-one would look, or at least, look last. 

Jeremy came back into the room, followed by Scott. You cocked your head to the side. 

" Where's Mike?" You asked. Jeremy glanced at Scott, then shrugged.  Scott scratched the back of his head awkwardly.