Escape clown tower

Charlie Higgson, Boss of this branch of Diebold, inc vending machines, lay back in his chair with his feet resting on his desk and his eyes glued to the office clock. 

He’d been waiting months for April first to arrive, the entire office knew it. They also knew his pranks bombed every year, such as last year where he tried to saran wrap the toilets. He had done it the night before so the nightly cleaning crew took them off and the only reason the staff found out was because Charlie came in all huffy and stompy that day. 

This year was different though. It took him weeks to get an ‘ok’ from corporate but he’d finally get his employees good this year. 

A minute and a half until the clowns come. The plan was that they’d jump out and startle the employees, maybe chase the real frightened ones. That’s what was supposed to happen.

Charlie watched the seconds tick by on the clock before turning to the security cameras. 

The clock struck noon and three clowns popped up as planned, employees screamed and giggled in good fun. 

One of the clowns walked up to a fellow coworker, we all watched in amusement as it leaned down and grabbed the workers chin. 

“What’s your name, doll?” the clown asked, his makeup cracking around the lips. 

“Emmett.” The poor man's face had turned whiter than a leghorn egg. 

The 2 other clowns grinning like fools with their awfully yellow teeth. 

“Well, Emmett,” the lead clown continued.

“You must be sick of working this desk job, you need something to ease your pain. Well today’s your lucky day.” what followed next was a sickly snapping noise and Emmett lying on the ground, his head turned to a funny angle. 

Some people let out a scream as others laughed, believing it was part of the prank. 

The lead clown turned to face one of the cameras implanted in the ceiling, grinning wickedly before snapping his long, nimble fingers. His fingernails were a shade of dark purple, almost as if they’d been rotting underneath.

One of the lesser clowns pulled a knife out of his pocket before throwing at the camera and returning to his former position, awaiting other commands. 

“Now,” the lead clown said, focusing his attention back to us.

“We’re going to play a little game. You’re going to have until the count of 10 to hide. And then, well that’s where things get fun.” 

Most of my coworkers started running, some stayed at their desks, not being able to move out of fear. 

I stood up and started sprinting towards the doors. 

“6…” Men slammed their shoulders against the doors, trying anything to get them open. 

“7…” I turned around, sprinting down the dimly lit hallway. 

“8…” My heels clacked against the tiled floor, sharp pains shooting through my ankles but I didn’t dare stop running.

“9...” I burst through One of the office doors. Luckily for me our workplace was oddly shaped, with doors connecting a bunch of rooms together and a warehouse was just a few floors down.

“10.” The lead clowns yelled, His comrades laughs echoed through the rooms. Unluckily for me, I’d started working here a few months ago and wasn’t 100% sure where I was going. I took my shoes off before grabbing the door handle behind the desk. It was locked, of course it was. 

I started checking the desk. 

Whoever worked in this office was very disorganized. There were papers spread everywhere, muffin wrappers scattered on top despite there being a trash can directly beside the desk. Inside the desk drawers weren’t better. I thought maybe I’d rather death by killer clown was better than sticking my hand in a bug infested drawer. 

But bugs were perhaps the better option. I closed my eyes and dug around the top drawer. Of course the key was taped to the top of it. I felt the teeth graze my hand immediately, not completely sure how the person taped the key sideways. I ripped it off and put it into the door anyways.

The next room was much cleaner. I quietly shut the door behind me and even the air had been more breathable. 

If I survive this I may have to check up on whoever owns the last office. 

On the desk of this office there was a phone. 

Luckily for me the clowns sounded like they had walked in the opposite direction, which is weird that all three of them went the same way but I’m not complaining. 

I picked up the phone, which started loudly beeping immediately. Hopefully it was just this phone that didn’t work but that was wishful thinking. 

I placed the phone down before continuing to the next room. As suspected each door had the same lock so I just needed to not lose the key. 

In the distance the sound of a chain dragging on the floor could be heard. It sent chills up my spine as the sound got closer. 

The next room looked the same as the last one. 

I decided to check the drawers for some type of weapon. This office had absolutely nothing in it. Looked as if someone got very unlucky that week. Or lucky depending on how you look at it. 

I kept moving, there were 2 doors in each room, one moving to the next room and one going into what I’d assume is the hallway. The hall didn’t seem long enough to hold this many rooms, but if it were to go into that hall I’d risk being seen by a chain-wielding clown. 

It sounded as if they were going into the first room, meaning if I moved quickly and locked every door behind me It’ll take a bit longer to catch up, but there’s also a solid chance they could just go into the hallway, get ahead and corner me so I’d have to go back the way I came. 

Definitely overthinking this, I moved into the next room, locking the door behind me. 

The clown sounded closer, still dragging the chain. I wondered if they wanted me to hear it. That was the point, right? To them this was all a game. 

The next room was more full and lively, posters covered the walls and there were empty coke cans on the desk, which seemed somewhat unprofessional but it’s not my place to judge. The clown could be heard kicking through the locked doors. Not my best move but I used my acrylic nails to cut through one of the cans, making the edges jagged and sharp.

I stood there, my back pressed against the wall waiting for the clown to get to this room, hoping the chain was their only weapon. 

They kicked through the door beside me, beginning to move toward the next. 

I shoved the can into their back. Instead of a shriek of pain, they let out a burst of giggles, blood soaking their shirt. 

The chain was much thinner than expected. The clown seemed very agile, being able to whip the chain at my face before I could react. 

She got right between my eyebrows, giggling maniacally as I charged her again. 

She kicked me down with ease. How she was able to move that quick in high-heeled boots, I don’t know.  

I lay there for a moment, her foot now on my chest, holding me in place and her chain in hand. Having a psycho chick digging her heel into my chest wasn’t the worst way I’d suppose.

“Mind telling me why you’re doing this before you go?” I asked for two reasons. One, I was genuinely kind of curious and Two, Maybe I could buy some other poor fool some time to escape. 

She laughed again before lifting my head and handing me a phone. On it was a video, she nodded to watch it before starting to walk out the door. 

“The others won’t be so nice, love. Good luck.” She said before leaving to find her next victim.

I started the video. 

“6 murderers have escaped A max security prison. Their M.O. being dressed as clowns, and forcing victims to play the child's game, ‘Hide n seek’. Call in if you see any of the people listed. 6 photos shown on the screen…”  3 I could make out to be the 3 from before, just without their makeup. 

I exited the video and tried to use the phone. The second I dialed it made the same beeping noise as the other phone. I pocketed it instead, as well as the now-bloodied coke can. 

“Hey, wait.” I said, chasing the clown girl. She turned around, looking at me as if I were insane for having the audacity to talk to her. 

“Do you want your phone back?” I asked, holding it out. 

She smirked a bit. 

“You’ve chased down a killer clown… to give me back my phone?” She said, laughing before taking it from me. 

“Just out of curiosity, if I were to keep going the same way I was, would there be any more clowns on this floor?” I asked, shaking slightly, hoping she wouldn’t decide to kill me right there. 

“No, you’re good for now. But if you’re trying to get onto the lower levels there’s a couple stationed down there. They also have melee weapons.” She said. That was a lot more information than expected. 

“Thank you.” I continued, stepping away.

“Sorry for stabbing you, by the way.” I added quickly. She laughed for real this time, not one of the forced, psycho laughs.

“It happens more than you’d think. I’d apologize for whipping you but that’s kind of my thing. Now go.” She said. I bowed before running away. Turns out there was a wall separating the hallway. That’s why the rooms seemed so much longer. I stepped out into the concealed hallway before running again. Luckily I didn’t have to be as quiet on this floor. The she-clown was the only one close enough to kill me and if she wanted to she probably would have. 

I reached the staircase. The lights were awfully dim and flickering but the shadow of a man could be seen at the very bottom. 

I only went down one floor, deciding that it’d be better to go down the other stairs. 

Whoever was down here definitely wasn’t as nice as she-clown. There was blood covering the walls, looking as if someone had put body parts into a giant blender and forgot to put the lid on. 

Luckily it seemed as if whoever was here before had moved on by now. 

Before going on with my journey, I decided to go to the bathroom to check out the chain-cut she-clown gave me. I pushed open the bathroom door, peeking inside. 

The smell of blood mixed with the general stench of public bathrooms was enough to make my eyes water. I walked in anyways, checking out my cut in the mirror. 

It was still bleeding still, but it did look kind of cool with my dark brown bangs. If I had a sword it would really finish off the look. 

One of the stall doors opened slowly. A clown emerged, smashing the mirror with a bloodied axe. Glass scattered across the floor. 

He pushed me down, positioning himself to wedge the axe into my skull. 

His face paint was smudged and cracked by the beads of sweat running down his forehead.

I grabbed a shard of the broken glass, pressing it into the clown's eye with one hand while pushing the axe handle away from me with the other. 

He let out a yowl, stumbling away from me. 

I picked up the axe. It wasn’t a sword but it’d do. The clown was on his knees, his hand over his eyes. 

“You haven’t won yet.” He said, the blood dripping into his mouth 

“True but one could argue that I’ve at least won this level, wouldn’t you say?” I asked, humoring him. He laughed wildly,

“Yeah, yeah you beat me. Gonna finish me off?” He replied. 

“No. But you’re going to stay in this bathroom and won’t harm anyone else.” I said, walking out of the bathroom.

I shoved one of my heels under the door so it’d be harder to open then went on, walking to the staircase. 

I tried ignoring the corpses of coworkers. I don’t get paid enough for this, I thought to myself. If I get out of this alive I’m suing because this is definitely some type of work-place hazard.

I continued onto the staircase. There was someone crouched down on the steps. 

“Hey, get up.” I said, pointing my axe towards them. They got up slowly, not showing their face at first. My body stiffened with fear, hoping I wouldn’t have to kill anyone. 

It was a normal man, no clown makeup.

“Please don’t kill me.” He cried.

“You’re normal!” I said, lowering my axe. He held a cross in his hands and said a small prayer under his breath.

“I thought you were one of them, my apologies.” He stated, giving a small bow. 

I nodded back before leading him down the stairs. \

“My name is Howard.” he said, unprompted. 

We were almost to the warehouse. I could almost taste the freedom. 

“Right. The name’s Michelle. Stay on guard.” I said, stepping foot in the warehouse now. We completely avoided the clown on the second floor. This felt too good to be true. 

And it was. In front of us stood A mime-girl. She had a long, Black ponytail and black lipstick to match. 

She blew a kiss before pulling out three small knives. I raised my axe, ready to fight if I must. 

Howard stepped between us, raising his hands outward. 

“Wait, please. There’s no need to fight.” The mime-girl put her hands to her lips, silently chuckling. I stood there, dumb-founded for a moment before she grabbed him, throwing him to the side like a ragdoll and miming a picture frame around his head, getting ready to throw the knife. 

I had to admit, she was committed to the roll. Time to find out what was faster, My axe or her knife. 

I went for the swing, my heart racing and my hands shook but I had to do something. 

She was thrown off, missing Howards head but still throwing a knife into his chest before catching my axe. She managed to get it away from me, grabbing my wrist at an angle where I had to bend down. She put a knife to my throat, smiling wickedly. She waved goodbye to me, getting ready to slice. Before she could she was pulled back by her ponytail. 

Howard laid there, his final act was saving me. I grabbed my axe, bringing it down on her head. 

I started walking away, towards the exit.

“Leave me.” Howard said. I had thought he was already dead.

“Ok, I’ll make it out of here. For you.” I stated, knowing he wouldn’t make it, also just trying to make him feel better. He smiled, taking his last breath. He died with a smile.

I walked towards the exit, the sun from the windows shined on me. I smiled, reaching for the door handle.

Something wrapped around my throat, dragging me to my knees. I struggled and thrashed wildly as my sight went dark. 

She-clown stood over me, raising my chin to look at her as she kept the chain tightly around my neck. 

She cupped my face in her hand, leaning in closer to me.

“You lose.”