De Luce et Tenebris Umbra

Intermission Part 1

From the personal journal of

Subject PXS-551-21-18

Deep, Dark, Dank places. Nobody likes them, and many fear them, for good reason too. There are so many unknowns that lurk in these places, some so deeply ingrained into the shadows that they have become the basis of human myths and nightmares. The cold shivers that run down your spine at the unseen eyes that prowl along your shape. The crackling of bushes, or the crunching of gravel as you walk alone, stalked by the unknown.

We can never really predict where our next encounter with death will be. You can cheat death all your life, avoiding the largest of disasters, and yet, you might succumb to the smallest of things. That’s me I guess, wrong place, wrong time, and definitely the wrong gear.

A simple job they told me…a new adventure into the worst places that humanity has to offer. A rescue mission within a rescue mission into an area that has already claimed the lives of countless beings, both friend and foe.

{---------------------}

I walked carefully along the dirt path away from my drop zone. The dark forest enclosed me with only the companionship of the full moon at my side. I know from past experiences that the moon can be either a ray of hope…or a death sentence. I was never able to tell until it was almost too late.

I breached the forest and watched as the light clouds seemed to congregate purposefully in front of the moon, blocking what bit of comforting light that had protected me along the first leg of my journey. Cautiously I moved towards my objective, wary for whatever lurked in the dark. The stories of this place had given the bravest of men nightmares beyond imagining, and I was walking straight through it.

{-------------------}

Run…

The voices seemed to call to me; the whisps of the wind seemed to carry them from the abandoned villages near the mountain. I could feel the eyes of hundreds watching my every move, their presence an overhanging shadow in the already black night.

Run…Hide…

‘Hmph! Do these ghosts think they can deter me? I have not faltered in any of my endeavors and shall not do so now!’

I allowed a grim smile to adorn my face as I creeped through abandoned fields, filled with the dead husks of ancient trees. Nothing has been able to grow here for centuries they’ve said. I could not allow that to stop me, no the voices, not the ghosts of the dead, not any of the infernal beasts that sought to approach me from the darkness. I will complete my mission, the last request of one of my oldest friends, who through thick and thin, through smoke and fire had followed me to save those who we did not know.

I shook my head and allowed my disturbing thoughts to leave me. I could not dwell on the past and allow it to interfere with my promise. Nothing would stand in the way of my promises, not even the devil himself.

{-----------------------}

I approached the entrance to the mine, its ancient doors cracked half open, the wood hiding the walls of metal that would rival the defenses of Gibraltar itself. I moved steadily along my path to the once proud door, now blasted outwards, the scorch marks engulfing everything around it. Something had tried very hard to get out, something that left clawed tracks on the soot covered floor.

My companions had entered this place not long before me; I could see the outlines of their boots beside the clawed ones. I could only hope for their safety, but from all that I have learned…hope is sometimes too great a thing to cling to, for I could see the claws were reversed as well.

{-----------------------}

I walked through the ever entwining hallways, through the once strong doors that had withheld the madness within this facility for so long. Several of the emergency lights still had some energy, though on their legs, the phosphorescent lamps provided some meager comfort against the almost overwhelming sense of foreboding that surrounded me.
I turned my head to watch the different signs on the rusting walls as I passed them.

Control…Cargo…Sa..G…A.d…XS.1.5….0

XS…those were some of the final symbols that I had seen during my earliest days…what did they mean?

I could not dwell on it; it was not mine to dwell on. I continue on…

{--------------------}

I turn the corner to the sign that I had sought…Barracks…

I do not know what awaits me beyond the threshold of this door. I can only hope that all those that came before me could forgive me…

The deeds that I have done were beyond despicable…I could I only hope that my recent action could provide some sense of repentance for whatever remained of my tattered soul.

I walked through the doors, rifle at the ready, my flashlight flickering in the unknown energy that flowed from the rooms. I could hear the rustling of movement from all around me, but I only had eyes for what lay before me…

A boot…a boot that clothed a foot…a foot connected to a leg…a leg that ended in a dark congealed puddle.

Laughing…that incessant laughing as we died! Why did you not come sooner?

The voices barrage my mind, I could hear the sound of clattering…clattering that I recognize all too well…

So you have come for us ‘eh? Well, we shall not allow you to stop us! We shall have your HEAD!

I moved quickly watching as the shadowy figures danced before me…

So…nearly…free…

And fell to the ground in bloodied heaps.

I allowed a grim smile to form on my face…one less horror of my past to follow me.

FIN

I'll be writing these journals from time to time whenever I get stuck on a chapter, in order to provide some relief between chapters.

Warning:

These things come straight out of my nightmares and mini stories that I have written before.