Cat listened for sound down stairs. It was nearing midnight now. The house has been quiet for a while but uncle could stay real quiet especially if he suspected something. She needed to go, the weather was perfect tonight and there might not be another clear night like this for some time. The sixth step from the top made a loud noise when stepped on. Cat could see the dim light downstairs and knew what it meant. There was no point in pretending. The step creaked loudly as she came down.
“And where are you going?” asked a voice from behind as she reached for the door.
“My friends are having a picking at the park.”
“At midnight?”
“We’ll watch the stars.”
Uncle shook his head.
“Now, do you really think I don’t know what you’re doing?”
Cat called him uncle but he was not related to her by blood. He was a black man in his late sixties and the brother of her adoptive father who died few years back.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s only a picnic to watch the stars.”
He sighed.
“Do you know what they’ll do to you if you get caught?”
“Nobody is going to anything to me, because we won’t be doing anything illegal. Just looking at the stars.”
The man shook his head once more.
“ Do what you want then. But don’t come crying to me.”
“I won’t.”
With that she was out the door. The night was clear and the air had a bit of a chill to it. Cat pulled her leather jacket closed and once the house was out of view she took off running into the woods. The lights of the street and houses were out of sight when she stopped. In the dark it was difficult to see but Cat new her way. An old wooden shed stood there. The key was attached to the chain along with several dog tags. She pushed it out of its place in one of the tags and unlocked the shed. Changing out of her sneakers into sturdy boot, replacing the leather jacket with a bullet proof vest and a trench coat with a hood. She pulled a ski mask over half of her face. Took out the gas mask and put it on her neck, ready to pull it on any time. Checked her tools, knife, pistol, a bag that contained rusted nails, bolts and small stones as well was a rifle with a night scope. It was better to travel light. Knife in the boot, pistol on the side, bag in her pocket. Gloves on. She strapped the riffle on her back and carefully left the shack.
The park was a huge forested area, full of wild life and plants that needed protection. Uncle used to be a ranger in the park before he lost his job. The town next to the park was a small one- jobs were few. But for those who wanted to make money there was always something to do. And Cat found that she rather good at it.
Deep into the woods of the park was the Trench. Somebody had dug it around the park long ago. If a child fell in they would not be able to get out by themselves but it was easier for an adult since it only reached up to chest. After rain there would sometimes be water in it. The Trench marked the end of the park open for tourists. The park that was beyond the Trench was a completely different place. Cat just like a cat jumped across the Trench. Countless signs against trespassing, about it being a protected area and closed to the public. Cat ignored all of them and walked along the newly erected fence, it was only there for a year or so. There was a spot that was easy to get in if one knew how. She climbed a tree next to the fence and walked along the branch. Done it so many times that she could do it in pitch black darkness. Cat landed on her feet on the other side.
The moon showed it’s profile from the passing clouds. She tensed and listened. It was quiet- a good sign. The job was easy too and the pay was good. All she had to do was bring back a Ghost Marble. They could be found on clear nights in the abandoned city. It wasn’t really a city. Some time ago there was construction of several buildings going on in the park, the piece of land was sold to private investors in a not entirely legal deal. Now they just stood half-finished in the woods.
Cat looked thought the scope of the riffle to make sure the coast was clear. Taking a bolt from the bag in her pocket she tossed it in front of her. When nothing happened she walked forward. Stopping to listen again. A large shadow covered up the moon. She stopped in her tracks and waited for it to pass. Something bothered Cat. It was a quiet night and quiet was a good thing. But something felt off. A nagging feeling telling her that something was off. In her experience if something felt off then it really was off. Especially in this place. The shadow lazily moved from the moon and drifted off towards the mountain. Cat began moving again. It was good when there wasn’t a lot of activity. But silence didn’t mean there was no activity. Some activity was quiet and it was always the dangerous kind. Cat had expected or rather prayed for an easy night but now she had a suspicion that it was going to be one of bad ones.
The place beyond the Trench was special in many ways. This was a place where things happened that didn’t happen anywhere else. Things existed here that didn’t exist anywhere else. This place was mystery. It was not something one could describe, explain or even understand. Many thought they had gotten to the bottom of it, that they have understood and it had proven all of them wrong. One thing and only one thing could be understood about the place that some have labeled Visitation Zone 9. The Zone was like a living being, it changed and shifted and breathed in its own pace, acted on its own will. Those who ignored it and tried to force their own will or understanding on the Zone would pay dearly. It would remind them that it was a place outside human understanding, explanation or control.
Cat knew, learned from firsthand experience what happened when one began to think they had The Zone figured out. Arrogance here meant death. One had to always be careful. Even if it all seemed quiet one had to make sure to take all safety measures. She throws a small stone and it hit’s a tree. The sound is loud and she freezes in place, crouches down to the bushes, listens. Sure enough a branch cracks. She looks up just enough to get a glimpse. There is a figure. It was hidden from view by the tree. She could have walked right into it. The Shape staggers, accompanied by the sound of cracking branches and rustling bushes. It follows the sound of the stone. Cat throws another one, far away from herself. The Shape staggers towards in its twitchy movements.
Cat slowly moves forward. The Shape is now somewhere far to her left. She keeps it in mind for later. There is nothing unusual about a Shape here. They are almost everywhere in the Zone. As long one avoids them they are not a threat. Camel had found out the hard way what happens when you get too close to one. He used to smoke Camel cigarettes all the time and so the name stuck. One day Camel and Rat decided to have a race and he ran, slammed full force into a Shape. After that day Cat stopped coming here in day time. It was sometime after Camel died that she began to see it- a Shape that looked like Camel. She wondered if the one back there, if perhaps it was him. Then she mentally scolded herself. Loosing focus means certain death. Shapes were one thing but there was whole dozen of thing a lot more dangerous.
Turns out she had been right to fear. It sounds like voices in the distance. They are not actually voices. It’s getting louder. Two people speaking. They are not actually speaking. It is not an actual language. If one began to listen and try to understand the conversation they would find that they cannot understand it at all. Then one would try to get closer and listen again and drive themselves insane thinking that they can almost hear what is being said. Cat reached into her other pocket for the earplugs she made sure were always there. Earplugs worked best against the Echoes. She made a wide semicircle to avoid the spot where the voices were coming from. The Abandoned City was not much further. The voices were out of range but her instinct stopped her in her tracks. Something felt very wrong. There was a rush of cold and she suddenly pulled her gas mask on. She didn’t see it in the dark. It was very difficult to see it. There, just barely – A Shadow. It was in every way a shadow, only there was no person casting it. It lay flat on the ground. The moonlight caught some of it. Shapes were one thing; the Echoes were rare but still nothing new. Shadows however meant there was something going on in the Zone tonight. Cat began to feel nervous, perhaps tonight was not a good night to do this after all. At this rate The Others might show up and perhaps even the Guard Dog.
She had gone all this way, the city was just there beyond the hills in the vale. It was so close and all she had to do was go in, get a Ghost Marble from the Sparkler and get out. The man had promised 2500 dollars on delivery. She had seen the bills in the mail, they were months behind. They needed the money. Part of her reasoned it wasn’t worth dying for. She could turn back; go get a job at the diner outside of town. Sparrow quit after Rat died, he was a mechanic now. Nightingale packed up and moved away without a word to anyone. She was Camels sister.
The Shadow slowly stretches closer. Under the gas mask she holds her breath. Tries to remember the rules they had for dealing with shadows. All they knew they had learned from Fisher, he retired saying it was time for the next generation to take over. But Cat was the only one left now. In the ever growing cloud of doubts in her head she began reciting the rules. Rule 1 : Hold your breath. Rule 2: Don’t move. Not that one could move when a Shadow was near. Rule 3. What was it. She could not remember. Don’t let know you’re alive? Something along those lines. She took slow breaths, the gas mask covering her face still. There was no way it could feel her breath ,right? Yet the shadow stretched towards her, slowly creeping, growing bigger. Cat doubted, perhaps Fished was wrong. Perhaps she should move, just run away and go home and leave this life behind her. The urge to just run was so overwhelming but she held her ground. Just barely able to remain still and trying to keep her breathing steady. The gas mask felt suffocating and she wanted to take it off so badly. She looked away from the shadow, probably not a good move, but something glinted in the moonlight. It was her bracelet. The silver colored glittering leather around her wrist with a black cat on it. That was how she got her name. She won it years ago in the fair. At the time it had brought her good luck- the lucky black cat. But black cats are said to bring bad luck. And in time perhaps it did just that.
Cat shook her head. It was recklessness that killed her friends. She had warned them time and time again against fooling around. They did it anyways. It was her fault. But it was the reason she continued to work alone. There were other groups as well as loners she knew that but never worked with any of them. This was her way of remembering her friends. Quitting would not be right. They didn’t just do it for the money in the end. This was their special place, so many adventures, happy times and bad ones. A job in a diner would make money but would never this exiting. The memory of her friends was right here and as she walked these familiar paths she felt as if they were all still together.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
It’s only when she realizes she had moved that Cat looks back at the Shadow. It was gone. By some miracle it had left. Carefully she takes the flashlight out of the inner pocket of the coat. Shines it around on the lowest brightness. No signs of the shadow. Still she avoids stepping on where it had been. Then suddenly she remembers what Fished used to call them -Doubt. The Shadow of Doubt.
Cat hurries to leave the area tossing an occasional nail or pebble ahead of her. She knew the paths but on occasion thing changed. The path that was safe yesterday could be a deathtrap today- as Fisher said.
She freezes in place and ducks behind an old log. The vale and the abandoned city is just behind some hills but she can see lights coming from there. Cat knew the city and while there were things that glowed none of them gave of light like this. She inches closer to edge of the slope and peeks down into the vale. As clear as day she can see the abandoned buildings and the sandy hills that surround the place. A car is parked there, a large one with its headlights turned on. Cat feels her heart sink. There were people here and that could only mean that the worst of the things in the Zone were going to come out. How somebody managed drive in here with a car she wasn’t sure. Perhaps they rammed the locked gate that blocked the road. A group of reckless people here without any clue to where they were or what to look out for. Cat felt sorry for them. An abandoned city sounded alluring to many. From time to time some teenagers or young people would sneak in. She only knew because they had found what was left them days later.
Since going directly though the city was out of the question Cat moved along the hills. Carefully making her way towards the furthest building. She would still need to go down into the vale but there was a path for cases just like this. This wasn’t the first time somebody had asked for Ghost Marble. They were one of the most popular things people wanted. The group back then held a monopoly on them. They had discovered a safe path to the Abandoned City and the Marbles. It was their secret. Other groups specialized in other things. Everybody had their own paths, that they didn’t share. If some other group wanted a Marble they would have as them to get it and they would have to pay a fee. It was how things worked. They did share information on changes in the Zone, new sightings of things never seen before and new places or areas discovered.
Through the gap between two buildings Cat notices more cars. She had assumed they were teenagers at first but now she could see it was something much different. There were military looking vehicles with their lights on. People in yellow hazmat suits with strange containers on their backs that had tubes attached to them. On one of the large black trucks Cat spotted a logo : N.E.S.T.. Men in black military gear were walking around with guns. Thought the scope she could see them clearly. Watched the hazmats go inside one of the buildings.
She knew she had little time. Things were far worse than she thought. There weren’t some ignorant teenagers these were the kind of people the Zone hated the most. Whatever they were doing here it was clearly not good. But it was too late to turn back. Cat moved further into the woods, being extra careful not to be seen by the people there.
She had circle the city and descended on the opposite side of where the trucks were. Hiding behind decaying walls of concrete she moved to the furthest building. Glancing once more, at the people in yellow emerging from the building with strange containers on their backs. It was troubling to think about it. What were they doing there? It had to be related to the Pudding. Why else would anyone go there?
They had discovered one day when exploring the city. A large puddle of strange substance that was as strangely green and thick like pudding. It filled up more than half of the open basement area, growing like a moss or a mold on the walls and floor. Rat was the one to name it. Acid Pudding. It was after Hound decided to see what happens when you touch it. Hound was loner who sometimes joined the group, sometimes he joined other groups. He stuck his hand in it and it didn’t seem like anything changed for a while but about twenty minutes later he began sweating and that sweat was coming out as a thick gelatinous substance. Minutes later it turned green. His fingers that he stuck into the Pudding were dripping green, melting away. He screamed to cut his hand off but before they could even look for something Hound was a puddle of green gelatinous goop on the floor. So they added another role to the list: Don’t touch the Pudding.
It seemed like an obvious rule but things in this place were rarely obvious. It was impossible at first glance to tell if something was dangerous or simply looked dangerous but wasn’t.
As she made her way up the concrete stairs to of the unfinished building Cat tried to focus on the task. But it still bothered her. Why were those people here? Why would somebody want something like that? The answer was nothing good. She ducked behind the cover of a wall as one of the soldiers looked in her direction. The stair way was partially open. He moved closer to the building she was in. Cat remained hidden and the moment her turned away dove into the hallway. The Sparkler was there. worn down concrete exposed rebar in the far back of the room. something sparked along the rebar. Tiny electric sparks. Suddenly it began to intensify, flare up and shoot bluish and purple electric sparks like a firework going off.
Cat looked around the room for any Ghost Marbles but it was empty. Briefly she wondered if the men in hazmats had come and taken them all. The Sparkler flared up again giving off its electric fireworks. Something was rolling about inside it. Transparent and almost incorporeal- a Ghost Marble. Cat cursed to herself. Of course the damn thing had to be smack in the middle of it. She takes the riffle of her back. Not going home empty handed. The sparkler dies down, returning to a slow and barely visible electric pulse thought the rebar. Cat walks up to is as close as possible. Pulls her gas mask up, the only protection she has for her face. She lays down flat on her stomach right at the edge of the Sparkler. Holding the gun by the tightly with her rubber glove she reaches into the Sparkler. The wooden handle of the gun touches the ground and the Sparkler buzzes giving of a few sparks. Cat curses and grips the gun with both hands to keep it steady. She tries to hit the Marble but it is hard to see. The electricity becomes brighter, the pulse more intense. Then she hears the sound of something like glass hit the wooden handle. She pushes it towards the edge. The gun is heavy in her arms. The marble is rolling along the uneven floor pushed by the gun. The Sparkler is getting ready to go off again. It is so close now. She puts all her strength into a swing and nudges the marble. It roll on it’s of for a bit but the round is uneven and his something starting to roll back slowly. Cat feels a shock in her arm and drops the gun, rolls away before getting to her feet. The Sparkler erupts, the first burst smaller, the second larger. Cat stares the Marble rolling around as the sparks toss it from side to the other. Her riffle is there too, sparking with electricity. She curses again. At any moment now the worst things that exist in the Zone can descend upon this place. She doesn’t have time to way for another Marble or look for a branch. Cat realizes she needs to go. With a heavy sigh she gives her riffle one last look. It had been a gift from Fisher. It was a shame to lose it. Perhaps she could come here another day and try to get it back. She would wait for another clear night and maybe try to get another Marble. If the Zone is not in a giving mood than she will not try to take it by force. Getting out of here alive is more important.
She is at the exit of the room. The Sparkler goes off again and the sound of glass rolling on the concrete catchers her. She sees it in the middle of the room- a pale blue glow in a round shape, tiny sparks flaring up inside it from time to time. She looks back the Sparkler and nods in gratitude.
“Keep it ”she says looking at her gun.” A trade is a trade.”
The sound of engines startles her. The trucks seem to be preparing to leave. Cat packs the marble in a cloth bag and puts it into her pocket. Silently sneaks out of the building. The road in front of the building containing the Pudding is now empty. Cat wasn’t one for curiosity but she had the urge to go in and see what they were doing there. They had been here for who knows how long and nothing happened. Cat wondered if perhaps nothing was going to happen after all. Thing were quiet still. Knowing the way she didn’t have to wander around much. It was quick to get to the basement. Down the steps and into darkness. It was never dark before. She realized what had happened- they took the Pudding. Not just a piece of it. They took all of it. Few glowing gelatinous smudges still remained on the wall.
She felt it then- the overwhelming feeling of loss and fear. The air seemed to grow heavy with it. Cat realized what was going to happen next and broke off into a run. The Pudding was nothing like the Ghost Marbles. It was not something one could simply take without consequence. The Marbles were harmless as far as Cat and her friends knew. They took them and nothing happened. Rat even broke one by accident. It was one of the last things he had done but it was not how he died. Rat died and they learned the hard way that there something things in the Zone one must never take.
The air was tense, rippling with anger. It felt exactly the same as when Rat died. Cat knew what was coming. The Others were coming. She wasn’t out of the city yet when she heard the sound of gunshots. Without looking back she broke into a run. Needed to get as far away from this place as possible. Once at the edge of the woods she switched of her flashlight and took a handful of bolts from her pocket. Tossed one in every direction. Nothing happened so she moved forward. Shone a light briefly to make sure there were no shadows around. The moon was now covered. Without the night scope on her gun she couldn’t see in the dark. Being careless right now was the worst thing she could be. It was true she need to move fast but doing it slow and methodical was the fastest way. Getting into trouble and being held up now meant death.
The moon comes out after what feels like forever. In its light Cat can see Shapes. Dozens of them all moving towards the direction she was coming from. Cat Freezes in place. She had never seen so many of them at once. Not even certain if these were in fact Shapes. But they moved slowly enough to be.
The Others were similar to Shapes. But they were not Shapes. They were fast and different in stature. Taller, thinner and sometimes transparent. The Other Shapes as they had budded them only showed up on rare occasions. Times when people took something they weren’t supposed to or went somewhere they weren’t supposed to. That time they had gone in deep and found a new location within the Zone. On old abandoned mill by the river. Rat took something he found there. Then they began to see Shapes following them only they looked different from the Shapes they normally saw. Tall, lanky and shadow like instead of the human like Shapes. These Other Shapes were coming at them from all sides until they were surrounded. Rat took the thing he had taken and ran off with it into the woods shouting that he would return it if they let his friends go. They never saw Rat again. The Other Shapes followed him but as the group ran they could see them from time to time. They would emerge seemingly out of thin air, just climbing out of nothing. Days later they found what was left of Rat. His body was mangled and slashed to bits, arms still in the position of him holding something to his chest.
Cat hides in the ferns and waits for the Shapes to pass her. Deep down she prays. After all she was not the one who took it. But the Zone could be incredibly unforgiving at times. The Shapes stagger past her. Cat listens again. There is another sound. One thing, as far as they know, exists in the Zone that is even worse than the Others- the Guard Dog. The distant sound of grinding metal announces its presence. But they say that once it is close enough to hear than you are already dead. A cold shiver runs don’t her spine as she hears what she things is a metallic sound. It’s far away but the Dog they say is fast. And in this one she throws caution to the winds. If she was meant to die here tonight then so be it. Cat runs, no more carefully measured steps or checking for Shadows.
After a moment she stops. It’s all gone quiet again. No sound of metal chasing after her. No sound rustling or movement. The moon peeks out of the clouds. She can see the fence in the distance. Then something rustles to her left. A Shape slowly staggers. They don’t usually come out this close to the fence. In the moonlight she can see it. The brown beanie, military camouflage jacket. The face is all blurred but she knows it’s him. It stands there as if looking at her. She reaches for her pistol, not even sure what it would do against a being that defied all convention. It stands there a while longer then turns around and stagers into the woods. Something shines where it stood. Something is laying on the ground. She moves closer. It’s long and smells like metal. The unmistakable smell of melting wires lingers in the air. Despite the smell it looks undamaged- Fishers old rifle. Carefully Cat picks it up. Waits. Nothing happens. She straps it to her back, gives the woods one long look of gratitude.
“You know I’ll be back.” She says, then climbs over the fence and heads to the shack.
The Sky is turning pink already. And she has an order to deliver.