Disclaimer: The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest and all of its characters are copyrighted by Hanna Barbara. I do not own any of the characters from this show
The chapter starts off somewhat slowly, but it picks up its pace towards the end. More to come...
The First Victims
Dark, ominous clouds covered the sky, blocking out any semblance of moon light. You find yourself miles away from the nearest paved road, deep inside a thick, impenetrable forest. If you dare travel through the thick woods, you may discover an ancient path, almost entirely concealed under plant growth and a layer of snow. The path appears to have been disused for decades, apart from one set of tire tracks, which ran through the snow.
Tree branches reach down along the path, almost like arms, ready to grab any soul unfortunate enough to wander past them and tear their victim to pieces. The trees stood as they had for centuries, undisturbed by either man or animal life, except for a few, which had curious red marks littered along their trunks.
Apart from the trees, there is no sign of any living creature for miles, except for the tire tracks. They ran through the thick undergrowth, leaving small hints of destruction along the path. Here and there, small marks of red paint and bits of shattered glass lay, embedded into the tree trunks. It was obvious that whoever came through the woods had no idea how to navigate through it.
The path leads unfortunate victims deeper through the woods, which thicken around the ancient road almost to the point of suffocating anyone going along it, until finally, you come up to a clearing.
As you reach the clearing, you're in for one hell of a surprise. Right in the middle of nowhere, where everything appears to be dead, stands an imposing structure, almost invisible due to the lack of light. As you move closer to the structure however, the identity of the building becomes a bit more apparent.
The building appeared to have been a grand mansion of some sort. Its glory days however, are far behind it. In better times, the building had served as a glorious French Colonial style mansion, to a group of traders who had settled there. Those days unfortunately, were long gone. The white paint, which had once enveloped the building, adding to its grandeur, has mostly peeled off the side of the building in large chunks, causing the structure to resemble a dark serpent, shedding its skin.
The positioning of the windows, which surely must have kept the house well lit in the past, now practically gave the house a face, if viewed from a distance. Strange as it may seem, the once proud mansion, which dominated its surrounding, now appears to be watching over the very same forest with an air of malice and an expression of evil.
Upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that most of the windows are either covered in decades of dust, making seeing through them impossible, or are boarded up, preventing curious creatures from entering this lair of evil and saving them from a terrible fate.
Behind the structure lies an old hedge maze. The maze must have been quite a sight to behold in days gone by. Due to over a century of neglect, it is now completely overgrown and virtually impassible. The extreme size and unkempt nature of the hedges created a maze which even the Minotaur would think twice before entering.
Right between the maze and the mansion however, was a sign of intrusion in this clearing, which possibly resembled a demon's idea of a playground. This sign was a pair of large, red SUVs. The SUVs themselves had an interesting appearance. Both of them were heavily dented and covered in scratches – obviously these had been the vehicles which had just traveled along the path. One of them lay empty, while the other had a strange light emanating from inside it.
Suddenly, a voice barely audible due to static rang out from inside the vehicle; "Rich, this is Paul. Need to talk, over". Rich sat in the back of the SUV, however, from the inside, this vehicle looked more like a military command centre than a normal vehicle. 6 small screens were stationed on one side of the vehicle, while the other side was covered with what appeared to be expensive sound equipment. In between all this equipment sat a tall, yet frail young man, with shoulder length hair. He reclined in his chair, holding a flask of hot coffee in his left hand. He didn't appear to be paying any attention to his surroundings.
"God dammit Rich, if you don't respond, I'll come out there and beat you with your own f***ing coffee mug" the voice said. It appeared to be coming from a walkie talkie, which lay buried under a stack of comic books. Rich groaned. Clearly physical work was something he didn't do often. However, he slowly got himself off the chair, picked up the stack and answered the walkie talkie.
"Hey Paul, what's up?" he said, feigning interest.
Paul meanwhile, uttered out a cacophony of insults, hurled towards Rich, implying various things, including many crude references involving Rich and his mother. Rich didn't seem bothered. Clearly he was used to this.
"Come on Paul, just cut to the chase" he said, seating himself back down on the chair and propping open a comic in front of his face.
You could hear Paul take a deep breath through the walkie talkie, before he finally uttered words which froze Rich's blood. "Amy's gone missing" he said slowly.
The comic slid down Rich's face. "What do you mean missing?" he asked, now holding the walkie talkie in a vice grip. "You're all in the same f***ing house!" he shouted into the small machine in his hand. Paul said something in return, but Rich wasn't listening anymore. He turned towards the screens and frantically searched every single angle on display on the computer screens. All he saw a small group of 4 people standing on top of the main staircase. 5 people had gone in there just a few hours ago. He looked onto another screen, which gave a list of all the 5 in the house and displayed their vital signs. The team had taken care to attach sensors to each member before they went in. This was obviously a well-funded operation. 3 of the names, Danny, Joe and Liz showed a high pulse rate, while Paul seemed to be somewhat calmer, despite his apparent shock at Amy's disappearance. Amy's vital signs however, were not displayed at all. Next to her name, the screen simply showed a small message, which said "individual system failure".
Rich stared at the screens for a few more seconds, before getting back to the walkie talkie. "I can't find a trace of her anywhere" he said worriedly. He seemed to barely be able to speak.
Rich cast a forlorn look towards the house. There were a number of cables running from the SUVs to the house, no doubt used for the cameras and sound equipment located inside. The cables ran through an open back door, to various parts of the house. One particular cable ran through various back rooms, intricately zigzagging around the inside, until it reached a hall, containing an ancient grand staircase. The hall was very dimly lit and would have been completely dark, were it not for a light emanating from the top of the stair case.
If you dare follow the light, up the staircase, you'll find that leads straight to a man, standing at the top of the staircase, carrying an obviously expensive camera. With him, there were 3 others. The camera man looked somewhat similar to Rich, except for the fact that he was better groomed and looked somewhat stronger physically. He stood, pointing the camera at different rooms and corners around the bottom of the staircase, using it like a vantage point.
Out of the remaining characters, one of them stood alert, with his legs apart. He held a walkie talkie in his left hand and stood silently, holding it up to his ear. This was probably Paul. Paul was not very tall, but had an impressive physique. He was wearing a pair of combat trousers, with a pistol holstered around his right leg, along with a thick jacket. Paul stood absolutely still. He had not yet responded to Rich. It's not that he didn't care enough about the situation. As an ex-military man, he cared deeply for all his teammates. He just needed to clear his head and think for a few seconds.
2 more team members stood between Paul and the cameraman. One of them stood, facing the staircase and leaning against the back wall. She looked physically fit and young and was wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, covered with a jacket. She held her hands close to her face and blew air into them to keep them warm. It wasn't helping, but she just needed something to take her mind off the fact that her friend had disappeared. This was Liz. As Liz leaned back, she felt something poke her arm.
She felt a sudden and intense pain and could feel blood starting to drip out of a small cut on her arm – Liz gasped and jumped forwards, before swinging around and discovering the cause of her discomfort. A large portrait, in a dark, rotting wooden frame hung directly behind her. The wood had splintered and was now sticking out of the portrait and had been the cause of the cut. Liz looked at the others. Paul and the other team member didn't seem to have noticed, however, the cameraman had turned towards her and was now staring at her, with an expression showing ill-disguised fear and worry.
"Liz, are you alright?" he practically whimpered, lowering the camera. Sweat started escaping from his brow, as Liz straightened herself, before taking a step towards him.
Liz didn't want to worry anyone else. The team already had enough to worry about. Besides, it was probably a small cut. It shouldn't bother her too much. She looked towards the cameraman and faked a grin. "I'm fine, Joe" she said, in spite of the pain she now felt.
"You don't need to worry about me", she added, reassuringly.
Joe the cameraman looked somewhat relieved. He had been holding his breath for the past few seconds and finally breathed out. He caught a glimpse of the portrait behind Liz and turned on the camera's main light, illuminating the wall. The walls of the entire mansion appeared to be decorated with creepy portraits; however, this one took the cake. It was a portrait they had seen before, while surveying the house in the morning. It was fading, but you still make out the figures quite clearly. It showed the image of a large, stout man who looked immensely physically strong. He was dressed in an old fashioned black suit and was standing in what appeared to be one of the other rooms of the house. He had greying hair and many lines on his face, but still appeared to be reasonably young. He was scowling in the portrait and standing with his chest out, looking like the most pissed off military officer in the world.
This man would be scary enough to encounter on his own, but something else caught Joe's eye. Joe's blood froze, as he saw what it was. Behind the man was a large mirror and a door, which was just barely open and through the door, Joe could see what looked like a pair of blood red eyes staring at him. He took a step closer, before his thoughts were interrupted.
"That's one creepy son of a bitch, isn't" Liz said, looking at the portrait herself. Joe looked towards her for a second, before turning back. The eyes were gone. Joe was puzzled.
"Liz, did you see them too?" he exclaimed, startling Liz.
She appeared confused for a second. Joe started getting more excited. "Did you see the eyes in the door?" he asked, now panning the camera along the entire portrait.
Liz clearly had no idea what he was talking about. "Joe, what's wrong?" she asked, worriedly.
Joe couldn't find a trace of them anywhere. Had he imagined them? He thought to himself. Deciding he should just let it go, he turned away from the portrait. "I'm fine, Liz" he said unconvincingly, before turning back to the staircase. Liz stepped away from the portrait and stood next to him.
The last team member sat on the top step of the stair case. He was a tall, physically large man and seemed the least concerned of the group. He was absent mindedly staring at the ceiling, when suddenly, a light flashed right into his eyes. "Joe" he said menacingly, as he stood up and stared down at the cameraman. "turn that damn thing off right now" he said menacingly towards Joe. Before the man could reply however, Paul quickly butted in. He had formulated a plan and decided to regain some control before his team started tearing each other apart.
"Quit fighting and listen" he said, with an air of authority. Everyone inside turned to him. Outside, Rich listened in intently on his walkie talkie.
"We all need to stick together" Paul said, his voice getting quieter with each syllable. "We've already swept this floor and found nothing. Let's all stay in 1 team and investigate the entire house. We start in the basement" he said, waiting to see if there were any objections. There were none.
"And Rich" he quickly added before the group headed out, "No matter what happens, stay with the equipment. Keep an eye on all of us". With that, Paul put the walkie talkie into one of his many pant pockets and led the group down the staircase.
Paul led them through various small rooms. He was the only one who seemed to know where to go. As a former soldier, he had learned to map out areas where he was operating and had managed to memorise almost every room and corner when the team had taken a look at the house during daytime. They advanced swiftly, until they reached a small door in what appeared to be a lounge of some sort. Paul turned and looked to the others. "Turn the camera off" he barked at Joe. The man quickly complied, switching off the machine, disconnecting its cord and slinging it across his shoulder. The last thing they needed was Joe wandering around the basement, trying to get the perfect shot and impaling himself on something.
Once that was done, Paul gave the team another order. "Everyone, get your flashlights on" he said. The others immediately complied and gave him a thumbs up when they were ready. Paul them proceeded to take out his own flashlight and looked towards a camera placed in the corner of the room. When his team had arrived, they had placed cameras almost everywhere, to give Rich a view of the entire mansion. They had however, neglected to place anything in the basement, as none of them had been willing to go down there. Now however, it was different. One of their friends needed them and the team wasn't intending to let Amy down.
Joe took a quick look around the room. It looked familiar in a way, but he just couldn't remember when he had seen this room before. He hadn't been around this part of the house when they patrolled in the morning, but it looked somewhat familiar. He decided not to say anything however. No need to worry the others, he though.
After one last deep breath, they descended one by one into the basement. The light from their torches travelled through the damp, dark basement, hitting a wall a hundred feet ahead. There were several small openings around the basement, which appeared to lead to other tunnels and rooms.
Rich's voice came through the walkie talkie in Paul's pocket. "The entire team is in, Paul" he said, before taking a deep breath and saying something all of them already knew. "I can't watch you guys anymore. Be careful".
Paul slowly led the others through the damp basement corridor. They worked efficiently, with 2 people entering each room and staking it out, while 2 others waited outside. Paul looked and couldn't help but feel a hint of pride as his trainees carried out their job to perfection. "I could've used soldiers like these" he thought wistfully to himself. They kept going and found nothing of note, until they reached the end of the corridor.
At that point, the corridor turned sharply to the left and appeared to continue for hundreds of feet. Apart from a few rumbles of displeasure from Joe, who Paul shut up by staring at him, the team was completely loyal to their leader and appeared disciplined.
It was at this point that Paul signalled to Danny and Liz to go around the corner. Little did he realise that he had just made a terrible mistake. Just as the two went past the wall, there was a sudden rumble and a loud CLANGING sound echoed throughout the house. An iron wall emerged from the side of the corridor and slid out, blocking the path, separating the 2 groups completely.
Paul ran to the wall, but finding no way past it, tried to contact Rich through the walkie talkie. He took it out of his pocket. "Rich, call for f***ing help!" he exclaimed repeatedly, his confidence and self-control shattered. He knew there was no way the others could get out without help. Joe had backed up a bit from the shock of a wall suddenly popping up between him and his comrades. Images of the portrait and the room that led to the basement started flashing in his head, before he finally realised that the room they had used to get to the basement was the same on in the portrait and door with the red eyes was the one they had just gone through. Before he could regain his composure however, Joe saw something which no one in their right minds would ever believe. Out of one of the rooms which they had just searched, something suddenly emerged and rushed towards Joe.
Paul turned to see a horrible shadow covering Joe from head to foot, surrounding him in further darkness. Paul didn't know what to do. He backed up into the walls, when his hand swept past his right leg. He felt his pistol in his hand. Meanwhile, the shadow had completely engulfed Joe.
Paul felt himself overtaken by extreme fear and hatred for the thing which was terrorising his teammate. He was going to make sure it left Joe alone. He withdrew his pistol from the holster in an almost mechanical fashion and fired 3 shots, right where the shadow's chest would be, if it was human. The shadow suddenly dissipated. Paul stared intently at the scene. His shoulders drooped and he felt relief when the shadow left.
However, when he saw what had happened, tears flooded his eyes. When he fired his shots, all the rounds had gone right through the shadow. He had inadvertently shot Joe thrice. The cameraman lay motionless on the ground. Paul was oblivious to his surroundings and to the screams on the other side of the wall. The situation was too much for Paul to handle. He made a decision for which he normally would have beaten himself. He left Joe lying on the floor and ran straight to the exit.
Meanwhile, Rich looked on in horror as Danny and Liz's vital sign indicators seemed to suddenly get deactivated, while Joe's indicator clearly stated that he was now dead. Paul's pulse had suddenly jumped to 180. At this rate, he'd have a heart attack. Rich reached for his walkie talkie and started trying to communicate. "Paul, come in" he shouted repeatedly into the device.
"Dammit Paul, give me a response!" he exclaimed finally, before movement on one the screens caught his eye. Rich looked on in horror as Paul emerged from the basement, with an expression of pure terror on his face. He was clearly visible through the camera which had been placed by the basement entrance. Suddenly, the camera flew off the wall and appeared to knock Paul out. The camera lost focus for a moment. A second later, it started filming again, now showing Paul's motionless form being dragged slowly into the basement.
A sudden sound nearly scared Rich half to death. It was a ring tone on a satellite phone. Rich didn't even need to ask. He knew who was calling. He took a deep breath before answering the phone. "Where the f*ck have you sent us?" he whispered threateningly into the phone.
Before the caller could respond, Rich started shouting almost incoherently. "They're dying inside! Send help!" he hollered into the phone. Someone gave a response. However, Rich wasn't interested in the call anymore. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the back door of the house burst open and Something emerged from its inside.
This was too much for even the most experienced ghost hunters to handle. Rich shut the back door of the SUV and dove into the front. His hands were shaking too much for him to even grab the keys properly. He checked out his rear view mirror.
The apparition was getting closer. His hand finally found the keys and, pressing his food hard on the clutch, he started the engine. It buzzed into life. Rich set the SUV into 1st gear and took off, snapping all the cables connected to the materials inside and without bothering to change into 2nd gear. The car emitted a horrid sound, as its revs count moved higher and higher. Rich couldn't care less. He just wanted to get away from that thing. He drove through the side of the hedge maze, cutting a new entrance and exit into the horrid thing, before putting the car into 2nd, then 3rd gear, hoping to get away. He turned towards the path at the front of the house and looked again at his rear view mirror and saw nothing. He emitted a sigh of relief. "At least I made it" he thought to himself. "I'll avenge the others later, but for now, at least I'm safe" he thought.
Rich sped up as he drove to the path, going at almost 40 miles an hour. Just as he neared the start of the path however, it became clear that the house simply wouldn't let him leave. Rich's eyes widened, as he saw something appear directly in front of him, blocking his escape route. A ghostly figure suddenly appeared in front of his car. The shock of seeing the figure standing in front of him and staring at him, with its cold, dead eyes, caused Rich to swerve away. The man was barely able to emit a scream before his car came to its resting place. His last minute swerve had sent him straight into one of the strongest trees in the area. The SUV was airbag equipped, so Rich probably would have survived the collision. However, the low branch which impaled him through the abdomen sealed his fate. Rich was slumped over the branch, which had just removed most of his innards. He managed to blink once, just before his eyes widened with terror, as something moved towards him.
All that could be heard was the rumbling from the car's engine and a voice on the satellite phone, repeating the lines, "Rich? What's going on?" over and over again.
End of Chapter 1
The Quests will soon be involved with this case, whether willingly or unwillingly.
What do you guys think so far, of the introduction?
Also, for those of you still waiting for the end of the City of Darkness, I'll try to get that finished soon, but I can't guarantee a date. Just got a bit bored with that story for the time being, but don't worry.
Thanks!
