The faces in the wall.

It was lunchtime at the office and once again everyone chose to eat at their desks instead of the break room. This annoyed the boss, who spared no expense to remodel the break room, yet no one would even set foot there anymore. No matter who in the office he asked, the answer was always the same: they were being watched. This went on for as long as the boss could stand before he decided to call for some outside help to investigate what was scaring everyone so much. So he called for Para Norman, a renowned paranormal investigator.

When Norman arrived at the office, he saw the elegant wall tiles that lined the walls of the break room, but his admiration quickly gave way to a shocked silence.

“Something the matter?” asked the boss.

“They are watching,” Norman whispered.

“Who is?”

“Them,” Norman pointed inside the empty break room. The boss cautiously peered inside but saw nothing.

“Who’s them?”

“The faces. Can you see them?”

“What faces?”

“The faces in the wall.”

“What faces?” the boss angrily demanded.

“Look at the tiles.”

“What about the tiles? It’s just random swirls of brown and white.”

“Yes, but if you look closely, you can see the faces.” Norman walked up to one of the tiles for a closer look. “Like this one.”

“My God,” the boss whispered.

Norman moved on to the next tile and pointed out the face there, which the boss was able to easily see.

“They are the Ones who are watching,” Norman said.

The boss stood in a shocked silence as he eyed an especially sinister face staring back.

“Who are these faces?” the boss calmly asked.

“The Trapped Ones, stuck for the duration until the Shadows come to set them free.”

“Who are the Shadows?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

“So what do I do now?”

“Get rid of these tiles. All of them.”

“What?” the boss protested. “I  just spent a fortune on these tiles!”

“Get rid of them,” Norman repeated. “Or the Shadows will come.”

“Who are the Shadows!” the boss yelled.

“Trust me,” Norman said, “you don’t want to know.”

With that, Norman left the office, his work done. The boss hesitantly called for a crew to remove the offending wall tiles and replace them with a cozier alternative that once again made the break room a soothing place to relax now that it was spared the wrath of the Shadows.