Chapter 15: Chapter 15

most beautiful dress. Her eyes sparkled like the diamonds on her wedding band. Her smile—pure with joy—brought to life millions of butterflies in my chest and stomach. She stood on the edge of the waterfront, next to me, as the photographer snapped the next photo.

The shimmering lake behind us, the afternoon sun bright in the sky, and the paddle-boarder way out in the distance that we didn’t see at first, but relentlessly joked about after—it was my favorite picture from our big day. A week later we found out that there were two other souls in that photo, hidden behind the bouquet of roses that Macie held in front of her stomach.

I opened my eyes and the happy memories—an unfortunate dream—vanished in a flash.

I was somewhere so dark that I couldn’t see my own hand when I tried to raise it up in front of my face. It was hot, like a sauna, and my throat was dry and scratchy. My breathing rattled my chest, and all I could think of was how just the tiniest sip of water would feel like heaven.

My breathing picked up; I felt like I could hear it echoing in whatever room—or place—I was in. There was a soft drip coming from somewhere, which also echoed.

The whole of the ambiance reminded me of a cave. The air was muggy, damp. The drip relaxed me a bit, knowing there was water somewhere nearby. I was on my rear, so I climbed to my feet. Putting my hands against the ground, my assumption of being in a cave of some kind only gained traction. The ground was hard like stone, surprisingly cool—unlike the rest of the environment—and covered in a soft, fuzzy glaze. Moss, perhaps.

A small glimmer of light caught my eye as I stood up, but disappeared just as quickly. I wasn’t able to see where it came from, and I wasn’t able to tell if it was a natural light, or something purposeful.

“Hello?” I called out flatly. My voice echoed through the cave-like structure, eventually disappearing from existence. My call didn’t receive an answer. It was met with absolutely nothing; only the warmth in the air, and the constant, teasing drip nearby.

I didn’t remember how I got here, wherever I was. I just remembered…

I just remembered Kevin, and what happened to him. I felt a shock in my body before everything went dark. I was missing time, but I didn’t know how much time. I didn’t hear the birds or a rustling of the trees and bushes in the wind—not anymore. I knew I had been taken from Timber Acres. But was the concerning question that swelled with anxiety in my mind.

“Hello?” I called again, a little louder, irritating the dryness in my throat to the point of a coughing fit. I tried to clear my throat afterwards and then waited to hopefully hear a response.

To my left, another light quickly flashed. It was green, I was almost certain of it. But before I could turn my head completely to face it, it was gone.

“Who is that?” I called out. I took a couple steps in the direction of where the light was, but stopped when I remembered that I didn’t know what my surroundings were like. I could have stepped off a ledge for all I knew.

“

,” a voice slipped through the air, chilling me with its unexpectedness. I froze in place, looking around with my eyes, only seeing blackness.

“They’ll hear you,” the voice whispered. Even though it was only a whisper, I could tell it was a man, and he wasn’t too far away from me.

“Where are you?” I whispered back, slightly louder than he.

There was silence for a moment, and then the man whispered again. “I don’t know where they took us. I don’t know where we are right now. I just know that the last person that was too loud, was eaten.”

Another chill.

“And it didn’t sound pretty,” he added. “I’m trying to spare you that same fate.”

I tried to swallow, but my throat felt like sandpaper. “It’s so hot in here,” I said to the man. He didn’t respond. “My name is Ben. I was camping with my family at the Timber Acres Camp Resort.”

“Let me guess,” the whispering man began, “they’re all gone and now it’s just you.”

By that, I knew the man had suffered a similar fate with people he cared for as well. I nodded, catching myself in the middle of remembering that he couldn’t see me.

“Yes,” I said.

The man took a moment to respond. “Same here. That’s what they do. They single out one from a group to take.”

“To take for what?”

I heard the man take a deep breath and wheeze it out through his nose. “I don’t know. The last person—the woman who was eaten—was the last of her clan too.”

My mind began to flicker through different scenarios.

“Where are we?” I asked a little louder, my voice teasing a frustration with the constant whispering.

“I already said I don’t know. I know as much as you do. You were trapped down there, right? Some sort of invisible wall kept you and your family in?”

I nodded again. “Yeah. They used the radio waves and frequencies from our electronics to create some sort of barrier.”

The man went quiet, and then chuckled. “They’re smart,” he whispered back. “I didn’t even realize that’s what they had done. I guess you might know than I do.”

Another quick flash of light next to me made me snap my head and focus. I could still see the remnants of light fading into blackness, but still couldn’t figure out where it had come from, or what it even was. These lights were gone just as quick as a bulb on an old flash camera.

Something the man said suddenly hit me. “What did you mean, ‘down there’?”

He went silent again.

“You asked if we were trapped ‘down there’,” I clarified. “What did you mean by that?”

“I don’t think …” the man began, but trailed off. Silence again, before he continued. “I don’t think we’re on Earth anymore…”

I felt the breath leave my body. “What do you mean?” I asked loudly, frustrated by everything — the whispering, the confusion, our unknown whereabouts; the that had consumed my family.

“

!” the man snapped with a hiss. “They’re to hear you!”

Part of me didn’t even care. That part wanted them to hear me, wanted to move whatever along. I wanted answers.

My breathing picked up and I started to move. I took a step in one direction, and then stopped to step in another. They were careful steps at first; I felt the ground with the tip of my boot before I took each one. Not knowing where I was, or what was around me, was disorientating and trippy. My mind began to create surroundings, even though I knew they weren’t right.

I felt my heart racing. Each breath was deeper and louder than the last. I heard the man shushing me again, but I ignored him. I needed to get out of here. I needed water, I needed light. I to get home to my family. This wasn’t where I was supposed to be. None of this was supposed to be happening.

“Help!” I shouted.

The man shushed me again.

“Help!” I screamed louder. My voice echoed through the darkness that commanded the scene.

There was another flash of light from one side. I spun to face it, but then caught a second flash from my other side.

“Where are you!?” I angrily shouted. “Where am I!?”

I spun in circles, hoping to catch one of the flashes in action; hoping to get just enough of a glimpse as to where to go to confront it, or who was behind it. That light was a menace, a tease of something that I desperately wanted to see. In darkness, light is desired.

I coughed dryly, cleared my throat until I tasted blood. I felt hot. Sweat poured from me. I needed water, and I was getting desperate. That tempting , coming from somewhere close, was calling me.

“Help me!” I called out again. The other man in the vicinity had stopped shushing me, stopped telling me to be quiet. He was trying to protect himself now, from whatever he claimed happened to the woman that made too much noise.

But my mind was too manic for reason or logic. My heart raced like it had been pumped full of adrenaline. Every inhale, every exhale—I received nothing but pain in return. I wanted to cry, but tears wouldn’t form, they . I took a step, and then another. I felt like running, but I didn’t know which way.

“Are you still there?” I called out to the man. He didn’t answer. I took another few steps and then stopped. “Talk to me. Please!”

I heard noises; wet and squelchy. Something large and damp was shuffling around in the dark. Sticky sounds accompanied it, like tar snapping under heavy footsteps.

“Is that you?” I called out to the unseen man.

No response.

“Answer me, dammit!” I screamed. “Where am I? Why am I here!?”

The wet noises continued, growing louder and closer.

“

!?

!?”

I took another step.

.

My eyes widened; I had stepped in something. My boot sunk into it like it was mud, only thinner—like slush.

, I thought.

My desperation reigned. I dropped to my knees and dipped my hands down into the soft, wetness beneath my boots. It was cold at first, but then stung like a thousand angry hornets. I screamed in pain, shooting back up to my feet. All the feeling in my hands was lost; the assault of pain climbed my forearms. A strong, stomach-churning odor invaded my senses, and my thoughts went straight to the invasive terror that stalked our camp—I had put my hands directly into the same slimy grot that ended up infecting everyone.

The breath escaped my body for the final time. My world and mind spun uncontrollably, like a plane going down. I could feel it spreading up my biceps, crawl across my chest and seamlessly spill down the rest of my body like a curtain call. I was completely numb. My legs, now jelly-like, collapsed under the weight of my torso. I landed on my back, splashing down into my own muddled remains. Another green flash from above briefly displayed a silhouette of the terror that loomed over me. I could hear it gurgling, wheezing. Its eyes, pulsating a blinding white energy, ignited in the dark. My neck burned, my jaw cracked and collapsed. My eyes filled with something gooey and thick.

A garbled shriek—