Caleb drove through the winding road that swerved in and outside the valley. The empty wet landscape with rolling hills and low-hanging mist shrouded much of the landscape. As he drove it slowly parted revealing sights that started to become more and more familiar. He had been gone almost a year now. It was somewhat nostalgic being back. He had left for college and worked hard this past year finally summer had come. His return home to Greenwood would be a welcome break from all the schoolwork he had endured throughout the year. The year had been dull but that's what he had expected he still remembered the recruiters that had come to the high school his senior year. Their boisterous comments about all the different colleges, their reputations, and connections to get an outstanding job. The whole idea was off-putting for Caleb just the thought of working away at some office for the rest of his life never accomplishing anything of note. Never truly doing anything that matters, just thinking about it made his head spin and his spirits die. Even if their car salesman's pitch was super weak he knew the importance of going to college and getting a good job. The monetary value and comforts it provides are way better than any other alternative. So he diligently worked hard both in school and at his mediocre job and finished his first year of college with all A’s.
With all the hard work he had neglected to come home and visit even during the holidays. which is why he was so nervous about seeing his family which consisted of his mom dad and two brothers. His mother had scolded him several times about not coming home for some important farming events and the holidays. His father had his other two brothers help him out on the small farm they owned but their work ethic was lacking in the least. Caleb had always been the biggest contributor to the harder task on the farm. His parents did understand the importance of an education but his father had always intended for him to run the farm when he passed. Caleb had never wanted this and his dad took the news very poorly. This created a rift that had only worsened when he left for college.
“Better to put it aside for now,” he thought he had one more day before he truly went back home. Kevin one of his best friends from high school had invited him to spend the night at the local Recreation Center. It was being torn down for a new one to be built. His mother worked there at the Recreation Center and said it would be alright for them to spend the night. Kevin and Caleb spent their many hours there swimming, playing basketball, lifting weights, and playing racket ball. It was sad to see the old place go with so many memories but Caleb had seen the new designs and it was a big upgrade.
After an hour he finally turned down the familiar Beckman street and saw the old rec center. The red-bricked old-style magnificent building still stands triumphant against the test of time although badly wounded. Cracks were running in dramatic sig zack lines along with construction cones piled up in the parking lot. The building was a giant square with a massive circle structure that looked like an observatory and contained the pool area. Pulling around the back to the employee entrance he passed tennis courts and the skate park. A wave of nostalgia came washing over him as he drove past. The employee parking lot was a lot smaller with three parked cars outside the entrance. He parked grabbed his backpack and made his way in the purple rust-covered doors.
The minute he entered the doors he could hear voices up ahead with an abrupt shout “Cannonball” an oh-so-familiar voice said with a large accompanying splash that was followed by a yelp.
Caleb walked past the empty entrance lobby and headed for the pool eager to see his old friend. It was weird being in the Rec center and seeing it so empty all the pictures and been removed from the walls. Only the wooden welcome desk was left and that was bolted to the floor. Opening the door the pool area had stayed the same since he was a kid. It was a large square pool with a high dive and a lower diving board. The twenty-foot ceiling was lined with lights a few still broke from who knows when. On both sides of the pool were a set of bleachers. Sitting on the bleachers was Tyler scrambling to pick up all his books. Lisa and another girl stood atop the high dive with the water rippling right next to Tyler. Tyler looked the same from high school short black hair combed to perfection with dark eyes and a stringy body.
“Come on man these books are expensive,” Tyler said clutching his soggy books and a look of surrender towards the resurfacing red-haired grinning face man that Caleb had seen so many times.
“This is a time for fun Leave the books at home it's not like you need them”, Kevin said looking at Tyler. His eyes then darted past to meet Caleb's eyes. Looks like the party can now officially start our resident hillbilly has arrived Kevin shouted. “Shut up, you buck tooth sociopath” Caleb retorted as both men began to smile. Kevin put both arms on the concreted outside and hoisted himself up walking towards Caleb. He put both arms out and gave him a big wet hug before he could react.
“At Least let me get in some different clothes I still have to do laundry and this is my last clean shirt Caleb winced”
“Sorry I should have known you farm folk only carry one nice city shirt,” Kevin said releasing a hug
“Oh that's right this is my only nice shirt. I guess I will have to borrow your shirt when we clean out the manure. I wouldn't want anything of class to be unusable,” Caleb said as both of them laughed.
“How have you been” Caleb asked as Lisa and her friend jumped off the high dive plunging into the water. I'm good community college isn't much different from high school other than most of my classmates are bald and have lost a lot of hair. You will pass pretty straightforward as long as you do the school work.” As he talked they walked over to the other side of the bleachers where Kevin grabbed his towel and started dabbing vigorously. “What about you what's new with you” he said.
“Not much finished the first year got most of my generals done and survived working the night shift with a nine am class.”
“Have you been home to see your parents yet he asked finishing drying off and hanging the towel on the side of the bleacher.
Not yet Caleb said sheepishly turning to wave at Tyler as he finished laying out his books on the top of the bleacher. Tyler returned the wave and started walking down towards them. Tyler had always been book smart he was the only one in their grade who had finished his associate's degree in high school and was on the quick track toward medical school. He had wanted to be a doctor from the time he could talk.
“Don't worry about it I'm sure it will be fine” Kevin said moving over to the edge of the pool as both girls began climbing out.
“Hi,” Lisa Caleb said as she grabbed her towel. Hi she said in between drying herself off with the towel her friend was doing the same. Lisa had gone to high school with both Kevin and Caleb. Kevin had always been good friends with her but Caleb had always expected them to become more than friends. She was beautiful with her short blonde hair freckled nose and deep blue eyes. She was hilarious and down to earth. Even seeing her now Caleb felt a little nervous and a little more on edge paying closer attention to what he was doing. Her friend who had just finished drying off had slick brown hair, olive-rich skin, and almond-brown eyes. Caleb had never seen her before. Just as he was observing her features her eyes met his and he immediately retracted his gaze. A slight blush is visible on his cheeks.
“This is Cassandra,” Lisa said noticing their interaction. Hi, she said her soft angelic tone emerging from her as she wrapped the towel around her.
“We met at college and we became friends almost instantly. She is from Washington and didn't have anywhere to go for the summer being in the same major she decided to come to work with me at the local aminal shelter.”
“That’s pretty cool,” Caleb said immediately after wanting to facepalm “Seriously that’s pretty cool is the best you could come up with he thought. He had passed his English class with flying colors and still couldn't come up with any intellectual words. Lucky for him Kevin came to his rescue “How about we go play some tennis” he said. The next few hours were a lot of fun they had changed teams with one person having to sit out every match. Luckily the tennis court lights were still working their poles were very rusted and the glass was sun-scorched yellow. Caleb had never been super good at tennis but he was in good shape. Working on the farm and then hitting the gym at college had started to show some great improvements. With flicks of his wrist, he sent the ball soaring for its intended destination on most of the shots. The volleys were fairly evenly matched with only small mistakes scoring the points.
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Great match Kevin said giving Lisa a winner's high five. It had been a close game. Cassandra was decent at tennis but Kevin was ticky getting his shot to hit right on the edges with spin. It had gotten Caleb a few times and ended up costing them the game. “Good game,” Caleb said putting down his racket.
“Well let's head inside, I'm beat,” Kevin said as they all made their way back into the Rec center. They ended up setting up camp in the employee break room. The room still had a few chairs and couches in it. It also still had a mini microwave and a fridge but upon inspection had food that could have been older than everyone present. Everyone had brought their sleeping bag the three gentlemen took the floor while the girls set their sleeping bags on the couches.
“Is it true that the Rec center was built on the foundations of the old town from the eighteen hundreds sometime?” Lisa said as she slid into her sleeping bag.
“Yeah, actually they just dug into some of the old foundations in the basement when they were doing their inspection for the demolition job,” Kevin said.
I find it hard to believe that it would have survived when they built this rec center on top of it Tyler said disbelief in his voice. In the eighteen hundreds in this area, they were mostly constructed of wood and some brick. “Most of the bricks would have crumbled by this day and age due to environmental factors.”
Well, some of it is still standing if you would like to go take a look at it instead of reading about it, Kevin said. With that the five of them set off they went into the mechanical room inside the basement and then into the tunnels that ran below the Rec center. The building was heated by a boiler so various tunnels went all underneath the rec center to supply the heat. These tunnels were small only about four feet high with pipes and wires running throughout. They were also covered in a thin layer of dust and grime. Lisa screamed alerting everyone when she thought she saw a rat, which turned out to be just a giant piece of insulation. For her credit, it was really hard to see very far in the pitch dark we all only had our phone lights to go by.
Turning down another intersection in the tunnel Kevin shouted there it is. We all made our way over single file to Kevin as we saw a big hole in the concrete with a darker brick color. One of the bricks was missing reviling an opening. We took turns looking into the dark abyss there seemed to be some sort of cavity but was impossible to see how big it was.
I want to see Cassandra moving past Caleb and rubbing her body up against him. It was a good thing it was super dark his cheeks felt a surge of intense heat as he tried to calm his heart rate back down. “ you can't tell how big it is she said sounding astonished moving her phone flashlight around and trying to get a better angle on the opening. Just the words made Caleb's heart rate double as he worked on calming it back down.
“I wonder if we could knock another brick out,” Kevin said as he started to search the ground for something that might help. Should be possible the structural integrity must have degraded immensely with the moisture and heat these tunnels produce, Tyler said looking thoughtfully at the hole. Starring at it isn't going to make the brick magically fall out how about you help me find something Kevin said snapping Tyler out of his train of thought. Caleb searched the ground but didn't find anything nearby just dirt and random debris.
“This should be adequate,” Tyler said pulling up a rusty piece of pipe that had been discarded next to a patch job in the pipe. He handed it over to Kevin as he started to pry at the wall. They all took a step back except for Caleb who was holding his phone so Kevin could see while he pried. Just about there Kevin said exhaling with effort. “Come on come on come on” Kevin spouted off with a last pull of effort a large piece gave and the wall crumbled into the room the loud crash with a resulting dust wave assaulted our senses. As everyone started coughing vigorously.
Caleb could barely breathe as the taste of dirt filled his mouth with quick swipes of his hand he managed to fan some of the material away from his mouth.
“Who’s bright idea was this again” Lisa said still wheezing as she said it the dust started to settle and our lights penetrated the darkness. Looking back inside we saw a small square-shaped room. the same color bricks cover the entire box full of cracks cobwebs and grey mortar. In the middle of the room, a small object appeared to be on the ground.
“Is that what I think that is?” Kevin said shining his light onto the object. Taking a closer look Caleb could start to make out its features red hair small brown eyes with an old baby-style dress with white ruffles that had turned gray a long time ago. It was a porcelain doll with that realization every hair on Caleb's back stood up. The doll looked to be in decent condition with only dirt and cobwebs here and there.
“What in the Hell is that doing there” Cassandra said her face twisted with a look of confusion. Do you think someone could have slid the doll through the open book to mess with us? Lisa said. “Unlikely due to the circumference of the head and the material it is made of the head would have cracked and broken if anyone tried to force the doll in here. Also, the drop from the top of the wall was nearly three feet it would show signs of the drop.” Tyler said eyeing the doll.
“You know you're not that helpful sometimes. I’m pretty sure this is the part where the doll comes alive and murders us all in our sleep” Kevin said letting out a small chuckle. All of this gave Caleb a sinking feeling like something was quite right but he had watched a few too many horror movies about dolls.
“Don't joke about that!” Lisa glared at Kevin as she slowly backed away from the doll. “I was kidding, someone placed this here to give the construction workers a scare,” Kevin said moving closer to the doll. Don't you dare pick that thing up Cassandra said noticing Kevin getting closer. “I'm just getting a closer look nothing to worry about besides that doll looks gross.” I don't think anyone would have put that there for construction workers this building would have been demolished and bulldozed not likely anyone would have found it Tyler Chinmed in.
Kevin inched closer and closer to the doll bending over and proding the doll a few times. Small glass-like sounds screeched as porcine met stone. Caleb started to back up. He knew his friend too well and if there was one thing that Kevin couldn’t pass up it was a practical joke. In a blur of motion, Kevin grabbed the doll holding out towards the girls who immediately started screaming it's got a hold of me. Its demon eyes compel me. Both Girls screamed which in the small room hurt Caleb's ears followed by a blast of laughter from Kevin. Kevin's laughing stopped as he looked back at the doll his eyes filled with confusion. The head of the doll rotated a hundred and eighty degrees starting back at Kevin its small empty brown eyes meeting his gaze. He dropped the doll as a scream escaped his lips.
Everyone had seen the doll's head rotate by itself with his accompanying scream from Kevin, everyone back into the tunnel as the doll stood up. Caleb's eyes fixed on the doll in disbelief at what he had just seen. Looking over everyone stood frozen with a look of disbelief staring at the now-standing doll as its head rotated back around with a sicking crack to look at them. Smoke started billowing out of the doll's eyes. Both girls and Tyler bolted just as it exploded sending a dark smoke around them devouring all the light.
Caleb smacked his hand on the overhead pipe as he tried to move down the tunnel that they had just come from. His head throbbed with pain as someone bulldozered into him sending them both to the ground. The darkness was so absolute Caleb couldn't make out any details as he felt his way to the ground. The person who had run into him likewise was reaching feeling around. The smoke made it hard to breathe as Caleb managed to stammer out “Kevin is that you?”
“Yeah,” he said with a cough. Both men had gotten up to a crawling position. I saw the girls and Tyler run in this direction I think before the thing exploded Kevin said as they started to crawl in the direction. Caleb stood right on the heels of Kevin as they slowly started to crawl down the tunnel. The darkness was still all consuming and the cold dirty concrete below Caleb's hands started to cut his hands. His head and hands were pounding when they caught the first glimpse of light. Far off coughing hit Caleb's ears as they drew closer to the light. Reaching the end of the tunnel a hand dropped down to help Kevin out. Kevin in turn reached down to help me out. It was Tyler and both the girls were covered in dust lisa had a minor cut right below her right eye on the cheek. Cassandra looked to be okay with just dirt plastered in her hair. Did you guys slip hallucinogens into my water because this is seriously messed up? Tyler said everyone turning to look at him.
“No, I have no idea but we need to get out of here now!” Kevin said in between catching his breath. Agreed Caleb said as everyone moved towards the door. The mechanical room was connected to the pool room which didn't have any exits. Tyler swung the door open and they all froze. The words First Trail were written in brilliant green flames on the opposite wall right about the door.
The flames danced with small movements underneath the wall was blackened. What the? It was the only thing someone managed to get out as an oily black shadow came out of the flames. Traveling around the walls of the pool area. The shadow started growing on both walls and formed a thick wall as several points on both sides started to form. They watched in disbelief as two new spiked walls on both sides of the pool area took form. The wall covered the total area of both of the walls. The same shadow went through the ground as both bleachers started to sink through the floor little by little until they were gone. The pool condensed to a small square in the middle of the room as two large black lines appeared going across the room. Caleb couldn't watch in outer disbelief his heart pounding as he couldn't take his eyes off the shifting room as space warped around him. The others stood doing the same until the green flames rearranged.