Notes: This is my first ever story! I hope anyone that comes across this piece enjoys it as much as I do writing it, I'm a novice writer/storyteller but I will do my best to keep this story updated and keep the plot well told. Any questions about this and future chapters I will happily try to answer as soon as I can without spoiling anything! Anyways, enjoy the story and hopefully some people see this new piece.
(Also some chapters may have art pieces attached to specific scenes, I'll try to figure out how to add them into here as soon as i can.)
Chapter 1 - Home Sweet Home
*Journal Entry, Day 1.*
~ As I write this, our planet's resources slowly dwindle. My employers have directed me to figure out a solution for their most prized resource of all, power. The lower levels use as little power as required to operate, but if The Top runs out, then nothing will stop them from butchering us like animals.~
~However, a solution may have presented itself to me!
~Apparently our energy division has spotted some …fluctuation… on their radar outside of the city. Apparently it's the highest they've seen it for the past 35 years. With this newfound information, my employers have hired Craterfall, a large mining company, to drill deep into the earth in hopes of finding the source.~
~If we are able to find it, my team can figure out just how to harness this unknown energy before our supply runs out. I would say with how much The Top uses, we have about 3 years left in the tank before we run dry, perhaps even less.~
~I will update this journal once I am able to get my hands on the source of this energy, perhaps if I figure out how to fully optimize this new energy output, I could get enough power to charge The Top, AND the lower levels, or perhaps get a raise from it. I have been catching my eye on a few things as of late.~
- J. Axel
BEEP!...BEEP!...BEEP!...BEE-
*Click*
"Ok, ok… I'm up."
As my eyes slowly open and adjust to my surroundings, I am greeted to the same dingy apartment that I've been staying in for the past 2 years. The only other thing irritating my eyesight besides the dingy wallpaper is the rays of sun piercing my window into my bedroom.
I rise out of my bed and begin my morning routine, brush my teeth, do my hair, and get dressed in clean clothes.
…
Ok maybe just get dressed in some clothes.
As I leave my apartment, I look around to take in the wonderful sights that surround me. Garbage litters the halls, residents know going to the streets to dispose of it will only end up with them being beaten and robbed of whatever little valuables they got left on them, or worse, The Top will see another lab rat for them to take home.
I never bother to get to know my neighbors, most people living here are either vagrants, dope fiends, or people just way down on their luck, all of them just trying to get by without worrying about waking up with an intruder in their home.
After getting out of the complex, I decided to visit my friend David at his work. A bit of a hard ass when you're on his bad side, but a good person all around, works as a bartender down at this place called "Purgatory", fitting name since I see the same people there day after day.
After walking for a bit, Purgatory shows up in my line of sight. However, my train of thought is suddenly interrupted by a tap on my shoulder.
"Hu-"
As I look to my right, no one is standing there. It isn't until I turn to my left where I am greeted by a familiar face.
"Oh, hey Kevin, what're you doing out here?" My shoulders relax as I feel comforted being next to a friend rather than a stranger.
"Nothin much, was gonna grab a bite to eat over at Beef Monarch until I saw you prowlin around the town. Any special reason?"
"Not really, was gonna go see David real quick at Purgatory, grab a drink or two before heading back home, wanna join?"
Kevin looks ahead and scratches his cheek, pondering the question for a minute. I can see some obvious bags under his eyes, wonder if the poor guys slept at all these past few days.
"Sure, why not! Not like I got anything better to do. Wait, don't you have to work today?" He asks raising an eyebrow towards me.
"Recently the power to the place has been going out more and more frequently, management told us it's due to 'faulty wiring'" I say in quotations with my fingers "But if I had to guess, I'd say we're bleeding dry in the finance department. I'm not gonna be surprised If the whole department is laid off by next week."
"Huh, y'know my place's power has been going out pretty frequently too, and I've been timing it!" I watch as this string bean of a man rummages through his pocket for a moment trying to grasp onto something.
After a bit he pulls out a crumpled notepad and shoves it into my chest. "Since last week, my power went out for an hour. However, everytime it goes out, it's off for just a little bit longer, look!"
He points at what I assumed was random chicken scratch at first, however upon closer inspection, it seemed that he was noting down the times his power went out and the dates it happened.
I try inspecting the notes more but my focus is more trained on his hand. His fingernails have almost been chewed down into nothing, and his hands were skinny enough that I could almost trace every vein in his hand.
I handed the notepad back to him while rubbing my eyes. Maybe I wasn't awake enough or it was the fumes of this city getting into more corneas, but I could only sigh and respond with…
"Kevin, have you been doing alright lately?" I say with a tone of curiosity rather than actual worry.
"Yea of course, what makes you say that?" He asks with a sly smirk on his face.
"Look at your hands man! If you keep biting your nails you're gonna reach bone!" Although it probably hurt to hear, better to tell the man outright than tiptoe around it.
"And have you looked in a mirror lately?" I point towards the dark bags underneath his eyes. "If those bags get any deeper I'm pretty sure your face is gonna start sinking."
I put a hand on his shoulder as we walk, not out of kindness, but I think he was starting to doze off while I was talking to him and I didn't want him to drift off into the street.
"Have you been getting enough sleep lately? Haven't seen you like this in… well, ever."
Kevin shrugs my hand off his shoulder and keeps the same pace as me. "Yea man I'm doing fine, new meds doc got me on have some side effects, but nothing serious!" He lifts his hands up, almost trying to defend his "Doctors" reputation. "They just keep me up at night, s'all there is. I find it pretty helpful in some cases, use the time to mostly clean up around the place, but you can only scrub the toilet so many times before it starts to feel repetitive." He says while shrugging his shoulders.
"But don't worry about it man, once Connor comes back, I'll be right as rain." He answers as we reach the entrance of Purgatory.
Sigh… "Yea, once he comes." I give a fake smile that washes away as soon as he looks at the entrance.
Few years back, my best friend Connor was finally able to work for The Top. We were all proud of him and excited to see where he'd end up, but after a couple months, he just went radio silent. No messages, no calls, not even a finely crafted poem, Kevin was already pretty unwell at that point in time but practically losing a friend in a world full of savages was just the icing on the shit birthday cake.
I don't know who provides him with these meds but if I know anything about this city, it's that the mentally unwell are seen as gold mines for pushers, and guinea pigs to The Top.
I push open the doors to Purgatory, perhaps a drink is just what I need before going back out in town.
Walking through the doors I'm hit with a concoction of smells, the air burning my lungs from the whiskey stained breath of the patrons, cigarette smoke stained the interior of everything in the building from clothes to furniture, and puke stained tiles littered the ground from those unable to handle their drinks.
I walk towards the bar in hopes of seeing David serving our wonderful community, only to find Jasmine, David's coworker.
…And unfortunately, my ex.
"Hello Jasmine, I see you've finally ditched the goat head and went for something more, our style" I say with a sly grin.
"Hello James, finally crawled outta that cave you call a home to meet civilization?" She says with a furrowed brow.
You could practically see the daggers we were shooting at each other. However, what perhaps looked like two people trying to see if they could hear each other's thoughts, was interrupted by Kevin asking…
"Is David working right now?" Asking somewhat quietly, probably thinking if he spoke any louder he'd be a victim of a beating from an already pissed off bartender who was getting angrier by the second while looking at me.
Jasmine whipped her head towards Kevin making the poor excuse of a man flinch, most likely expecting a hail of fists to hit him.
Jasmine relaxed a little as she saw who asked her the question, "Oh, hey Kevin, yea David's in the back I can get him real quick if you need me to."
"Could you please?" Kevin asked meekly, "We were wanting to talk to him for a bit before we leave."
She proceeded to walk into the back of the bar, leaving Kevin and I alone at the bar.
…
…
"Wonder whats taking so lo-"
BANG!
I turned my head towards the noise while Kevin about jumped out of his seat and booked it outta the place.
"James, Kevin! Whatcha guys doin here?" A large burly man stands in the doorway to the back of the bar, wearing a large grease stained uniform that almost makes you think he was fixing cars back there.
"Nothing much" I answered, "Me and Kevin wanted to swing by the place and talk to you before we split up for the day."
David smirked, "Well hell that's nice of ya, sadly I don't think today is a good day." He says while rubbing the back of his neck with a look of almost annoyance on his face.
"Huh? What's wrong, business ain't been booming lately?" I chuckle as I ask.
"No nothing like that, it's the damn power to this place, been going out more and more recently. Brought an old generator from home in hopes of keeping this place well lit until Jasmine and I can figure out the problem."
"I've seen it too! I even wrote down some not-" Kevin tried digging in his pockets to get his crumpled up notepad again, however I stopped him before this social interaction got any more awkward.
"Yea… like Kevin said, we've been experiencing blackouts too, but it's not just us! Apparently the entire apartment complex has been having the same problems, no one knows what the hell's been happening lately."
"Strange, think it's just a coincidence?" David asks with curiosity as he fills up two mugs and places them in front of Kevin and I.
I bring the mug up to my lips, I hadn't even realized I never drank anything this entire day. The cold brew hit my throat like a flowing river through the Sahara desert.
~Ahhh
"No clue, but someone better figure something out. If I wake up late for work due to the complex's power being out, someone is getting my foot in their ass."
I place the mug back on the bar, I look in comparison of me and Kevin's drinks, there practically wasn't a single drop left in my glass while Kevin's still had more than half full.
David chuckled, "Well either way, as long as this place keeps pouring drinks, I think we'll be alright."
"Yea maybe you're right, all we can really do is just wait at this point and hope someone finds a solution." I stand up off the stool with Kevin doing the same, "But we'll get outta your hair David hope you have a good night."
"Yea you guys have a good one as well. Oh and another thing before you leave."
I stop and turn back to look at him, "Hmm?"
"You need to pay for your drinks." He says pointing to the mugs on his bar.
…Oh yea…
After paying for our drinks I wave goodbye to David and talk to Kevin outside before going home.
"Hopefully this place stays in business, don't wanna think about what'll happen if a bar loses power even for a day in this city." I say with almost uneasiness in my voice.
"I imagine by next week this place'll be picked so clean, it'll just be an empty lot in its place."
Even though he tried saying it in a serious tone, Kevin couldn't help but laugh aloud at his own joke. And, I couldn't help but laugh either.
"Welp Kev, I think I'm gonna hit the road, get back home and sleep the rest of the day away."
"Oh, ok, see ya James, you have a good night!" He answers almost hesitantly, almost like he was hoping we'd do more tonight.
I can tell he's not as excited as me to go back home, for all I know, he'll take his meds and stay awake through the night like these past few days.
I slap him lightly on the back, "How bout I come by next week? Hear the games gonna be on, I'll bring a couple beers and David along, we'll have a grand old time." I try saying in a poor excuse of a British accent.
"Heh, that'd be nice James."
As we parted ways, I was excited to get to bed and wake up for tomorrow, work had told us we'd be off for the next few days, so best use all this free time to clean up around my place.
Meanwhile in a undisclosed location
A man walks through a large cavern waving a strange device in his hands, the beeping of it is slow and methodical.
beep….beep….beep….
Click… "Bruce what the hell have you gotten me into now?" The man speaks into a walkie-talkie while still waving the device around.
Beep….beep….beep….
Click… "Orders stated that this location houses the source of the fluctuation. We don't have the exact coordinates of the source which is what you're here for, use that scanner we gave you to find out where it's coming from and once you do, flip the two switches on the back."
The man flips the scanner around to see there are two switches, however one was almost flipped up due to his grip on the device.
"Once those switches are flipped, we'll get the coordinates and send our boys out to start excavating, got it?"
Click… "Yea I got it, walk around the cave until the machine spazzes out, understood."
The man puts the walkie-talkie back onto his waist and pulls out his phone to see the time, the bright screen practically blinds him in the darkness.
"10:37? How long is this shit gonna take, I got shit to do tomorrow." After checking the battery percentage and seeing it was only at 20%, he placed his phone back into his pocket, best to save the remaining percent in case he gets lost in this place.
Beep..beep..beep..
The man notices the devices beeping getting more frequent the farther he walks into the cave.
Beep..beep..beep..beep..
"Almost got ya you son of a bi-" Suddenly, the ground underneath him begins to crack and shake, and before he can think of what is happening, the floor caves in and he falls deeper into the cave.
BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP
…
BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP
…
The man raises himself off the ground, his ears ringing from the impact of the fall, the cave echoing from the device's excessive beeping, and his headache miserably as if his brain would crack out of his skull.
He looks at his surroundings, instead of the vast darkness being illuminated by a flashlight he was used to in the cave, he is met with a dark red hue surrounding him. As he turns to look around him, he sees where the source of the hue is coming from, large, jagged, red crystals surround him.
The man pulls out his phone to see the time again, he was out for quite a bit so knowing when it was could help put him at ease, even if it's just a little. His phone was almost completely shattered, landing on it from the fall definitely didn't help in his case, but even through the cracks on his screen he could make it two things. The time, which read 1:2?, the last digit was obscured over a glitched shard of the phone screen.
"It's past one? Fuck, probably got a concussion from that shit." He says while rubbing the back of his head, wincing as he feels a wound, pulling his hand in front of him he sees his fingers covered in blood. He looks back at his phone to see the last thing that wasn't covered up from a broken screen, the battery percentage.
"It's at… 58%? Wait, 64?" The hell is happening thought the man, he was sure his phone was almost close to dying before the fall, that he was sure of. What's been charging his phone the entire time he was out?
…The crystals…
Although the man was fascinated by the things these crystals were doing, he remembered what he came here to do. Looking at his waist he saw the walkie-talkie, besides a large crack in the side of it, it looked intact enough to work.
…Click…
"Bruce, can you hear me?"
…
…Click…
"Hello? Bruce?"
…
…
…
Click… "Mike? That you? Holy shit man we thought you died, you went radio silent on us for hours and we were thinkin the worst."
"The damn floor fell out underneath me and knocked me out for a bit, still alive, but I'm pretty sure I got a concussion. Surrounded by a bunch of crystals right now, and this thing is going off like crazy."
"Must be the spot those egg heads were talking about, are you able to get out of the place?"
Mike looked up at the walls of the cavern, he knew that unless he got possessed by a professional rock climber, there wasn't a chance in hell of him getting out of here.
Click… "Yea… I don't think so man, I'm definitely gonna need some help outta here."
"Shit, OK, send the coordinates of the place and I'll try getting the crew out there as fast as I can, but if i'm being honest man, it's gonna be a while until they get there."
Mike began to feel fear enveloping his body, his hands started to slowly jerk and twitch, and he felt as if something was stuck in his throat everytime he swallowed.
The man slowly reached towards the still beeping device and flipped the switches on the back, the device stopped beeping and was instead producing a low whirring noise.
"Alright I flipped them, I better get a damn raise out of this I swear."
Click… "No promise on a raise, but when you get outta there i'm definitely buying you lunch, probably gonna need it after this fun trip."
"Heh, you're probably right." Mike places the walkie-talkie next to him and leans himself against a part of the cave's wall that wasn't covered in jagged crystals. After a while, his eyes began to feel heavy, maybe some rest could help pass the time while he waited for his coworkers to rescue him.
…
…
…
…
…"HeLlO? hElLo?"...
Mike was startled awake by the voice and was still greeted to the sight of the crystal covered death trap he was stuck in, as he rubs his eyes to adjust better he reaches to his side to grab the walkie-talkie.
…
"Huh?"
Looking to his side he realizes the walkie-talkie is nowhere near him, confused, he looks around to find where the voice is coming from, perhaps he had a nightmare and unknowingly threw it away from him.
No, that doesn't feel right.
…"HelLo?"...
The man snaps his head towards the noise expecting to see someone, only to see a opening in the wall of the pit.
I… could've sworn that the wall was covered in crystals. Was my mind playing tricks on me? Was I running out of breathable air down here and I didn't know?
Walking towards the opening, Mike's eyes see a glimmer of something deeper into the entrance. It isn't until he's taken a good few steps in for him to pull out his partially broken phone and use its screen for light. The flashlight was shattered from the fall but the brightness of the screen is the next best thing for him to use.
…
…
Walking even further down this rocky hallway, the light from the phone's screen reflects off something on the ground, attracting Mike's attention. Getting closer, Mike drops down on one knee to see what had caught his eye.
The walkie-talkie, somehow it found its way all the way deeper in the cave.
And it was…
…Snapped in half…
…
…
…"HELLO?"...
The voice echoed throughout the hall, freezing Mike in place with fear, his instincts telling him to run, to escape, to get away. But, no matter how much he tried, he couldn't get his feet to move from their spot. And, even if he could run away…
Where would he go?
Slowly, he stands himself off the ground, and even while shaking, raises the phone screen in front of himself preparing to see what was down here with him.
…
…Click…
…
Mike couldn't comprehend what he was looking at in front of him, bones, muscle, a wall of meat and sinew blocked his way. A variety of limbs protruded out of the mass, arms and legs slowly dragging it down the hall at a snail's pace.
Mike could see the muscles tense and relax as they moved, however while looking at this amalgamation of what he could only assume was flesh, he could make out tens or even hundreds of circular objects in the wall.
…eyes…
As he mustered all the willpower in his body, Mike was able to take a step back away from the thing in front of him. Maybe this was his chance, his chance of escaping this thing, maybe if he got back to the pit he could try climbing out of this cave.
CRUNCH!
As Mike looked down to see the broken walkie-talkie underneath his feet, he looked back in front of him only to realize the wall was staring back at him. It felt almost as if hundreds of people were staring at him, like a child on a stage in front of a crowd of people.
Mike spun around to try and escape only to feel himself being pulled down to the ground, he could see one of the arms had latched onto his ankle before he could escape and was slowly dragging him to the mass. No matter how hard he kicked, the grip of this thing would not let go. Soon, the arms dragging the wall stopped and began to slowly shift their way down towards him, grabbing his legs and dragging him even faster into itself.
His feet were engulfed in the wall of flesh, he could practically feel the nerves in his body being torn out through the soles of his feet. He screamed in anguish as the pain shot through his body, trying desperately to escape, he swung his phone at the arms gripping his legs, only managing to land a few hits on them until it stopped his attempts of freedom and lifted him up, slowly dragging him into the abomination. And, while he could feel his bones snap or tear from his joints, all he could muster out was a silent cry for help.
The screams of the man echoed throughout the cave, the sound from the crunch of his bones bounced off the walls of the cavern, until…
Silence.
END OF CHAPTER 1