One of my coworkers left the company. I found something deeply unsettling on his computer.

Michael has always been a little bit secluded, you know. We've worked together for 8 years, and I still couldn't tell you a single thing about the guy. Very private guy.

Anyway, he seemed like one of those fellows that are just… constantly annoyed at being alive? I mean don't get me wrong, we've always tried to include him, but he was always… chilly. Polite, but like, really chilly. It's like he didn't want anything to do with anyone.

And well, I can respect a guy doing his own thing. So, I gave him his space, and I didn't think much about him anymore.

Anyway, yesterday I came back from my annual leave. HR calls me over immediately, and they proceed to inform me that Michael quietly stopped showing up last week. They decided to terminate his contract after he didn't respond to their calls. Well, being the tech guy, they need me to retrieve all company data from his computer.

No big deal, but a bit weird. We've worked together for so long, he could have at least left a goodbye email or something, no? I wanted to message him and wish him good luck on his future endeavors and whatnot, but I remembered I never got his phone number.

Well, the next part is the reason I'm posting on this community. I'm hoping someone could help me make sense of this?

As I logged into his computer, the first thing I see is a notepad file ominously named "Pleasehelpme.txt". Well, I'm a curious fellow, so I naturally click on the file to see if It is company related. I wish I had just ignored it.

You know what's the most disturbing part? Even if a very, very small part of me believes him, how the hell did he even write this in the first place? I can't make sense of it.

Anyway, this is what was written on the document. I would really appreciate some guidance on what to do. I haven't shown this to anybody yet.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-"You know nobody is coming to rescue you, right?"

I look up from my computer screen, slightly startled. What the fuck?

-"Excuse me?" I responded sharply.

-"Mind if I have a seat?"

A large man was towering over me. Clad in black, late thirties, a bit rough looking. He had coal black eyes, a crooked nose along with a huge scar on his forehead.

Does this guy even work here? Should I be calling security?

-"Listen man, I'm on my lunch break. Can you come back in an hour?" I responded while looking around for help. Tough luck though, everyone was having lunch outside.

Fuck me. If I were more sociable I wouldn't be in this situation, would I?

Sensing my nervousness, the man chuckled lightly and took a seat a bit further from me.

-"That's a nice hamburger bro.

-Yeah, thanks. Listen…

-Didn't you have the same hamburger yesterday?

-Huh?

-Do you order the same thing every day bro? That stuff will kill you, you know?"

I was starting to be overcome with a strange sense of dread. I could feel my hands shaking slightly under my desk.

-"All right listen, this is getting creepy. Could you leave me alone?" I say as I take my phone, hoping he wouldn't notice my hands.

-"You know this is no way to live, right? I'm just giving you some tough love here man, but you stink. You look like you've been just recovered from an underground cult after 19 years of forced coal mining.

-"Wait what? But I use deodorant every day. And what's with the weirdly specific analogy anyway? Who the hell are you?

He sighed.

-"When was the last time you've showered Michael? And that beard, man. If I didn't know any better I would have mistaken you for a biologist experimenting on mold growth.

-Enough. I'm not going to take hygiene lessons from a wannabe gangster. You don't scare me, you hear me? What do you want from me? "

My voice cracked towards the end of the sentence. Even though I didn't feel threatened, my whole body was shaking, as if it sensed something was terribly wrong.

The man silently observed me as I grew more and more uneasy.

-"Well? What is this, exactly? Somebody paying you to prank me?

-Do you want my jacket buddy? You're shaking."

I was. Uncontrollably. My teeth were chattering and I couldn't feel my legs at all.

When did it get so damn cold? What the fuck is happening here?

-"It's okay, Michael. You can be yourself around me." The man says as he scoots his chair closer to mine. "You haven't been doing that a lot lately, have you?"

I wanted to run away, to scream, anything at all. But my body continued to defy my commands.

-"Who…

-You know who I am, Michael." The man responded gently. He leaned forward towards me, and I could see his eyes turn into a deeper shade of purple.

-"You've never truly lived, have you? You've merely existed, like a lifeless husk. Michael, do you understand what it's like to feel alive?

I didn't understand anything at all. His face progressively became a blur. I couldn't make out his features anymore.

-"You've endured and you've fought very, very hard to tolerate your existence, haven't you Michael? You poor thing."

He reached out and started stroking my hair.

-" You don't have to struggle anymore."

No, no, no….

Not in this place, man. I've always despised this place.

Is this really it? I have to go in this stupid office? On this stupid chair where I wasted half of my life?

No…

-"Relax, fighter. You've done your best. Let me help you now."

He took my hand. His touch was frosty, yet somehow also warm, and gentle. I kept staring into his melancholic eyes.

I still felt incredibly cold, but maybe…

Maybe he will take me to a warmer place.

---

Well, I'm guessing you can probably imagine I was completely freaking out. My hair was standing up and I was sweating bullets. But my rational brain was still working, and I was ready to discard what I had just read as a creative exercise or even some sort of practical joke.

But you know, Michael didn't do jokes. Ever. And even as I immersed myself in my work tasks and tried to forget about it all, I could still feel my skin crawling.

By the end of the day, I went back home, goofed around with my kids, and fixed myself some tea to relax. It obviously didn't work.

I put one of those dumb Netflix series on the TV and used it as ambient noise to try to fall sleep. But something kept nagging me, like I was missing a crucial piece of the puzzle. And this morning, with the help of a strong coffee, I just figured out what it was.

We had cameras in the office.

So you betcha I sprinted down immediately to security and requested to see logs and video footage for the past week. It was a weird request, but Sally, the chief of security, is a buddy of mine. He shrugged and allowed me in. He briefly showed me how to navigate the system, then stepped out of the security booth.

-"Knock yourself out. I'm going for my smoke break."

And so I did. I knew Michael stopped showing up on Tuesday after lunch, so I started there. I could see Michael eating something behind his desk. I checked the logs: No external visitors were recorded that day. Nothing unusual so far.

I let out a sigh of relief, and just then...

A guy I had never seen before appeared on the footage, casually strolling past the empty cubicles.

The man had his back to the camera, so I couldn't make out his face. He was huddled in a black jacket, had his hands on his pockets, and was heading towards Michael's desk.

I instantly shivered.

As if on cue, the man turned around and stared at me through the surveillance camera lens.

He had a huge scar on his forehead.

He grinned at me, then the footage faded to black.

...

I'm writing this from the office bathroom. I'm a grown man and yet I'm too fucking terrified to step out of here. Is that... thing going to come after me next?

Guys, what am I supposed to do?