Part 1
I used to drive the old country roads at night. I was never a really good sleeper. Between frequent bouts with anxiety, insomnia, and anxiety induced insomnia, sleep was something that always seemed to evade me. So when it was late at night, and I needed to clear my head, I’d go get in my old beat up truck and take a drive. Now, I’m not gonna tell you where I live or where I’m from. Just know that it is in rural Oklahoma and make your peace with that. If you know Oklahoma, and in particular, you know what it’s like to drive through rural Oklahoma. You’d know that there isn’t much anything out there.
Last year, I found myself on one of these drives. It lasted a bit longer then normal. Things had been a bit stressful thanks to Covid and being stuck inside all day. That’s neither here nor there though. I just needed to get out. So I drove… And I guess I zoned out. Because I ended up on a road I’d never been on before. The forest was thick on both sides of me. So thick I couldn’t see more then a foot inside of it. I honestly felt kinda stupid. It was like two in the morning. I can remember the moon was full above me. I felt safe pulling over and checking my cellphone’s GPS. But for whatever reason, the signal was just not there. That and I only had maybe two percent battery left. Which was weird… I’d remembered taking it off the charger a few seconds before I left. I took a deep annoyed breath as I mentally kicked myself for forgetting my car charger. What a stupidly coincidental series of events right? Well things just keep getting dumber from here.
I decided to turn back around and start driving back the way I came. I figured that if I drove far enough back I’d figure out where I was. It took me maybe five minutes of driving before I realized that in my zoned out state, I’d used most of my gas as well. The gas light came on with a ding and I honestly jumped at the sound.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” I groaned.
I pulled up my phone again and tried to use my gps to look for the nearest gas station. But that didn’t work either. Still no signal and now I had one percent left. I again stopped the truck. How had this happened? I never let my tank get this low… I never left the house with an almost dead phone.. I put it in drive and drove for another minute or two. But the road I was on seemed like a massive straight away. I didn’t remember coming this way to begin with. I exhaled through my nose and continued onward.
The road seemed to stretch on and on. The forest was still thick on both sides. I’d actually wondered if I’d driven into a National park on accident. I also started considering that maybe I should pull over and wait for sunup that way I could see more of my surroundings. My gas would only last me so much longer. I pulled over again and cut the engine off. The keys were still in the car so I turned on the radio.
“Thank you for listening to Lost man radio! The only radio station for people who are lost and need to be found!” A man’s voice said. The man sounded like a smooth talking radio host from the fifties.
I flipped the channel. The next channel was static. As was the next. And the next. And the next. I groaned under my breath and flipped back to the “Lost man” channel.
“Welcome back to the lost man channel. Where if your lost, you can be found!”
I again rolled my eyes. “You don’t know the half of it.” I mumbled.
“Todays topic…. Cryptids! Have you ever heard of the Oklahoma Octopus? Well, rumor has it that in Lakes Thunderbird, Tenkiller, and Oologah, there resides an octopus that is as big as a horse. Now, I don’t know about you. But that’s quite the bold claim considering that all three of these lakes are for one, freshwater, and for two, manmade… There aren’t any species that are supposed to be able to survive in freshwater. And with the lakes being man made, it would have had to have been placed there by a person. So it wouldn’t be some new species. But that hasn’t stopped some from speculating.”
I turned the radio off and pulled the key out before I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes. I made sure my hazards were on Incase someone passed by. I admittedly fell asleep. Which was weird, I hadn’t been able to do that in what felt like a few days. My dreams were weird.
I dreamt I was sitting on a small rowboat, floating in the moonlight atop inky black water. The boat swayed gently beneath me. Everything seemed so calm… Until I heard a small splash. My heart accelerated as my anxiety took over. I went to grab the oar but a black slimy tentacle came forth from the black water and yanked it out of the boat. I froze in fear as another tentacle snaked it’s way around my neck. I could feel the slimy appendages suckers as they glued their way onto my skin. I wasn’t strong enough to fight it as it yanked me out of the boat. I tried to scream but the black water filled my lungs. The last thing I remember seeing before I woke up was the red orbs that seemed to glow under the water. The red eyes of whatever had taken me under.
I woke up with a gasp. The sun was coming up and I could finally see the road ahead of me. My neck hurt a bit. I chalked it up to the bad dream and went to start the truck. Only this time the engine stalled. I groaned under my breath. The battery was fine, the radio still worked. I learned that when the fifties style voice came blasting through.
“Welcome back to lost man radio.. Good morning to all you fellas out there who are lost and looking to be found! Todays topic, glowing orbs in the sky. Are they UFOs? Ghosts? Or are they something more?”
“Shut the hell up!” I griped as I shut the radio off.
My phone was dead, my engine was not working, and I was stuck on an endless road. I was quite honestly at my breaking point. I slammed my fist down hard several times on the chevy logo on my steering wheel. I’m pretty sure I dented it. It took me a minute or two to calm down and really consider my options. I popped the hood of my truck and stepped out. It was late august so the air was hot and humid. I’m not a car guy so I really couldn’t tell you what was wrong with it. I stood over the engine and stared for a few seconds before giving up and shutting the hood. I went back into the car and tried to turn my phone on. The thing was dead as fuck so it was a fools errand.
“I’m never driving at night again!” I said to myself as I looked around.
Both sides of the road were covered in thick green forest. At this point I figured I’d just have to walk to the nearest gas station. So that’s exactly what I did. I got into my truck, pulled my wallet and pocket knife out of the console and started walking. If I knew anything about the back woods, it was that there were predators. Bobcats, coyotes, and mountain lions weren’t all that uncommon. I’d rather have a knife on me then nothing.
I walked in the sun for an hour. I wasn’t sure how far away my truck was. But I do know that the stretch of road hasn’t changed. I mean, it had gone over a few hills and winded some. But it hadn’t changed. Still the same boring road, woods on both sides. At this point I was considering moving closer to the city. I told myself I’d consider it when I found a gas station. If I didn’t die of heat exhaustion first.
It was around then that I heard the car in the distance. The low hum of the engine, the sound of tires on the gravel road. It was like music to my ears. A small red suv came driving up next to me and stopped. The windows rolled down to reveal a Native American man. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw him.
“Is that your truck back there?” he asked.
“Yeah, I uhh… It broke down.”
The man looked me up and down. He had short hair that was cut in almost a buzz cut. He looked almost military.
“Do you need a ride? I can take you to Fort Sunshine.”
“Fort Sunshine?” I asked.
“It’s either there or you can walk the remaining forty miles back to town.”
I raised a brow. “Forty miles?” I asked.
“It might be closer to forty-eight. How did you end up out here?” he asked.
“I honestly don’t know. One minute I’m zoned out driving, the next… Well…” I motioned to all around me.
He sighed and opened his passenger door.
“We’ll come on friend. I’ll take you to Fort Sunshine.”
Now, I admit I was a little hesitant to get in the car at first. My anxiety was screaming at me not too. But I really didn’t have many options. I got in the car.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Uhh.. It’s Matt.”
“Well Derrick, my names Wyatt Walker.” he replied.
“Wait? Really?” I asked.
Wyatt smiled, “Yeah, is that a surprise? What were you expecting?”
I knew when to shut my mouth. And I did so right then and there. We drove for about ten minutes in silence before we finally pulled up to an old rusty gate. The gate was well hidden, one couldn’t see it if you were just passing by thanks to all the overgrowth.
“I thought you said this was a Fort?” I asked. I could feel myself growing more uncomfortable with this whole thing. My hand was in my pocket and wrapped around my knife. This place did not look like a Fort. My mind started pondering all the possibilities. What was about to happen to me? What was this place? I could feel my heart rate accelerating.
Wyatt just smiled at me.
“Secret base is a secret!” He said, then I noticed the plastic gun he had aimed at me.
“Sorry Matt.” The next thing I know a tranq dart had found its way into my neck.
I woke up a few hours later handcuffed to a chair in a cold and dark room. Everything was groggy and my head hurt like hell. It took me a few seconds to regain my senses.
“Where am I?” I asked myself.
That was when I heard a door open behind me. The lights came on and they were bright as hell. I could hear the man’s dress shoes click on the tile floor as he walked past me. He took a seat in the chair in front of me. The chair I hadn’t even noticed until now.
The room I was in was completely whited out. White walls, white floors, there was even a white twin sized bed with a white bedspread in the corner.
“Hello Matt, or should I say Glenn.” the man said.
He was a taller man, he wore a suit and had dark hair that was gelled back. He rubbed the stubble on his chin.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Me? I’m agent Shaw. CIA Supernatrual Operations Division. And you.. My good friend, are the guy!”
“The guy?” I asked with a confused look on my face.
“Yes… The guy.” Shaw said.
“What the fuck does that even mean?” I asked.
Shaw chuckled, “Ahh Glenn, are you really gonna make me do this?” he asked.
“Who the hell is Glenn?” I replied.
Shaw raised a brow at me. He looked a bit confused by my response.
“Shit…” he groaned. Wyatt walked in behind him with a giant orange bucket of something that smelt just awful.
“What is that?” I choked as I tried not to gag.
“That… Is your dinner.”
“I’m not eating that!” I groaned.
“I wasn’t talking to you Matt, I was talking to Glenn.” Shaw said.
I was even more confused by this. Then I suddenly felt even more nauseous. The smell was really getting to me now. I started to gag, my head started swirling. Wyatt only scooted the bucket closer to me. The smell made my stomach churn, I felt like I was gonna hurl.
“Come on Glenn, don’t make the poor boy suffer anymore!”
I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I lurched forward and let the vomit comet fly. But what came out was like nothing I’d ever seen. Instead of the usual bile and food, it was like an amorphous black blob. It took like three hurls to get it to come out all of the way. It plopped on the floor with a wet squelch as I gasped for air.
“Ahh Glenn! There you are!” Shaw said as he stood up.
I looked up at Shaw, then back down at the black blob.
“W-w-what the fuck?” I stammered.
That was when the black blob sprouted a tentacle. Then another. Then another. Then a massive glowing red eyeball opened at the center.
“Holy fucking shit!” I shouted as I stood up.
The blob used it’s tentacles to pull it over to the bucket where it knocked it over with its tentacles, a slushy red goop came spilling out all over the floor. I could feel Wyatt unlocking my handcuffs.
“Let’s get you out of here before he starts growing back to his normal size!” he said as he helped me up and pulled me into a white hallway.
I stood there for a second out of breath as Shaw walked out behind us. The man brushed his suit off and looked down at his dress shoe.
“Eww gross! I got some of it on my shoe.” He complained.
I squinted at him. Then looked over a Wyatt.
“What in the actual fuck was that?” I practically demanded.
Wyatt put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath before turning to Shaw.
“You wanna tell him?” Wyatt asked.
Shaw smiled, “Yeah I’ll tell him. Go help Briggs with that werewolf interrogation on level four.”
Shaw turned to me, “Come this way!” he said as he started to walk off.
“D-did he just say werewolf?“ I asked.
Shaw led me to a control room where several people sat around at computer desks watching security camera footage. There was a screen in the center that contained a CIA logo.
“Bring up C-26 on the main screen!” He said.
The screen flipped to a live feed of the room we’d just been in. Where the blob that I had just thrown up had now morphed into a Cephalopod the size of a horse.
“Th-tha-that came out of me!” I stammered.
“Yes it did.. That’s Glenn. Or as the people around here call him. The Oklahoma Octopus.”
“How? What the fuck is going on?” I demanded.
“Well…. Matt…. You’ve been missing for six weeks. Mainly because our friend Glenn here has been taking your body on a joy ride.”
“Wait? Six weeks? I left my house last night because I couldn’t sleep.” I said.
“You left your house six weeks ago. You parked your truck by the lake. Glenn has a psychic ability that can make people forget what they’re doing. You just happened to get close enough. He got you to steal a small boat and then yeah.. He took your body for a spin. It’s not the first time he’s done it with someone. It’s also not the first time we’ve captured him and I’m sure it won’t be the last.”
“You’re gonna release him back into the wild?” I demanded.
“Well no… But like I said, he’s got this psychic ability. He’s escaped before. We’ve just gotta get the warding right in his pen.” He said to himself.
I honestly couldn’t believe what I was hearing. How could he be so nonchalant about this? This thing took my body for a fucking joyride.
“If he can escape why don’t you just? Ya know? Kill the damn thing?”
“Glenn’s not an evil being. He mostly just enjoys going around and doing kids stuff… Like arcades.. movies.. theme parks. I think one time we caught him possessing someone so he could go to a basketball game. He’s a huge Thunder fan.”
I rubbed my temples. Did this man not understand that I was now missing six weeks of my life because of this creature?
“I need to sit down.” I said.
Shaw motioned for one of the analysts to bring me a chair. They did so and I sat down, rubbing my hair as I tried to take in everything that was happening.
“So I’m sure your wondering how we got you to come back into this area.” He said.
“Not really!” I replied, knowing he was probably gonna tell me anyway.
“Ever heard of lost man radio?” He asked.
I looked up at him and squinted.
“Are you for real?” I asked.
“Yeah we use a frequency that has an adverse effect on Glenns psychic powers. Once you were close enough, we managed to jam the radio in your truck to all the other frequencies but that one. That’s probably why his grip on your noggin faded enough to let you take control of your body again. But by that time you were already so lost out here that we just had to find ya.”
“What is Glenn?” I asked.
Shaw shrugged.
“Fuck if I know. He could be an alien. Or a demon. Maybe a juvenile Cthulhu. I honestly don’t know. He hasn’t really shared.”
I took a deep breath as I sank further into my chair.
“So what now?” I asked.
“Now? You’re gonna sign a non disclosure agreement. I’m gonna give you a bunch of money. And we’re going to put you into protective custody.”
“Protective custody?” I asked.
“Well yeah… You haven’t looked at your phone. Have you?”
As it turns out…. While Glenn took my body for a joyride. He forgot that you were supposed to pay for things. So now I was wanted for shoplifting from a toy store and aggravated assault of a minor. Shaw didn’t want me to go to prison for something that wasn’t necessarily my fault. Oh and also apparently Glenn has a cult following. This cult worships him like some kind of primordial god, but the last time they approached him. Glenn made half of their heads explode because they tried to do a ritualistic sacrifice on his favorite puppy. According to Shaw, if they find me they’ll cut me open and try to take Glenn out which sounds agonizingly painful. So yeah…. Protective custody it was. At least, that’s what I thought.
That was when Wyatt walked into the room with a large African American man called Briggs.
“The interrogation went well. Charlie bit one of the guards arms off so there’s that.” Wyatt said.
Shaw groaned in frustration before turning to me.
“Well looks like we got a job opening on level four. You want it?” He asked with a smile.
“Fuck no!” I said.
Wyatt rolled his eyes.
“What’d you think protective custody was gonna be free?” Briggs asked.
I gave Shaw a confused glance and he shrugged.
“You’re gonna be staying here for a while. You might as well do some work. You’re gonna go crazy if you just sit around all day.” he said.
“But you said I’d be in protective custody?” I replied.
“Relax, I’m not putting you on guard duty. You’re medical history lists you as having an acute anxiety disorder and a severe depressive disorder. I’ll probably have you working the cameras. It’s an easy job.” Shaw said.
I didn’t know what to say.
“It’s easy work kid. You won’t be anywhere near any of the things we have in the lower levels.”
“What is this place? Some kind of prison?” I asked.
Wyatt and Briggs looked at each other. Then back at Shaw, who smiled at me.
“We call it Sunshine Prison.”