Until Dawn: The Light in the Darkness
Chapter 19 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.
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Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.
Chapter 19
MIKE POV
I crouched by a wall, near the building I had seen. I ached all over from the running and climbing. The cold bit into my body and I was still trying to process what I has seen back in the mines, with Jess.
"Jesus." I muttered, ducking down before I was seen.
The stranger I had followed from the mines, the one I was sure was behind what happened to Jess, was walking up the path towards the building. I had heard growling and, peeking over the wall again, saw that the stranger wasn't alone. Two wolves were with him, then the stranger began to turn his head.
"Dammit." I muttered, ducking again.
I watched as the stranger seemed to close a door in the side of the building, before moving to the front of the building and entering.
"Alright..." I muttered to myself. "Let's get a closer look."
I grunted, trying to ignore the pain as I climbed over the wall, still carrying the lantern.
Walking towards the building, my mind replayed those last horrifying moments again and again. 'Dammit, Jess. I'm so sorry, I...I...I swear I will get this guy, he will pay for what he did to you.'
I paused by the door. I wondered if I should risk it. Then I decided to check what the stranger had been doing first, in case it offered an alternative. I soon figured out where I was when I came across a sign on the building, labeling it as condemned, yet also identifying it as a sanatorium.
"Awesome. Why wouldn't I end up at the creepiest place on planet Earth?" I remarked sarcastically.
I reached where the stranger had been and found a metal plate against the wall. Grunting and muttering in exertion, I pushed it aside to reveal, just as I had suspected, another entrance to the sanatorium, leading into the basement, by the look of it. I carefully clambered in and jumped down to the floor before looking around.
"Dammit, alright..."
I knew that I was going in blind here, the lantern was my only light source and I had no idea of the layout of the building. Still, I continued onward, searching the building as thoroughly as I could. There wasn't much room to move about, but I saw a hole in the ceiling. If I got up to the elevated path, I could then hopefully find something to use to climb through it, and that would hopefully take me into the main building. Careful searching turned up a barrel, which I set the lantern on and, preparing myself, I began pushing it until it was in the perfect position. Retrieving the lantern, I climbed onto the barrel and up onto the elevated path. I couldn't believe my luck when I found solid footing in the form of a broken machine on its side, right underneath the hole. I wasted no time climbing up and poking my head out of the hole, seeing my immediate surroundings.
"Whoa, that's different." I commented as I pulled myself up into what appeared to be the main floor of the building.
The sanatorium was in complete disrepair. It was clear that some parts of it had completely collapsed; there were fallen walls and I was certain that some of the doors were busted. The only plus side I could see right now was that I was out of the snow, away from the freezing cold. It helped me focus my mind on my pursuit, my determination for vengeance. I was feeling horribly guilty. If I hadn't been so stupid and selfish, Jess would likely never have ended up in the situation she had been in. This was my fault and I knew it. Knowing that I had to start somewhere, I approached the first door that didn't seem to be a dead end, apparently leading to the chapel, according to the sign. Peeking through a window by the door, I saw the stranger again, throwing something to the two wolves who began eating it.
"Whoa, what the…?" I whispered, praying it was an old-fashioned dog bone or animal meat and not human.
Trying the door, I found, to my frustration, that it was locked, I needed a keycard of some sort. I peeked through again and saw the stranger was gone and the wolves were just leaving. I had no choice now, I would have to search wherever I could, leaving no stone unturned, to find the keycard. Turning away from the chapel, I began my search in the very hall I was currently in. All my search turned up was administration notes to the sanatorium staff about the arrival of a group of miners who had been caught in a cave-in at the mines. It was dated 1952. The notes also mentioned that the press were being forced away from the building.
I couldn't deny that I didn't like what I was discovering; what appeared to be a decades old cover-up. However, all of this could wait until I found that man and made him pay.
'Gotta keep moving. C'mon, it's gotta be here somewhere.' I told myself.
However, I was once again confronted with the 1952 mine mystery when, while searching the admin office, I came across a broken camera and a partially opened safe with a wooden stake next to it.
"Whoa, someone really wanted to take a peek inside." I noted before finishing the job.
Inside, I uncovered thirty clocking-in cards for miners. I deduced then that this was the number of miners caught in the cave-in. I still couldn't understand about the broken camera, however, only that the damage looked deliberate. Mystery was piling upon mystery here. I briefly considered that maybe this stranger was looking into this 1952 mystery and these were clues that he had gathered. It appeared that the sanatorium, which seemed the center of said mystery, was also, conveniently, his base.
Shaking my head, I reminded myself, 'But then, why attack Jess? What is he hiding? What is he up to?'
Resuming my search for the keycard, I began heading down the corridor, towards what the signs indicated was the morgue, just what I needed to cheer myself up.
There were still a couple of offices, just before the steps leading down to the morgue, that were accessible, so I checked them first. In the first office, I found an old newspaper that detailed an assault on a reporter, suddenly making sense of the broken camera.
"Huh, intrigue on Blackwood Mountain." I mused.
It was clear now that something was definitely being hidden here, covered up, especially when the other office yielded medical reports that did not tally with my findings so far; a report on only twelve miners, not thirty. Eighteen were unaccounted for. Perplexed, but by no means distracted, I made my way down the steps towards the morgue. In the outer corridor, I came across a partially open room. Debris prevented me from actually entering but I could see a bird sitting on a table right by the door and embedded in said table was a machete.
'Urgh, just great...Well, I think I'm gonna need a weapon...better than nothing.' I told myself before reaching for it.
The bird cawed and flew away while I was able to finally pull the machete free. Grimacing, I stuck it in my belt and continued my search of the morgue itself. Noticing an odd shape behind a curtain, I pulled it aside to find a restraining chair, soaked in blood.
"Holy shit..." I gasped. "Ugh, what happened here?"
My continued exploration of the morgue offices and rooms led me to find another part of the 1952 mystery; a telegram, which seemed to indicate that there was indeed only twelve miners brought to the sanatorium, but thirty had indeed gone down the mines during that fateful excursion and that a massive cover-up was underway.
I shook my head at the fear of reporters flooding the place. 'Gee, who wouldn't want press snooping around in this paradise?'
My search then led me to another room, of which I could not identify the original purpose. Whatever the room used to be, it now only featured several tables and boxes and, strangely enough, a moving arm attached to a table, which jerked back and forth at irregular intervals. I grimaced, but shook my head. I didn't really want to look too closely at it. In fact, I couldn't waste time. I needed to hurry, that guy had likely gotten away by now. But where to go? There were so many ways. I looked around, worriedly. Luckily, I got a hint as I approached one door, the temperature dropped. I recalled from the various crime dramas I sometimes saw that morgues had to be relatively cold places. It had to be through there.
Entering the morgue, I was face to face with a strange, deformed, but still human skull on a shelf.
'This place just gets better and better.' I thought sarcastically.
Continuing my search, I found, to my frustration, that the door out was locked and required a keycard, the same keycard I needed for entering the chapel, too.
I growled as I turned to survey the room again. 'You've gotta be kidding.'
There was only one place I hadn't searched...three, actually. Three body drawers, the only ones not rusted shut. Forcing myself, I examined them. The first brought out a name tag of a man named Nicholas Bowen, the second was a death certificate for a Sarah Smith. It was clear that they were part of the 1952 mystery, especially the death certificate, which seemed to indicate that Sarah had been partially...eaten by something with very human teeth.
Opening the third drawer, I thought disgustedly to myself, 'Okay, is drawer number three the winner?'
Inside was an uncovered body. I nearly threw up, especially when a rat climbed out of the corpse's mouth. Containing myself, I was able to spot just what I needed; the chapel keycard on the body. I picked it up and turned away gratefully. I reached the locked door again, unlocked it, and, taking the keycard with me, entered the next corridor, which appeared to be in the back part of the chapel. I began climbing the stairs when I was ambushed by one of the wolves. Crying out, I ran for my life, the wolf right on my heels, growling and snapping at me.
With a mighty effort, I escaped the wolf, slamming the door shut behind me. Relieved, I fought desperately for breath, pretty sure that I was going to give myself a heart attack at this rate. I realized I was in the upper levels of the chapel and could see down below. I needed to get back to the chapel's main door, so I followed the path and climbed down a fallen staircase.
"Oh, right, back in here." I muttered with relief.
I was back in the main entrance, steps away from the chapel main doors. I hurried over as best as I could in my winded state and opened them before entering. Just then, I heard a growl and turned sharply to my left. The other wolf was there, growling at me. On instinct, I almost lashed out, but then told myself not to. Instead, I stepped back, holding up my hands. The wolf growled, but in a less threatening manner.
"Okay...okay..." I said softly. "Easy boy, easy, easy...that's a good boy."
I gently edged to the side and the wolf let me pass, settling itself down on the floor. I let out a relieved sigh and began to examine the room. My first point of interest in the run down, rubble-filled chapel was a wooden chest, filled with bones.
"Maybe this'll keep the wolves fat and happy." I said to myself, almost laughing in relief.
It seemed my earlier concern had been wrong. Taking one of the bones, I approached the wolf and whistled, getting its attention. I held out the bone and the wolf slowly came closer before gently taking it from my hand. I stroked the wolf and smiled as the animal seemed much more friendly now.
Once I finished patting the wolf, I resumed my search around the room, now no longer paranoid about being attacked from behind by the wolf. I spotted a cigar box with only one cigar left in it.
Something else then caught my eye; a wall that was covered in various newspaper clippings, all of them about strange disappearances and it did not make me any happier about the man I was pursuing.
One thing I did benefit from during my search was a slightly tattered olive green army jacket. Smirking, I pulled it on, relieved for the extra heat it provided.
"So...what have we here?" Through a gap in a mesh fence just behind where the jacket hung was a gun. Reaching in, I tried to grab it, but couldn't reach it.
"Come on!"
Shaking my head, I instead reached lower to a leg that was holding the shelf against the wall and, with a bit of effort, pulled it off, making the gun slide into my hand. I smiled, I still had the machete, and now had a gun. Now, I felt like I had a better chance.
Approaching the door at the back of the room, the only possible exit that the stranger could have taken, I shot the lock off and moved into the next room. Searching this area unearthed only a large stone memorial to 'the miracle men', the twelve surviving miners, still with no mention of the missing eighteen. Following the large staircase downwards into an underground area, I found another gate blocking my path and several barrels.
"Of course it's locked." I muttered.
Shoving an empty barrel out of the way, I took aim and fired, breaking the lock.
But my victory was short lived as I tried to go through the gate, for then I saw the fire. Some of the barrels were filled with flammable liquid and some had spilled onto the floor and the sparks from shooting the lock had ignited it. Seeing this, I began to back off.
"Shit, shit, shit..." I cried out as I tried to flee. "URGH!"
I cried out as the small explosion occurred, knocking me backwards onto the ground. I soon recovered, however, and picked myself up. Thankfully, I wasn't badly hurt, so I could still resume my search. I had to hurry. I began to worry that things were about to get a whole lot worse.
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.