Titanium

Arcana Solciece

Andrea walked into the empty factory...
"Hello?" she asked quietly, uncertainly. She sat on a black bench and shivered in fear...

Rewind: The titanium factory was abandoned more than 60 years ago. It stood emptily next to the town, unused. It has never worked, and the villagers believed that the machinery was broken. Andrea was a typical teenager. Good grades, good looks, but she partied and drank and smoked every night. She even accepted stupid dares. She and her three friends were walking leisurely when one of her friends, Isaac, spoke up. "You know, there isn't actually proof that the metal shop crap is actually..dead, ya know?"

Andrea and the other two stared at him in disbelief. He continued talking. "You know, I'll pay 200 bucks for anyone who can stay in there for two hours."
The three friends scoffed. One of them, a girl named Chelsea, was arrogant and decided to go first. "Too bad, Isaac, those 200 bucks are MINE," she smirked. She stepped off the town border and jogged to the large, metal factory. Andrea tilted her head.

"What if it's locked?" she asked cautiously. It wasn't. Chelsea disappeared into the building. Isaac, Andrea, and Todd (the other teenager) waited impatiently for an hour. No sign of Chelsea.
Two hours. No sign of Chelsea. Todd became worried. "What if she's stuck or something?" Isaac frowned.
"I doubt it. She's too wimpy to walk around, anyways," he said with a fake smile. Three hours. No sign of Chelsea."

"Uhm, maybe she's waiting for us, because she saw something that might interest us...?" Isaac said. Todd shrugged. "I'll go check." Isaac and Andrea waited awkwardly. Isaac fumbled with his stopwatch and sighed impatiently. "It's getting dark. We can come back tomorrow," he stated blankly. Andrea looked at him with wide eyes.

"You're just gonna leave them there? Alone?" she said, shocked. Isaac shrugged and left. Andrea frowned. Something was up in the factory. She looked over her shoulder, as if to look for some help. But none was there. She took a deep breath and sprinted toward the metal building. A large door waited for her. She put her hand slowly on the knob and carefully twisted it. The door opened smoothly. "Huh. Weird. Shouldn't it be rusty?" Andrea thought to herself.

"Hello...?"
She shivered in fear and walked in. The door closed behind her. A dim light bulb was hanging from the far-away ceiling. "Todd? Chelsea?" No answer. She sat on a black bench and waited for them to jump out and say BOO!!!. After she waited for what seemed like an eternity, something metal scraped across her shoulder. She screamed and turned around.

One of the machines were working. She smiled. "Todd must have found a way to work this place. That smartie." She got off the bench and found another bench, sitting carefully. She whispered softly again. "Todd? Are you there?" No answer. She waited again. This time, something brushed against her back, this time penetrating this skin. "Oh my god, HOW ANNOYING!!" She turned around and froze in fear.

A man was standing there.
In his hands was a long tube, pumping red hot, liquid titanium. At the end of the tube was a needle syringe, poking out of the ends, dripping the gray substance. Andrea screamed.

She tried running, but she couldn't find the exist in the dim light. The man followed clumsily but swiftly.
"OH god oh god oh god WHERE IS THE EXIT?" she screamed out loud. Trapped in a corner. She spun around and whimpered. The man slowed down and slowly lumbered toward her. Slowly, though, his arms started to disintegrate, rotting flesh falling to the floor. Andrea gagged. He still walked toward her, tube still in the bone hand. The needle penetrated Andrea in the heart. Liquid titanium pumped into her chest, spreading the metal through her blood. Slowly, it started to cool and harden. Andrea widened her eyes at the pain. Then slowly, she began to realize this...

The benches she was sitting on weren't really benches.
They were Todd and Chelsea, frozen with titanium in their blood. Andrea screamed one last time, and all went dark.

~~~ two days later
Isaac walked to the town border and looked about worriedly. "Where are they?" he thought. He gathered up his courage and went to the titanium factory. On the metal door, there was a note, written in something black and shiny :
"You owe me 200 bucks."
Isaac looked down at his feet. And screamed....