After Dark

Disclaimer and content warning: This story contains depictions of violence and paranormal activity and may be distressing to some readers.

Author’s Note: There is a use of some military jargon in this story, here’s a quick little dictionary for your convenience.

• Klicks = Kilometers
• Mikes = Minutes

AGE RATING: 17

The screeching of brakes alerted the clerk behind the counter of a gas station. She glanced out the window to see two large, armored vehicles come to a halt by the pumps. Disembarking from the driver seats were men in black uniforms with blue accents. They were quick to start pumping while another presumed soldier entered. The clerk tensed up, but observing no weapon on the person, relaxed a little.

As the uniformed man had made his way through the door, his face expressed exhaustion. The woman behind the till eyed him.

“Greetings.”

He nodded, “Two and four, I’ll pay. Restroom?”

She pointed toward the back and rang up the pumps so he could pay. The man returned a moment later, placing a local newspaper on the counter. She glanced at it and chuckled, “Don’t read that nonsense; it’s just children’s tales to spook the local kids from going into the forest.”

The man glanced at it, at the engagement ring on her hand, and then peered into her light brown eyes.

“Headline reads — unsolved disappearances though?”

The woman smiled.

“Kids get lost in the forest often. There’s no mystery there, it’s just wild animals.”

Her eyes darted around his uniform in search of answers, clues, and identification.

“Who… are you guys anyway? Don’t seem to be cops.”

The man tapped the logo on his chest.

“Private sec-op, nothing fancy,” he smiled wearily, obviously tired.

“Best of luck in your search,” she wished the uniformed man as he departed. The squad loaded back up and were on their way.

“What ya got there, rookie?” Asked a man with a deep voice.

“Local newspaper, interesting headline,” the younger, tired-looking man responded, handing the newspaper over to the older man. He read the headline and skimmed the article.

“Hah… so we get sent to seek out some missing corpo dog into a forest where local kids go missing? Fun.”

The younger man leaned back, yawning, having the entirety of the backseat to himself made a nap seem quite appealing, and he did just that. He awoke from murmuring of the older man and the driver discussing what to do as the road had ended and beyond it was a dense forest.

“How far out are we?”

“8 klicks, just about.”

“Fuck, alright, squad, disembark and pack up, we’re going on a hike.”

“Rookie!?”

“I’m ready,” the younger man replied.

“Good, let’s get rolling.”

The roar of the engines died down. As soon as the rookie jumped out of the vehicle, he realized just how fresh and clean the air here was. The older, bearded man signaled for everyone to gather up and the squad did. They were six in total.

“Alright, we’re on an eight-kilometer hike, no time constraints, preserve your energy, medium pace. Rookie, you take the six, stay together. Use of lethal force against any aggressive wildlife is permitted. Grab plenty of water, and a couple of MREs. Moving out in five.”

“Amir?” the rookie called out, following the squad leader a few paces behind, at the back of the line.

“What’s up rookie?” the leader asked.

“My father used to hunt, and one thing he told me was — a quiet forest is a dangerous forest.”

Amir glanced around, “What are you getting at?”

The rookie shrugged, “This forest is awfully quiet for an early evening.”

“Squad, halt!”

Amir commanded, and everybody stopped, each turning in a different direction to cover their area of responsibility. Not a word was spoken, the only sounds that could be heard were of fabric rubbing against fabric as the squad scanned their respective zones for all and any threats.

“Holy shit, it is quiet, squad — maintain high alert, potential predators in the area,” Amir ordered, glancing over his shoulder at the rookie who gave him a reaffirming nod.

The remaining few kilometers were walked at a slower pace. The silence of the forest grew only more intense by the minute as the sun began to set, disappearing behind the mountain and plunging the forest into grim darkness.

“Lights on,” Amir commanded, and the squad complied. The rookie watched their flashlights sway. They were constantly rotating between left and right, switching who was watching which side every dozen or so steps. Being a former Marine, it was not out of the ordinary for him to see a well-functioning squad, but he hardly expected this level of tactical synchronization and precision from a private security force of a corporation.

Amir’s gun dropped as his focus shifted to a tablet he brought out, a call by the looks of things.

“Yes ma’am, we’ve not reached the area of interest yet. Yes ma’am. No signs of him yet. Roger that.”

The rookie thought it might be best to camp out for the night prior to entering the cave. The squad was running on only a few hours of sleep and it seemed reckless to head into the cave with a tired squad. He might be a rookie of the squad but he was hardly a rookie to missions of this sort. He debated whether to speak up or not.

Should he speak up and advice to rest before continuing their operation?

M.F.: speak-up

O.F.: No time pressure? Certainly better to rest before heading in the cave. Need their senses sharp! You seem lost in thought. Raewyr Wolff: speaking up seems the obvious choice, since the leader seems reasonable

R.T.: Agreed, they have just done a lot of travelling as well

O.F.: Oh wait, the stupid thing to do would have a workout right there and head into cave exhausted from that XD Anni Kedontaus: Camp camp

N.N.: slumber party

      “Amir, I don’t think it’s wise to enter in the evening, especially as we only slept a few hours the night prior, been on the road for ten hours, and just walked another five.”

Amir glanced over his shoulder, then ahead, watching the lights scan the forest around.

“Good point. Squad—we’ll camp ten mikes out from the cave.”

“Roger.”

“Copy that.”

The squad confirmed. They arrived at a somewhat nice clearing that could be used to break camp and were quick on their feet to set up two tents for three people each, get a campfire going, and savor their MREs.

“Overwatch?” inquired one of the squad members. Amir pondered for a moment and then shook his head.

“Angelo, what’s the worst that can happen? A mountain lion? We’re not in a war zone; don’t think that’s necessary.”

“Roger.”

Rookie glanced up from his meal, ‘fair,’ he thought. It was just a forest and not a hostile territory. In fact, he wasn’t certain as to why they were so heavily armed just to seek out some missing corporate dog, but it wasn’t his job to question that, and who would say no to having a military-issue assault rifle for self-defense in a forest?

Angelo had his meal as well and then departed into the darkness to, what the rookie assumed was take a leak. The rookie sat on the ground by the campfire; having finished his meal, he was fidgeting with a metallic object in hand. The crackling of the fire and its warmth were soothing. His mind began to drift and his senses were no longer sharp; he yawned sleepily. The metallic object glistened in the flickering fire’s light.

A branch snapped behind him, and the rookie instantly turned to see a dark shape emerging from behind the bush line. His hand was on the pistol’s grip, ready to draw.

“Whoa, easy there, mate, it’s me, Angelo.” The dark shape stepped into the light.

“Fuck, man, you scared the shit out of me.”

“Hah, well, I better hope not, don’t think we brought spare pants.”

The two laughed for a moment as Angelo sat beside him.

“What ya got there?”

“A gift,” the rookie tossed the metallic object gently to Angelo. He twirled it between his fingers for a moment. It was a metal cookie, with a secret.

“Press the chocolate chip at the bottom center.”

He did, and the cookie popped open; it was a picture pendant. Inside it was an engraving he struggled to read in the fire’s light. ‘To Andy, my beloved husband. To dad, the best daddy in the world.’ And on the other side, a picture of him with a woman and a young girl between them.

“Family?”

Andy nodded, “Love them more than the world.”

“Hah, family’s important mate. I ain’t got none.”

Angelo kept him company for a while.

“Aight, I’ma hit the sack.”

Andy got up and stretched, “Leak first, join you in a min, toss some more wood into the fire before you leave.”

“Sure,” Angelo responded, heading for the wood pile they had gathered while Andy, the rookie, ventured into the darkness to do his business before bed.

He found a nice spot. With moon’s light breaking through the canopy above just enough to put him in the spotlight. He laughed about it as the warm stream wetted the tree.

Something shuffled in the bushes to his side.

“Angelo?” Andy called out, paying the noise no further attention, “Man if you’re gonna shit, get further away from me I don’t wanna smell that.”

After a moment of silence, he heard a distant voice, barely audible, “What… ya got… there?”

“Huh!?” He called out, louder this time.

“Angelo?”

But there was no response. He flashed his light in the presumed direction of the voice and the shuffling he had heard previously, the forest’s silence grew ever more eerie.

“Must be the wind,” he concluded and after taking a deep breath, called out, “ANGELO!?”

He called out once more.

“WHAT’S UP!?” Angelo replied, his voice clearly coming from behind, in the direction of the camp.

“NOTHING!”

Andy made his way back to the camp in haste, a shiver ran through his body when he heard another shuffle behind him, closer this time.

“You good?” Angelo inquired as Andy jumped over the bush and shone his light behind him, then glanced at Angelo,

“You fucking with me?”

“The hell you mean?” Angelo asked, perplexed.

“I thought I heard you whispering something while I was taking a leak.”

Angelo raised his eyebrow, “I was stacking up the campfire like you asked.” He pointed with his finger over his shoulder, and Andy could see freshly piled wood.

“Ugh, sorry. Must be tired, hearing shit,” Andry murmured.

“Yeah man, let’s hit the sack.”

The eerie silences lasted through the night, disturbing Andy’s sleep. Not even crickets or cicadas livened up the forest. It was as if life itself had left this forest, leaving behind naught but trees and plants. He at last managed to fall asleep but his rest was cut short by someone shaking him by the boot.

“Dude, wake up, you gotta see this,” Angelo whispered.

Andy crawled out of the tent and was led to a spot not far from the dying fire by Angelo who quickly got on all fours.

“Dude, down here, look at this. Ever seen anything like it before?”

Andy sleepily knelt down, pulled out his flashlight, and shone it at the grass.

“Well, at least somebody’s getting down to it huh?”

His sleepy vision focused on something that took a moment of processing to comprehend.

In the blades of grass before him were two creatures he had never seen before. With thin and elongated bodies akin to praying mantis, but they were fluffy and blue. Their appendages resembled that of critters more than insects, but their thin, blue bodies truly looked insect, and they were going at it. The larger female had the smaller male pinned, his neck in her pincers.

“What the hell is that?” Angelo queries curiously.

“Hells do I know, but wow, they’re blue… that is the bluest blue I’ve seen.”

“Not that…” Angelo’s voice sank.

Andy glanced at him, realizing his gaze was fixated on something he couldn’t yet see. Something further away, in the darkness. A distorted, growly voice came from Andy’s right.

“What… the hell… is that?”

Andy’s body froze momentarily, a chill ran through his body and every instinct in body screamed for him to run.

“Angelo…” Andy spoke quietly, “Do NOT look away from whatever it is.”

Angelo’s face distorted into disgust combined with terror. He swallowed slowly. Andy could see his muscles tensing up as he gritted his teeth. Angelo was a former spec op, he was one tough son of a bitch, and him getting so tense made Andy feel uneasy. His mind raced, the rifle was in the tent, pistol in the holster on his hip. He reached for it slowly, very slowly, so as not to startle whatever animal might be there that Angelo was staring at.

The same distorted voice spoke softly yet again, “bluest… blue… somebody’s getting down….”

Andy swallowed, freezing his body.

“What…the…fuck… is that….” Angelo whispered. Whatever the creature was, it must have moved closer since the voice was slightly louder.

“Gun?” Andy whispered.

“Got it…”

“Scatter and draw in 3…2…1…”

Angelo leapt to his left, rolling over and drawing his pistol in a single swift motion. Andy did much the same but in the other direction. The both of them aimed their guns at emptiness.

“Where the fuck!?” Angelo called out scanning the area.

“What was it? What the hell did you see?” Andy responded, swiftly turning to check behind them.

“Fuck man I don’t know it was some slender boogey man straight outta horror movies,” Angelo replied anxiously. “SQUAD!” he called out loudly to wake everybody.

The four remaining sleepy soldiers scrambled out of their sleeping bags and tents, dazed and shocked by the sudden call, Andy and Angelo were standing back to back, scanning the environment, and the rest of the squad quickly grouped with them.

“Explain,” Amir demanded. His rifle zoomed around the bushes and treetops.

They explained to the best of their ability, but naturally, their explanation was met with doubt and mockery.

“Ya’ll saw a boogeyman and ruined my sleep over it? Fuck sake, go back to sleep,” mocked another squad member.

“No, we’ll sweep the area and keep watch for the rest of the night,” ordered Amir.

“Great…” complained someone else.

“Pair up, Rookie with me, Yasir and Mike, Angelo and Yura, sweep 50 meters around the camp.”

The squad affirmed the orders. Andry grabbed his rifle and followed Amir.

“Boogeyman huh?” Amir asked, scanning the trees and bushes, he was thorough in his search. 

“I didn’t see, but heard… it mimics what it hears man… Like a mocking jay,” Andy responded quietly, mostly focusing his attention on the ground for any footprints.

“You sure it wasn’t a fucking bird you heard?” Amir growled.

“I saw terror in Angelo’s eyes… it was no bird.”

Amir sighed, “Roger, what are we looking for?”

Andy shrugged, “I’ve not hunted in long time, but, broken bush branches, stomped out grass, footprints mostly, if it’s a mountain lion or something they climb well, you’d see marks on the tree bark.”

There was nothing, no signs, at least not in the direction Andy and Amir had gone, but they remained vigilant and alert, making their way back to the camp.

“I’ll take the first watch,” Andy suggested.

“No, that’s on…” Amir’s sentence was interrupted by three distant shots, followed by a scream.

“On me!” Amir ordered, sprinting off in the direction where the sounds came from.

After a short sprint, Andy heard shuffling to the right, and then a flash of light, it was one of the other members, sprinting a dozen or so meters off from them.

“Friendlies to the right,” Andy called out.

“Roger.”

A few short moments later, they came to a halt. Hanging from a branch by a strap was a rifle, still swaying gently.

“Fucking hell, scan the area.”

Andy turned swiftly, his back pressed against a tree, scanning the bushes.

“Got something,” he dashed a few meters towards a trampled bush that looked as if something, or someone got dragged through it, or tossed on top of it. Angelo and Yura were sweeping the area too. In the bush, caught by the branches, Andy found a magazine, and the grass beyond it was swept down. As if something, or rather someone, was dragged on it.

“Got a track,” Andy called out.

The squad followed the swept grass track until the trail ran cold. About a meter away, Andry spotted heavy footprints, singing into the soil deeper than normal.

“What the actual hell is going on here?”

Andy mumbled, kneeling beside a patch of mud where a large, barefoot, vaguely human but elongated footprint could be seen, sunken twice deeper than a print of a boot that seemingly followed it.

“What is it?” Angelo asked, staring down.

“See how deep it is? That… thing tossed either Yasir or Mike over its shoulder like a sack of sand, carrying an 80 or so kilo man with ease.”

“Mike or Yasir followed though, right?”

“I guess, the boot prints lead in the same direction,” Andy responded.

“Move q…quick…” Amir ordered, “Keep your h…heads on a swivel. Rookie take point; I’ll cover the rear.”

Andy glanced up at Amir, “roger,” and walked onwards, leading the other 4 as he followed the tracks to the best of his ability. It did not take long for a hole in the side of the mountain to greet them with its musty stench, the very cave they were to search for clues of a missing corporate dog who was sent here on some investigation.

The cave’s dark is nothing compared to the outside dark. In the cave, where no sources of light exist, the flashlights only reach so far.

They entered it in an orderly line, with Andy leading and Angelo behind him, covering from his left side. When they reached the first fork, a memory bubbled up in Andy’s mind of the article he read about the missing children, it featured local folklore, a tale of a hag living in this very mountain, kidnapping children for food. He shuddered.

“Split up? Or stick together?” Andy queries, keeping watch.

Amir seemed uncertain but gave an order anyway. “Stay in pairs, I’m with the rookie. Try to find Yasir and Mike and get the hell out of here. Secondary objective — the spring, as in – the water spring we were sent to locate. The third objective — hints at what happened to a corporate dog that was sent here before us.”

They made their way ever deeper. Another fork.

“It’s like a d..damned maze out here,” Amir mumbled, “I say we s…stick together.”

Andy pondered for a moment.

Split up? Or stick together?

O.R.: stick together!

L.Z.: Stick together! :3

L.O.: Stick together! Splitting often ends… bad xD

N.S.: Split together

N.N.: we’re in a horror, split up!

O.F.: Stick!

O.F.: … fair… Split!

R.W.: split in true horror fashion ^^

     “We’ll cover more ground by splitting though. The faster we find Yasir and Mike, the faster we’ll get out of here,” Andy responded.

“Take left, I’ll head straight, meet back here in 20 mikes.”

Amir clicked his watch a few times. “S…stay safe.”

Andy could see his hands trembling. Amir was a man who had never seen proper combat in his life and it shows.

“Just don’t forget the safety if you run into trouble,” Andy smirked and moved on.

His footsteps echoed through the dark cave. Its stale air was a constant reminder that he was now alone and in the dark, hunting an unknown creature that had taken out of their squad members. With each step he took, the metallic cookie pendant clanked softly against the magazine of his rifle. He liked to wear the gifted pendant on his gun to serve as a constant reminder that he must not lose his firearm and that his life depended on it.

The air smelled damp; he could tell that some source of water wasn’t far. Shortly after, the scent got accompanied by a sound of trickling water. Water spring, mission objective but squad member’s life was a top priority. He could see a faint glow coming from further in, seemingly where the sound of water came from. Rounding the corner, he gasped.

The air smelled damp; he could tell that some source of water wasn’t far. Shortly after, the scent got accompanied by a sound of trickling water. Water spring, mission objective but squad member’s life was a top priority. He could see a faint glow coming from further in, seemingly where the sound of water came from. Rounding the corner, he gasped..

His light reflected off the surface of a mostly still body of water, blinding him for a moment. When his eyes adjusted, he marveled at the beautiful naturally formed pool at the center of the room he found himself standing at the entrance of. Water dribbled down into it from a tiny stream, coming out of the wall. He gasped at the scenery, it was gorgeous, and peaceful. (this passage is a reference to a prequel story)

“Wow, that’s a pretty blue…” he gasped. For a moment he forgot the reason he was here, but that moment of serenity came to a quick end when he heard the distorted voice once more, coming from a dark corner of the room he stood at the entrance of.

“Wow… that’s a… pretty blue…” the voice mimicked him. He could feel the hairs on his arms stand up, and his skin got covered in goosebumps.

He swiveled his rifle in the direction of the voice, in the light from his flashlight stood a creature that Angelo described quite well, a boogeyman straight from horror. Its scrawny figure was hunched over, sitting on the floor, hugging its knees. Its bony, leathery face glanced up at him, but there were no eyes. The eye sockets were empty holes. Its jaw was disfigured, its teeth were crooked fangs, and its ears were inhuman, resembling bats.

“Jesus fuck… what the,” his instincts screamed ‘run’ his body jerked momentarily but he fought the urge to make a run in the opposite direction of the creature. Instead, he flicked the safety switch off, “don’t you fucking move a single muscle you creepy fuck!” he commanded the creature.

In a slow, twitchy motion the creature rose from its sitting position. Its appendages were longer than they should be. Boney and inhuman, disgusting and disfigured.

Andy swallowed hard, fighting his fear. He faced death and now he faced something far more terrifying than a man-made explosive that was thrown into his face. He pulled the trigger. A loud bang echoed through the cave. He flinched as the loud sound jabbed at his eardrums, sending his thoughts and senses into disarray.

It was a mere blink, but in that time, the slow and jerky-moving creature from before was gone.

“That’s a pretty… blue… love them…” the creature’s distorted, screechy voice spoke from above. Andy glanced up to see the scrawny creature hanging off the ceiling, staring at him with empty eye sockets.

“Wait, bud…dy...” it tilted its head to the side as it spoke.

Andy took a swift step back and found himself against the wall. Not realizing he wasn’t facing the exit anymore, panic began to settle in. “HAH! GO FUCK YOURSELF!”

Andy’s finger squeezed the trigger several times, firing in semi-automatic mode three more bullets. Each shot a jab at his hearing, assaulting his eardrums, though at this moment, he would prefer to go deaf than to hear that creature speak another word.

To his surprise and astonishment, the creature was ridiculously swift and nimble. It moved in short bursts. Each time he fired, the creature had already moved before he finished pulling the trigger. It was as if it reacted to the sound of his muscles tensing up rather than the firing of the gun, and each shot only shortened the distance between them, until at last, he was peering through the sights of his rifle right at the creature that all but pressed its forehead against the barrel, almost mocking him.

“Angelo…?” the creature spoke again. Andy’s body froze, he could still hear its screeching, distorted voice, he hated it, he hated everything about this monstrosity that he found himself facing.

“No…” he groaned, gritting his teeth as he raised his leg, kicking the creature in the chest with all his might. The creature stumbled backward once, but as soon as he made a step to try and make a run for it, he felt claws dig into the skin of his back, tearing his flesh and scratching his bones.

Pain surged through his body; losing his footing, he fell, but his muscle memory kicked in. Crawling away as fast as he could he put a meter or so between himself and the creature. Swiftly drawing his pistol he rolled onto his back and aimed, but the creature was gone.

Scrambling back to his feet, with his back against the wall once more, he scanned the area, contemplating whether to pick his rifle or not. Choosing not to risk it as the warm blood soaked his shirt and ran down his back, he slowly made his way towards the hallway through which he came. Keeping his back against the wall so as to limit his exposure and vulnerability. Each step he took and each movement of his body sent searing pain through his nervous system. The wound was deep.

Every noise he heard made him jump, which in turn made him wince from pain that shot through his body. He thought he heard gunshots in the distance, echoing, followed by silence and more shooting. At some point, he thought he heard a scream but it didn’t matter to him, not anymore; he didn’t care about anything else besides getting out of that cave. Rounding a corner he ran into someone. That darkness made it difficult to tell who it was, yet the darkness that followed him was far worse than the darkness he walked in.

“Easy easy easy! Whoa there! It’s me it’s me it’s me!” Angelo panicked when his flashlight’s light bounced off of the pistol’s barrel, aimed at him.

“Angelo!? Where’s Yasir?”

Angelo shook his head. “No fucking clue man what the hell happened to you?”

“That thing… is in here…” Andy groaned.

“Shit, lean on me man, let’s get outta here…”

Andy wrapped his arm around Angelo’s neck, grunting. His pistol in the other hand, they took merely a few steps when a body in their path stopped them.

“That’s…” but before Angelo could finish saying what he started, the same distorted voice echoed softly from behind him,

“Buddy… It’s me…”

Andy took a shaky breath, “run…”

There were sounds of several footsteps approaching swiftly. From around the corner several flashlights shone at them, blinding them momentarily.

“DUCK!” shouted an unknown man.

Andy and Angelo fell to the ground in an instant, a moment later deafening roar filled the cave as the unknown men opened fire at the creature behind them. A bone-chilling shriek signaled cease-fire.

Andy felt himself lifted, his arms wrapped around the unknown’s necks as they helped carry him to the exit. His gaze darted to one of them, an insignia on his shoulder spelled A.S.E.C.

“Who… the hells are you!?”

“None of your business,” uttered one of the men who were carrying him. His face was covered by a mask, as were the others.

“What the hell do you mean my team has gone missing?” Spoke an angered man, slamming his fist on the desk.

“Exactly what I said Noir. The search and rescue team we sent out hadn’t come in or reported in 2 days. What now?”

A bulky man sat down in the chair, shaking his head. “I… what do you mean what now? How does an armed team of former military go missing? You’re missing the point, Charlotte. If those guys go missing, there’s something going on, something we shouldn’t be messing with.”

“Noir, I did not ask for your business running opinion, I asked for your security opinion. You are the chief of our sec-op; figure it out. I NEED that mountain. Ferula Mountain will bring the world to our heel, MAKE! IT! HAPPEN! And the Blau corporation will not leave you without your reward, guard dog…”

The woman adjusted the collar of her blouse. “Dismissed, come back only with good news, or a resignation letter.”

“Yes ma’am…” the bulky man groaned, getting up from his chair and nodding at her. “I’ll see it done, personally.”

Prompts for this story