This probably isn’t the smartest idea to post this here, but I really have nowhere else to turn. People need to know about this, even if it’s the last thing I ever do.
By the time you read this I’ll probably be dead… or vanished mysteriously like everyone else whose been unfortunate enough to stumble down this rabbit hole. That’s exactly how it began too; a rabbit hole on the internet that kept leading me deeper and deeper like the countless others I’ve seen before.
Cicada 3301, The Finders, LHOHQ, Missing411, Erratas, 11B-X-1371, Markovian Parallax Denigrate, numbers stations, The Wyoming Incident and all the others. You’ve probably seen them too, or at least heard of them. If you’re anything like me (and because you’re here I’m guessing you are) you follow these mysteries when they crop up. Most of the time they end in rather anti-climactic ways; some artistic project, an ARG or the majority just being a dead end which devolves into endless speculation.
Not this time, Jaggabas is different.
Me and my friends have spent years following these sorts of things, along with various endeavors in urban exploration and abandoned locations. We’ve had some odd encounters and weird things happen to us, but nothing that could be considered concrete proof of something haunted or supernatural.
A buddy of mine; Ryuko works as a petroleum scout. Basically he flies all over the country trying to find promising future drill sites. Recently he was out in a remote town known as Thompson in northern Manitoba looking for new potential locations when he found something odd. He explained that he had been going over public ordinance records around the city and found something odd.
I’ll probably butcher this explanation, so if anyone knows better feel free to correct me. From what I understood, he had the blueprints of buildings, pipelines and underground wires. They of course have certain mandates that must be followed that prevent them from drilling too near existing structures.
He explained that he was comparing these blueprints when he noticed a section that didn’t match up with satellite imaging. He then said a bunch of scientific shit which I didn’t understand which basically meant that the blueprints indicated that this particular area was supposed to be nothing but forest, but the satellite imaging contradicted that. He said it looked as though someone had intentionally doctored both the images and blueprints, but wasn’t able to make them both accurately match.
He spent some time researching the history of the area, but couldn’t find much of anything online or in historical records. He gave me the coordinates of the area too, but like him I couldn’t find much of anything. I’ll be honest, I didn’t really think there was much too it, but Ryuko seemed adamant that something about it was weird. He made sure to lecture me about the plethora of weird reports from the Canadian north, and although chilling I failed to see how it related to his discovery.
Our correspondence went on for months about it, even after Ryuko and his team had deemed the location unsuitable. He just couldn’t seem to let it go, even managing to get some of our other friends enraptured with the mystery. Eventually he sent messaged me one night with a new development.
“There’s a town out there.” He wrote.
“What? How do you know?” I wrote back.
“One of the locals told me about it after we put down a few drinks. He said he didn’t like talking about it, but he knew that there was a town there many years ago. He doesn’t know what happened to it though, or even what it’s name is.” His words didn’t make a lot of sense to me.
“Ok, but if it is a town than why wouldn’t it show up on google maps?”
“Exactly, it’s like someone has gone through a great deal of effort to erase it.” I felt chills roll down my spine reading that, but still didn’t know whether to buy it. In our modern day of computers and GPS it’s hard to think an entire town could go undocumented, but apparently that was the case.
“I’m gonna go out there.” I had a feeling that response was coming, and it made my gut churn.
“When?”
I’ve always felt as though if I were in a horror movie I’d be the first one to die. That’s partially due to my bad luck, but more so is my willingness to indulge in questionable ideas for the sake of curiosity. In my defence, Ryuko managed to rope in two of our other friends as well; Panzerwaffle and Dunkleosteus. I know it’s needlessly edgy to go by codenames but I’d rather not reveal their real ones, so I’ll just refer to them as the names they use online.
So the four of us kept researching for a few more weeks, and after we finally managed to align our schedules we set a date. We all met up in Winnipeg to begin our journey. It was about an 8 hour drive up to Thompson, and from there only Ryuko knew the rest, but he assured us it wasn’t much further beyond that.
The vast country roads of the Canadian Midwest soon unveiled before us, giving us front-row seats of endless oceans of dirt and prairies. The stifling atmosphere of the city soon gave way to the fresh air of the wilderness, so at the very least it was a good break from the rat race. The four of us discussed theories and joked most of the way out there, until Panzerwaffle raised an interesting point.
“So I saw this thread online where this guy was talking about his time working mobile security stuff. He said he was former military and got recruited after into this private security firm that went all over the world. It didn’t really seem that interesting until he mentioned going to a hidden town outside of Thompson.” The rest of us perked up at that mention.
“Yeah he was saying this area has a lot of strange reports of cryptids and weird sightings. Wendigos, aliens, bigfoot… you name it.” I looked to Ryuko in the driver seat.
“That true?”
“First I’ve heard of it. I mean, the Canadian north is pretty well known for strange sightings so I’m not too surprised.” Dunkleosteus then cut in.
“Man we are not prepared for shit like that, I don’t know about this.” Panzer chuckled and leaned over to pat him on the shoulder.
“Little late to back out now bro.” He laughed again, but Dunk looked no more reassured. Before long the cities had vanished in the rearview, leaving only endless expanse of road and flat grassy prairies in all directions. We made good time thanks to Ryuko lead-footing the pedal, and arrived in Thompson around 3pm.
The town itself was little more than a few blocks, a couple restaurants and a hospital, which was mostly what I expected from it’s remote location. Thompson is essentially the final outpost of the Canadian north. Beyond it lies a vast expanse of untamed wilderness that stretches for hundreds of kilometers in every direction. There are a few indigenous localities and scattered throughout the area, but most are accessible only by flying or I guess walking for a few months if you’re a lunatic. The point is, all the roads stop at Thompson, but our destination was further beyond.
Thankfully not much further though, and Ryuko assured us we could be there within the hour, but first we decided to stop at one of the town’s diners and get ourself some food. The waitress got us a booth by the window, and got us menus. We spent a few minutes glancing through until she returned for our orders. The restaurant had few patrons at the time and our food arrived quite soon after. The chicken-fried salmon wasn’t half bad, and the others seemed to enjoy their meals as well.
The waitress returned after we’d finished and laid out the tab, peppering us with a few more questions. She obviously knew we weren’t local, and we told her we’d made the trek up from Winnipeg for a camping trip. She mentioned a few spots she thought we should check out, but I can’t recall what they were now. I looked to Ryuko, and could tell what he was thinking before he even said it.
“So I heard a rumor that there’s a town out here that doesn’t appear on any maps…” He paused and the waitress cocked her head at him.
“Do you know anything about that?” She seemed taken aback, and her mouth curled into an uncertain grimace.
“I… I don’t know anything about that, have a good rest of your day.” She then abruptly turned and walked away from the booth. The rest of us exchanged some glances of our own as we laid a pile of cash on the table to cover the bill. Clearly, she wasn’t being entirely truthful with us, or so it seemed. Her sudden shift from cheerful to almost panicked unsettled me a bit though.
We all loaded back into Ryuko’s truck and headed out soon after. Several residents were out in the streets then, and all of them seemed to stare at us with vacant expressions as we drove through town. It seemed a bit hostile of what one would expect of a small Canadian town, but perhaps I just misread the vibes.
The roads beyond Thompson were strictly dirt and gravel, and the further we drove the less maintained they became. I’ve got to be vague when describing the exact route we travelled because I don’t want to be responsible for anyone trying to go find this place themselves. There’s quite a few campgrounds around the area, and beyond that roads that seemingly go nowhere at all.
It was around this point when cell service became nonexistent; and not just zero bars but full-on lack of connection to a provider altogether. We anticipated that of course, but it felt a bit unnerving that if anything went wrong then we were on our own.
We kept driving along the trail for close to an hour, bending and weaving deeper into the woods and further from civilization. The area around seemed truly wild, with no road signs nor any real sign of human presence at all. Ryuko had pointed the spot on the map we were headed, and it made me question why any town would be built in such a place. It had to be an old mining town I thought, but none of us knew for certain.
Eventually the trail split into 3 different paths. After some debate we took the path on the right which was heavily degraded. We only made it about half a click before the road simply became too narrow. We got out and had a quick look around, but it was clear there wasn’t much there. After taking a good 20 minutes to help Ryuko back his truck out, we finally returned to the split in the path.
It was then we noticed there was what appeared to be a pole lying off in the woods. Dunk and Panzer went and grabbed it, and sure enough, found a sign attached to it as well. It was so rusted that any previous message was indecipherable, but it seemed to indicate we were close.
We followed that path for about a kilometer before something caught our attention on the side of the road. Ryuko slowed the truck down and we realized it was yet another trail. This one appeared gutted, as though it once had pavement or concrete but had since been removed. The ground was flat and graded, but clearly untraveled and overgrown with weeds and shrubs.
“This has to be it.” Ryuko said, glancing at his map. He put the truck in park and the four of us stepped out. There we eyed the long-forgotten trail before us, but aside from the suspiciously flat terrain there was little indication anything else was out there.
“You sure this is it? I mean, I don’t see much.” Dunk asked, and Ryuko nodded stepping forward.
“Oh yeah, no question. A road used to run right through here.” That observation was an unusual one, and I wasn’t the only one who picked up on it.
“Why remove the road?” I asked. Ryuko turned back, not seeming to catch my drift.
“I mean, I had assumed a town this far away from everything would be an old mining or lumber town that just ran it’s course and was abandoned when the work dried up… but if they went to the trouble of removing the road that led to it…” I let the words hang in the air, and Ryuko understood then.
“Then someone is trying to hide it.” Panzer and Dunk looked at one another, and a sudden air of apprehension seemed to set in. It’s always a bit nerve-wracking walking into abandoned locations, but this one seemed different somehow.
“What if this is some government base or some Area 51 type shit?” Panzer asked.
“So, area 52?” Dunk replied with a chuckle. I glanced around, but once again it was clear that we were well and truly in the middle of nowhere.
“If that were the case I assume they would’ve arrested us by now.” I replied, gesturing around to the endless blockade of trees.
“No one’s here.” Dunk then scoffed.
“Oh just because you don’t see them don’t mean no one’s here.” He was right, but still the thought remained. Ryuko seemed to ponder a moment, before glancing back down the hidden trail.
“Well… only one way to find out.”
The four of us got back into his truck, and Ryuko maneuvered it onto the overgrown trail. Leaves crunched and the chassis rumbled around as he began to drive forward upon it. It was rough, but not as rough as nature would’ve been. We drove onward at a reduced rate for about five minutes, seeing nothing but trees and thickets on either side.
Eventually the road began to curve left, and soon after something emerged on the side of the trail. It looked like a telephone pole at first; a dark brown column made of wood standing about fifteen feet tall. As we got closer a series of grooves and markings emerged upon it. It looked like a type of totem pole, and at the top, sat a small wooden figurine of what appeared to be a bird of some kind. Ryuko slowed his truck down beside it, and we all stared up in silence.
“Looks like they didn’t remove everything.” Ryuko broke the silence, glancing at me in the front passenger seat.
“Is that an owl on the top?” Panzer asked.
“Yeah, looks like it.” Ryuko replied.
“Man what was that movie from a few years ago in Alaska? Y’know the one where they think they’re seeing owls but it’s actually aliens?” Dunk asked.
“Oh, The 4th kind.” Panzer replied. Almost in unison we all seemed to eye the owl at the pinnacle once again.
“Sure hope that has nothing to do with our situation.” Panzer concluded. We remained there for another minute or so, until Ryuko simply put the truck into drive and continued moving forward. Around the next bend in the woods was all it took to find it.
A row of buildings emerged in the distance, dark, neglected and empty. Ryuko’s truck crept slowly onward allowing more and more of the desolate place to come into view. The walls were wrapped with vines, and the streets cracked with weeds and saplings. It almost looked like a scene straight out of an apocalyptic movie, and the derelict streets had clearly stood vacant for a few decades at the least. Ryuko pulled his truck to a stop, and without a word we all stepped out.
“Oh shit… it does exist” Dunk spoke eyeing the rest of us with a keen smirk. Some of the buildings looked partially burnt, but overall, the majority were mostly untarnished except by the creeping advance of nature. No graffiti on the walls and no obvious signs of major damage that one would expect from a natural disaster of some kind. As far as we could see, there were no cars there either. It was as if the entire town had just one day decided to get up and leave.
“Well, someone was here at some point.” Panzer spoke up, laying a hand on the rotting hull of an old store. The words ‘General Routine Convenience Store’ were just barely discernible upon the faded oak sign above the door.
“So where’d they all go? And why was the waitress covering their existence?” Dunk replied. I’ll admit I got the same vibe, but I wasn’t ready to throw her under the bus yet. If anything she just seemed afraid to even discuss the topic.
“Don’t know man, but I do know this don’t look like no Area 52 to me.” Panzer and Dunk shared a laugh. Ryuko meanwhile had ventured further away to the intersection, and paused to glance at something laying in the street.
He turned back and met my stare, giving a nod of his head for me to join him. I did just that, and once at his side I found what had held his interest. Lying on the ground was what appeared to be an old placard, heavily worn but with the words still mostly discernible.
‘Jaggabas Town Centre’.
“Jaggabas? That’s the name of this town I suppose.” I spoke. Ryuko nodded, averting his gaze ahead.
“Sound familiar?” I asked, but Ryuko just shook his head.
Down the block about 200 meters was a much larger building than the others. Double swaying doors laying mangled at the entrance and wedged open, while the hull of the building was riddled with holes and broken windows. The building looked in much worse condition than the others, and naturally that drew our attention.
Panzer and Dunk joined us and we all approached. The holes in the walls almost looked like bullet impacts, but we couldn’t be certain. As we got near it became evident that it was some sort of old-fashioned hospital or infirmary. Inside was remarkably clean considering the outer conditions. There was still broken debris scattered on the linoleum, but unlike most abandoned buildings there was no sign of graffiti or previous squatters. Probably because nobody in their right mind would venture that far out.
The building only had a main hallway and about half a dozen rooms and so searching through it didn’t take long. There wasn’t much to see anyways, just file cabinets and medical equipment a couple decades old. What was interesting was the stash of medications still in the cabinet; many of which were dated to the early 90’s. Things were becoming a bit more unnerving then, as it was evident that whatever happened there had happened quickly, and it’s residents had very little time to pack up. That is, if they even made it out at all.
“Hey guys… look at this.” Ryuko called out from down the hallway. After reaching his side we found he was examining a hatch on the floor. He managed to wrench it open, revealing a ladder which led into a dark passage below. We took turns peering down below, and saw a narrow, dirt corridor that stretched in both directions for quite a considerable distance.
“Who wants to go down first?” Ryuko asked, a smirk evident behind his mask. None of us answered back, and instead we all just seemed to silently inspect the passageway beneath us. Something was bothering me then; something lingering heavy in the air. I still don’t know how to explain it, but my gut was telling me this was not a place I should be.
Ryuko eventually answered his own question by climbing onto the ladder and beginning to descend. A moment later he touched down into the dirt below. He lit his flashlight and pointed it up ahead and back behind at the two extensions of the passage.
“What do you see?” Dunk asked.
“Not much… just looks like a tunnel. Maybe an old mine?” Ryuko called back.
“Why would a mine be underneath a hospital?” Dunk asked glancing to us.
“Poor planning maybe?” Panzer replied. As they conversed, something suddenly moved outside the window. I was the only one who saw, and didn’t see it well, but it definitely looked like a shadow darting away as I looked.
“What the hell was that?” I pointed it out and the others quickly swiveled towards the window. I scurried towards the window, and glanced outside cautiosuly, but saw nothing but an empty field of overgrown wild grass.
“What is it?” Dunk asked.
“I don’t know I just… saw something move.” By that point the sun was very low in the sky, and the darkness was encroaching fast. The others were clearly feeling a bit unnerved by that point as was I, and we all seemed to reach the silent conclusion that it was time to leave.
“We shouldn’t stay after dark, we can come back tomorrow.” Dunk stated as he headed towards the front door. Panzer then returned to the hatch and yelled down into it.
“Ay Ryuko, time to go.” He waited a few seconds, but there was no response.
“Ryuko, you hear me?” He called again, but once more there was no reply. Panzer then sighed and knelt to the hatch.
“Hey man we gotta go, can you hear me?” He waited a moment, but I heard nothing. Panzer then waved us over and climbed into the hatch. Begrudgingly I followed, knowing I couldn’t let him go alone. Dunk and I soon followed him down the ladder, finding ourselves in some underground tunnel a moment later. Panzer shined his flashlight forward and behind us, but we saw nothing but an empty passage.
“Where the hell did he go?” Panzer asked.
“Shhh… keep your voice down.” Dunk shushed back, kneeling in the dirt and pointing out the footprints. “He went this way.”
The three of us moved onward until reaching the bend in the tunnel. Around it we saw the passage mushroom outward into a substantially larger room. Several large columns stood floor to ceiling decorated in an entirely unexpected Greek-Roman sort of architecture. I’m no expert in that stuff, but the columns looked like they’d have been more at home in the pantheon rather than some buried tunnel in north Canada. The floor too appeared to be a scuffed marble which I can’t imagine would be cheap or easy to install. At the far end of the room, my heart sunk as I spotted a person kneeling to the ground in the shadows.
“Ryuko… is that you?” The person whipped their head around, confirming it was Ryuko. He put a shushing finger to the mouth on his mask and gestured us over.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. Ryuko silently pointed down the passage in front of us. My heart skipped a beat as I stared into the fathomless dark tunnel before us, but of course I saw nothing. Behind us Panzer and Dunk entered the middle of the chamber and glanced around, clearly as mystified as I was.
They spread out around the room to inspect the area as Ryuko and I continued staring. I asked Ryuko about what he saw, and he just said he thought he saw someone, but didn’t elaborate.
“Hey guys… look at this.” Dunk whispered. I turned to see him standing in front of a large mural on the wall. As I got close I saw all sorts of squiggled lines, and symbols engraved upon the wall. The entire thing was probably five meters wide and 3 tall. The entire portrait spread out almost like a massive spider web, but I couldn’t tell what I was looking at.
“It’s a map.” Dunk declared. I didn’t think it likely at first glance, but as I continued staring I realized he could be on to something. That theory had some bewildering implications however. Dunk then lifted a hand and pointed at a spot on the lower left.
“This is where we came in, these symbols must be entrances or exits.” The spot he pointed had a rectangular symbol with a line down the middle, and I spied dozens of others around the mural. I traced the route we had travelled to get there, and it did seem to match.
We hadn’t travelled far, but if that was actually a map and it was in any way to scale then the entire system was absolutely colossal. The small area we’d traversed barely even registered when compared with the whole thing, and it’s entirety must’ve comprised dozens upon dozens of kilometers worth of tunnels. Who would build something like that? And how and why was it done?
There was quite a variety of other symbols on there as well, but with no map index we had little context as to what they represented. Towards the upper center of the map was a large open space with a unique symbol within it. It was almost as if all the other pathways were leading towards it, which of course made it an interesting sight. Unfortunately, it was probably several kilometers worth of tunnels to get there.
“What the hell is this place?” Panzer asked, but I think it was more rhetorical than anything. There was this odd scent lingering in the air, but I couldn’t place it. This wasn’t my first venture in urban exploration, but this time felt different. Something about the place was deeply unsettling, and although I tried just writing it off as my nerves the feeling wouldn’t dissipate.
“Oh shit…” Ryuko suddenly proclaimed in a whisper. I turned and saw him slowly backing away from the passageway. I was about to ask what it was when I saw it and my heart stood still. Ahead of him in the corridor was the silhouette of someone obscured in shadow. The air seemed to drain from the room in an instant as did the breath from my lungs.
The person in the tunnel before us remained motionless and silent. Ryuko had then ignited his flashlight which beamed against the ground. With a quivering hand he began to lift it towards the person in the tunnel. I said a silent prayer hoping it would simply be an angry hobo, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.
It’s face was gaunt, with gleaming eyes that reflected the light of the flashlight like an animals would. Jagged teeth in an overbite protruded from chapped lips, and a narrow tongue seemed to taste the air like a snake.
The second the light touched it’s eyes it let out this god-awful wail. We took off without a second thought. In only a few seconds we reached the hatch and began rapidly clambering back up. I looked back, but saw no one pursuing us. Ryuko slammed the hatch behind us, and we all breathed a small sigh of relief. For the briefest of moments, I felt we were safe, but that notion didn’t last.
“There’s something out there, you see that?” Dunk suddenly spoke pointing out the broken window on the far end of the building. Sure enough, the trees were bustling and clearly something was moving back within them. We didn’t dare stick around to see what it was and immediately made a mad dash for Ryuko’s truck.
As we filed inside, I saw shapes and silhouettes emerging from deep within the woods, but remaining far enough so that I couldn’t get a clear look at them. As the headlights passed over them, I saw several pairs of gleaming eyes leering back at us. They were humanoid in appearance, but decidedly not human.
Thankfully we made it out without incident, and in no time we were back on the main road and speeding off back towards Thompson. We got back rather quickly compared to the journey out, and spent nearly the entire ride discussing what we’d witnessed out there. Ryuko stayed rather silent, and by the time I realized we had actually driven past Thompson we were quite a ways past it. I asked Ryuko why he didn’t stop in Thompson, and his response was not at all what I expected.
“We’re being followed.” His words reverberated through the truck like a slow rolling thunder.
“The suburban behind us turned out from a dark road shortly after we left that abandoned town.” The 3 of us just stared silently at him, and he spoke again.
“Don’t look back.” I then caught a glance of the gas gage and realized we were approaching the E. Thankfully a gas station wasn’t too far off, but of course the main worry was our pursuers. Shortly after and Ryuko turned off the highway, and sure enough the headlights behind us mirrored his move. Ryuko pulled into the brightly-lit gas station, and the black suburban with tinted windows followed, pulling into the opposite side of the pump.
Ryuko stepped out, and I got out with him. My heart was throbbing like crazy, but part of me wasn’t even certain this suburban was actually following us. We were sitting ducks though, with no one around aside from a single station attendant in their booth. Ryuko approached the pump, slid his card and retrieved the nozzle as he slipped it into the gas slot.
As soon as the gas began pumping, the driver side door of the suburban opened. Out stepped a tall man with a bald head wearing a suede black coat. I slipped my right hand behind my back and gripped the dagger in my belt, but knew if the man had a gun it probably wouldn’t make much difference. The man casually rounded the front of his truck, and came to a stop in front of Ryuko who stared back defiantly.
Something about his presence was deeply foreboding, like he was a simple minute man for some nefarious cult or group. With what we’d seen earlier, that didn’t seem out of the realm of possibilities. His eyes sent chills down my spine, like there was nothing human behind his stare. The two of them just remained silent, deadlocked in a stare.
“Can I help you?’ Ryuko finally broke the silence, but the man said nothing. His expression unaltered, and stance unchanged. Mercifully the gas nozzle clicked behind us. Rykuo turned and removed it, opening his driver side door and getting back in. The bald man then diverted his gaze to me, and he smiled.
“Drive safe.” With that simple phrase he turned and got back into his vehicle. The windows were heavily tinted, but with the way the shadow bent on the passenger side it was evident someone else was with him. Ryuko then rolled down my window.
“Let’s go.”
They didn’t follow us any further, but the brief interaction left it’s mark on us. The four of us discussed it the entire way back, coming to the consensus that they were either government operatives or cult members. I shudder when I think of those things at that town, but clearly, someone has gone to great lengths to hide them.
Posting to begin with is not a great idea, I know, but I had to do something. This all happened about a week ago now, and once Ryuko dropped us off, I haven’t seen him since. No one’s heard from him, his phone is off and he hasn’t been on any of the online places he normally frequents. The police have been notified, but there’s not much to go off of for them. Apparently, he never even returned home the night after we got back.
I hope he’s okay, and Ryuko if you’re reading this, please contact me. I’ve been looking around online and even in public libraries, but so far I haven’t been able to find any information on the town of Jaggabas. If anyone knows anything about it please feel free to share, but in the meantime, I just hope whoever that bald guy works for doesn’t decide to come looking for us.