The evening air was chilling; you should have brought something warmer to wear.
Your flashlight shone dimly through the forest that covered the mountainside. All around you, similarly freezing people shivered as they called out into the night, hoping that their missing friends and loved ones might suddenly show themselves. Your breath created soft clouds of warmth as you scanned the area. The safe, marked paths had ended a few kilometers back and the underbrush was clawing uncomfortably at your pants. You wondered how much further you would be able to go before your group decided to call it quits.
It was a rare day that anyone would organise an independent search party anywhere near Mount Ebott, but recently so many people had been disappearing that nothing could stop small, determined groups like yours from giving it a go. Normally it would be a job for the police. The mountain was said to be dangerous; urban legends went so far as to say that it was haunted by strange creatures. People would sometimes vanish around the area, either because they didn't know any better or they knew all too well. It was a place that was usually avoided, especially at dusk. Being so far up the mountain wasn't particularly legal without formal permission, but none of you felt you had a choice.
Things were getting out of hand. Sure, legends of disappearances were one thing, but having it happen to people who had no reason to do so and in such quantities... It was unsettling. One day you'd be talking to a friend, a co-worker, maybe a family member, and the next day they were gone. No notes left behind, no behavioural signs to explain it; all different people from all different backgrounds just- gone. The only real lead that anyone had was that all the missing people had last been seen around the area of...
Well, take a guess.
That wasn't to say that the police weren't trying. They had their own investigations of the bus routes and freeways, as well as aerial surveillance of the mountain and such. But it just wasn't enough. The plant life was too overgrown for helicopters to be of any real use and the police search parties never went ventured any further up than their paperwork allowed. There was simply too much ground to cover and not enough personnel on the force. Besides, venturing anywhere up beyond the faint trails around the mountain was difficult to organise and monitor. You'd have to be a fool to try it.
So that was why you were out now, nose freezing and voice getting kinda raw; because you were too stubborn to let the situation be.
There'd been a few people you'd known who had disappeared without a trace. Good, kind people that you hadn't really been close to yourself, but had been friends to your friends. How could you say no to volunteering? You'd seen the heartbroken looks on the faces of the affected, observed with a quiet nervousness as the city became more paranoid and the voids left behind by the missing persons became more obvious in day-to-day life. If you could find even one clue as to what had happened to them- one scrap of hope- then this would all be worth it.
But things were looking grim. Soon it would be too dark to continue safely and the forest was getting so thick that only wild animals and small children would be able to navigate any further.
Thinking about this kind of stuff isn't helpful to anyone. You thought bitterly as you rubbed your cold nose.
Sighing, you began to turn back.
Admittedly your group wasn't very well organised. Fanning out to cover more ground had been a great idea when you were all close to the base of the mountain, but as you hiked upwards it was harder to keep an eye on each other. You'd hate to come all the way up here to try and find some of the missing people only to end up expanding the list instead.
Squinting, you tried to pinpoint the wavering torch lights of the other volunteers. It was hard to do with so many leaves and branches constantly in your face. The sound of grass, bushes and tree tops being whipped about by the frozen wind filled your ears. It was... unusually silent. Had you really been trapped in your thoughts that long? You could have sworn that it was only a moment ago that others were calling out into the wilderness alongside you.
Carefully, you maneuvered your way along the mountain. You called out several times, straining to hear a response. But... you couldn't hear the voices of your party at all.
Damn, you really must've gotten lost yourself. How terribly ironic.
Oh well, what's done is done, they say. You were responsible enough to handle yourself. Finding your way off a mountain was easy; all you had to do was head downwards. Eventually you would reach the safety of the paths and easily circle around to the meeting spot, right? Even if it the mountain you were descending was a cold, possibly haunted one which was famous for spiriting people away long before the recent disappearances.
… You held your flashlight tighter.
There was no phone service up on the mountainside, which left you feeling guilty in advance for the worry that you would undoubtedly be causing your group. As you set off you began practicing the perfect way to apologise. You'd have to say sorry for wandering off, not paying attention, possibly backing out on the search early (if the party was still on the mountain)- ugh, it was a long list. But there was no way you were going to remain alone on that giant, creepy dirt pile.
Your thoughts were interrupted by a distant sound. It was so quiet that you thought it might have been a trick of the wind or even your imagination. Straining to hear past the whipping of the grass and the leaves, you stood completely still.
There were crickets chirping in the dry bushes. A constant whisper was brought in by the soft, yet bitterly cold wind that pushed past you. Even the flashlight in your hand gave an almost inaudible hum as its batteries became weaker with every passing moment.
Perhaps it had been your imagination after all. For some reason you had thought you'd heard footsteps and a tiny giggle. Maybe the mountain really was getting to-
A shaky sob cut through the night air.
Oh my god, I hope that's not a ghost.
You shook your irrational thoughts away. Just because you were on a spooky mountain where centuries worth of people were possibly killed or committed suicide didn't mean that the child-like sound you heard was a ghost. I-it could be one of the missing people you were looking for! … Right?
During your moment of pause another sob echoed over the wind. A tiny voice, stuttering and obviously in poor condition, called out; "H...ello? Pl...ease! Some-some...one, pl...ease…"
"Hello! I can hear you! Don't worry, I'm coming to help!"
The small cry for help hit you right in the heart. Now was not the time to be comparing your situation to a cliche horror movie! Real people's lives were possibly at stake! If you ran down the mountain screaming because of 'ghosts' and it ended up being a real person in need of real medical attention… Well, you wouldn't be able to live with yourself.
You quickly jogged through the woods in the direction you had heard the voice, careful to keep a good eye on your footing as you searched the area. The thought of someone being in trouble reminded you exactly why you had volunteered for the search party in the first place. There were people out there who needed help. People who had their families grieving over them and friends feeling lost and useless due to their absence. Right now, you were the only person available who could potentially save them.
Even though your throat was getting dry you kept yelling out periodically, trying to get the crying person's attention. You asked them to call back but they only continued to sob quietly. Despite the faint paranoia in your head, your heart reached out to them. They sounded so young.
As soon as you reached the area where you were certain the sounds were coming from, everything became deadly silent
"Hello? Are you still there? Say something, please!"
But there was no response. Once again, you were left in the silence and the dark.
However, you couldn't give up and go back down the mountain just yet. You knew you hadn't been imagining that crying child. Somewhere up here was a kid in distress and by god you were going to help them.
You squeezed yourself through the gaps in trees and shuffled around bushes. There had to be something out here that could show you where the crying had been coming from. Footprints in the dirt? A lost item? A broken stick or two? Anything.
The trees and twigs scratched you through your thin jumper. Their persistent little claws stung you and you had to back off several times just to find a safer way forward. But all you were rewarded with was a whole lot of nothing.
At least, until you stumbled across a hole of nothing.
A cave awning nearly twice your size and more than thrice as wide stood before you. Stalagmites and stalactites decorated the interior. A faint dripping sound could be heard from the depths. As you took a step closer a cold, yet stale, gust of wind could be felt gently pushing its way out from the mountain depths. You shivered slightly despite the wind from inside managing to be a few degrees warmer than it was outside. In the dark of the quickly encroaching night the cave was a pretty ominous sight.
A small sob echoed off of the stone walls exactly like the ones you had heard before. You felt your body lock up. It had been much clearer this time (and not echo-y enough to match up with your horror media experiences). There really was a living person still lost on the mountain. You actually found one! But... did you really want to be traversing a pitch-black cave all alone?
Again you cursed yourself for getting separated from the group. Mount Ebott was not the kind of place you ever wanted to be lost in. Not to mention that having the experience of several older volunteers (as well as their basic equipment and first aid training) would have made you much less nervous about rescuing a missing person. What if they were injured, poisoned or sick? Would you really be able to handle it on your own?
Before you could decide on your next step a strained voice echoed towards you, "H... hel...p. Pl... ease?"
Throwing caution to the wind you immediately made your way into the mouth of the cave. Whoever was in there needed help and they needed it now. Even if it turned out that you didn't have the experience to help the lost person properly… well, you could at least try. If worse came to worst you could calm them and race back to your group to tell them the cave's location. Or maybe you could carry them, they did sound like a small child after all.
Hidden in the depths of the cave was a sudden steep drop. It had a circumference of at least a couple of metres and probably led straight down into some deeper section of the mountain. Flecks of moonlight shone down from a hole in the ceiling and illuminated the edges of the pit but failed to reveal anything deeper. Peering over the edge, your sputtering flashlight completely failed to pierce the darkness below. You couldn't bring yourself to stand too close, just in case.
What if the crying person had fallen down there? Maybe that had been why you'd heard them in the forest one minute and in the cave the next. You hadn't heard a scream, but that didn't make it impossible. Worse, maybe the person had been trapped down there the entire time and their cries had echoed up to you above-ground. If the hole in the ceiling was any indication, the cave could be connected to various sinkholes and pits. You might have walked past some of them in your search.
You bit your lip. The hole was way too deep; you didn't have the equipment to help a person out of such a dangerous spot nor the ability to treat any severe injuries a fall like that might cause.
Still, you had come this far.
"Hello? Are you down there?" You called, praying that the person would answer and be alright.
For a long time there was no response and you circled the pit, trying to get a better vantage point. If you got too close there was no doubt that the thick dirt would fall away under your weight. Not to mention the entire area was a tripping hazard with stubborn vines and rocks sticking out like they were just inviting your feet to catch on them. The dripping echoed away in the distance, reminding you also that good portions of the ground consisted of slippery and no doubt sharp stone beneath the protective soles of your shoes. Damn those stalactites.
You nervously let out a breath through clenched teeth. It came out as a hissing fog in the cold air as you continued to test the stability of the ground with the tips of your shoes. Finding an area that you deemed safe enough, you inched forward and tilted your light downwards. It seemed like there might have been something at the bottom, but the night and the cave were both so dark you could barely tell.
You began to doubt your thinking. Was it really possible to survive a fall that far? Maybe it would be better (safer) to search the rest of the cave first.
Just as you were about to back up again you heard a giggle from behind you.
Pain shot up your leg and you let out a scream, whipping around in an unthinking motion. As your arm swung back the flashlight in your hand connected with something hard. There was an angry cry, but you were in too much of a panic to see what it was. Your leg gave out underneath you as you were halfway through your turn, causing you to slip backwards across and over the lip of the pit. Your own terrified shout echoed back at you through the cave, filling your ears and drowning out any other fearful sounds you might have made.
The last thing you saw as you fell down was a victorious smile and vengeful red eyes.
