Project Rebreather: The Past Made Present
Chapter 1
[Next Stop Nowhere]
Buttercup stared absently outside the window of the passenger car. She wasn't quite sure what her destination was, nor did there seem to be any point to looking out. The train moved as it always did, through an impenetrable mist that seemed lit by some unknown light.
The glass of the window against her cheek was cool and pleasant. The gentle shaking and muffled sounds of the train were soothing, inviting sleep. Yet, sleep had not come for Buttercup.
Even so, she was tired. This wasn't a bleary-eyed fight to stay awake despite her body's protests. Instead it was a dull sort of listlessness. Going to sleep at this point wouldn't be the defeat and surrender of a weary mind and body giving in to the overwhelming call of sleep. Going to sleep at this point would feel more akin to slipping into a warm bath. Gentle. Welcoming.
She had no sense of time. If she cared to glance down, she'd see the same eleven-year-old body she remembered. (Technically only six years "old," but she and her sisters had a five-year head start when they came into the world.)
For all she knew or cared, she might as well be eleven hundred. She thought not of her past, nor of where the train might be heading.
Then things began to change. Change itself was foreign to Buttercup, and so went unnoticed at first. The sounds of the train grew—or simply were—louder. The screech of metal on metal pierced through the gentle, muffled clattering that had soothed her. The rocking of the train was more violent and random—or was simply always so. Her quiet, aimless lethargy faded as she became aware of her own breathing.
With each breath, the passage of time was marked. With the passage of time, the clear demarcation of "before" and "now," Buttercup perceived change once more.
The screeching of the tracks grew louder, taking on an air of struggle and protest. Buttercup's heart began to quicken.
Train shaking her seat more violently, the cool, soothing glass became a nuisance. Sometimes she bounced against it, mashing her cheekbone. Other times she bounced away from its steady coolness. Now leaving it for good, turning her head forward, she felt flushed as her stomach tightened in anticipation.
The steady pace of the train began to change. It accelerated, increasing the frequency of the shaking and the squealing. Buttercup's heart pounded with greater force against her chest as her breath rushed to catch up.
The steady, dim light changed as well. Suddenly, Buttercup became aware of the lights in the passenger car when they flickered and went black for several seconds. Even the fog outside seemed to be growing gradually dimmer. When the lights flared back on, cold and artificial, an inexplicable sense of panic welled up inside.
The train's acceleration became ludicrous, giving a sensation akin to falling. The screeching was almost continuous, and painfully sharp. The shaking and bouncing made it seem impossible that the train didn't simply hop off the tracks. Buttercup gripped the edge of her seat and closed her eyes, but the lights flickered violently all the same.
She braced herself for the inevitable.
Author's Forward:
Professor wakes his girls from a long slumber. Will they unearth their lost past or discover that some things are best left buried?
Project Rebreather is the fourth entry of a study in horror—the Ladder series. Project Rebreather is intended to stand alone, although it may spoil parts of earlier stories. Worse, its treatment of some characters may seem unjust without understanding how they got where they are today. New readers are encouraged to back up to Unstrung at the least. They are, of course, welcome to start at the beginning with Ladder, or to ignore the author's meddling advice entirely and do as they please. The series continues in Ashes from Ashes.
Each story in the series examines a different form of horror. Horror does not always inspire fright, nor does it always try. Project Rebreather is as much mystery as it is horror. Not so much as a puzzle for the reader—longtime readers will have many pieces in hand already and even newcomers should be able to follow various threads. Some answers may remain elusive, certainly, but the focus is on the characters' struggle with their questions. Not knowing what or who to trust can be a source of horror, especially when one cannot even trust themselves.
Other stories in the series examine horror from other perspectives. Each has a different focus and a different "feel." However, they all continue the same story line, and they were all written with the assistance of mood-setting music.
These stories list a musical accompaniment that is entirely optional, but which the reader is welcome to follow. Although not a crossover with Silent Hill, its music and music inspired by it includes some of the most beautiful, haunting melodies this author has heard. Readers who have taken the time to find these albums and songs (many freely and legally available online) have expressed happiness at the impact it had on their reading.
I personally dislike reading certain things, and try to avoid writing them. Well-established characters acting out-of-character without good reason or explanation. Grittiness and death as an alternative to telling a story. It's up to you, dear reader, to judge my eventual success or failure in these regards.
Suggested listening, presented in the order they are used:
01 - Next Stop Nowhere (Silent Hill 3 Unreleased)
02 - Day of Night (Silent Hill 2)
03 - Between Heaven and Hell (Broken Notes Unreleased)
04 - Make a Wish (Broken Notes Extremitas Vol 1)
05 - A Lullaby for Two (Endless Delusions)
06 - Undefined Sorrow (The Art of Dying)
07 - Blood Curse (Broken Notes Extremitas Vol 2)
08 - Happy Little Monster (Letters From Condemned Worlds)
09 - Drowned Hope (Broken Notes Extremitas Vol 1)
10 - Color Etereo (Broken Notes Extremitas Vol 1)
11 - Regression (Broken Notes Extremitas Vol 2)
12 - Only You (Silent Hill 1)
13 - Uncertain Sympathy (Letters From Condemned Worlds)
14 - Memoria Eterna (Broken Notes Extremitas Vol 1)
15 - Nightmare - Unedited (Broken Notes from the Vault)
16 - Uneternal Waltz (Essentia)
17 - Atone (Broken Notes Extremitas Vol 1)
18 - Tainted Desire (The Art Of Dying)
19 - Fearless (Essentia)
20 - Haunted - 2nd Floor (Ashes of Bitterness)
21 - Midnight Corridors (Broken Notes Intermission Vol 1)
22 - Station (Broken Notes from the Vault)
23 - Desolation (Broken Notes Unedited)
24 - Shattered Waltz (Broken Notes Sanatorium 2)
25 - Different Past (Essentia)
26 - Not Home (Broken Notes Extremitas Vol 2)
27 - Confrontation (Broken Notes Extremitas Vol 1)
28 - Tight Chains - No Way Out (Ashes of Bitterness)
29 - Room of Angel - Remix (Broken Notes Extremitas Vol 2)
30 - Survival (Broken Notes Extremitas Vol 2)