I live in a small town (U.S.A.) not found on any map.
It is a great town with virtually no crime.
With a population of just over 5000, everybody knows each other, and it is a great place to raise a family…
My hometown has a dark secret though…
Beneath my town lies a network of mining tunnels.
Within those tunnels, lives something that is both ancient and evil.
Every month the town’s townspeople offer a sacrifice to the creature in order to appease it.
Usually though, it’s an outsider but from time to time, one of the town’s people is offered as a sacrifice too.
As vile as it sounds, it kept my town prosperous for all of these years.
If the creature is not fed then all hell will break loose and this is where I come in.
See, several weeks ago my best friend was involved in a car accident that killed little 8-year-old Susie Miller* who lived down the road.
Susie Miller happened to be the mayor’s niece too.
Anyway, a town meeting was held and it was decided that my friend would be sacrificed to the creature as punishment.
I couldn’t let them do that, so I devised a plan to save him.
On the day of the sacrifice, several of the town’s people including the mayor escorted my friend from the jail where he was awaiting his fate.
I quietly followed behind as they took him into the mineshaft located at the end of town.
I continued to follow them until we reached this cavernous room.
The room which looked more like an altar room had a sacrificial table located in the center.
I stood there watching helplessly as they forced my friend onto the sacrificial table.
They began to chant as they strapped him in.
It was a ritual to summon the creature.
Soon the air became stagnant and the ground beneath me began to shake.
This was my cue to hurry up and rescue my friend.
I had to move quickly if I wanted to save him.
As the ground began to open up, I quickly ran over to my friend and proceeded to unstrap him.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?!” the mayor shouted.
“Run!” I shouted to my friend.
The town’s people began to chase us but we eventually, made our way out of the tunnels.
As we exited the tunnels though, I heard a roar behind us.
Looking back, I saw this enormous pale-colored creature, who looked to be at least 10 feet tall.
The creature was humanoid in appearance and had a smell that was so bad it caused my eyes to water.
Several smaller creatures were surrounding its feet too.
“What the hell is that?!” my friend shouted.
“I don’t know but we have to leave!” I said.
Without hesitating, I grabbed my friend by the arm and ran as fast as I could without once looking back.
Somehow, I made it to my house.
With no time to spare, I quickly jumped into my car and drove as fast as I could out of town (all while thanking the Gods that I filled my gas tank up the night before).
Anyway, I breathed a sigh of relief when I noticed I could no longer see my town.
That was almost two months ago.
We managed to start over in another state and even got jobs but several days ago, we received the news that our town was destroyed by an earthquake (I doubt it was an earthquake).
My friend has been missing too.
I think he went back to our old town and now, I have to go after him before it’s too late.