Alex leaned back in his ergonomic chair, the dim light of his computer screen casting an eerie glow on his face.

The office was nearly empty, the hum of the air conditioning the only sound breaking the silence.

His colleague, Sarah, sat across from him, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she typed furiously.

"Alex," Sarah whispered, her voice trembling with a mix of excitement and fear. "You have to see this."

Alex glanced up from his own work, his curiosity piqued.

He pushed his chair back and walked over to her desk, peering over her shoulder at the screen.

On it was a tattered manuscript, its pages yellowed with age and filled with cryptic symbols and archaic script.

"What is it?" Alex asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Sarah pointed to a passage, her finger trembling.

"Look at this. It talks about a ritual, a way to summon... something. And these symbols, they're part of the incantation."

Alex's heart pounded in his chest as he read the passage.

The text was written in a language he couldn't recognize, but the symbols were unmistakable.

They were the same ones that had been appearing in their code, the ones that didn't belong to any known programming language.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Summon what?" Alex asked, his voice betraying his growing unease.

Sarah's eyes were wide with fear. "I don't know. But whatever it is, it's powerful. And it's dangerous."

Before they could say another word, the lights flickered and died.

The room plunged into darkness, and a cold, unnatural wind swept through the office.

The temperature dropped sharply, and Alex felt a chill run down his spine as he heard a low, guttural growl echoing through the halls.

"Sarah?" he called out, his voice trembling.

There was no answer.

Only the sound of something heavy dragging across the floor, growing closer with each passing second.

Alex's mind raced as he fumbled for his phone, but it was useless.

No signal, no power. He was alone, trapped in the darkness with whatever had been summoned by their reckless curiosity.

The growling grew louder, closer.

Alex could feel the presence of something malevolent, something ancient and hungry.

He could almost sense its eyes on him, watching, waiting.

Suddenly, the door to the office burst open with a loud bang.

Alex turned, his heart pounding in his chest.

In the dim light, he could see a figure standing in the doorway.

It was tall and gaunt, with skin that seemed to ripple and shift like liquid shadows.

Its eyes glowed with an unnatural light, and its mouth was twisted into a grotesque grin.

"Sarah!" Alex shouted, but his voice was drowned out by the creature's deafening roar.

The air seemed to vibrate with its power, and Alex felt his legs give way beneath him.

As he fell, he caught a glimpse of Sarah's lifeless body lying on the floor, her eyes wide with terror.

The creature's gaze shifted to him, and Alex knew that he was next.

The last thing he remembered was the sound of Sarah's scream, followed by a deafening silence.

When he finally regained consciousness, he was in a different time, a different place.

But the memory of that night, of the terror that had claimed his colleague, would haunt him forever.

He was in a world that seemed both familiar and alien, a place where the old gods still walked the earth and humanity was nothing more than a fleeting whisper in the cosmic void.

The symbols they had uncovered, the ritual they had unwittingly initiated, had opened a door to a realm of madness and horror.

But Alex Turner was still unaware of the true danger that lurked in the shadows, waiting for him.