The floors were shiny and wet with fresh water. If someone stepped on your handiwork, they would probably slide all across the tiled hallway at top speeds.

You were here for a couple hours. At first, you cleaned the area with practiced ease. You were done with the first floor in no time. Then the second floor. Then the third. And so on and so on. Luckily, the floors weren't that big. They were just halls filled with small offices for the animators.

Later, it started to rain profusely. It tapped harshly against the windows, and a crackle of booming thunder would make you jump from time to time, it's light would peek from the blinds covering almost all the windows.

Some of the lights would shut off or flicker wildly sometimes. Each time you witnessed one doing such things, you thought of horror movies and murders but nothing jumped out at you yet.

Except when that dang elevator halted abruptly that one time, you shuddered at the thought.

During your janitorial process, you were on the search for rats. You were on one of the upper levels, and you heard tapping going down the hallway. You immediately perked up and scanned the area.

You doubted it was a rat because it sounded too big, but you doubted it was a person because it was so dang late.

You saw a young woman approaching from behind you. Your eyebrow raised, thinking about who could be here at this god-awful hour?

She looked young and really pretty. She had curly black hair that went to her neck, it was glossy in the bright lighting. She had a cute, pale face and shining bluish-gray eyes. You ogled at her, suddenly feeling like a rat yourself compared to her.

She eyed you as she passed by. She smiled sweetly at you, but her eyes were confused. You lifted your lips in an awkward, shaky smile back. You stopped mopping, your hands gripped the wooden handle.

The raven-haired woman was a little behind you, before you turned around in a nervous fashion, calling out to her,

"hey! Umm... try not to slip, the floors are pretty wet." You glanced at the multiple yellow wet floor signs littering the hallway and mentally facepalmed yourself. Why did you say that when it was obvious?

The lady turned around with a surprised look in her eyes. But it morphed to amusement seeing your self-loathing. She brushed the sides of her white blouse that fit her frame.

"Thank you," she said. She had a really soft voice. You realized she had a birthmark on the side of her face which added to her natural beauty.

You turned back around and returned to mopping. The tapping of her shoes down the hallways became more and more distant. You hoped the woman wasn't a robber or something because that would mean you are a suspect for letting her pass by without questioning.

You rolled your eyes at the thought. Who would rob this place? Sure it was a big building, but you doubted any robbers would be interested in an animation studio. Maybe she works here?

But again, who would work at this hour? You suddenly glanced down at yourself. Oh right, you cringed, you are. Shaking your head, you set  down a vibrant 'wet floor' sign on the floor.

In a slow pace, you continued onward down the hall to finish.

______________

With a final huff of satisfaction, and a plop of a wet floor sign,  you leaned back to see your handiwork. The floors were shiny and clean, so much in fact you could see your reflection.

Whoever the janitor was, they were mediocre compared to you. You nodded to yourself with a triumphant smirk. Then you put away the huge cleaning cart into a nearby janitor's closet.

Your work here is done, you thought to yourself, brushing off your clothes. You made your way to the elevator, thinking of home-sweet-home.

You halted in your steps. Wait, that wasn't your job in the first place! Your actual job was to search for rats.

You groaned, now making your way sluggishly to the elevator with less enthusiasm. If you've done your real job, you'd probably be done a long while ago and at home.

Extra pay, you gritted your teeth in frustration, extra pay. You trudged down the first floor. You changed from janitor mode to I'm-gonna-get-these-rats mode. 

Your eyes trailed the area from every nook and cranny, and your ears were focusing on the slightest sound. You spied through the dimly lit halls like a man on a secret mission. A spy.

Abruptly, a loud scream shook you out of your trance. You blinked a couple of times and stood there dumbly. That sounded too real to be imagined. Then you heard yelling that sounded desperate.

You once worked at a Halloween amusement park as one of the creepy mascots. You wore some pretty badass costumes and got free candy. It was a good time.

They trained you the different types of screams that came from people, the Pyramid of Screams they liked to call it. It sounded like a horror attraction but it was actually a technique you guys used.

How you used it was judging on how the customer screamed and their body language. If the customer screamed in a very terrified way, and they cowered from you, but is paralyzed in place. You should probably keep your distance from them and let them calm down.

Judging by the scream you just heard, it's way up there on the pyramid of screams. You immediately went to action, sprinting down the hallway. You heard the struggling shouts through a door that was closed before but now is wide open.

You entered some small exhibit or something with cute plushies and interesting items, but you can't check it out now.

You realized the ink pooling on the floor with a yelp of surprise. You started to grow afraid, but you were also very confused. Ink? Why is there so much of it? Where is it coming from?

In the back of your head, a thought appeared on how it was going to ruin the floors you worked so hard on. But that thought was the least worrying, the struggling and shouting went silent, and last you heard it was coming from the room where all the ink was flowing from.

You hope you were not too late. you thought of that woman you saw before, the screaming sounded like her in a way. You shuddered, thinking that you witnessed a murder. What were you going to say to the police?

You ran through the freezing ink, making splashing sounds. It stained your pants black and made the fabric stick uncomfortably to you but you couldn't care less. This ink was thick and slimy, it smelled awful and bitter. You were pretty sure ink was not like this.

You realized that you were struggling the more you tried to go through the ink. It was going higher and higher up your legs, it was cold and felt like you were walking through a pool of thick slime. Which you basically were.

You glanced around the room, searching for a person or a body. You saw nothing of the sort, just ink. You dipped your hands in the slimy liquid, and felt around with desperation. Nothing.

You were a lifeguard once, but you never swam in ink before to save someone. You didn't know what to do! The sound of sloshing ink filled the room as it elevated higher and higher, hiking up your legs.

The culprit to all of this was a humongous machine that was there, it was guzzling ink out messily like a hose. It had cogs and made a strange buzzing sound.

You stared at it in awe, how could that thing spit out so much ink?! Why is that even here? You saw a lever to the side and made your way to it. This could maybe turn it off!

You were basically swimming through the ink by now. You felt it pull at your body like millions of slimy hands trying to grab at you. You gripped the splintery wooden handle and pulled down with all your might but it wouldn't budge.

You tried again and again, not realizing you were attracting attention to yourself. A large, inky black hand emerged. It drifted towards you with eager fingers. You were ignorant of the presence approaching behind you.

When you finally felt the lever giving in to your yanking, you were grabbed roughly by the hair by something slimy. You screamed but it was cut short as you were dragged backwards and splashed beneath the ink with a plop!

You choked from the bitter liquid viciously entering your throat. Your hands tried to grab at the attacker only for more fingers latching on  to you and gripping you tightly. They were dragging you down, they were trying to drown you.

You were panicking and squirming with all your might but it was useless as they only grew more impatient with you.

Hands were everywhere, touching you, caressing you and pulling you down. It was awful, and it was painful. You felt the ink sliding into your lungs. It was pitch black and the ink stung your eyes.

Is this how you were going to die? You don't want to die, you still have so much to do. You have a loving family and a purpose.

What the hell is even going on?!

"Come to me," purred a voice that sounded cruel and otherworldly. It felt like it was echoing in your head. You thought you were imagining it.

"Yes, accept your fate and come join us in the dark puddles."