Part 1
I was sent to a winter cabin for a vacation but someone knocked on my door…
Finally a 2-week vacation all to myself. The foundation kindly offered a full 2 week paid vacation for all my “hard work” which was funny seeing as they gave me all the easy jobs to deal with. I wasn’t necessarily happy with the location being miles away in the mountains with not a living creature in sight but hell, I was happy to get out into the world rather than sitting in a bunk all day waiting for my next job.
They said it was an old cabin with electricity and running water and that they stockpiled it with necessities and hopefully none of that MRE bullshit there used to feed us. The drive was a 2-day trip which was spent listening to my road trip playlist and plenty of Redbull and Slim Jims. when I was about 9 hours out, however, my old truck decided to almost kick the bucket by turning off completely while I was doing 80 on the freeway. Was it a dumb idea going that fast in the snow, absolutely but luckily nobody was on the road and I only spun a few times. Thank fuck the car restarted when I turned the key again because now I was covered in Redbull and it was not warm enough to dry it out. By the way, did you know there’s apparently bull sperm in Red Bull? I’m sure there’s a joke there somewhere.
Nearing the cabin was an uphill battle for my poor old truck and it was just on the verge of night. The forest surrounding my vehicle was thick and my headlights really cast those finer shadows among the tree line. I had this strange eerie feeling something was watching me from behind the trees. I eventually reached the clearing and hopped out of my truck. The sun had just dipped below the surface as I grabbed my bags and made my way to the cabin.
The snow was thick crunching under my feet at every step. The sound it produced was a terrible sound which I personally hated. When I got up to the door I grabbed the key they gave to get inside. The key looked old with the letter L inscribed on it. The door let out a loud creak as the dying light of day reached into the darkness that seemed to swallow it whole. The room seemed perfectly neat and clean as if someone was already living here. To be honest for a moment I thought I had waltzed into some strangers house but I assumed the Foundation just went above and beyond for me which I wouldn’t have expected. Even still I wasn’t going to complain about a clean cabin.However what I never expected was when I heard electricity I also assumed there would be heating but no I had to rely on the good old fireplace to take warmth from this cold climate.
Besides that, the place was really nice for a vacation. There was a good working bathroom and a bedroom with a bed that felt like a cloud. After perusing around the place a bit more and checking out the bookshelf next to the fireplace I had bugun getting the fire up and going and went to the fridge to see what was in stock. I was genuinely surprised to see it loaded with an assortment of food but most importantly loaded with beer. Now this was a vacation that I could enjoy. I plopped down on the couch in front of the fire taking a few sips from my beer and began to slowly nod off.
I woke up to a chill in the air looking around with tired blurry eyes. I saw the fire had burned out to cinders. The cold night air seemed to be blowing through the house along with a strange creaking which could be heard coming from down the hall. I drew my gun and began to slowly walk down the hallway weary of whatever could pop out from the doors. The hallway was long and dark. On the left was the door to the bedroom and on the right was the bathroom. I called out demanding an answer to whatever could be lurking in the dark but nothing but the wind of the outside air sounded back.
Yet another creak sounded from the bathroom. I’d bursted into the room with my gun drawn hoping to catch whatever was there off guard but all that I saw was the window that was open allowing the cold night to seep into the cabin. The outside was dark; almost as if I were peering into a void however I could make out the trees in the distance. I swear my eyes began playing tricks on me because I thought I could make out a tall figure in the forest that seemed to lurk behind the tree line. I quickly closed the window and attached the lach stopping the cold night from entering.
I know that its dumb to believe that the window magically unlacked itself but it was all i could think of in my tired state. I hobbled into the bedroom tired from the long drive and majestically dove into the bed; however I missed landing face first onto the floor. “Dude seriously?” Of course I would be the person to miss the giant bed in the corner of the room. Regretting my decision I questioned if I even wanted to get off the floor but the thought of the warm bed drove me to crawl up into the covers. The bed was soft and I allowed the sleep to take me.
Once again I awoke quite frustrated that I couldn’t seem to get some peaceful rest but oddly enough there was a faint but ever so familiar smell. My eyes darted to the large figure in the corner. It stood towering over me in a well dressed suit with a red and white polka dotted bow tie. The figure looked down upon me with a pale faceless complexion. I tried to scream but all that came out was a muffled groan. I couldn’t move and the fear washed over me. The figure walked over to me slowly and without a mouth began to speak to me.
“Hello child, I apologize for waking you at this hour. You have nothing to fear as I have no intentions of harming you.`` The figure spoke softly and eloquently. The way he moved seemed to be fluent and the smell was pleasant. “My name is Lavender, It is a pleasure to meet you. Unfortunately I’ve come to warn you about something that dwells in this forest that desires something that belongs to you. You can’t give it to him no matter what It says. Don’t let it inside child or it will bring you to a place near impossible to escape. It contains beings you could never begin to understand and where time has no relevance. It is a hell that few escape from and those who do leave Often end their life as they are haunted by the knowledge they gain.” I’ve worked for The Foundation for years and i’ve seen some shit but the things this creature said to me terrified me. We’ve suspected that there was a place where these creatures originated but the way he made it sound was unlike what we have predicted. The theory was that there were these shifts in the universe that would tear a whole in reality just long enough to release one of these creatures but we’ve never been able to prove it.
My thoughts raced, imagining about whatever the hell was going on until one thought pierced my mind. The Foundation sent me here on purpose. They knew something was happening and yet they didn’t tell me. They sent me expecting me to die didn’t they. Lavender spoke to me once more “I see you have a lot on your mind child and for now I shall let you be, however, you must be cautious of who knocks on your door. Goodbye for now, Child.” Those bastards sent me out here to die for some science experiment and now i’m forced to play this shit out with a pistol. I knew they were evil but I didn’t expect them to use an Agent instead of sending a test subject. Slowly I felt the tingling of my limbs as if they were all waking up from a deep sleep and shot out of bed tripping onto the floor. It was almost comical that this was the second time that I fell on my face but right now I need to make a call. I grabbed my pistol and a few extra mags from my bag. I really hope i don’t have to deal with a windigo or something of the sort because this would feel like a pea shooter compared to it.
While working for the foundation they would provide you with a burner phone which had a signal pretty much anywhere you went. I once even made a call at the bottom of the ocean so there was no doubt that it would work even in these conditions. Upon opening the phone with no surprise there was a good signal. Clicking through the phone the contact for my supervisor illuminated my screen and I prayed he would have some answers for me.
It didn’t take long before the phone picked up on the other end. “I’m guessing you finally figured out this isn’t a vacation since you’re calling me at 2 am.” To be honest it took me off guard that he expected me to call him. “Where the hell did you send me?” I replied with an out of breath response not realizing how shaken I was. “Relax, you were assigned a highly classified mission which was requested by the board. Nobody else in the foundation knows about this except for me.” Shit must have been real if the board requested this. “Don’t worry however we did not leave you totally unarmed. If you check in the closet there’s a hidden compartment with some equipment that you may need.” “So what exactly is this assignment then?”I replied. “We believe we found an angle in the forest you reside in, however we believe it may be a fallen though we are still unsure. We want it for testing purposes but catching it might be impossible so we’ve sent you to gather data.” I couldn’t believe it. They found an Angle. I responded back almost dumbfounded. “ You sent me out to deal with an Angle and you’re not even sure if it’s fallen or not?! How the hell do you expect me to deal with a heavenly being which might want to tear my soul apart?” He spoke back with a tone as cold as ice “I cant say kid we’ve never dealt with something like this.” His last words were good luck before the beeping started in my ear indicating he hung up. They actually expected me to die out here. My chances of surviving were slim and all they’d need to do is recover my body and gather my memories. Those heartless bastards sent me here alone to die for some research.
I felt my panic begin to rise and my mind began to spiral out of control. The world around me grew dark and a loud ringing filled my ears. I didn’t want to die, not yet. There was so much spinning in my mind and I couldn’t focus as the tremors in my head only grew louder and a rhythmic thudding noise began loudly. I collapsed on the floor, hands on my head hoping to drown out the noise but the thudding kept getting louder. It was then that I heard the faint voice which ripped me out of my delusion back into reality. I peered up to the locked cabin door and jumped back when I heard another thud on the door. A soft hello came from the other side. I thought I must’ve gone mad. There was no way in hell someone was all the way out here in the cold of the night.
Still dizzy from my brief moment of weakness, as I’ll call it, I got up to investigate my delusion. I stared at the door which seemed to call to me as if it was begging me to come closer. As I approached the door it felt as a soft static began buzzing at the back of my mind and the anxiety filled me with dread upon getting closer. Was this really a good idea? I pondered upon the idea of this actually being true but my thoughts were interrupted by the knocking again. “Is somebody in there? Please, I need some help!” It was a girl on the other side. I yelled back through the door. “Who are you?” She sounded frantic upon hearing my voice. “Please sir I need help, there’s something out here and it attacked me and I’m scared!” I figured she was talking about the Angle and she somehow ended up herere but i was still skeptical. She begged for me to let her inside the cabin but the thought of someone way out here was impossible. Though what were the chances that an angle wanted me to open the door. You’d figure that an all mighty being wouldn’t need permission to enter.
Against my better judgment I figured that if it wasn’t an angel under any other circumstances I could probably fight against most other creatures. My gun layed on the floor and I picked it up before starting for the door. Reaching for the handle a soft voice spoke into my ear. “Dont” Startled, I swung around trying to hit whatever was there as hard as I could but was met with only air. I looked around but nobody was there except for a faint smell in the air. Lavender. Immediately i remembered everything he told me while i was paralized and realized the unfathomly stupid mistake i almost made. Lavender warned me something was out there. What did it want from me? Was it the Angle? What would an Angle want from me? I yelled to whatever was outside that I couldn’t help them and they’d be best to start walking. The thing that was outside responded with a voice that crackled and broke. “Aww what gave me away. I wasn’t that obvious was I. What a shame I thought we would have made this easy.” I yelled back to the thing “What do you want from me!” the thing laughed at me like i was some child “Tell me, friend, what is your name?” “My name?” Why would it ask me that? Lavender said that this thing wanted something from me so what are the chances this would be it? I yelled back a hard No but I didn’t get a response.
The silence was eerie. I placed my ear on the door to try and hear if I could make out any movement. A chill ran down my spine as I could hear deep labored breathing. The thing was right on the other side. “TELL ME YOUR NAME” the raspy voice caused me to fall back and in a panic I had an idea. I grabbed my pistol and fired a mag dump at the door. Darkness was all I could see through the new holes in the door. I froze trying to listen for any scuffle beyond the door but was horrified upon seeing eyes open and stare at me through the holes. It let out a laugh and the static filled my mind once more overwhelming my thoughts till everything went dark.