It was a cool autumn day when Jay finally decided to investigate the letter he had received in the mail a few weeks ago. At least, he thought it must've come in the mail. He woke up with it sitting neatly on his bedside one day but the others had claimed they hadn't put it there. Even Sensei had denied it.
He didn't believe them.
It was early. Maybe 4:30 am, so there were very few people walking through the streets of Ninjago City. The air was almost freezing and his breath came out in small white clouds. Morning dew was settled all along the grass and trees, making the air smell damp.
He didn't quite feel like himself. Sneaking out of the Bounty at 3:00 all alone; not to mention in this cold weather. He thought it might rain soon. The air was at just the perfect feel for a storm. That was one cool thing he could do with his powers. Predict the weather. Maybe if this whole Ninja thing blew over he could be a weatherman. That sounded like something he could easily do. Public speaking had always been an unusual talent of his. Most of his friends hated it.
The usual bright smile and bounce in his step were gone. His eyes were dull. He blamed it on the lack of sleep, though he felt like he was being dragged down by a ton of bricks. Jay shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets, gripping onto the letter in his left one. His phone was in the right. Just in case.
There was a very high chance this whole thing was a prank, but if it was, it was a very strange one. He wasn't sure why someone would go to such lengths to prank him like this.
He pulled the letter out of his pocket and read it over again, his eyes masked with confusion.
'COME HOME. family gOne. blood in Rivers. Darkness floodIng. Enter here.'
What the hell was that supposed to mean? All he seemed to get from that message was the "Come home" part. To the junkyard? Was this his parents trying to get him to come over? But what really stood out to him was the marking at the bottom. It looked like some kind of cult symbol. Covered in strange writing and three circles in the center. The initials beside it read 'S.H.' Jay didn't KNOW an 'S.H.'
After a while of walking, Jay frowned. He wasn't sure why he was walking when he could've taken his energy dragon or some kind of vehicle. Especially since he was so tired. He stopped moving in front of a small abandoned shop that seemed to be literally in the middle of nowhere. He spun around slowly in a circle, wondering how he ended up here, (maybe a wrong turn?) but behind him was the city and in front was a bunch of trees and a concrete wall that stretched as far as he could see in front of where the junkyard was supposed to be.
"What the hell…?" Jay muttered in confusion, walking up to the wall. A sudden feeling of dread washed over him. "Since when was there a wall here?" He asked himself. He was about to turn around when he caught sight of something in the corner of his eye.
There, carved at eye level into the concrete wall, tinted red, was the same symbol he had seen on the letter. Jay gently ran his fingers over the symbol and frowned. He took a few steps back. There were no footholes anywhere on the smooth surface of the wall so he couldn't climb it, and it was too tall to jump over. He climbed the nearest tree instead.
Once he reached the top, Jay carefully climbed over and sat on top of the wall. Where he was expecting to see his parents waving, laughing over their incredibly elaborate prank, he just saw a huge mass of fog hanging so thickly above the ground that he could hardly make out the shape of a small building in the midst of it.
There was a wrenching feeling in his gut. Jay pulled out his phone, deciding to call Cole since he was most likely to be up, and because Cole was just naturally the one he called in these sorts of situations. The phone rang for a moment, further building Jay's anxiety.
"Hello…?" A tired voice answered.
"Cole! Thank God you picked up!" Jay exclaimed, standing up on the wall and beginning to pace back and forth on top of the oddly wide surface. It was just big enough that he didn't feel about to topple over.
"Jay? Wh-" Cole started, but Jay cut him off.
"Yeah. Listen. I know it's really fucking early but I need you to come over to my parents' house."
"What? Jay, slow down. Why? Is something wrong?"
"I'm not sure yet. I mean, my parents' house is missing. There's this huge wall, and--"
"Are you sure you're not seeing things?"
"I'm on top of it. I don't think I could stand on top of an imaginary wall, Cole." Jay said, starting to get more frustrated. There was a tense feeling in his chest. He kind of felt like crying.
"Alright. Just calm down, okay? I'm on my way. Don't hang up. What's on the other side of the wall?"
Jay could hear quiet shuffling on the other line. He took a shaky breath, hoping Cole couldn't hear the way his voice was breaking. "U-uhm… fog? A lot of it?" He tried, turning his eyes back to that side of the wall. "How long do you think it'll take for you to get here?"
"Not long. Is that all you can see?"
"Yeah- Just… can you give me an exact amount of time?" Jay asked nervously, sitting back down. He felt oddly nauseous all of a sudden.
"Maybe ten minutes at the most?" Cole said. Jay flinched.
"That's kind of long. Do you think you can get here any faster?" He asked, his voice raising an octave higher than usual. He cleared his throat.
"I'll try. Are you still on that wall? Can you get down? You know, on the other side?"
"I- y-yeah." Jay stuttered, getting back up and making his way over to the dark tree line.
"Jay, try and calm down," Cole said softly. "Take deep breaths."
"Oka-" Jay stumbled back before a strong wind blew over and he yelped, falling backwards into the fog.
He dropped his phone in the confusion, putting his hands over the back of his neck and ducking into a roll, Landing back up on his feet. His back stung from the momentary harsh impact with the ground, but it wasn't broken. Just bruised. His senses spiked as he instantly whipped around running back to his phone which was miraculously unharmed. He tried to pick it up but his hands were shaking too much so he just ended up dropping to his knees beside it. "C-Cole?" He choked out, but the no signal sign was flashing on his screen and the battery started draining so suddenly that by the time he realized what was happening it was already dead.
"Shit." He muttered under his breath multiple times, backing up against the wall and pressing his hands over his face. His breaths were quick and shaky and he felt incredibly light headed like he was about to pass out. "Calm down. Calm the fuck down." Jay muttered to himself, trying to slow his breathing but it just picked back up again. "Cole's gonna be here soon, a-and I'm gonna be okay." He forced a smile on his face and it faltered before coming back again. "Y-yeah. Just because you have no clue where you are doesn't mean it's bad.:" He mused to himself. "Even though it's creepy and foggy and it's never been here before and I lost signal-" Jay stopped talking and sighed, running a hand through his hair.
It was what felt like maybe a half hour later when Jay finally realized that for whatever reason, Cole wasn't coming. Or maybe he did, but couldn't get past the wall. He tried calling out multiple times but no one came. He got up.
"Okay Jay, time to stop being terrified. Maybe it's not so bad here." He paused when he turned around, seeing the small abandoned looking building beside him and it seemed to dawn on him that this was some kind of distorted, mirror version of what was on the other side. He pushed off the wall and slowly scanned the area. He could see the paths, the silhouette of Ninjago City in the distance. The little abandoned shop surrounded by a barbed-wire fence. The only difference was the fog and the fact that there wasn't a single tree beside the wall which seemed suddenly much taller than before. He just passed it off as nerves.
His first instinct was to run back to the city, but for some reason he moved towards the little shop instead, sliding under the person-sized Gap beneath the barbed wire fence and carefully opening the shop door which made a lot more noise than he would have liked. He stepped past the doorway and the automatic lights flickered on which made him flinch.
The first thing Jay's eyes focused on was the cashier's desk which was almost empty except for a black bag and a note. Jay frowned and picked up the note first.
'Through the city
Where dark turns to light
Find me here.'
He read it over several times in confusion. "Where dark turns to light…?" He said aloud to himself. "In the city?" Something in his mind clicked. "Borg Industries?" He briefly remembered watching Lloyd defeat the overlord all that time ago, and decided that's where he was headed next. He opened the bag. Inside were several objects that didn't seem to really go together. The first item he pulled out was a map of Ninjago City. There was a golden star over the shop Jay was at and Jay picked up a marker from the desk, marking an X over Borg Industries. It wouldn't be hard to find. It was the tallest building in Ninjago. Not to mention that Jay knew this city like the back of his hand. That is, if this really WAS the same city. Jay looked at the map and saw a huge clock tower that was never there positioned right in the center of town. He refolded the map and stuffed it and the marker back in the bag.
The next object he pulled out was a bulky white walkie-talkie. Only one. Where the other one was, was beyond him. It emitted a very soft static sound when he touched it, then stopped. "What the hell would I need this for…?" Jay asked himself, placing it back in the bag anyways before pulling out a very medieval-looking key that he also had no idea what to do with.
The last item that he pulled out was a pair of Silver Reaver Gauntlets. He had seen them before but he wasn't sure where from. What did he need these for? He quickly shoved them in the bag along with the note and slung the crossbody bag over his shoulder.
"Alright, I guess it's to the city then." He muttered, leaving the shop and sliding back under the fence.
He disregarded the sign he passed on his way out that read: "Welcome to Silent Hill."
After a while of walking, Jay had to sit down and take a break. He woke up at 3:30 a.m., walked for half an hour, fell off a wall, and then had a mini panic attack for about another half hour. Not to mention how badly has back stung. He sat down beside an old restaurant and listened quietly for the sound of voices when it suddenly struck him that he hadn't seen a single person since he got here. That was enough to get him back up on his feet.
In a sudden Panic, Jay started knocking on all the doors he could find, shouting for anyone. There was an odd, slightly muffled effect to his voice and the fog was so incredibly thick that there were some places where he couldn't see at all. "Hello?!" He choked out, finally giving up on the knocking.
There was a quiet noise. At first, Jay thought he was just imagining it. A quiet hiss on the Wind. It wasn't until it got louder that he recognized it as static. He pulled the walkie-talkie out of his bag, and it instantly went from a muffled static to an ear-piercing shriek. He almost dropped it on the spot. He gave it a wide-eyed look and shook it a little as if that would make it shut up, but it only got louder before fading out into silence. "What the fu-" He stopped when his eyes locked on a figure moving in the distance. He instantly ran towards it without thinking.
"Hello? Can you help me? I don't know where I am! Are you lost here too?" He called out as he got closer. The figure stopped moving as if they just now realized he was there and didn't hear the sudden blaring of the walkie-talkie that had started up again. The fog shifted around its form. Jay started to slow down. The closer he got, the less human it looked. The first thing he noticed was that it was hunched down on all fours. It's back was still turned to Jay, and he could see the spine jutting out of its back.
Jay slowed to a stop. The creature shifted. Turned around. And lunged itself at Jay. Jay yelped as he was suddenly pushed roughly to the ground. The creature had no eyes. They were overgrown by paper white skin. It extended its jaw as if it was about ready to bite him, but there was a strange transparent layer of skin just before its gaping jaw that was pulled tightly across its face so he could see the teeth, but they couldn't actually reach him. Jay instinctively kicked its chest roughly. The creature let out a distorted scream and fell back, quickly lunging at him again. Jay reached out his hand as if to blast the thing with lightning, but it didn't work. He tried again. He could feel the spark rush from his arms to his hands but that's where it stopped. Unable to break through the barrier of his skin.
In the confusion, the monster was able to get Jay back on the floor, raking its claws across the side of his face. Jay flinched, and acting on impulse, slammed his fist into the creature's throat and burst the transparent layer of skin. It let out a guttural scream that was so loud and ear-piercing that Jay had to slam his hands over his ears as if they might pop and start bleeding. The smell of its breath was intoxicating as Jay struggled to push it away this time. The side of his face stung and his vision was pulsing with white light. He tried to will his power back into existence, but it wouldn't work. Just barely able to reach his fingertips.
Jay drew back his hand and slammed the still-blaring walkie-talkie into the side of its head. (The loud noise wasn't helping the ringing in his ears.) The monster fell back, giving Jay enough time to get up and forcefully slam his fist against his chest. There was a loud crack. The monsters chest cavity split open. Jay slammed his eyes shut, gagging, then quickly glanced over. His expression turned to one of confusion. The insides were oddly mechanical, with a real, still-beating heart in the center of its chest. After a moment of sick hesitation, Jay reached inside and ripped out the heart. The static slowed to a stop. Jay doubled over and threw up on the floor.
Maybe a minute later, Jay stumbled back and leaned against a brick building. He was gasping for breath and his throat burned and his ears were ringing and his face stung as tears ran down his sickly pale cheeks and his back was still hurting badly. He tried his powers again and let out a groan of frustration when it didn't work. "This is bullshit." He said to himself, furiously wiping the tears from his face and flinching in pain when he touched the huge open cuts. He would have to look at it later. "My powers are stupid and I don't even have a wea-"
Jay paused. Blinked. He rushed over to his bag which had been discarded during the fight, and shoved the walkie-talkie back inside, pulling out the Reaver gauntlets. He wrapped the leather straps around his wrists before carefully slipping on each individual finger.
They were surprisingly comfortable and fully flexible. He had no idea what to do, or how to use them, but they still made him feel about ten times safer. He slung the bag back over his shoulder and continued on his way towards Borg Industries, ready to find his way out of this horrible place.
((I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! Please comment and let me know what you think, and any ideas you may have! XP
You can also leave a request in my Ninjago Oneshots book if you'd like me to write something for you!))
