Transmission: A Supernatural Thriller (23 page)

Then Agnes, and the pitch-colored shadow behind her, lurched forward.

The image, though still scattered and marred by pixels, had become unfrozen, and the two figures were coming forth, becoming clearer and clearer to the viewer. They approached jerkily, shambled as though they intended to walk straight out of the screen and into the dorm room. Very soon the entirety of the screen was filled with their distorted, pixel-laden forms.

Kenji backed onto his bed till his shoulders bumped the wall, while Dylan remained cemented before the screen, trembling.

Then the television powered down.

The dorm room was thrust into total darkness. Even the alarm clock on Kenji's desk was turned off, the bright, red numbers dying out as if on command.

“W-what's happening?” came Dylan's voice through the darkness, as softly as a mouse's.

 
Kenji was about to reply. His words were cut off by a sudden burst of brightness, however. Both of their laptops fired up in tandem, the screens coming to life with a deep blue color. The alarm clock came back on, and as the display blinked 12:00, static from the radio began to blare at an ear-shattering volume. The small radio scanned through the channels rapidly, the swell of frequencies amounting to something like a chorus of wails. Kenji's cell phone lit up soon thereafter, rattling on the desk, its screen showcasing what appeared to be an unknown number. The television had come on, too, but there was nothing on the screen, save for that same off-white background and a hint of shadow in the corners.

Above the ruckus, Kenji took hold of Dylan's arm. “It's... it's just a power surge!” he shouted. His voice joined the swell of electronic chatter like a plea, a wish, but he didn't even remotely believe the words coming out of his mouth.

 
And neither did Dylan for that matter. The tears running down his face as he turned and looked to Kenji in the low technological glow were rendered in ghostly blue light. “
She's here
,” he managed, almost choking on the words.

Suddenly, there was a savage pounding at their door. Hinges rattled as the blows of numerous hands met the wood. The band of hall light beneath the door was punctuated by two sets of feet.

 
No,
thought Kenji, his heart twisting in his chest.
They're
both
here.

End

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Transmission
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