Warning: Violence, Horror Content 17+ XD
Episode I: Night on the Mountain
-Chapter I: Tragedy
Peace Lodge, Heilin Mountain, Xinyi Township, Nantou County, Taiwan, January 29, 2018…
Seven girls hiked up the trail to the visitor's lodge on Heilin Mountain, as the sunset lit up the sky.
"Whew, we're finally here," Yuwen Chen panted as she reached the cabin door and fumbled with the key. "That was some exercise."
"The mountain looks so deserted," Elena Zhang gazed around.
"The clerk at the station said we were the only campers on the mountain," Yu-Ting Qiu giggled. "After all, it was just opened to the public."
Wanzhen Xie took a last look outside as the girls filed inside. "The view is amazing."
"Yeah, looks like the apocalypse," Youru joked as she stepped back out to see the sunset Wanzhen was admiring. "Come on inside before you get eaten by a leopard (雲豹) or bear."
"We won't see them here," Lily Lee remarked almost wistfully from inside the lodge. "They're all but extinct now."
"All right," Wanzhen nodded grudgingly as she followed Youru inside. "It's almost dark anyway."
"You're right!" Youru came to a shocked realization. "We need power and the generator is a long walk from here! We need to get someone there to turn it on before the sun goes down! In case it's dangerous or something."
"I'll go," Elena Zhang volunteered. "But it's not dangerous- the clerk at the ranger station said we were the only camping team on the mountain. With the mountain newly-opened and all. And we already settled the question about wildlife..."
"I'll go with her," Yu-Ting piped up with a chuckle. "I'll protect little Elena here."
"Oh shut up," Elena punched Yu-Ting lightly in the shoulder, and the two skipped out the back door.
"Good," Emily Lio laughed. "Youru and I will go fire up the boiler downstairs then, like the ranger taught us. Wanzhen and Lily can go unpack and set up our sleeping area upstairs. And Yuwen can go cook."
"Why me gain?" Yuwen feigned annoyance.
"You make the best soup," Youru joked.
"We only have canned chicken soup and ramen. Even I'm not that good, you jerks," Yuwen retorted, but she head to the small kitchen anyway.
Wanzhen skipped off upstairs, and Lily trudged after her, dragging their bags after them. With a slight huff, Youru went down to the basement, Emily on her tail.
Yuwen went into the kitchen and unpacked the miniature, portable stove from one of their bags, attached it to the kitchen's gas valves, and put a pot on it. With a can opener, she pried open one of the nondescript soup cans, and poured its contents into one of the pots. She turned on the stove, which ignited a nice blue flame, and adjusted it to a low simmer. Fishing out a dual canister of salt and pepper, she considered adding a little salt, but decided against it.
The soup is pre-salted already, and we don't need more hypertension, she chuckled to herself. If anyone complained, it was their fault for letting her cook.
She closed the lid of the pot and took out huge pack of ramen, and several cans of Asian sauerkraut, canned spicy vegetables, and spam. She'd cook the ramen after the soup.
Then she took out her phone. "Oh, damn it," she muttered at the lack of signal. She turned on her stored music and put on her earphones, idly enjoying a moment of calm.
"How far back is this generator?" Elena grumbled tiredly as she trudged along the path.
"Don't be such a grump and enjoy the view!" Yu-Ting piped up cheerfully beside her, trying to lighten the mood. "A lovely evening in the woods…"
"It's cold," Elena raised an eyebrow at her friend. She clambered down a ledge and started descending a set of stairs. "Do you think coming up to the mountain was a good idea? I mean, this mountain was closed all these years for a reason, and the government has never been straight up about it."
"Well, there was the old Japanese-era sanitorium on the mountain. In the 1940s, there was like, this crazy inmate breakout," Yu-Ting shrugged, as she followed Elena down the steps. "A bunch of crazies murdered all the staff and escaped. But don't worry- that was like, eighty years ago. Any insane lunatics hiding in the mountain would be long dead. Animals probably long picked their bones clean."
"I think there was an Army base up here too? Set up by the ROC in the 1950s after Taiwan's retrocession?"
"There was a munitions explosion or something- killed a heck lot of soldiers too. But don't worry- it's on the far side of the mountain and fenced off."
"True, but a lot of unfortunate events seem to occur on this mountain- almost like it's cursed. And so many people died, what if there's ghosts?"
"I'll protect you then," Yu-Ting joked, as they came to a fork in the road.
"Great… which way?" Elena groaned.
"I hear a whirring sound that way," Yu-Ting pointed right. "Maybe that's the generator?"
"I don't like the sound of that," Elena frowned. "Wait… look!" She walked over to the left and pointed to a sign knocked-over on the ground. It looked fairly-new and said:
Lodge Generator
Mount Heilin Recreational Area
Nantou County Government
Bureau of Tourism
"Looks like it," Yu-Ting agreed. "What knocked it over?"
"Wind?" Elena proposed. "But the metal pole's all bent. Maybe an animal?"
"Who knows?" Yu-Ting shrugged, taking the lead and striding ahead. "Let's just get this done with and get back to the lodge. I want to take a nice, hot bath… Whoa! Look!"
Elena fast-walked up to Yu-Ting.
Ahead of them, about one hundred meters ahead, three majestic deer stood in the way.
"They're beautiful!" Elena exclaimed in awe.
"Agreed," Yu-Ting pulled out her cell phone to snap a picture of the animals. "But let's not get too close- they were probably the ones who knocked over the sign. Elena!"
Elena had run ahead, scaring the deer, which turned-tail and fled into the woods. "Sorry, but we need to keep going. Had to clear the path."
"AUGHHH!" A shout that sounded like a man's cry rang through the air.
"What the hell?" Elena froze in her tracks. "W- What was that?"
"Don't ask, just run!" Yu-Ting grabbed Elena's hand and took off, yanking her friend after her. "Let's get to the generator building!"
The two girls ran across a bridge and down a path, not stopping until they reached the generator.
"What the hell was that? W- Was it a man?" Elena panted, exhausted.
"Probably- Probably, just an animal," Yu-Ting bent over, wheezing, but waved a hand dismissively. "I was just afraid we'd run into an angry beast."
"So we ran for that?!" Elena groaned, pushing Yu-Ting, who chuckled, despite her heaving. "Fine, fine, let's just get this over with."
Yu-Ting walked over to the generator. "Looks like we have to pull this starter rope."
She pulled it and the huge diesel motor roared to life. "Now where's the big green button…" Yu-Ting looked around. "Ah, here it is!" She forcefully jabbed the button clear clearly-marked "Press to Activate Generator". The generator flickered to life, dials and meters fluctuating to display data, and the lights came on throughout the generator house.
"Whew, looks like we're- " Elena began, when an abrupt clanking and spluttering noise began in the generator. Seconds later, a mechanical cover rattled loose and clanked to the floor, followed by several gear-like cogwheels and a plastic belt. The lights flickered off and the generator around to a halt. "Shit!"
"Is it broken?" Yu-Ting asked, a tad bit anxious.
"No, I don't think so," Elena replied as she examined the fallen parts. "Stupid thing just threw a belt! But I think I can fix it..." She opened a nearby cabinet of spare parts. "Ah, a new belt! But goddamnit… we need a screwdriver! I can't believe we don't have a toolbox! Where is one when you need it?"
"Ah, drat, I think there's one at the lodge," Yu-Ting slapped a hand to her forehead. "The Clerk mentioned it. I can go get it."
"Yeah, that'll be helpful," Elena nodded. "I'm not walking that long path four times… I'll just wait for you here and figure everything out."
When the soup started to boil, Yuwen turned off the fire and prepared to divide the soup into separate bowls first.
It was then that, through the window, she spotted a strange man step out of the forest not two hundred meters from the lodge.
He was wearing a thick dark overcoat- which she couldn't see the color of, because he lurked in the shadow of the trees- and his face was covered with a mask and a goggles. He carried a huge circular backpack which glinted oddly at certain angles, and in his right hand… he held a machete. Yuwen wasn't sure if it was the light, but it looked like there were dark, reddish stains on it. The man stared at the cabin for a few moments and turned, making a distant metal clanking sound.
"Hey, guys, there's someone outside!" Yuwen narrowed her eyes and tried to peer through the blinds better. "I thought the clerk at the foot of the mountain said we were the only climbing team. Emily? Youru?"
"Maybe he or some other worker came up to check on us?" Emily yelled up from the basement.
"Maybe…" Yuwen sounded doubtful. "But- but… he… didn't look like it! He wasn't wearing a uniform, just a heavy overcoat, a backpack, and a… well, what looked like a mask! And I swear he was holding a machete!"
"If he was a park worker, why doesn't he just knock at the door and ask?" Youru added her skepticism with common sense, and the basement soon filled with the buzz of Emily and Youru's discourse.
"BOO!"
"AUGH!" Yuwen shrieked in fear and turned around… to see Yu-Ting holding a gas mask.
"Rad, right? I found this by the generator." Yu-Ting burst in guffaws of laughter.
"Yu-Ting! You scared the shit out of me! When- Why'd you come back here?"
"Elena sent me back for a screwdriver," Yu-Ting waved the tool. "Some parts of the generator were loose." She changed the subject. "You should've seen your face, scaredy-cat!"
"I'm already freaked out here!" Yuwen objected angrily in spite of herself. "I just saw a mysterious guy out there with a bloody knife!"
"You're just seeing things," Yu-Ting scoffed. "The dark woods are- "
A loud, inhuman scream punctuating the air stopped Yu-Ting mid-sentence, followed by an explosion of flame in the forest some distance away.
"Whoa, that was weird," Yu-Ting froze, eyes wide.
"What the hell- " Yuwen turned around. Emily, Youru, could you get up here now?!"
Another scream echoed through the frosty air- this time, it was unmistakably Elena Zhang.
"Elena!" Yu-Ting cried, and ran, barging out the back door.
"No, wait- !" Yuwen yelled, too late.
A moment later, Emily and Youru came flying into the kitchen.
"What the hell happened?!" Emily demanded.
Before Yuwen could reply, the strange, inhuman scream sounded again, followed by another, further-off burst of fire.
"Whoa…" Youru stammered.
"Should- should we go out after t- them?" Emily stammered. "Y- Yu-Ting and Elena. T-they're out there alone!"
"N- no!" Yuwen objected. "I- It's too dangerous! The more people are out there, the more people are at risk! Someone get the phone! Call the police!"
"What's going on?" Lily inquired nervously, having come downstairs with Wanzhen. "Yuwen? I heard screams…"
"T- There's some weird shit going down!" Youru exclaimed. "We heard Elena screaming and there was this shrieking sound and we saw fire in the woods!"
"And there was this stranger with a heavy backpack and a machete!" Yuwen added.
"Holy crap, I'm calling the police!" Wanzhen was frantic. "Crap, no cell service. Where's the phone?"
"There's a landline upstairs!" Lily jerked a finger. "Battery-powered!"
"Great!" Wanzhen dashed back up the stairs.
"I saw the fire too!" Lily spoke up. "From the upstairs window! We need to go find Elena and Yu-Ting! They're still out there!"
"No, we can't split up!" Youru contradicted, backing up Yuwen's earlier assertion. "We need to barricade this cottage in case that stranger attacks us!"
"Y- yeah," Yuwen began to babble. "E- Elena and Yu-Ting are s-smart- and resourceful- t-they'll hide. Right? They'll come back ok. They'll be ok. W- We'll just hold up here until they return. N- No use getting lost too."
Wanzhen ran back, as Youru and Lily were getting to work bolting the rear door and barricading it with a couch.
"Good news! I got through to the police! A group of rangers will be coming up the mountain as soon as the weather cleared and they've sent out a rescue helicopter from Nantou City!"
"Weather?" Emily asked, confused.
"Well, they say there's a terrible thunderstorm at the bottom of the mountain, and it makes the trails impassable to hikers and vehicles. Don't worry- we just need to keep together till dawn!"
"Guess you're right," Emily looked forlornly outside, and whispered, "Elena, Yu-Ting… I-I'm so sorry…" She joined Yuwen in pushing the dining table toward the door to add to the barricade.
What had begun as a joyful, adventurous night out had turned into a night of terror and uncertainty. So the five girls huddled quietly and nervously upstairs in their sleeping bags, peering out the window every few minutes, expecting to see Yu-Ting and Elena to show up at the back door at any moment.
But there was no trace of either girl- or the strange man, or the bursts of flame or the mysterious shrieks.
Yuwen served the other girls the soup she'd managed to finish, though no one had much appetite, and Wanzhen chewed on a bag of jerky- more to calm her nerves than out of hunger.
Sometime past 5:00 A.M. in the morning, Yuwen nodded off in sheer exhaustion.
The next thing she knew, Youru was shaking her, trying to wake her. The police and rangers were here- they'd been delayed by a fierce thunderstorm at the mountain's base which had made the treacherous trail impassable and helicopter navigation hazardous- and were questioning everybody. Yuwen told them everything she knew- they mysterious man, the terrifying shrieks, Elena's scream, the bursts of flame, Yu-Ting running back outside.
The police and rescue teams combed the nearby mountainside, and even the countryside surrounding the mountain. Helicopters scoured the woods, but the two missing girls were nowhere to be found. The only clue they discovered was Yu-Ting's cell phone on an old wood bridge not far from the generator, depleted of battery and gone dormant. It looked like it'd been dropped, as if in a panic or when she was running. Days dragged into weeks, which stretched into months, and eventually the rescue teams simply gave up.
As for Yu-Ting and Elena… they were never coming back...