"Whatcha got?" I asked as I sat on the couch next to Macey.

"Well, not much that the average Joe wouldn't already know," she replied with a disappointed sigh, not turning away from the monitor.

She had been on her laptop for the last half hour doing research on the White strangling. The victim was 9-year-old Jasmine, the suspect was her mother, Alice, who was nowhere on the property, although her blood could be found in the bathroom. And not just a few drops, but a whole splatter that the authorities say isn't an amount one can lose and then survive; however, until more evidence is found, she's the prime suspect.

"Her sister, Jane, keeps claiming that Alice didn't do it," Macey commented.

"What do you think?" I replied.

"I'm honestly not sure... There are a lot of things about this that make no sense."

"Are you thinking we should ask Officer White about this?"

"Well, if we're right and he's somehow involved in something, that might just make him suspicious..."

"So, then what do you suggest?"

"I..."

She sighed and rubbed her eyes in frustration.

"I don't know," she answered.

I could then hear my phone ringing. I looked at the screen. Unknown number.

"Answer it," Macey ordered. She didn't have to tell me twice.

"Hello?" I asked into the phone.

"Mike!!"

I gasped in surprise.

"Jamie!" I replied. "Are you okay??"

I then heard a shuffling noise, as if something was being moved.

"Jamie? Jamie!!"

"In one hour, you and your sister are to be at the abandoned factory outside of town."

It was that distorted voice again.

"Who are you??" I asked it. "Why are you doing all of this??"

"All will be answered at the factory, Mr. Schmidt."

They hung up. I pulled the phone away from my ear and sighed.

"Well?" Macey asked.

"Do you know of an abandoned factory outside of town?"

"Not really..."

"I do. Why?"

We turned and saw Carmen in the doorway with a suspicious look.

"That's where we're supposed to go in an hour."

"Why?"

"I..."

We hadn't fully explained this Jamie situation to Carmen, mainly because there's really no easy way to. Even Macey had a difficult time understanding it at first. Speaking of Macey, she stepped in to get me out of this awkwardness.

"A friend of Mike's is in town and wants to meet us."

"...at an abandoned toy factory outside of town?"

"She's, uh... Interesting like that."

I could tell by the look on Carmen's face that she didn't believe Macey for a second. She then turned to me.

"Are you doing something illegal?"

"What?! No!" I defended, to which Carmen scoffed.

"Loser."

"Anyway," Macey interrupted, "we'll need to borrow your car again."

"Fine. But on one condition."

"That being...?"

"I drive."

Macey and I stared at her in shock.

"I'm sorry?" she asked in clarification.

"Well, if it's nothing illegal, what's the problem?"

Macey turned to me with a worried expression, and I certainly see why. As much as I despise my cousin, I don't to risk her getting caught up in this situation, but we didn't really have much of a choice; we needed that car.

"Fine," I sighed. "You seem to know how to get there, anyway."

Giving a proud and bitchy smirk, she turned to get her car keys.

"It's about a half-hour drive," she told us, "so you better get ready!"

Neither Macey nor I said anything as we got off the couch. I just hope that this doesn't end badly...

* * *

"...are you sure this is it...?" Macey asked as she looked out the windshield

"I'm pretty sure..." Carmen replied with uncertainty in her voice.

I can certainly see where their confusion came from; while it certainly did have the scale and build of a factory, some things certainly seemed odd. For being abandoned, there were some things that looked recent, like tire tracks around the property, large tarps covering large items around the outside, and even what appeared to be fresh layers of paint on the building.

"I guess your 'friend' is responsible for this?" Carmen asked as she adjusted her mirror to look me in the eye.

"I guess so," I replied with an obviously bullshit lie.

"It's been about an hour since they called," Macey commented as she looked at her watch.

Right as she said that, we could hear a car pulling up nearby. Looking at it revealed it to be police car. The officer inside the vehicle made eye contact with us.

"Son of a..." Macey gasped.

"So this IS illegal!" Carmen snapped.

"No!" I replied before I got out of the car and walked towards the cop car.

As I did, the officer got out of his car, as well, and we met halfway.

"What brings you here, Officer White?" I asked.

"I could ask the same thing," he replied with confusion. "Surely you're not the one that called me?"

I stared at him with confusion.

"You were called here, too? By who? And why?"

"That's uh... Classified information."

"So the distorted voice is classified?"

Officer White's eyes widened and he was left speechless. Before either of us could do anything else, we heard another car pulling up. This one was an older car being driven by a young man. A very familiar young man...

"Chuck?!" I asked at the car, despite the engine being on and the windows being rolled up.

Chuck, however, looked just as confused as the rest of us as he turned off his car and got out of it. By this time, Macey and Carmen were out of the vehicle, as well.

"So, what exactly are you doing here?" Chuck asked me.

"Did you get a call from a distorted voice?" I replied.

Chuck stared at me, then to Officer White, and then back at me.

"Yes," he finally replied.

"So, to clarify," Macey butted in, "the same distorted voice called for all of us to meet at this place at the same time...?"

"It... would appear so..." Officer White replied.

Seemingly on cue, we heard a loud metallic noise come from the factory. We looked and saw that the main doors had opened up by themselves.

"Everyone stay back," Officer White replied as he pulled out his firearm and pointed it towards the factory. "I'm going to go in and see what this is about."

"Shouldn't you call for backup or something?" Chuck asked.

"Not until I have reason to."

White then made his way to the entrance, keeping his gun pointed at the open door the whole time.

"So, uh..." Chuck asked me, "what did the voice tell you? You know, what did it say to make you come here?"

"Well, uh..."

I turned towards Carmen, who was staring at me with anticipation. Sighing, I turned back to Chuck.

"It's about Jamie. She's been missing, and this voice seems to have her somehow."

Chuck's jaw dropped.

"That's exactly what happened with me and Eric!"

"What...?!"

"Yeah! He's just stopped calling me and--"

We all flinched at the sound of a scream echoing out of the factory.

"Was that the cop?" Carmen asked.

"Sounded like it...!" Macey gasped.

That's when we heard the voice coming out of the factory.

"Hellllp!!! Please! Somebody help!!"

That voice was male, and also very familiar.

"ERIC!!" Chuck called out as he bolted towards the door.

"Chuck, wait!" I replied as I ran after him.

"Oh, God..." I heard Macey mumble as I heard her start running.

By the time I had reached the door, Chuck was inside, staring at the sight in front of him. Honestly, I can't blame him. Inside were what looked like 2 animatronic endoskeletons strapped to chairs. They were staring at Chuck, but when the one on the right saw me, its metallic jaw opened up and let out scream.

"MIKE!"

That voice. It was female and too familiar. But if what I think is happening is happening, then I'm honestly completely dumbfounded.

I could hear Macey and Carmen stop right behind us. I could tell they were just as confused.

"What... the... fuck...?" Carmen asked.

"Took the words out of my mouth," Macey replied.

"Come on!" the male robot cried out. "Get us out of here!"

"E-Eric...?" Chuck asked as he slowly walked towards the machines. "Is that really you...?"

"Yes, it's me!" it replied. "We'll explain what's going on when you get us out of here!"

The other robot was quiet, but its eyes were locked right into mine. Even though it didn't have eyebrows and its eyes were decorated plastic, it looked so scared. My emotions must be messing with reality...

"Alright, I'll get you out!" Chuck replied before running towards the robots. About halfway there, though...

ZAP!!

A loud electrical surge could be heard and seen coming from the endoskeleton's chest, and it hit Chuck right in HIS chest! In a split second, he had dropped straight to the floor.

"HOLY SHIT!!" Macey screamed in terror.

A second later, we heard the doors slam behind us, sealing us all inside.

"Okay, what the FUCK is going on?!" Carmen screamed. "What exactly did you guys get me into?!"

"I'm sorry, who volunteered to come along despite this clearly not being about her?" I snapped.

"Hey!" Macey told us both. "Save it!"

She then turned towards the unconscious body lying on the floor and ran towards it.

"Chuck, are you okay...?!" she asked as as she ran.

"MACEY, GET BACK--!!"

ZAP!!

A few feet away from Chuck, my sister was also shocked with a bolt from the endoskeleton's chest! Like Chuck, she also dropped to the ground, not moving at all!

"NOOOO!!!" I screeched as I stared in horror.

"MACEY!!!" Carmen also screamed in panic.

ZAP!!!

This bolt was even louder as Carmen was hit all the way from the doorway, slumping over and lifeless!

Realizing I'm the only one left, I looked at the animatronics, who were also staring back at me. That's when the one on the right, the one with the female voice, opened her jaw again.

"I'm so sorry..."

ZAP!!!!

That was the last thing I remembered.