looped

I woke up in my office chair, the red lights blaring at me, screaming out with that shrill alarm. I saw the buttons in front of me blinking threateningly this meant only one thing the rig was on fire.

I stood up, and I looked around. The map said the deepest part of the drill was getting really hot and on fire. But it's metal, how does metal catch aflame? I slammed my fist into the button to seal off the area. If I didn't, then the people outside of it would burn to death, along with me.

I could feel the distinct rumble as the bulkheads closed with a groan. I let out a shaky breath. This had never happened before. I hadn't been trained for this, but I knew what I had to do. I didn't know how many people would die, but I knew the number might be high.

I walked out of the control room. I stumbled as the adrenaline slowly wore off. People ran up to me, exclaiming that the drill was on fire. It wasn't anymore, I told them that. But I guess they were hallucinating or something, because they claimed they could see it.

Suddenly, I saw something down the mining rig, something tall and skinny. Something not human. It looked like something from one of my drawings, and I had a name picked out for them. The starved, or the stalker.

I blinked hard, trying to make sure I wasn't seeing things. Then it started screaming, as if it was angry. just how I imagined it would. I could feel the blood rush out of my face as I felt the urge to run. But I knew, that if it was anything like the thing I made up. It was fast.

It sprinted at me, reaching a speed of at least 24 mph. I stumbled backwards helplessly, my arms flailing about. It reached me, and I felt it grab my jacket, and then it swung me, it threw me. I was in the air, before my back hit a pillar knocking the wind out of me.

Then it lunged at me, thrusting its claws forward at me. I woke up abruptly, in that office chair. The lights were blaring around me again, and I was confused. I had already experienced this. It was exactly like in my dream, but this time I slammed my fist onto the button faster. I decided it was just the noise setting off the nightmare.

I stood up, this time not stumbling as I walked out of the control room. The people are screaming again. Someone ran up to me, saying, "The drills are on fire, and something got in!" I replied simply, "I closed it off." They looked relieved, until that monster ran up and slashed his back open, severing his spinal cord and making him drop to the floor.

I stumbled back, shaken to the core as I watched him gurgle on his own blood, as I watched his blood pool around him. Then I saw something flash into my face, before I woke up again. the buttons flashing.

I knew it was the drill, so I pressed the button immediately. Not wasting a second, but when I walked out, everything was on fire. This was new, what was happening? People were screaming, some rolling on the ground as their cotton clothes burned them alive.

Some of them were running, unharmed, but scared out of their minds. Some of them were bleeding, their blood staining the clothes they were wearing. But one of them, just stared down the tunnel, the orange lights flashed, spinning on the walls, insinuating chaos. But he just stood there, as if he was unfazed by the loud blaring alarms and bright orange lights.

I ran up to him, "Why arent you running?" He turned to look at me, but he was smiling, a smile that seemed too thin, and long to be a humans smile. His eyes were weird, as if I was looking at the pupils from a magnifying glass. While his nose was too small to be an adults. His hair was greasy, and he eminated the stench of rotting meat. "Why arent you?" He asked me, his voice deep, and raspy.

I know that this whole time, I've been tripping out. But I knew that it wasn't a human, his arms were too slender, and his feet were too wide. He stenched of rotting flesh, and I almost gagged. "What are you?" I asked, my voice, quivering slightly. But then its eyes widened, even further. "You, you've been through this haven't you!" it smiled wider. "What? What do you mean?!"

It cackled, a deep gruff, and inhuman laugh. I took a step back, afraid it would attack me. "Oh don't run yet. Besides, no matter what you do, you're gonna die, over and over, and over again. No matter what you do, you will be killed, and it'll start all over again. This time, you woke up late. Thats why everything is on fire." It grabbed my shoulders. "I wont let you escape this loop, matter of fact. why don't I rewind time for you." I felt something stabb into my throat.

I felt blood rush down my neck, onto my chest. I couldn't breath, and I tried to shove it off, but then it laughed. "Oh no, I want this to stay there, so you can suffer even more. Hahahahahaha" It started cackling again, while I saw my vision fade, my knees going weak, my hearing fading.

I woke up again, this time. No alarm was blaring. When I looked around, everything was fine, but then I saw it again The thing that was cackling at me, the thing that killed me last time. It was carrying a gas jug, and then I knew. It had started the fire.

I started walking to him, but this time, he didn't stink of rotting meat, and his proportions were correct. "Hey, what are you doing." It looked at me, "Just, transporting the gas, the fuels low." I shake my head, "No it isn't. I know what you are." It grinned, "So you're the lucky one who gets the loop huh?"

"The loop? What do you mean?" It set the gas down, before grinning, that same thinly long smile. "Well, every time I release a monster, or a thing humans were never meant to see, someone is chosen to loop through it, as if it was a what do humans call it? Oh yes, a video game. Until you find the right path, you'll be stuck here for all eternity. the only reset being death."

I felt a bubbling in my chest, as I grew anxious, "You don't remember what happens in the loops do you!" I said, knowingly. "Oh, unfortunately, no I don't remember, which means I don't know how many times you will, or have died. Good luck stopping me, hehehehe" Then he punched me in the throat and ran. Grabbing the gas and booking it.

I fell to the floor, clutching at my neck, I couldn't breathe, at all. Soon, I realized that the fact I couldn't breathe, was because it had broken my windpipe, or something. Soon my vision grew hazy. My knees starting to wobble as I collapsed. Soon, I heard screams, and flashes of orange as my vision went dark. I heard the alarms as I slowly suffocated.

I waited, and waited, but death didn't seem to claim me. until I woke up, to something banging on the door. orange still flashing everywhere, but I opened my eyes, the pain had disappeared, and something was trying to get in. I heard few screams, and I looked at the monitor. The fire had gone out in the drill, which means it ran out of things to burn down there.

I looked at the door, seeing it vibrate every time the thing thumped on the door. I saw the hinges start bending slightly, and I knew that it wasn't going to hold much longer as it is. It thumped again, and again, the alarms going quiet. soon all I could hear was it thumping on the door, and my own breathing, quivering in the silence.

Then I heard a crash as the door fell in front of me, revealing a monster, that same monster from before. The tall one, Its long, meaty arms curled up as the door fell, it looked at me. Its sharp teeth glimmering in the light, Its hands were a crimson red from blood, as was its teeth. It had to be 7 feet tall, with thick long slender legs, and a thin stomach and chest.

It lunged at me, but I threw myself to the left, my shoulder hitting the wall as I started sprinting past it as it reeled back, turning around and running at me. It screeched, one of not anger this time, but thrill. It was enjoying this, every second of this.

I felt it grab my arm, and throw me backwards, using the leverage, and distance from me and it, to throw me harder, and further. I was in the air, behind it now. I felt the barrel slam against my head, and the back of my neck as I fell into it.

I couldn't feel my legs, what happened? I tried to look up in front of me, but I couldn't move. I wasn't in pain, and then I realized. I broke my neck, and I severed my spine. I was paralyzed, and I was about to die, again.

I shut my eyes, then I woke up, to the sound of the alarms blaring, the feeling of my head against the console and my butt on the chair, I sat up seeing the orange alarms blaring. But this time, something was different, the fire had just started, so I slammed my fist onto the button, praying that no one would start screaming yet.

But unfortunately, I heard a scream, "OH NO The drill closed up! There are people in there!" Then I hear quick, fast footsteps of a person running to the door, I opened it. The person looked angry, "Why did you close the door?" Then he saw the alarms, and heard it in the console room, they isolate the prealarms as to not make the rest panic.

"Ive gone through this a lot, ok? I am trying to figure something out." The guy looked at me, bewildered. "The fuck are you talking about?" I realized, I must sound insane. "Just, go, I need to check something." He shook his head. "No, you're going to save them, now."

I sighed, in annoyance before I grabbed him by the neck, cutting his gasp short. I pulled him into the control room and slammed him into the consoles metal side. "You don't get to tell me what to do." He grasped at my forearms, trying to break my grip in his frenzied, uncoordinated panic. But I held him, pushing him harder, knowing this might kill him. But what is one man in compared to thousands.

Soon, his arms fell limp, but I could see his eyes still awake. until they closed, then I dropped him. His neck was already starting to bruise from how hard I held it. Then I checked the console screen. Nothing, everything was the same. the fire had gone out, ran out of oxygen, and wisped out as if it was never there. the only evidence being the ash, and charring that was sure to be there.

I left the control room, seeing someone walk out of the tunnel to the drill. It was the thing, the one trying to break the creature unfit for humanity. I stomped to it. Grabbing it by the neck.

Its big eyes widened, its bigger pupils growing wider too. Its thin long mouth opened in surprise, revealing small, sharp teeth. It grabbed my arms, growing sharp, but small claws. it stabbed into my forearms, cutting me deep.

I tightened my grip on its neck, choking it out. Then, for the first time ever. I saw fear in its eyes. It slashed at my face, missing my eye, but cutting my cheek open, revealing the inside of my mouth with a new gash that went all the way through. I cried in pain, and held on tighter.

I started walking forward, guiding his back to the wall. He couldn't help but obey, or he would choke faster. He clawed at my chest, making a deep gash that reached my ribs, exposing them. I knew that at this point I might die, but I didn't care. I reached the wall, and slammed the back of his neck into it.

"You tried to release it, but lets see if you go back in time too." I said, knowing the thing has definitely escaped by now, and I heard it screech at the bottom of the tunnel. The thing grinned, banking on the fact that I would let go. "Too bad I'm not letting you go" I said as I pushed on his neck with my entire body.

"I'm killing you here and now!" It clawed at my stomach, cutting deep in, I felt something fall out, knowing it was my guts. I felt weak, my knees wobbling. But I saw it pass out. I wasn't going to die without killing it first.

I let it fall onto its back, and I got on top of it. putting the rest of my weight directly onto its throat. Then something broke, and I sunk down. Its windpipe folded under my weight. I sat back, getting off of it as I saw the monster from the tunnel run out, and look at me.

It charged at me, but I passed out from blood loss before it reached me. I woke up, the alarms hadn't gone off yet. So I ran out of the controls room, looking around. I saw it, holding the gas again.

"You're still alive?!" I yelled at it. It looked at me confused. "What? oh, you're the lucky one arent you." I ran to it. "I already killed you!" Its eyes widened, still looking human. "Impossible, I couldn't have been killed by a mere human!"

I ran up to it, using my momentum as I punched it in the face. Its head snapped back, and my knuckles felt as if they had just broken. I felt my abs tense at the pain. I grabbed its throat, ignoring the pain.

Adrenaline hadn't kicked in yet, as I felt it claw at my forearms with its fingernails, which haven't become claws yet. But they soon felt, and looked sharper as I tightened my grip on it. Soon its human features disappeared, looking like it normally does, the big eyes, long thin lips, small nose, rotten smell, short sharp teeth and claws.

I felt it scratch into my bicep, tearing the muscle, I felt it tense up painfully. I threw It into the ground by its neck, never letting go for even a second. I got on top of it, putting all of my weight onto my hands, onto its throat.

I intended on crushing its windpipe again, after a couple of seconds, I did just that. I stood up, my arms covered in very deep gashes as it wriggled, and squirmed. clutching at its neck, trying to breath despite its crushed windpipe.

I felt blood drip off my finger, onto the ground. "I finally killed you. I finally stopped you." But then it grinned, shaking its head. soon, it rasped out, in a voice so quiet I almost didn't hear It. "No, I will be back, not today, not this week, not this month. But every year, I will find a way to break it free with this tunnel."

I grinned, "So I guess I better destroy, and fill the tunnel then." Its face, lost its grin, as it looked up at me in anger, then it passed out. dead.

I called my supervisor, asking for assistance. Soon they arrived with medical kits. "Oh my fucking god! What the hell happened to you Herbert!" I pointed to the creature, with my bloody, shaky hand. "That thing attacked me, I don't think its safe to dig here anymore."

They promised they wouldn't dig there anymore, and I got a month off, with pay. I went home, laid in bed, and watched shows, eating chips. I couldn't shake the feeling was being watched.

But then one week later, I woke up, back in the control room. The thing still got out, they didn't stop the drilling. I was back in hell, with no way out.