Jeannie had had a few different ideas of how the train might look from the inside, but this was not one of them. Whereas from the outside it appeared like a barely functional, glorified museum piece, the interior was astoundingly pristine. The chairs looked incredibly comfortable, and, like in all modern trains, little unfoldable touchscreens were built into the armrests. The color palette was exactly her style, too—dark purples and reds everywhere.
"Woah." Jamie said as he climbed in behind her.
"I know, right?"
As soon as he had fully entered the doors closed behind him.
"Let the Ride To Nowhere begin."
As if responding to the Guide's words, the train slowly began to set itself into motion.
"Please, follow me." He said, walking deeper into the car.
"So, how do you like your birthday present so far?" Hanna whispered as they walked.
"So far it's great. I hope it picks up soon, though." Jeannie replied.
"I have a question for you, children. Do any of you believe in the supernatural?" The Guide asked.
"What, you mean ghosts and stuff like that?" Kim grunted.
"Oh yes. Ghosts, Vampires, otherworldly creatures or phenomena."
"I do. It's more fun that way." Kim replied.
"Me, not really...." Greg mumbled. "I mean, yeah, it IS fun to think about, but...."
"My dad said all those things are just misunderstood sightings of people with Powers or Mages fooling around." Jamie threw in.
The Guide laughed.
"What a wonderful answer! It makes sense. It is good that we have a little Skull Knight here because the members of Creature Feature are a good example. Spektral has all the characteristics of a ghost, but is she one? No, I would say not."
He stopped walking. In front of him was spot with a peculiar seating arrangement. Instead of chairs, there stood what looked more like a purple-cushioned bench, arranged in a half-circle around a large table. Something was lying on top of the table, but it was hidden by a red cloth.
"Please, sit down." While the teens did so he continued. "Believe it or not, there was a time before even Powers and Magic existed. Where those things were thought of as extraordinary and otherworldly. Should we assume then that just because other strange incidents and entities have not been proven to exist beyond the shadow of a doubt, that they don't?"
With a flourish, he removed the cloth from the table. Jeannie wasn't sure what she was looking at for a moment. She had expected some kind of spooky prop or something, but instead in front of them lay a bunch of random junk. A broken pair of sunglasses, a postcard of some kind, a very nice looking golden lighter, a blueish, whiteish marble, and an old-fashioned pen.
"What are these things?" Hanna asked.
The Guide sat down himself before he answered.
"These are objects that I myself have gathered over the last year. Each of them has a story, one you wouldn't have come across in your day-to-day life. Some of them were harder to acquire than others, but all are equally.....meaningful."
Jeannie could've sworn she saw...something in his eyes for a second. She wasn't sure what. The others didn't seem to have noticed anything. She shook her head lightly. Probably just the ambiance getting to her.
"You there, Daylighter." The Guide pointed at a surprised Jamie.
"Uhm, yes?"
"Tell me, which of these objects speaks to you? Which one do you want to know more about?"
He hesitated for a second, looking the table over again carefully. Eventually he pointed at the lighter.
"This one looks cool."
The Guide chuckled.
"Indeed it does. A good choice you made there. A beautiful work of art. Though not everyone can appreciate it."
He took the implement in question and pulled it in the very middle of the table.
"Now, kids, let me tell you a story...."
-------------- A Light In The Dark ----------------------
"Okay....here we go. My name is Alexandra Temny. This is day 1 of the great cabin scopeout. So far, nothing interesting has happened, but then again, I basically just set everything up. Let's hope this isn't just a giant waste of time."
Alexandra turned the camera off with a sigh and pulled her wool blanket tighter. She couldn't stand the cold. To be honest, she wasn't a big fan of the great outdoors in general. A campground with huts, and a grill, and curated activities to enjoy? That's great. Amazing even. Just sitting around in a bush in the middle of nowhere sleeping in a rickety tent? Less so. But she had no choice here. Well, she did, but not really.
Her family had always been small. Her father, her older brother, and Alexandra herself. Her dad had been a good guy, but a tad naive. That's what eventually led to his death. She.....didn't like to think about it. So that left Andrew, her bro. While she and their father were regular, normal people, Andrew was not. He had been born with a little something extra. A Power. It wasn't strong or particularly useful, but he used it now and then to pull off some pretty neat party tricks. If his shadow touched another shadow, he could interact with it as if it was the real thing.
That was all well and good, but there was one problem. A major one. Ever since the Shadowwall Incident in Germany, darkness-based Powers had been under strict scrutiny in pretty much all of the Western world. Here in the U.S., that meant saying goodbye to your family, friends, and freedoms and being stuffed into a "Special School" to "help nurture your potential". But what they were, in reality, were little more than research and training compounds that made doubly, triply, and quadruply sure you were not in any way, shape, or form a threat.
If you were lucky, that meant getting released at age 21 (if you came there as a child. As an adult? Try your mid-to-late thirties), with the legal obligation to check in once a year to confirm you hadn't gone rogue.
If you were unlucky then that meant a transfer to a high-security containment facility for people with potentially dangerous uncontrollable Powers.
And if you were both strong in ability and obedience you may earn a spot in the prestigious government-funded Superhero Team Umbra-Lux. What a prize. Of course, there were not enough examples to fill out an appropriately sized team for the budget, so they hired regular Empowered as well. What a joke this whole thing was. Only she didn't find it funny.
Neither of these options sounded particularly good, so their dad had opted to hide Andrew's Power from the authorities. She had been very grateful to him for that, even if it did mean that they had to move around a ton.
She and Andrew had been inseparable all their lives. Maybe it was the fact that she was the only other person roughly his age who knew his secret, or maybe they just happened to have compatible personalities. Maybe he was just a naturally protective older brother. Instincts and such. But regardless of the reason, she had never felt more safe and secure than in the presence of her big bro.
He had taken time out of his day to help her study despite her terrible grades, read her bedtime stories every night when she was little, built a treehouse in one of their gardens by himself as a surprise while she was away at summer camp, used all of his hard-earned summer job money to snatch her VIP tickets to her favorite band, play the wingman to help her get the attention of whatever boy she was currently crushing on.....whenever she wanted or needed anything he would drop whatever he was doing and be there for her. And in turn, she did the same for him.
They had very few friends. And those they had they never kept for long. But at least they had each other. When their dad passed they naturally took an apartment together. He had just turned 18, so there were few complications. The absence of their father reinforced their codependency even more. There was hardly a time when they weren't together anymore. At first.
It began two years later. Alexandra had gone to the same summer camp every year since she was 10 years old. After the loss, she skipped out for the first time. But this year was her final chance. Aside from the staff, adults weren't allowed at camp, and she was 17 now. She thought about it for a long time. It was Andrew who tipped the scales in the end.
"You should go. This has been a part of your life forever. Go and make your last ride the best one yet. If you lose something that is important to you, you need to make sure to give it a proper farewell, you know?"
And so she went. And it was perfect. Just like her brother had advised she made sure that this stay was going to be the definitive one. One last hurrah, to top everything off. And it worked. She was beaming from ear to ear when she finally returned to their small, shabby apartment. But that good mood didn't last long.
During her absence, Andrew had....changed.
It was subtle at first.
Where before they would spend most evenings watching movies or playing games together, now he would return from work at later and later hours, and increasingly when he did finally come home he would make some sort of excuse why he couldn't hang out with her. That was fine. She was a bit miffed, but she didn't want to force him to spend time if he was tired or had taken work home..
But it didn't stop there. Bit by bit it seemed like he was distancing himself, avoiding her whenever he could. And she would've been fine with even that if he'd just come out and talked to her about it. One "Hey sis, I think I need some time for myself.", or hell, even a "Leave me alone you clingy bitch, and stop suffocating me!" would've been all it took. At least she'd know where she stood. Know why he was pushing her away. But he never approached her. Or was rude about it, even. Just excuse after excuse. It made her feel sick.
She confronted him eventually. After he hadn't shown up to her 18th birthday party. Well, it was hardly a party, but they'd planned for it all year. A full-day event, starting with a movie in the morning and spending the rest in an Amusement Park, fast passes on hand, ready to have fun.
When he didn't show up for the movie she was bummed, but still afraid that he thought her too pushy or clingy. But when she arrived at the Park and couldn't find him anywhere in the parking lot or in line she grew worried. Did something happen to him? An accident? Did the feds find out about them?
And when she found him at home in his room, listening to music with his windows shut all that worry rapidly transformed into hurt, then anger. She kept her composure at first. Asked him where he was this morning. Why he was here. When he asked if there was somewhere else he was supposed to be she exploded. She screamed at him. In retrospect, it wasn't something she was very proud of, but she was so mad. Not even that he didn't want to spend her birthday with her (that would've mostly made her sad, she thought), but that he forgot.
He apologized, of course. Said he'd make it up to her somehow, but enough was enough. She needed to know. So she let it all out. His recent behavior, the long absences and excuses, her fear of them drifting apart. He listened patiently as she was rambling and when she was done he just stared at her for a while. She was busy wiping the tears from her eyes when he started to explain. If it could be called an explanation.
He said that while she was away, he had made friends. Likeminded people. People like him. They met often and these meetings were long and taxing so he was a bit preoccupied lately. He didn't apologize, though she only registered that much later. She tried asking follow-up questions. Who were these friends? How did they meet? Where did these meet-ups take place? But he dismissed all of them. You don't know them. I don't remember. It doesn't matter.
Alexandra knew that she wouldn't get anything else out of her brother, so she said a quick goodbye and turned to leave. She needed time to process this information. Come to terms with it. And the funny thing is, she probably would have. If given enough time she would've learned to accept it. Her brother had made new friends. He didn't need her as much anymore. It would've taken a while, and the process would've been by no means easy and clean, but it would've happened.
But then he stopped her. He called out her name and stood up.
"They really are amazing, sis. They have helped me so much. Look."
Curious and confused she faced him as he pulled up the blinds to let light inside. He then did something she had seen him do a thousand times. By reaching out he lined the shadow of his arm up with the shadow of one of his controllers and picked it up. As the shadow was lifted, the object that was casting it rose up into the air as well. She was getting a tad annoyed as he put it down again. This was par for the course for him. She was about to make a snide remark when her jaw dropped.
The controller was floating again, but Andrew's arms were crossed around his chest. Instead, it was his shadow. His shadow itself had moved to repeat the actions of its caster, even though he was standing still, not moving a muscle. But that wasn't what shocked her the most. Well.....it was part of it, sure. But the main thing was...the shadow, it..........it didn't even look like Andrew anymore.
Andrew was a shirt and jeans kinda guy. Always had been. And his hair was short and kept neat and clean whenever possible. The shadow meanwhile....she wasn't entirely sure, but it seemed like it wearing some sort of robe or cloak. Something with long, wide sleeves at least. And its mane was shoulder length at the bare minimum, wild and unkempt.
"Isn't it beautiful?"
She barely registered his voice, still focused on the shadow. It was still holding the controller up but began gently setting it down. Then it turned its head and she could've sworn despite it having no visible eyes that it was staring directly at her. That was her cue to leave.
After that day he redoubled his efforts to distance himself. His absences grew from just a few hours, to half a day, an entire day, and then two or three in a row.
A few weeks later she got a call from his boss, asking when her brother was going to pick up the stuff he left in his locker. Apparently, he had been fired weeks ago because he stopped showing up to his shifts.
The news was shocking to Alexandra. Not because it seemed out of character for this new version of her brother, no. But because he still brought home money every month. In fact, he had access to significantly more cash than before. Her allowance had doubled and for the first time, they had been able to afford the good, expensive food instead of the cheap off-brand stuff. Shortly after their talk, he had even hired an Installer to replace the blinds in his room with rolling shutters. When she asked him about the sudden influx of money he mumbled something about a promotion, but now she knew that that couldn't be true.
She didn't tell him about it. Instead, she went and picked up his stuff herself and stored it in a box in her room. Now was her best chance. If he knew she was aware he was unemployed, he would be more cautious to cover his tracks, she was sure. This way she had a bit more leeway. She would find out what was up with her brother if it was the last thing she did.
But she never got the chance. The very next day he went out to "work" in the morning, and never came back. She had used his absence to thoroughly search his room, figuring she had at least until the evening and at most a few days, but when he failed to return for seven in a row she began to worry. There had been nothing suspicious or out of the ordinary that she could find, so that was a bust too.
With every day that passed she grew more and more nervous. She called the precious few acquaintances they shared but none of them had seen him in a while. She could go to the police but the risk of exposing his Power was too great. There wasn't even a guarantee he was in danger or anything. She couldn't bring herself to do it. So she waited.
It was a month into his disappearance when she found it again. She had dropped her phone and it slid under her bed where she had stashed the box of Andrew's work stuff. She had only picked it up to avoid his boss calling again and letting it slip to Andrew that he already told her about his firing. She didn't pay much attention to its contents at the time, being more concerned with the person himself. But now...now was a different story.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
There wasn't much to unpack. A thermos bottle, coffee pads, a few cups, the usual. She was ready to write it off as a bust when her eyes caught the postcard. A postcard being among her brother's belongings was strange for multiple reasons, first among them was that no one used them anymore.
At first glance, there was nothing extraordinary about the thing. The picture on the front side was a photo of a goofy-looking pirate fellow, holding up a treasure map with a big toothy grin. Written in golden letters at the top was the charming phrase "BEWARE OF ME BOOTY". A bit bland and obvious, but she could see the humor.
The backside of the card was a bit more interesting. In the top right corner, someone had written something in cursive. It was a bit difficult to puzzle out at first, but after staring at it for a few minutes she managed to discern its meaning.
To my dear friend Andrew;
If you ever feel lonely, don't worry. I'm with you in the dark.
Alexandra frowned. So this must've been sent by one of her brother's new friends. Whoever he was, he had atrocious handwriting. Her eyes moved down to the larger body of text in the middle. Unlike the barely comprehensible scrawl above, this had clearly been printed onto the card. It seemed to be.....a poem of some sort. She had never been one for poetry, but if it could help her make sense of things then she had to bite the bullet. With a sigh, she began to read.
There was a man called Shady Shim. The whole wide world resented him.
T'was not because of things he said, or did, or 'cause he's just plain bad.
"He's evil!" all his peers would bark, "Evil 'cause he courts the Dark!"
Poor old Shim cried in dismay, "Can't help it! I was born this way!"
But no one cared for what he said, so, scared and lonely, old Shim fled.
His road was rough, bereft of sense, but there he made his first two friends.
Near the boats, down at the docks. The first named Umbra. Closeby, Nox.
He felt it then, that inner spark. All three of them were loved by Dark!
They told him of a place so nice, for folks like them t'was paradise.
The way inside, so he was shown, he'd find beneath an amber stone.
They parted ways. "I'll see you soon." On his lips, a jaunty tune.
Within the stone, as they foretold, he found a cabin, gray and old.
He marched right in, free and unbound. Then made his way below the ground.
That's where he stayed, lantern in hand, waiting for his Promised Land.
And when the light began to dim, a whole new world awaited him.
She didn't know what to make of it at first. A quick search for Shady Shim yielded no relevant results. She was about to give up and go back over the poem when she added "Dark" to the search terms and refreshed on a whim. She still got nothing for "Shady Shim" specifically, but a few articles piqued her interest. They all covered the same topic.
In the period between the Shadowwall Incident and the so-called "Lightray Laws" that brought about the status quo Darkness Empowered people like her brother had to deal with, there was a time when discrimination against them surged to a new high. Many children were bullied, and many adults let go and/or shunned. A lot happened. But the main event that these articles covered was the disappearances. Country-wide, about 3000 people with darkness, or darkness-adjacent Powers just up and vanished over a period of 5 years. That may not sound like a whole lot, but considering only about 8000 registered people with those kinds of abilities existed, it was a massive chunk.
One of the more well-known cases, though all of them were pretty obscure, was that of a 52-year-old man named Maxwell Jin Shim. What his Power was exactly was not mentioned in any of the articles, only that he had one. Being somewhat of a loner even beforehand, the treatment he recieved after the incident caused him to leave Chicago, his home city. It was unclear when or where he vanished, but someone resembling his description was last seen by a hiker near Yellowstone National Park. That general area was where a few of the missing people's trails ended. Some of the articles concluded that this was likely nothing more than a coincidence, others were sure something fishy was going on behind the scenes back then. One even tied it into an already existing conspiracy Alexandra had never heard of.
She grabbed the card again and scanned the poem.
The way inside, so he was shown, he'd find beneath an amber stone.
It couldn't be....could it? She turned the card over and pulled up a map of Yellowstone Park. It looked....oddly familiar. Carefully, she turned over the postcard. Her eyes rapidly switched between the screen and the treasure map the pirate was holding up. There was no mistaking it. The printed one was a touch cruder, but they were depicting the same place. A cold shiver ran down her back. What in the world did her brother get himself into?......... What did she?
It took her a week to finally make up her mind. Whenever she thought logically about it she had the urge to just let it go. Go to the cops. Share what she found with them, and let them handle it. But no matter how tempted she was, the one thing she refused to give up was her brother. She needed him. And right now, he needed her.
Getting to Yellowstone was easy. She had saved up a small fortune (by their standards) to surprise Andrew on his next birthday. She hadn't been sure what to buy him yet, but she had planned to start fishing for a few good suggestions after she returned from camp. That turned out to be a bust. But it didn't matter. Now that money was going to be put to good use elsewhere.
The spot where the X had been on the treasure map was far enough away that she had to plan ahead. Food supplies for a day, a few tools, a utility knife, things like that. The shopping tour was quick and easy, and with that she had everything she needed to move on.
She did not feel all that nervous when she called in sick, or got on the train, or even when she left the bus. It wasn't until she was an hour into the hike when the doubts came. What the fuck was she even doing here? This was insane. Did she actually believe she'd find anything when she reached the spot? All of this was probably nothing more than a coincidence, and she was the fool trying to connect dots that never existed.
.
It was hard to argue against herself. This WAS crazy. But she couldn't stop now. Instead of trying to confront her doubts, she figured the best method to deal with it was to block them out entirely. So she soldiered on, focusing entirely on making progress by any means necessary.
Now that she wasn't freaking herself out non-stop, Alexandra was actually able to enjoy her surroundings. The air was clear and the smell of nature had a nice, soothing effect on her. There were no people anywhere in sight, and the relative quiet around her gave her piece. She was enjoying herself so much that she almost walked past the cabin.
Her jaw dropped when she saw it. Not because it was strange or horrifying, or defied her expectations. No, it was because the thing looked exactly like she imagined it would. An old, dirty cabin, with broken windows and a missing door. The walls of the structure had a greyish tint to them. Just like in the poem.
She just stood there for a few minutes, taking it all in. She had followed some vague hints on a postcard she found into a gigantic park hours away from where she lived....and she actually found something.
Slowly, she crept into the abandoned building, careful not to make too much noise. She didn't think anyone else was there, but why take the risk?
The place was barren. No furniture of any kind was left. The only things littering the floor were shards and the occasional bug. In the poem, Shady Shim went underground, so she searched for a way down. It didn't take her long to find it. A small staircase led to an old, rusty metal door below. It took her a while to gather the courage to go in, but just as she made the first step she heard a noise.
Footsteps.
Someone was here. As quickly and quietly as she could she maneuvered to the broken-down bathroom across from the basement. She climbed into the tub to keep out of view and pressed her hand to her mouth to suppress the scream building up in her throat due to the legions of disturbed spiders and bugs that were crawling all over her shoes and legs.
The footsteps grew louder. There were at least two people. They didn't talk, and from her hiding place, she couldn't see what they looked like. The stairs creaked loudly as the two descended, followed by the sound of the door opening and closing again. Then, silence. Alexandra managed to stay still for another few minutes before she rushed out of the house and swiped the creepy crawlies off her clothes with a squeal.
Once she calmed down she turned back to the cabin. Alone again. At least she had confirmation that something was going on here. Someone used this cabin for some unknown reason. And she would find out. If it was the last thing she did.
So, what next? She had to keep investigating, but with people currently in the basement that plan was...less than ideal. Bust, even. So she had to wait. The problem was that she had no idea how long any of this would take. For all she knew these people, whoever they were, actually lived there. What to do?
Suddenly, she got an idea. It wasn't great, but.... it was an idea at least.
With determination in her step, she scouted out the foliage surrounding the cabin. Half an hour into the search she found the perfect spot. The trees were packed a bit tighter together, making it almost impossible to look behind them from the outside, but with a conveniently shaped split branch that would allow her to keep an eye on the front door if she stood on her toes. A good place to camp out for a while. But first, she had to procure some more supplies.
Before she left she fished the camera she brought out of her pack and placed it in the middle of the split branch. It was small enough to be easily overlooked and fully charged to boot. Satisfied, she made sure no one else was around before she left for civilization. Thoughts raced through her head on the entire way back. Were the people that she heard Andrew's "friends"? Was he in the cabin?...... Was he one of them? Did she hide from her brother without realizing?
It was difficult to concentrate, but she managed somehow. Her big shopping spree left her with just enough to go back home once everything was settled. She had a tent, a pillow, a thick wool blanket for the cold, canned food and enough soda to last her a week, some toilet paper, a zippo lighter both for illumination and to heat up some of those cans (She had seen that in a show once and was eager to try it out), a portable charger with plenty of batteries to keep it fed, and lastly....a bigger knife. Not that she intended to use it, but....it never hurt to be prepared.
When she reached the cabin again, almost half a day later, she was excited to see her camera right where she left it, undisturbed. She decided to keep it there for a bit longer while she figured out how to built the tent in her small little hiding spot. It took her much longer than she was comfortable with, but eventually, the job was done. More or less.
The first thing she did once she was done was check the footage. Nothing. No one came in, and no one came out. Well then. She grabbed the charger but then reconsidered. What if something happened to her? Or what if things became dangerous enough that she needed to bounce? Either way, having some sort of proof would be nothing but beneficial. With a self-assuring nod, she pointed the camera at herself and began filming again.
"Okay....here we go. My name is Alexandra Temny. This is day 1 of the great cabin scopeout. So far, nothing interesting..."
------------------------------
"Alex here. I slept really badl....oh, uhm, Day 2. Anyway, I forgot how much sleeping in a tent sucks. Should've bought some more pillows or something, but you know, Hindsight and 20 and shit. I just woke up. I left this thing on overnight, and uhm, just got through watching it all. Fast forward of course. I'd shoot myself if I had to rewatch all of that at normal speed. Kaboom, haha. Anyway, uuuh, oh yean! Stuff actually happened this time! I mean, it's not all that exciting, but still.....So check this, yesterday at like 11PM three people went into the cabin. Three! No one came out. Further supports my theory that the, uhm, the thing, the basement is kinda like a living space, of sorts? Does that make sense? That's what I think, anyway....I couldn't really make them out because it was dark as fuck, but I think they might've been all wearing the same clothes? It seemed very similar to me, at least, I dunno. That was basically it.., gonna charge this sucker now while I take over lookout duty. Gonna update again tonight.Bye."
---------------------
".....You know, this canned stuff isn't as bad as I thought it'd be. It was a bit bleh...Day 6, btw....bleh at first, but I could get used to this. I re-watched my last four updates, and Jesus do I look like shit. That's what camping does to you, kids who are probably watching this on a shock site after I've been brutally murdered. Don't believe your parents. They lie. Anyway.....I think I've found a pattern. So far, if we're counting the two clowns I hid from, which I do, then 16 people have entered over the last 5 days and just 6 have left. Most of them come or go either, uhm, like very very early in the morning or late at night. But four of them have come in the afternoon too. All of these bozos were sporting, I'd say, pretty casual clothes. The early birds and night owls however seem to still be wearing the same outfit, which I can't describe to you because I can barely tell people are there at all in the night footage.
But none of that matters. The important thing is that no one enters or leaves the thing during the early...uhm...oh, daylight hours, that was it. Like from 9ish to 12ish. AM. Sooooooo, it's, I think, uuuuuuhm, 8 or so? I'm gonna wait a bit, then go in. If you who is currently watching this found this camera, then I guess I'm.....you know....a-and you would really do me a solid if you could bring this thing to, like, the police or something. The authorities. If you're curious what this is about, I told my entire fucking life story in....I wanna say update 4? 5? I dunno. Just watch'em all, I don't care.
If the one watching this is myself in the future, then let me just say I'm really glad you're not dead. You are incredibly pretty and charming, and it's a crime that you haven't managed to snag a lasting boyfriend yet. See you later, hopefully. Kisses."
-----------------
With a deep breath, Alexandra stepped into the cabin. She had no idea if this "pattern" she found was anything but a coincidence, but she had to do something before her supplies ran out. The wind was blowing heavier than usual today, creating an entirely new and unsettling soundscape while she went to investigate. Just her luck. First the bathtub bugs, now this. She shuddered at the memory. Never again!
It wasn't long until she arrived at the staircase. With slow steps, she descended and grabbed the handle of the metal door. It was unlocked. Of course, it was. Hesitantly she pulled it open, revealing the pitch-black void beyond. Great.
Usually, she'd use her phone to light the way, but that had died three days ago and she found the camera a more important beneficiary of the portable charger. But that's why she had prepared. The lighter lit up with a click, illuminating a far wider area than she expected. In movies and video games, the dumb things barely let you see the main character but here she got a good view already. It seemed to be a regular old basement. When she stretched her arm out as far as she could she was just able to see the back wall. It wasn't that big a space.
....But then, where were the people? Even if the cabin had been entirely empty when she first showed up, which didn't sound all that likely to her, she had proof on film that more people went in than came out.......So where were they?
Her first thought was that there was probably a way deeper down inside. It was the only thing that made sense.......
Well then. Time to find out. With hesitant steps she entered the cold, dark room, moving her lighter around to make sure she could see everything. It was remarkably empty. The only objects inside were three chairs, one of which she stood beside, and a large wooden table. There was simply no room for a hidden door, or even a hidden mechanism that would reveal a door. Once again, she was stumped.
Suddenly, she felt a fresh breeze on her back and the next thing she knew the entire world grew dark. A gust of wind had extinguished the lighter and slammed the door with a loud bang, causing her to almost drop the little thing. A sudden, intense fear gripped her heart and she frantically reached for the chair in panic to orient herself, but all her hand touched was empty air.
While one hand was busy searching for something to grip onto, the other tried to reignite her source of light, and eventually, she succeeded.
Her heart was still beating a mile a minute, but being able to see calmed her down several notches. To her surprise, the chair she had been reaching for stood exactly where she had thought it was. She reached out to test it and indeed, she had no problem reaching it from where she stood. Strange.
Part of her wanted to leave this creepy room as quickly as possible, but another part of her needed to know. With a flick of her finger, she killed the light.
The atmosphere shifted immediately. Hurriedly she tried once again to grab the chair, but her hands, once again, met nothing but air. She knew exactly where it was supposed to be so she made a small but decisive step in that direction, and flicked the lighter on again. She had moved, obviously, but something was still wrong. She had barely moved a foot, yet somehow she found herself a good way past the chair.
Her next idea came when she looked at the back wall. Once she had reached it she let everything go dark again and stretched out her hand. Nothing. No wall, nor anything else. Another shiver ran down her spine. So this was how people could just waltz in here and disappear. Once again, she was torn. Was it really worth the risk? Probably not. But she was sure she wouldn't get a better chance. She pocketed the lighter and replaced it with the larger, sharper knife she bought. With a quiet shake of her head and plenty of internal admonishment, she started to move forward.
The absolute quiet unnerved her. The only thing she was able to hear were her footsteps. They made heavy, echoing sounds despite her best efforts to stay quiet. The ground was not made of wood anymore either. The material was hard and smooth. Marble, maybe? As she was contemplating this she almost crashed into a wall. If her feet hadn't bumped against it a second earlier she would walked face-first straight into it.
She had feared for her first few minutes of blind wandering that this.....place....consisted of nothing but one giant open space. A terrifying concept. So in the end she was relieved. She placed her hand on the surface and used it to guide her steps. It was cold, but definitely not metal. A palpable feeling of dread overcame her. The deeper she went, the more intense it got.
She didn't know how long she had been wandering around in here already, but it couldn't have been less than half an hour. What if it was a maze? A labyrinth that hopelessly traps anyone who doesn't know how to specifically navigate it?
She tried to fight these thoughts, but they seemed more and more likely the further she got. Finally, it was too much. At a frantic pace, she pulled out the lighter and flicked it on.
Nothing.
She tried again.
Nothing.
Again, again, again, again!
With every futile flick of her hand her body grew colder.
It was no use. She had no choice but to go on. The mood had shifted again. Where before there was some curiosity, a sense of adventure, and a burning desire to find her brother mixed in with the apprehension and fear, now only the latter two were left. She sped up, moving faster with every step, still keeping one hand on the wall.
It was almost like whatever this place was could sense her panic. The architecture shifted from a straight line with the occasional turn to a bizarre zigzag at sharp and nearly impossible angles. The surface went from smooth, to rough, to porous, then back to smooth again. She was running now. Running as fast as her legs could take her. But there was no point. There was no end to this place. Eventually, she had to stop to catch her breath. That's when she heard it.
Footsteps.
First one. Then another. Then another. Then many more. Her anxiety spiraled and she let go of the wall, walking backward away from the sounds.
"Alex."
Cold breath hit her ear from behind.
Tears began to well up in her eyes.
"Andrew....?"
A hand laid itself on top of hers and gently took the knife from her fingers. It fell to the ground with a clang.
"I'm so glad you're here, sis. These are my friends. It's about time I introduced them to you." Her brother was whispering these words into her ear.
The idea that she was surrounded by strangers made her feel sick. "I-I'm here to t-take you home..."
Quiet laughter. Not just from behind her.
"I figured. But this is my home now. You're free to stay if you like."
Her heart was beating so fast it hurt.
"N-no thank you. I-I-I think I'm just gonna go home alone."
Laughter again.
"I'm sorry, sis, but that's not really an option for you. But don't worry. I will take good care of you here. First, though, we have to make some......changes. Don't be afraid. It won't hurt a bit."
She felt her brother grab her by the shoulder. Was it even still her brother? What was he about to do? She couldn't let it happen. She had to get out of there. Pure and genuine panic overrode all of her other senses. No matter what. Her hand raced to her pocket. They had taken her knife from her. But she still had another. She grabbed the smaller utility knife and swung backward. It connected. Andrew cursed and let something fall. It sounded heavier than the knife. Almost on instinct she closed her eyes, bent down to grab it, and swung the object blindly around herself. It connected with something. And suddenly she was all alone.
She didn't notice at first. She continued to swing, in front of her, behind her, wherever she could until it became difficult to move her arm. Even then, she kept her eyes shut, crying softly and waiting for something that never came. When she eventually opened them again she was surprised to see her surroundings brightly illuminated. A look down told her why. The thing her brother let go, that she picked up....it was a flashlight. One of those heavy ones that she saw plenty of at the store but forewent in favor of the lighter. She must've accidentally turned it one when she hit....hit her brother.
She shook her head. There was no time for sentimentality. She needed to figure out where she was. A quick shine around revealed she was no longer in the cabin. Dirty, broken down sinks, filthy stalls....some kind of abandoned public toilet? The windows had been smeared with a black substance to keep the light out. Panic hit her again. As soon as she left this place her brother and his "friends" could follow her. She couldn't let that happen. With a yell she bashed the flashlight against the windows, shattering them and letting the bright rays flow in. That was enough, she hoped. Clutching the flashlight tight against her chest, she opened the door and stepped out into the sun.
As it turned out, that old abandoned toilet stood somewhere near Miami. Biscayne National Park. She spent the next few days hitchhiking home. Her money was in her pack, which was still in Yellowstone. She had no desire to go pick it up. Halfway there one of her rides was gracious enough to buy her some snacks and a few bottles of soda. As she stashed the goods in her pockets she bumped against the lighter. She had completely forgotten about it. Curious to see if it worked again she pulled it out, but......it wasn't the same one.
.
She had bought a Zippo lighter (mainly because she thought they looked cool and intended to keep it), and the one she held in her hand right now was one too, but that was where the similarities ended. The one from the store was a regular, boring silver one. This one though, was gold. An ornate pattern ran all across it, though for the life of her, she couldn't tell what it was supposed to be. Without thinking much she flicked the lid open and lit it up.
Immediately, all the lights in the gas station went out. The clerk was yelling obscenities as he walked into the back of the store, presumably to check the fusebox. But Alexandra didn't pay much attention to him. Her eyes were fixated on the small black flame flickering in her hand. It was mesmerizing, but not in a good way. Looking at it made her feel ill, nauseous, and so very, very cold. But still....she couldn't pry her eyes away from it.
It was her ride who pulled her out of it. He called her name, ready to move on, which got her attention and broke the trance. She flicked the obscene thing shut and the lights of the gas station sprang back to life. She didn't know how she got this lighter or where her old one went, but one thing was for sure. She didn't want anything to do with it. Half an hour later, mid-drive, she rolled down the window and threw it as far as she could. Good riddance. Maybe now she could finally sleep.
The rest of her trip was unremarkable. She liked it that way. The first thing she did after arriving home was call the police. Not to tell them what had happened, there was no point. She was sure that even if she told the cops exactly what to do to access the dark space, it wouldn't be there for them. And even if it was, if they had no way to hide it, the people who orchestrated all of this would be long gone. Better not to open that can of worms. No, the call was just to notify them that Andrew was missing. He wouldn't come back. She had to accept that. Might as well make it official.
The next time she saw her brother was one week later. His body was fished out of Crater Lake, in Oregon. He had his ID on him, so she was called in to identify the body. His hair had grown a bit longer, but otherwise, he looked the same. There was an injury in his leg where she had stabbed him. She asked if the cut was the cause of death, and was told no. It was a relief, in a way. The cop didn't tell her how he actually died, but she overheard him mutter something on her way out. The word "empty". She didn't want to know. All she wanted was to put this whole incident behind her.
The loss didn't really hit her until two days later. She was washing the dishes when it overcame her. The rest of the day was spent crying in bed. Therapy was the next logical step.
It helped. A bit. She was as honest as she felt she could be. Claimed that her little adventure in Yellowstone was a recurring nightmare, just so that she could talk about it at all. She still went, but less frequently.
The most tangible consequence of it all was her fear of the dark. She felt restless and anxious whenever her environment was not bright enough. Even needed a nightlight to sleep. It was embarrassing. She hated it.
Things had sorted themselves over the last 5 years. She had made friends, good ones even. A few boyfriends on and off, but nothing lasting. She still missed him. Every year on his birthday she would visit his grave and then turn on one of the movies they liked to watch together and drank herself to sleep. That was the only day of the year she drank. Slippery slope and all that.
Eventually, she decided it was time to move on once and for all. She and her friends took a trip to Yellowstone at her behest, a few days before Andrew's birthday. They had fun. Goofed around a lot. She didn't tell them why they were really there. They didn't need to know.
The cabin was still right where it stood back then. She didn't go in. Her tent and bag were still there too, surprisingly. Including the money. The camera wasn't though. One of her friends went in to explore. When he came back she asked him if he went in the basement. He said he searched the whole thing top to bottom but there was no such thing. She didn't pry further. Especially after he showed her the knife he found in the tub.
The trip had helped. She still visited her brother, but afterward, she went out with her friends instead of staying in drunk. It was nice. Now there was only one thing left to conquer. Her fear of the dark.
That night she retired in Andrew's old room instead of her own. His still had the shutters he had installed. She brought the desk lamp from her table and put it on the nightstand beside his bed. She was nervous but determined. The door shut, and the shutters rolled down she went to bed and browsed the net until she could barely keep her eyes open. When it was finally time she slowly closed them, reached for the lamp, and turned it off.
Sleep didn't come easy to her that night, but it came eventually. It was a good sleep. Deep and refreshing, free of the nightmares that usually plagued her when her sleeping quarters were too dark.
When she woke up she felt happy. Happy and hopeful. She reached for the lamp to turn the lights back on, but all her hand touched was empty air.