Day: 01
The Briefing
It's been the first day of Kent and I's investigation. We were hired by the town of Chao to look into the missing children. Six kidnappings in the last three months. They town blamed the local legend, but officials just swiped it under the rug. My team was commissioned to investigate the local legend, and to search for the missing children. The town is on the outskirts of a forested mountain. Mount Zenforth was neither big or small, but it's fame came to the rare species which live on it's threshold. Three animals and four plants that are unique only to this mountain. I glanced out the window of our land cruiser, admiring the mountain top. It's peak was basted in the rural colours of autumn. The sky seemed to share this beautiful scheme and looked as if reflecting the leaves.
I spotted a black dot contrasting against the goldenrod leaves. A large oak blocked the view for a second and we bent around a turn. As we turned back around the winding mountain road, I gave myself a quick glance to the area that spot was. Nothing but the beautiful scenery in sight. What could that have been? I know I've been sleep deprived, but... My thoughts trailed off as I was interrupted by my tech specialist.
"Yo, Noah man, mind telling me why you brought us to a city in the middle of Ohio?" Will asked curiously. I smiled and turned back to face the rest of my crew. Amy was snoozing still, her brunette pigtails askew from the angle of her head. Laura nudged her side. Amy slowly swooned to consciousness, she rubbed her eyes and looked at the dark haired woman. Laura's violet eyes gleamed maroon in the yellow lighting, dark features contrasting with her pale skin. Will's dirty blonde hair was styled in the usual faux hawk he wore with pride. "Well?" He added, peeved I ignored his first attempt.
Kent smiled as he gave the answer, "We're here to see if the legend is true of course!" I grimaced. I take back what I said earlier. Mount Zenforth was famous for two things. The rare species of animals and plants that thrived only on it, an a much more gruesome tale. The mountain has a mythology that has been carried with it since the beginning of man kind. The Shadowed Man, a creature known for stealing children. Raping it's victims, no care for sex or age. Then it's massacres them, shredding them to pieces. Any trace of them is unlikely, and when there is one, a shoe or finger is the biggest they have ever found.
I looked back to my crew. This could be one of the most dangerous cases we've ever been on. That is of course if the legend was true, and most of the time, they never were. I laughed a bit, nervously, at Kent's answer to Will and looked the whole crew in the eyes.
"Listen guys, we'll be in the town of Chao in about half a hour. We're to investigate the local legend of the Shadowed Man, a creature known for kidnapping children, rapping people, and killing them. At noon tomorrow we will be heading into the forest for a five day investigation. At that time, we will head back to the town, resupply and rest for a day, and return for another five days. We must be careful. People have said to see children running in the forest, but when they turn around, they will appear horribly maimed," I gulped and quickly glanced at all expressions before continuing, "Beyond those paranormal attributes, we have the Shadowed Man." At this Kent swerved sharply and nearly drove off the thousand seven hundred foot drop. He braked and we came to a halt.
I switched my attention to the front of the car as we swerved and looked in horror as we nearly hit the side rails. After feeling safe to move, I looked back at my friends. Will look like he about had a heart attack, Amy was glued onto Laura's left arm, and Laura herself look stuck between levels of anger and shock. "What the hell was that for!" She managed to sputter out, the confusion in emotion evident in her words. I looked at Kent, who's appearance faded from the nice usually tan self to a snow white colour. "I-I saw something jump out in the road." Kent stuttered.
Kent stuttered when ever nervous, scared, or in shock. I smiled and offered to take the wheel for a while. He didn't complain at all, nearly jumping out of the drivers seat. We headed down the road as I continued to tell the others of our investigation.
"As I was saying, most of our attention will be on the Shadowed Man. He is said to been in all black, but what he wears has changes throughout the generations. He has pale skin that is, dare I say, vampire white," The others snickered as I continued on, "He has no real face they say, but appears to have skin over where it should be. His height ranges from around two to three meters. He is very skinny, giving him a malnourished look. Due to his appearance, he has also been named the Dark Angel, Slenderman, and even Satan himself. One last detail that I still can't wrap my head around is this; the Shadowed Man is said to have tentacle like appendages that are black as well. Some records say he uses them as arms and such, but older legends say otherwise. Those say he uses them to wrap around his victims, or use them as a net as dark as the night."
I coughed some, moistening my throat, waiting for any input. I returned to my speal, "They say these appendages are actually used to trap his victims and pull them closer to him. When victims get close to the Shadowed Man, he will shoot these appendages around them, forming a cage that gets smaller and smaller. Forcing his victims to submit defeat or be pushed closer to him till he can literally grab you. One thing they never really explained is how he hides these appendages. They say he has control whether he uses these or not, you can't just make tentacle arms disappear right?" I laughed some.
The Town of Chao
I stepped out of our Land Cruiser, and surveyed the town. We were in front of Town Hall, next to the one and only school. It had four, large for this town, buildings. I guess they separated grades by threes still. This town's only economy comes from federal funds for the mountain. A shame really, it was a quaint looking town. It had an old, rustic, mountain village feel. Maybe ten roads in this mountain side town.
We left our vehicle an entered Town Hall. I guess it was also a town museum, it had a visitor's center with a ticket booth near one entrance. Kent and I kept note of that and went to the front desk.
"Hi," A blonde behind the desk said, smiling, "How can I help you today?" Kent smiled as he explained how we had an appointment with the Mayor. The blonde got up and showed us where to wait for the Mayor. Her cheery exterior made me hope that all the town's folk were like that, eager to help and polite to strangers. Three men left the office, grumbling.
"What are we supposed to do now, boys?" One with scruffy scarlet sideburns said to his companions, "With the school closed, how are we gonna fend for our families, our kids!" The other two men had dark hair and sideburns as well. One with a blue and white trucker's hat responded to his friend with a grave tone. "Won't be any families left if we don't do anything about Him." His friends nodded in agreement. They left the office without another thought, or so it seemed.
The Mayor looked at and smiled at us. "You must be Padauk and Willows Investigation." His grin quickly faded as he ushered us into the office. "Welcome to Chao," He said grimly, "The town plagued by a demon." We all looked at each other with questioning eyes. The Mayor sighed and sat in his chair. "I am sorry I asked you to investigate this," The Mayor trailed off before continuing, "We were recommend to you for this case, but even now I wonder if it will be too much."
"We can handle anything!" I looked to my side to see Amy whose face showed pride, "We've dealt with cases like this before." She smiled and the Mayor looked at us perplexed, but also relieved. The Mayor smiled again, this time it seemed much more real. "Well, you will have a room at the lodge right at the edge of the city while you investigate the mountain." He handed us directions to the inn, as well as a map of the city with all the stores laid out on it.
We got to the lodge right as dusk broke the Sunday sunset. We got our room and brought all our gear inside. No way were we leaving that in the cruiser. Sure, it had reinforced glass and steel frames, but this equipment cost a lot, from Kent and I's pockets. The gas guzzler is what we slept in while we weren't investigating. Even then, can't blame us for being paranoid. We left the inn to get some grub, ending us up at a small grill-n-bar. As we tucked in for the night, I thought about the case we've agreed to do. Where will this lead us? I drifted into a restless sleep, filled with imagery of a tall, slender, man who was chasing the team. Hunting us down, one by one.
We all looked over to see a giant ⊗. I ran over to the wall, overseeing the mysterious symbol. It seemed to be written of some kind of paint. “Did any of you do this?” I looked at my crew. They had no idea what this was, I made sure. I wanted to see if it would happen. I didn’t expect to see one so soon though, the others shook their heads. We all looked at Kent, dozing still. Will went to the bathroom as I mumbled to myself. He came out with a cup of water, and dropped it on Kent. He woke up in a start, he hated the cold.
"Kent, I need you to be honest, since you're the only other one who knows what that is," I pointed at the wall next to him, "Did you have the nerve to put this there?" He looked over, and became very pale."What is it?" Amy squeaked. I looked the others right in the eye, "Something Kent and I have been investigating for a long time. Didn't you ever wonder why the rest of the old team left?" Will and Laura nodded, Amy just stayed blank. She was the only member still with us, after the breaking point in our investigation two years ago.
We left our vehicle an entered Town Hall. I guess it was also a town museum, it had a visitor's center with a ticket booth near one entrance. Kent and I kept note of that and went to the front desk.
"Hi," A blonde behind the desk said, smiling, "How can I help you today?" Kent smiled as he explained how we had an appointment with the Mayor. The blonde got up and showed us where to wait for the Mayor. Her cheery exterior made me hope that all the town's folk were like that, eager to help and polite to strangers. Three men left the office, grumbling.
"What are we supposed to do now, boys?" One with scruffy scarlet sideburns said to his companions, "With the school closed, how are we gonna fend for our families, our kids!" The other two men had dark hair and sideburns as well. One with a blue and white trucker's hat responded to his friend with a grave tone. "Won't be any families left if we don't do anything about Him." His friends nodded in agreement. They left the office without another thought, or so it seemed.
The Mayor looked at and smiled at us. "You must be Padauk and Willows Investigation." His grin quickly faded as he ushered us into the office. "Welcome to Chao," He said grimly, "The town plagued by a demon." We all looked at each other with questioning eyes. The Mayor sighed and sat in his chair. "I am sorry I asked you to investigate this," The Mayor trailed off before continuing, "We were recommend to you for this case, but even now I wonder if it will be too much."
"We can handle anything!" I looked to my side to see Amy whose face showed pride, "We've dealt with cases like this before." She smiled and the Mayor looked at us perplexed, but also relieved. The Mayor smiled again, this time it seemed much more real. "Well, you will have a room at the lodge right at the edge of the city while you investigate the mountain." He handed us directions to the inn, as well as a map of the city with all the stores laid out on it.
We got to the lodge right as dusk broke the Sunday sunset. We got our room and brought all our gear inside. No way were we leaving that in the cruiser. Sure, it had reinforced glass and steel frames, but this equipment cost a lot, from Kent and I's pockets. The gas guzzler is what we slept in while we weren't investigating. Even then, can't blame us for being paranoid. We left the inn to get some grub, ending us up at a small grill-n-bar. As we tucked in for the night, I thought about the case we've agreed to do. Where will this lead us? I drifted into a restless sleep, filled with imagery of a tall, slender, man who was chasing the team. Hunting us down, one by one.
Day: 02
A Symb⊗l
I awoke to hear one of the girls screaming. I jumped up and looked around. Will was in his bed, looking around in shock, Laura was looking at Amy, who was screaming. Kent managed to still be sleeping, but he could be stabbed ten times and wouldn’t wake up. Amy finally calmed down when Laura and Will started to sooth her. I got out of my sleeping bag and walked over to here. “What in god’s name was that for?” She had tears still running down her petite face, I felt bad. “Oh, Amy, come on. I’m certain whatever it was, was a nightmare.” She just shook her head and pointed to the wall nearest to Kent. We all looked over to see a giant ⊗. I ran over to the wall, overseeing the mysterious symbol. It seemed to be written of some kind of paint. “Did any of you do this?” I looked at my crew. They had no idea what this was, I made sure. I wanted to see if it would happen. I didn’t expect to see one so soon though, the others shook their heads. We all looked at Kent, dozing still. Will went to the bathroom as I mumbled to myself. He came out with a cup of water, and dropped it on Kent. He woke up in a start, he hated the cold.
"Kent, I need you to be honest, since you're the only other one who knows what that is," I pointed at the wall next to him, "Did you have the nerve to put this there?" He looked over, and became very pale."What is it?" Amy squeaked. I looked the others right in the eye, "Something Kent and I have been investigating for a long time. Didn't you ever wonder why the rest of the old team left?" Will and Laura nodded, Amy just stayed blank. She was the only member still with us, after the breaking point in our investigation two years ago.
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