Amoment after the hatch stops moving, I see a head appear with shaggy, unkempt hair followed by a human’s pockmarked face, wearing glasses. The man continues to climb out of the hole with a huff. Once he’s standing on the ground next to the hatch, he reaches a hand into his pocket and pulls out what looks like a keycard. He then bends down and waves the card over the ground next to the opening, then immediately turns around and walks off the way his scent trail suggests he originally came. At the same time the hatch begins to close and I hear the same sounds occurring in reverse that I had heard when it opened.
Well… it appears I may have some problems satisfying my curiosity as to what lies below the hatch. I guess it was too much to hope he would just walk away and leave the darn thing open for anyone lurking around to find. I absolutely NEED to see that Star Trek spaceship.
I watch as he brings his hand back up with the keycard and slides it back in his jacket pocket. A few steps later, I hear a curse, “Fucking hell,” and watch as he trips over his untied shoelace.I bet he just got a dose of Karma.He bends over to tie his shoe, mumbling about leaving his phone in the truck, and I catch a few words about how he hates the location. As he stands back up I see an object quietly fall from his pocket…Ooo, are the Fates rewarding me?He doesn’t seem to notice and continues on. A smile spreads across my face as I watch him disappear into the darkness.
Finally, when I can no longer hear him, I get up and pad over to see what he dropped. Once I get closer, I can tell it’s the keycard he had placed in his jacket pocket. SCORE! Star Trek ship, here I come!
As much as I would like to stay in wolf form, I know my human form is needed to explore the depths below the hatch. I take a deep breath and shift. Within a moment, I’m buck naked with just a pouch strung around my neck, crouched down on my hands and knees. I immediately take the pouch string from over my neck and pull it open.
There aren’t many of these in existence anymore. I assume the witches spelled them centuries ago, but over time somehow lost the ability or maybe the actual spell. Once you get your hands on one of these babies, you better believe we aren’t letting it out of our grasp. I reach my hand inside and feel around, searching for a specific stitching pattern. Once I detect the pattern of several X’s, I open the pocket and pull out a tied up bundle of clothes, then I grab a pair of shoes from the pocket next to it. That’s right, I own a bag that rivals Hermione Granger’s! It's one of the best things I’ve ever acquired. If only I could remember where I got it. The memory is right at the edge of my mind, I just can’t grasp it.
I quickly pull on my jeans, t-shirt, and socks before slipping into my tennis shoes and tying them up. I grab my pouch and slip its string back over my head and wear it like a necklace, then snatch the keycard from the ground where I had placed it.
Taking a moment, I search as far as I can in every direction, just in case I can spot one of the guys. I have no idea when they’ll show up at the park, or if they’ll even end up here specifically. While I would greatly appreciate some backup on this exploration, I also don’t want to miss my opportunity by waiting for them. With my mind made up, I make my way toward the bush covering the hatch.
Before waving the keycard over the area where I saw the mystery man swipe it, I scan the ground. Everything is so well hidden. The bush sits over the hatch just right, to where, if you didn’t know it was there you wouldn’t be able to see any hint of its existence. I bend down to inspect the space more closely and reach down to brush the dirt away. I’m able to sweep away some of the dirt but most of it won’t budge. I’m willing to bet this is manufactured camouflage and the sand I was able to move is only there because the wind has blown it into place.
There’s a buffer around the hatch of a couple of inches, and beyond that, there’s a vine-like plant growing all over the place like a weed trying to take over the ground. The leaves almost resemble a holly leaf, but each of the five points comes to a dark blood-red tip that appears vicious. It has maroon flowers each with six petals that have scalloped edges that come to another sharp point. The odd part is the petal looks like it has a sharp border… there’s a lethal beauty to it.
Finding nothing of note, I grab the keycard and wave it over the spot where I hope the sensor is. I hold my breath, praying to the Fates there aren’t any other security safeguards to override in order to release the opening. I hear various sounds of twisting, clicks, pops, and grinding just like before, and suddenly I’m gazing down into a dark hole with a metal ladder affixed to the side.
Welp… here goes nothing. I slide the keycard into my back pocket before dropping my legs down into the hole. The toe of my shoe finds one of the ladder’s rungs, and after getting a good foothold, I climb down. I’m careful to keep a focus on my hearing so nothing can sneak up on me. The man’s scent is the only one I can pick up in the field above. That being said, I don't know if there’s anyone else down here who hasn’t left recently.
As I’m climbing down, there are tiny lights that illuminate each step I put my foot on, highlighting my path as I make my way down. All the lights I’ve already passed stay on, which helps banish more and more of the darkness as I descend.
It’s a good thing I’m not claustrophobic because I feel like I’m being stuffed into a sausage casing as I’m going down this ladder. Ok, maybe I am a little claustrophobic… but in my defense, I’m closely surrounded on all sides climbing down what is basically a tube.
I reach the bottom and hear a soft crunch when I step down. There’s dirt on the ground that must have fallen in when the hatch opens and closes. My arms prickle with goosebumps, there’s a chill down here that proves just how far underground I’ve traveled.
Peering up, I realize the hatch is still open and hasn’t automatically closed on me. I assume there must be some way to open and close it down here. If I leave it open, it can only aid me in a speedy escape, should I need to make one. On the other hand, it may be a better idea to close it. There’s no knowing if the mystery man will come back searching for his keycard and find the cover open with me down here. I carefully scan the walls to see if I can find a switch of some kind, a button, or even another sensor where I would need to wave the keycard. I make a full turn inspecting everything around me, taking in every detail of my surroundings before making any moves. The only other thing in the shaft is located across from the ladder.
I make a half turn this time, so the ladder is now at my back. Right before me is a dark grey metal door with two black square pads affixed to the wall slightly higher than where a doorknob would be, if this door had such a convenience.Here’s to hoping this keycard continues to be a good luck charm!I pull the keycard from my back pocket and make a waving motion with it over the black square on the right.
I hear the inner mechanisms inside the door begin to move and after some sliding of metal rubbing against metal, the door pops open and swings outward away from me. Ahead lies a cement hallway with walls that are painted a stark white. I don’t hear any sounds of movement. In fact, the only sound I hear is the light buzz of electricity, and the quiet hum of a fan running. Convinced I’m alone, I decide it’s safe to quietly move down the hallway to see what I can find.
I wave the keycard over the black square on the left. The gears in the hatch make that grinding sound again, and it slowly moves until I hear the locks slide into place. With no outward sign that I’m down here and no way for the mystery man to get back in, I continue down the hallway.Man, I hope he doesn’t have a spare keycard somewhere close by… that would be stupid though, right? Who keeps a spare top-secret keycard hidden in the middle of nowhere?
Just closing the main opening should be enough to stop me from being discovered, so I leave the door to the shaft open. If there is someone down here, I would be more comfortable knowing I can quickly shut a door between myself and whoever that person may be.Please don’t let it be a Romulan.
What am I doing? All jokes of a spaceship aside, this is kinda crazy… this could be some kind of trap to lure me in.I’m at war with myself. I know I’m not making the wisest decisions, but at the same time my soul is screaming at me with a sudden urgency to figure out what is down here. It’s like my indecision has caused a visceral reaction in my body.
There’s a pull in my chest, propelling me forward and further down the hallway. As soon as I pass through the doorway, the overhead lights flicker on. Glancing back, I spot a motion detector on the light switch explaining why. The lights reflect off of the stark white walls, blinding me for a moment after having been just fine seeing in the dimness.
Blinking my eyes to get used to all the lights, I creep toward the door at the end, which mirrors the one I just came through. After repeating the same movements as I did at the last entry, I push this one open.I swear if I see another hallway with the same door, I’m giving up and turning around.My eyes widen as they dart around the room. Well, shit… this sure wasn’t what I was expecting at all. I expected to see more of the harsh cement walls, like the hallway I just came from. Instead, I’m standing in a large room with vaulted ceilings.
On my right is a full kitchen with high-end stainless steel appliances. There’s also an eating nook with four chairs situated around an oval table. The coffee maker sits on one of the marble countertops, and there’s steam rising from the half-empty pot. Then I spot the mug sitting on the island, also displaying steam wafting off the liquid’s surface. That doesn’t bode well for me. Either the mystery man made himself some coffee before leaving, or he plans on coming back shortly. I’m willing to bet it’s the latter.Hurry up, Alex, you don’t want to get caught down here. More like you don’t want a fight as soon as you exit the hatch.
Off to my left is a living room with two huge brown leather couches, a coffee table, and a giant TV mounted to the back wall with an entertainment center set up underneath it. The floors are a medium brown wood and the walls are painted a light blue. The fan hanging from the ceiling has blades in the shape of leaves, giving the room a tropical vibe. This place resembles one of those doomsday bunkers where the owner wants an illusion of it being a vacation. I bet once I go throughyet another door,I'll find some bedrooms.
I know I said no more doors, but this one isn’t at the end of a stark white hallway. It also has a doorknob and no scanner next to it. I move toward it to continue my investigation. There’s that tug again, but stronger, as if I'm being dragged forward by a rope. Sure, I may have never felt something like this, but I’m not one to ignore my instincts.
I sigh after opening the door, why am I not surprised it leads to another hallway? I continue to follow the sensation in my chest and skip two doors on the left and one on the right before coming to a stop in front of the third door on the left.
I twist the doorknob and immediately enter the room, checking my surroundings. Observing the room, I notice three desks, two of which have very little on top. The third desk has several file folders haphazardly spread out over it. Each desk has two computer monitors on top of them and there's a large printer in the back left corner. The back right corner has several black file cabinets, and between the two, there'sanotherdoor, but with a card scanner.There must be something important in there.
Before continuing, I take a moment to check out the desk with all the files. I sit down on the surprisingly comfortable rolling chair and reach for the closest file. I flip it open and see it’s a file on some Test Subject One. There’s a bunch of medical information on the sheet, along with several blank spaces.
Flipping through the pages, I see it’s the test subject’s medical chart. Some pages with detailed information about her blood, some on her DNA sequencing, and some on her heritage and history. I assume it’s all relatively boring information until I take a closer look. It would’ve been boring if the information printed was actually medical jargon. But that’s not the case.Look at me jumping to conclusions before taking in all the details.Next to each of the topics is a list of several attempts on how they tried to get the information and how they failed.
