Into The Night 5.9.16

Life's a mystery. 4/52 5.9.16

            It was cold that night. Yeah, I clearly recall that. The park was quiet, which, now that I think back seems odd, but that was the case. The moon, full in the sky, shined so bright that the street lights only added to the ambiance of this dark, but captivating feeling that permeated throughout the city. Yeah… It was that kind of night.

            I had just finished building a large audio recording device that takes hi-res sound and stores it on tape reels. I managed to scale it down to backpack size, and therefore I carried it on my back, although it was pretty heavy. Anyway, I was wandering around McCall’s Park, you know the one under the bridge; of course you do. So, I set up my recorder and plugged in the microphone and a pair of headphones, and then I had a look around.

            It was late, around 2 a.m. I think. The roads were fairly quiet, except for the occasional car that drove over the bridge. Each time the rumbling noise from the grates would echo above me. The noise only added to the feel of where I was.

This was my purpose for coming in the first place.

            The deeper I trekked, the more the place came alive. I began to hear things that normally I would have missed. The sounds of wind passing over the tall blades of grass, the air whistling through the crevasses of a pile of demolished bricks long forgotten. This world was foreign to me, and like a sightseer, I tried to take in everything.

            Eventually I ended up in the back of the park next to a large dilapidated drainage pipe that ran as far back as my eyes could see. I pulled out a flashlight that was clipped to my shirt pocket and shined it inside. Its dark nature gave way to the brightness that was forced upon it, so I stepped inside.

            A small trickle flowed past me as I continued on. My footsteps echoed as they interrupted the water’s escape to the outside world. A few bats hung from the top, and as I approached them they seemed agitated at the prospect of me invading their space. They too gave way to the light that accompanied me and flew toward the exit, disappearing into the night. I wasn’t about to let a few bats interrupt my exploration. As a matter of fact, this only made me want to continue deeper into the tunnels.

            I say tunnels because when I finally reached the end, the concrete tubes split off into several directions. I became concerned that I might lose my way, so I took a marker that I carried in my pocket and put an X on the wall. This, I figured, would be enough. I chose the left side and walked. The faint smell of musty air hit me, but it wasn’t overpowering. I figured the tunnels must lead to some old sewage drains somewhere. Either way I kept to my left and continued on.

I had entered into an opening that was the size of a large room. Piles of bones lined the sides about half way up. At first sight I wanted to run back the way I came, but after a few deep breaths I got a handle on my thoughts and looked around. The room led to more tunnels and I could see those too were also occupied by these remnants. One might rationalize that many creatures probably lived in the tunnels at one time or another, and that I had no business being there. I was positive they were right, but at that moment, because of my intent I didn’t turn back.

The ambient noise was amazing, and the farther I went in the louder and more mysterious it became. These tunnels seemed to have a life of their own. Creaks, drips and drops, shifting sounds as the temperatures changed. My wonder was interrupted by something I had noticed on the wall. “Oh my gosh, is that blood?” I said aloud.

At first I wouldn’t have considered it to be blood, only the leftover sludge that adhered to the walls over time, except for the fact that I smelled it. I don’t know what I was thinking, or even why I did it, but I did. The blackish red stains still smelled of that faint copper scent that blood has. My heart was racing and felt like it was trying to beat out of my chest.

            I started to hear a faint noise; a pitter-patter I though, but I couldn’t tell the direction. I shined the light behind me took a step back. The sound though didn’t cease, it echoed throughout the concrete tubes and found its way to me. “Hello,” I said, “Is anyone there?” My voice quivered under the anxiety. “Hello,” I said again. The echo of my voice startled me. I turned around and started walking back the way I came. The whole time I cursed myself for being brave in the beginning, but now I was worried I’d gone too far.

            I made it back to the room, but when I entered I slipped and fell to the ground, dropping my flashlight in the process. It tumbled across the floor and the beam twirled across the walls. It partly shined in the opening I had just came from, but not having it in my hand caused a terrible feeling of anticipation. I stood up and quickly looked around, checking all the directions around me. The flashlight, still pointing at the opening, revealed a shadow that bounced around. It was my own. “Get a grip,” I said under my breath. Just as I started to calm myself down I saw it. Its yellow eyes glowing like a cat’s faced by car lights on a drive home. For a second I blinked, trying to understand what I had just saw, or even to make sure it was real.

The eyes got brighter and now I could tell that the creature was walking toward me. Its almost silent steps still registered in my headphones. I backed up slowly with my hands out in front of me. “I won’t come back… I just want out of here.” The creature continued forward. Running on instinct I quickly backed up, and then accidentally stepped on my flashlight. Out of nowhere I was flung to the ground face first. My brain tried to comprehend what was happening and I, I was pinned down by the heavy equipment strapped to my back.

I came to after a few seconds and scrambled for the light, clenching with an iron grip. I swung around and shined it in the direction of the beast. Bright yellow-green eyes stared back at me, and with its mouth gaped, greeted me with teeth. With mere inches between us I panicked and scooted back, loosing balance and landing flat, the backpack under me. A second later the creature was standing over me, face to face.

I held my breath, letting only a whimper escape. I could feel its powerful muscles against my ribs, its hind legs rubbing mine. The creature growled a low rumbling tone and pulled back slightly. I could just barely make out the jet-black fur and a tail that sat still on its hindquarters. The flashlight in my right hand shook violently, creating a dancing silhouette that I watched. I was about to die and my first thought; I was still recording. The creature let out a growl and I closed my eyes. It felt like eternity, my eyes closed, waiting for whatever was going to happen next. My ears rang from the silence.

           

 

 

“Mister… Mister?”

At first, I didn’t know what to think. I heard a voice. I heard a young, sweet voice calling for me, breaking the ringing silence. “Mister,” I heard again.  I partially opened my eyes, expecting the worst. There was no worse. There was only a little girl standing there in front of me, her bright red dress cutting through the darkness.

            “Hey, what are you doing here?” I flashed my light around to see if the place was clear. By the time the light came back to the spot where the girl stood she was gone. I shined the light around in a wider circle, trying to catch glimpse of that red dress I had just saw.

            “Come,” the girls voice rang out. I rose to my feet and checked the area again. “Where are you?” I yelled. I still couldn’t see her, so I followed her voice. Every step led me further out of this maze of concrete and soon I was outside, back to the moonlight I remembered.

            I turned around and removed my backpack. The tape was still rolling, but was very close to empty, so I stopped it. “Little girl, where’d you go?” I looked around for a bit, but I’ll be damned if I couldn’t find her. After all was said and done, she had led me out of there and the only thing I could do was to go home and hope she was ok.

Author's Note

This is the fourth short story and I hope you enjoy. Rate and review if you can.

Reviews

[SparkelStarz]

hi, cool story, pls look at my short story collection. thanks