Joseph gritted his teeth in annoyance. The supervisor had gathered the floor team for another safety meeting. “As if they really know what’s going on”, he thought. It was becoming a weekly occurrence, 15 minutes of unpaid time cutting into his only break during the day. Management seemed to think these reminders would quell the disturbing reports coming from the warehouse, but Joseph knew better.
The “accidents” weren’t due to a lack of “operating in a clear safe zone” or “being aware of your surroundings”, not that most of them couldn’t be confused with typical workplace accidents. When the second-storey packing shelf fell, crushing two workers, or the bloodied hand was found in the conveyer system, an investigator could put it down to a lack of safety protocols.
But they never investigated. “They don’t care”, Joseph thought, “If they actually realised what was happening, this place would be shut down”.
Much harder to explain were the accidents involving mangled bodies spread throughout the warehouse, not just near the belt machinery. Joseph had found one himself - a poor middle-aged man bent backwards at an unnatural angle, blood covering the front of his torso. A fall? Had he gotten stuck behind a forklift? That’s what he initially wondered, despite the unusual circumstances of the lone man, fatally wounded in the packing rows.
He had heard whispers among the other workers, of staff disappearing, blood soaked boxes, and screams. Terrified short-lived screams. Noises barely audible over the loud whine of vehicle engines and mechanical belts except for those nearby.
Joseph shivered. This was his fault. He knew why these things were happening but couldn’t bring himself to reverse his decision.
These accidents were not careless mistakes he now knew, but the work of a monster. A dangerous creature hiding in the factory. Something other-worldly, horrifying and hideous. What else could cause such brutality?
In fact, Joseph had seen it.
At closing time three weeks before, as the last one to leave the packing floor he had turned off all the main lights. It was when he reached up for the last light switch, looking back into the now-dark shelves when he saw it. Not the whole thing, only its face. It’s eyes. It’s terrible black eyes staring between the rows of packaged boxes and crates. They had locked onto his for a moment before retreating back into the inky blackness of the empty warehouse. He had seen it. And it had seen him.
From that moment, Joseph knew the reason behind the horrific mutilations. This monster, hiding in the shadows, lashing out at lone workers, was here looking for something. Joseph knew it to be true, because he had it. He was to blame.
If he returned the item back where he found it, perhaps the monster would leave. But that was not something Joseph wanted to do. Did the creature suspect him? Would it eventually find out? And why hadn’t it chased him that night?
These questions whirled through Joseph’s mind as yet another safety inspector rattled off rules about “being visible at all times.” It wouldn’t make a difference.
The only thing that would help, is if he returned the item.
But he couldn’t. He wouldn’t.
When he found the mysterious box sitting some distance from the packing shelf he didn’t know how it would change his life.
Joseph assumed it was a misplaced item or had fallen from a moving transport but this wasn’t a normal box. It had strange markings all over it, and didn’t seem to be constructed of any material he had seen before. He was alone, and so took the chance to look closer. Placing his hands on the top cover he felt it slide smoothly as he tried to open it. He heard several small clicks and movement from within as he slid it all the way open.
Joseph stared in wonder. Inside the box was a darkness. None of the fluorescent lighting broke through it, yet there was a bright light in the centre, contained as if held by an invisible net.
Leaning in he gazed at the glowing centre and could make out smaller dots of light within the brightness. Thousands of tiny lights dotted around the central point, the whole shape was oval in structure and rotated slightly.
This was like nothing he had ever seen. It resembled a galaxy. A mass of stars orbiting a black hole, suspended in space.
Joseph was mesmerised, it was incredible. He was about to lean in more when he heard a forklift start up several rows over, jolting him back to reality.
Before he knew what he was doing he closed the box and heaved it the edge of a shelving row, covering it with a tarpaulin. He didn’t want anyone else to see this before he understood it. Yes, he would hide it, coming back at the end of his shift to place it between some boxes he knew no one else would poke around in.
His hands trembled slightly as went towards the forklift thinking about what he had seen. And that’s when he heard the scream.
