”It’s weird, right? Whatever lol, might as well check it out. Haven’t seen a horror movie that’s actually scared me in a while.”
That was the last text Lacey had sent me before she went missing. I knows it’s irrational, but I hate myself for not doing something. For not stopping her. But how was I supposed to know? How could I have anticipated anything that was going to happen after?
The “film” (or whatever the hell it is) made its way into our small town like a plague only a few days ago. Twelve people bought tickets for it. Twelve people are now missing. Among them was Lacey, my girlfriend of over two years.
At the risk of sounding like “that” guy, our future was looking nothing but promising. We have plans. Well, we did. Until Mr. Fucking Blank showed up.
This is nowhere near a conventional missing persons case, of course. The rabbit hole goes deep here, and honestly, the details simply don’t make any sense.
From what I managed to dig up, this is a general timeline of what had happened:
-An option to buy tickets for the film shows up at one of the three theaters in our town, which is about a twenty-minute walk from my house. Only that one. And it wasn’t available online. Only at the front counter of the theater itself.
-It wasn’t supposed to be in the regular rotation. Also, none of the employees at the theater were informed about any special screening. They simply came in and saw that it’d replaced a 5:30 PM slot for a pre-existing film. They didn’t question it, because why would they?
-The first and only screening was at 5:30 PM on that day. The theater wasn’t the busiest, but it wasn’t empty, either. Of course, most people opted to skip it, given the lack of any information regarding the film. With that being said, the only people who bought tickets were younger, likely curious about the odd title.
-The film lasted about one hour and 10 minutes, with all the previews and credits considered. Pretty short for a feature, huh? At 6:40 PM, an employee entered the theater for clean-up duty. What he found were rows and rows of empty seats, with drink cups still in the holders and popcorn littered all over the floors. No blood, no signs of a struggle. Nobody had left or entered the theater after the film had begun (with confirmation from the security cameras. The theaters itself had no cameras inside, so that part remains a mystery). The screen allegedly consisted of nothing but a dark static. That’s what we were told, at least. I have a feeling that some details were left out from there, considering the fact that the employee in question is now missing as well. (Also rumored to have gone into a catatonic state after being questioned.)
-The manager of the theater (who never greeted the employees that morning, as he usually did), was found dead in his office, with severe wounds around his neck left from a plastic bike lock that was likely used to strangle him.
-A new employee was hired about three weeks prior. The other employees described him as a quiet, but nice guy. He was working the day of the incident. You guessed it. He’s missing as well. Also suspect #1 in the investigation. However, they’re really grasping for straws at that one. I wouldn’t doubt that this employee had something to do with it, but the logistics behind the whole situation just aren't cohesive enough to make that call for sure.
Some additional details:
-No copy of the film has been found
-No progress has been made on the search for the missing people. Hell, it hardly seems like they're even trying.
-The local cops have been strangely hush about the whole thing. Almost like they don’t want people asking about it. They literally threatened to arrest me when I kept pressing them for details.
-There’s been a lot of vehicles with tinted windows parked near the theater and surrounding areas. Some even in my own community.
Well, that’s the situation. I can’t focus on anything right now. My brain's scattered and my anxiety's been going through the roof. Sue me, what the hell do you expect. Lacey has to be out there somewhere, right? How the hell is somebody just supposed to disappear into thin air? And what the hell kind of film was “Mr. Blank?”
Christ, I’m getting a headache just thinking about it. My initial grief has been replaced more so by confusion and anger. I might just start searching for answers myself. I won’t be alone, though. Rose – Lacey’s best friend and Mike – her brother, are just as bent on figuring this out as I am.
I’m not going in blind, though. In fact, I have two leads. One is more of a shot in the dark, but the other should lead us somewhere concrete. I’ll start off with the former. A few weeks ago, I remember my little brother telling me about a “strange man” he saw carved into a tree. It was allegedly accompanied by messy and frantic repetitions of the word “STOP” around it. I didn’t think anything about it at the time, but it might be relevant now. Maybe not. We’ll see.
The other came up while I was searching for answers online. After feverishly posting about the film on what I considered to be relevant forums and yielding no answers, somebody finally messaged me about it, claiming that they had information that I might like to know. Luckily, they’re only a three-hour drive from here, and are willing to meet halfway.
Is this a bad idea? Probably. Am I going to like what I find? Probably not. But the thought of Lacey being out there in god knows what kind of fucked-up situation… I just can’t take it.
I'm not letting it end like this.
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Credits
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