To Whom it may Concern,

 

 I am writing to you today as a warning:
Don't do business with Alchemy Designs
I know this seems random, but if you let me explain I hope to convince you why it's in your great interest to avoid this establishment.
I worked for Alchemy Designs from 2008 to 2010, and no this isn't a disgruntled employee complaint.
My boss was the Designer: Camilla Carpenter. She’s a strange little thing, dark hair fair skin, always wearing a Spider necklace. She has an incredible ability to make everyone she speaks to comfortable and relaxed. Most people would define her as “cute” or “sweet”
Do not allow yourself to fall for it, is a trap.
I'm getting ahead of myself, I apologize.
In the 2 years I was in her employ, I noticed a great deal of employee turnover. I know that might seem like a normal thing, and I understand. It's less the traffic that was disturbing, and more HOW people left.

They would just disappear. Let me explain
Ms. Carpenter would call an employee into  her office at the end of the day, seemingly at random, right as they were about to leave to go home.
And then the next day their desk would be cleared.
I know that sounds normal, like she didn't want them to be embarrassed so she waited until the last minute.
But consider this:
wouldn't someone that you've worked with, had lunch with after dinner drinks with, don't you think they would reach out?
Let you know that they'd been let go?
That they wouldn't see you around the office anymore?

It’s completely normal behavior to reach out to a friend and colleague after termination, is it not?
For 6 months I was working with Chris Heins.

6 months I was eating lunch, having drinks, and going to ball games with him. We were friends. I would even go so far as to call us best friends.
Then one day Ms. Carpenter calls him into her office.
I remember it like it was yesterday: we were gathering up our things, it was Friday and we were going to head out to the lake for the weekend.

Then Ms. Carpenter, she slinked out of her office with her tight black dress and thick framed glasses, smiled that saccharin sweet smile between blood red lips and said

“Chris, I don’t mean to bother, but I’d like to see you in my office before you leave for the day. It will only be a minute” What I haven’t told you is that, Chris had a bit of a crush on our boss. And by crush I mean full on high school infatuation. So when she came out of her office and smiled at him, I knew that there was no question. He smirked at me and said

“Don’t wait up” before practically prancing after her.

That was the last time I heard Chris speak.
I went to the lake as planned. When he didn’t show, I called is cellphone, it went directly to voicemail.

On Monday when I came into work, his desk had been cleared out. I asked her, Ms. Carpenter. I asked her

“Where is Chris?” She was sitting at her desk typing, she looked up at me with those piercing green eyes and simply said

“Oh, I sent him on a business trip! He should be back in about a week” she smiled so big it left me uneasy.
So I waited a week. I tried to stay calm. I went to the gym like normal every morning.
I went in to work every day like normal, waiting to hear from Chris.

He didn’t come back to work the following week. And when I asked Ms. Carpenter about when he was coming back, again She replied:

“He decided to take a job on the West Coast! Oh, I was sure he would have told you? I’m so sorry about your friend” her voice had been sincere, but her facial expressions could only be described as, delighted.

I gave him another call. He would have told me if he was moving to the West Coast. He would have hounded me about helping him move.
Except, except this time his number had been disconnected.
So I went to his apartment, but, it wasn’t his apartment anymore. There was a “For Rent” sign on the lawn. And when I tried to go to his door to knock, there was a Realtor's lock box on the doorknob.
But here’s the strangest part, his furniture was being sold at a yard-sale across the street! I know that sounds crazy, but I recognized his old chartreuse couch. He got it from his uncle when he passed away, NOBODY has a couch like that.
I know this all sounds like a series of unfortunate events
Just a string of strange coincidences.
But I SAW her. I mean I really SAW her, for what she REALLY is
Ms. Carpenter
About a month after Chris disappeared, I was working late at the office. Admittedly, I wasn't getting much sleep. Chris's disappearance had really gotten to me. Like I said, we were best friends.
Aside from the night custodian, I was the only one in the office. Or, I should have been. I THOUGHT I was.

Anyway
I needed to make a copy, so I walked down the hall passed the cubicles, towards Ms. Carpenter's office towards the copier.
I wasn't attempting to be nosy, I wasn't trying to intrude, it's just that her office window is right in front of the copier
When I looked up
When I looked up I saw her
She was sitting on top of her desk in the dark, legs crossed with her hands on her knees
Only
Her legs were long
Ms Carpenter is only 5"4 even in heels
But her legs, her knees reached each side of the 6 ft long desk
Her fingers were long, like spindles coming to a sharp point. I had blinked a few times thinking that maybe I was tired
Maybe I had just been Working too hard
But there she was
She uncrossed her legs, stretching then out in front of her to at least 8 feet long. She reached her arms up and stretched, that's when I noticed the gray color of her skin. I felt like I was looking at some sort of Specter. And her eyes, oh god her eyes. They had...they had GROWN. She had normal green eyes that morning, but now they were the size of teacup saucers. With blood shot red filling up where the eye is normally white.

I threw up immediately all over the copier. I couldn’t help myself, she was terrifying.

But then, then she spoke to me.

“Adam” Her voice sounded like many voices. It echoed through my mind, and I could feel the bumps raise up all over my body.

“Adam, can I see you in here a moment”
I ran, I didn't stop until I got home. I haven't been back since. If I had stayed I might have ended up like Chris. Whatever might have happened to Chris, it’s not going to happen to me.
And it will absolutely happen to you if your company buys out Alchemy Designs. I'm convinced that she's a cannibal, or something to that affect, if she's even human. If you attempt to meet with her, she's going to make you disappear. For the safety of yourself, your family and your employees
please consider revoking your contract

Sincerely,
Adam Reese

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.