(NDI Story)Harrowing

          

Here;s a short story. I had plotted this out for future works of fiction based around this theme. Mainly inspired by SCP Foundation. Though I had planned to explore more opportunities, especially implementing ARGs in the future.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 27^th, 1946.
 Jan met the morning like he met every other day; with two pills of Tylenol and a nice large serving of coffee. Though his acquaintances urged him to cut back on the drugs, he merely brushed them off with little care of their concern.

 The month has not been easy on him and the expedition needed his undivided attention. From five in the morning to midnight with no one to take his shift. Several people up and left, all over rumors of a disturbance in one of the ruined towns.

The wild animals probably spooked them. Since the war, most of the towns in the region during the North African Campaign were left abandoned or occupied by German and Italian forces. However, this particular region shown signs of severe decay and overgrowth, indicating that this was left alone for a very long time. Jan figured the area was abandoned long before the war. Hopefully, he thought, it would not hinder their expedition.

The expedition was supposed to be simple; reclamation of Axis research documents. A ton of them went under the public’s eye and the U.S. Government saw fit to send him to recover them. Given his experience during the African campaign, Jan knew how to find the tiniest of detail hidden within the thick jungle.

The reason it was all hush and shush? Human experimentations, or something more ludicrous like trying to find some equivalent to a Holy Grail or Philosopher’s Stone. Stupid shit that would not fly by the higher ups.

             Jan sat outside his trailer; he was wearing khakis and a t-shirt, looking over the reports and the thick African jungle drinking coffee. Above, a tent to shield him from the heat and the sun’s rays. Though he should had rethink his method of relaxation if he was drinking coffee on a hot sweltering day like it was water. His main concern was for the lack of dedication from the team. Their behavior made him question the competence of his officials to produce a group of such timid individuals. To send him such incapable men baffled him.

Three of the scouts who stayed were surveying the perimeter and the ruined town itself. Jan kept by him a comm-station that was hooked onto the trailer. Any minute now, he thought, they will be radioing in of a research outpost or some bunker they have discovered. Chances are they may run after getting spooked by yet another wild animal. Here he was. a six-year long running war vet, having to babysit children still afraid of the boogeyman under their bed.

Four shots of tequila would solve all these problems. Chug it down their throats and send them on their way. Better to be drunk and brave than a sober whiny bitch. “Here’s to peace in our time…” Jan said to himself as he downed the rest of his coffee. He let out a sigh and continued, “And to a new kind of war.”

Indeed; despite the alliance with Russia, tensions were already stirring anew with the aftermath against the Axis. Stalin was not the most stable individual for that manner, and his expansion had already unnerved much of Western Europe and the US. Though it would not be long until those tensions peaked.

          “War, as unfortunate as it is, is a temporary natural phenomenon that is a product mammalian nature,” came a voice from the side. It was not anyone he recognized from his expedition. Jan turned his head around to see where the voice was coming from. A man dressed in dark business attire. He looked no older than thirty-six; not too far around his age. No way was he sent by Jan’s superiors. Though he had to admit, the man had this professional attitude to him. “Excuse me? Who are you and how did you get here?” Jan replied.

            “Mr. Marlow I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to discuss that at the moment. I would rather like to speak with you if you don’t mind.”

Jan reeled in a bit after the man revealed his last name and replied, “How exactly did you know that?”

The well dress man made his way toward Jan and pulled out a carton of cigarettes. With his thumb, he jammed the carton upward, pushed out two cigarettes and caught them with his other hand. He offered the one to Jan after he slipped the other in his mouth. “No thanks,” he replied.

            “Suit yourself.” He placed the cigarette back in the carton, stuffed it in his suit and pulled out a match. Probably had a box of them in his suit too. As he lit the cigarette, he pulled up the chair from the comm-station and sat next to Jan. “What I know about you is irrelevant. What I know about this region is a subject of interest for a small organization that I represent.”

            “And what exactly is this organization? Are you CIA or something?” The man laughed in response as he reeled his hand in to scratch his nose. “That term,” he started, “will not be officially finalized yet at least until next year, from what I heard. No, I stand for a non-government sanctioned organization that handles investigating strange occurrences and containing any dangerous substance we may find. And with that, we study it. If it is dangerous, we try to eliminate or secure it. If it is resourceful, we use it for the good of mankind. And before you ask, yes. I did receive permission. While we are not bound to any government, we still feel the need to assist them in any way we can.”

            “Why exactly are you telling me this?” he asked the suited man. “You’re speaking to a former military officer. What interest do I involve you or your organization?” With that, the suited man smiled and leaned over in his seat. He inhaled his cigarette greatly, as if he was breathing it, and sighs. “That,” he began, “is a very good question for you to ask. Your file is extensive, no doubt about that. We were very interested in your previous profession as well as your military expertise.”

He reached into the other side of his suit with his free hand and pulled out a folder. He placed it on the table in front of him and smiled. At first Jan was hesitant, but he reached for the folder, picked it up and brought it to his lap. In the folder was a heavily descriptive dossier about Jan’s past experience as security chief. A very demanding one at that. The file read of a record on extensive security precautions and pivotal shift managements. Backdoor details, access points on the roof, structural weaknesses and imperfections. Mainly all retained to local and federal banks.

All this was about him two years before the war.
His father, who served during the First World War, signed up for security detail not long after the end. Jan showed interest in his father’s profession and decided to take up security himself. Though to no one but himself, Jan signed up for the position to be closer to his estranged war weary father. The rest of the report detailed tactical and strategic defensive and offensive movements established by Jan who was promoted to a sergeant during Operation Torch. His squad came out with two injured and all no worse for wear. Said to have been taught by his father through experience. This brought him up to the position of military officer

            “How… did…” before Jan said anymore, the suited man raised his hand up. Then he folded them together over his lap, one leg over the other.

Then he spoke, “Mr. Marlow, we feel your efforts and expertise are not being put to their fair use. Expeditions to the African jungles, searching for remnants of Nazi human experimentation; a commendable but trivial task for one with your skills. Another individual with a dedicated group would had been more suited for this task. I will say however, this presents an excellent opportunity to see your capabilities.”

The last statement felt odd to Jan. It was not like there was anything in the jungle that he can do to show off. Nothing but the armored comm trailer and several other trucks. He took a moment to look around before he turned back to the man. Before he could utter a word, one of the volunteers approached them. She was a server who help tended to the expedition team. Aside from serving drinks, she was also a dedicated medic. “Would you two like anything?” she asked them as she showed them a pitcher of water.

            “No thanks dear, we are fine for the moment,” the suited man replied. Though as she left, Jan attempted to reach out for her. “Wait, I’ll take a dri-” but she was already out of earshot to catch what he said. Did not help that the man started to speak again. “Mr. Marlow if you don’t mind; may I assist you in your search? I have a report on the layout of this area to help.”

            “Only if you tell me what you are really here for. A non-government organization like you certainly wouldn’t have such a keen interest to get his way into North Africa without permission.”

            “I’d like to hire you. Our organization has recently begun expanding. Small government sanctioned areas are no longer of benefit to us. I am in the process of procuring land rights for our first headquarters and require primary individuals of adequate skills to become the founders. We can use security specialists like you. Especially one with combat expertise. We plan to expand our facilities across the entire globe. Yet, there are always resources and manpower needed. Simple maybe, but you’ve yet to see what kind of sacrifices we have made throughout the years. However, the pay is good and so is the quartering. The choice however, is up to you. But you will be helping mankind by taking up my offer.”

The talk of mankind… non-government organization planning to expand globally, answering to no one, but serving everyone? Here he was volunteered for war in his misguided attempts to serve the common man. In a way, he probably did. However, like any war, comes loss, pain, and nightmares. He dealt with them for a while, not like he was going to drop the burden of the aftermath.

            “Maybe… I might think on that offer. Probably will give you an answer by the time I am finished here. I have yet gotten any calls from my scouting parties. But I’m pretty sure with your help we can find these research stations.”

            “Excellent. Now shall we proceed to… whatever it is you are doing?” the suited man’s response was a bit smug. Of course, that was to be expected. Jan basically did nothing but management and paperwork. Strenuous amounts of paperwork that took hours to compile and complete. And they just keep piling up with one scout leaving after another.

            “Absolutely nothing,” Jan replied. Which was about as close as he would describe his current situation. “Let me radio in and tell them I’m coming. The scout left north from here an hour or so ago. They probably found something.” He stood up and yawned before he made his way to the station. Only noise that came from the com was… well noise. Should not be surprising as there are interferences in this jungle. Jan picked up the headset, placed it over his ears, knelt next to the com and pressed the transmitter button. A loud click followed afterwards. “Team four please report in. This is Marlow calling from camp base over.”

A few seconds and he got nothing. He always had instant responses on the other end. But they replied none of the less, after he had to repeat himself. “Mr. Marlow sir, I’m afraid we’re in a bit of a jam, over,” came a voice from the radio. The tone of his voice met with stuttering.

            “Team four; what is the situation?”

            “Well… its… you’re going to have to see for yourself. W-we were in an abandoned school in the town north from where you are at. Well... No w-way are we going back in there. Not after what happened to Jason. Over.”

Jan frowned and shook his head. Leaning back, he lets out a sigh and removes his headset. “Mr.… whatever your name is, looks like we’re stepping in. We got a situation. Probably could be a bunch of animals but I never heard such frantic nonsense before.”

            “The jungle’s a dangerous place Mr. Marlow,” said the suited man. “It could be there are more trouble than we were expecting.”

Dangers. Usually the last thing you would like to hear in a seemingly simple operation. Jan thought it over for a moment, then he stood up and made his way into his trailer. After a couple minutes, he came out with an M1 Grand and a Colt 1911 in either hand. He tossed the pistol for the man who caught it with ease.

            “Trouble is usually solved by a show of force. I suggest you stick close if we can expect anything more than lions, tigers and bears.”

            “Bears aren’t native in Africa you know?” the man’s face was amused as he said that.

 Jan could only sigh and shake his head in response. “Figurative speech seems to not be your forte my friend.”

            “Well in my line of work, it is good to have a sense of humor once in a while.” They said no more after that and made their way north. A compass in one hand, and one against his rifle, strapped around his shoulder, Jan lead the suited man north towards the ruined town.

             The atmosphere changed as they treaded through the thick jungle. While it certainly was not a comforting experience to be in a dense floral area with the potential threat of stalking predators, this felt like something more sinister, more… ominous and ancient. With the bugs and the birds, the noises they made, soon fell into the distance as Jan and the other man closed in on the town. Only silence remained.

In an instant his combat instincts picked up and assumed a cautionary stance. Jan’s pace slowed as he cornered from tree to tree. While the suited individual was certainly calm and less tense, he certainly kept his guard up and followed his example by hugging the tree with his side, peeking out only to observe before he moved ahead.

            “I don’t like this…” Jan uttered under his breath. “There’s no one here yet, I feel like there’s an ambush waiting for us.”

            “You are not wrong for thinking that. Something is definitely watching us…” the suited man looked about before stopping at the entrance of the ruined town. There, at the corner of one of the buildings covered in overgrowth, was the scouting party tending to the wounds of the man named Jason. “And I don’t think it’s an animal. I’ll wait by the school entrance; check up on your men.” And just like that, he was off, in a brisk but steady walking pattern towards the small school at the town edge.

Jan stood a few seconds to watch him, unable to shake the feeling that this guy hid something. He had coverage of the area, knew his last name off the bat, suggested a job to him in the middle of a jungle during an expedition; there were many factors in play that was not a natural occurrence. Somehow, he felt like he could be trusted, despite these glaring points.

He ran over towards the group; they argued among themselves in a hushed manner before falling silent at Jan’s arrival. The injured man laid on the ground, bruised and bloodied head to back. A heavy groan escaped his mouth as he shifted in his position. The young man had a wrapping over his head to stop excess bleeding. His back did not look too good for that matter either. Then flashbacks of the war came back; once more he saw his comrade bleeding profusely on the ground, a cut on the side of his head. The combat medic was busy tending to some of the bullet wounds before he made his way to the head. Again, the feeling of familiarity returned to his mind; why have I not been there it said. Finally, he snapped out of it and addressed to one of the scouting members. “Okay, can you tell me what exactly happened?”

The man did not look up, but he spoke in a clear frightened tone all the same, “Something happened in there. Jason wanted to investigate so he went into the school alone. I tried to follow him in… we all did. But as we followed behind him… we saw… we saw… I am not sure I can say it without sounding like a complete fool. But then… we all saw it. Together.”

            “What did you see? Come man speak up.”

            “We saw… ghosts. I think they were ghosts. But they were dark… shadow like. Yet they were not plastered on the floor or the walls. They were standing upright… like how you and I would. And they were everywhere. Some sat at desks… one at the board and the others…” he choked up for a moment. A hard gulp could be heard as he looked at him. “Something is very wrong in there Marlow. You can still hear the whispers… the gasp of air inhaling and exhaling… the cries and the whimpers and… Jason… fuck. Should had kept our mouths shut. We cried out for him and… he turned and then…”

One of the other scouts finished for him. “He was thrashed around the room. His head slammed on the desk, back thrown against the wall. We could see him in mid-air, shadows all around him, yet we saw nothing that would indicate they were holding him. Again, and again he was slammed against the wall before being thrown at our direction. Quickly we grabbed Jason and dragged him out; now he is in the sorry condition you see him as. Boss… I do not know what the fuck is going on in there. It could not have been ghosts but my eyes were telling me a whole different story. I do not know what it was or what they were, but they were violent. I am not going in there again. Neither of us are.”

          “Well this very nice man in the black suit is going in and I can’t have him become a subject of brutality. Just stay here and radio in for a medevac. I am going to find the underlying cause of this. Take care of Jason; whatever happens, make sure he’s conscious.”

Jan stood up and briskly made his way towards the school. There was no way it could had been ghosts. That kind of nonsense does not fly by him. Though there was one thing he had to admit; never had he felt so much pressure or fear since his time in the war. Whatever this was… it was not a good feeling.

             Jan stopped halfway at the door where the suited man was. He stood there, staring down the decrepit classroom of the shredded school. Outside, it did not look like much, and it was bright as hell. Inside, there was this unyielding darkness that refused to give into the light, even if it cracked through the gaps of the blinders. Overgrowth covered the floor, ceiling, and splotches of blood were where the attack took place. Among the blood however, was signs of scarring, decay, and dried splotched of blood from long ago.

The uneasy feeling stirred in Jan immensely. As for the suited man, he was still as calm and collected as before. But Jan knew, he had some inkling of fear to him. Fear, even with his calm brave demure. All he could do was smile. He turned his head aside and spoke, “Shall we?” before stepping one foot in the doorway.

Jan was quick to stop him however. He had one arm across his chest, stepped in front of the man and slowly twirled the rifle from his shoulder. Gripped firmly in two hands, aiming forward, Jan made his way slowly down the aisle of chairs and desks, watching carefully for these signs of ghosts. While he certainly did not see anything, he could hear the voices rising in agitation; it was as if they were reacting his presence. Then he came to a stop, his senses honing in. A few seconds later, the voices died down. Jan continued to make his way forward, closing in on the teacher’s desk as the voices stirred again. They were quieter than before, but they were still agitated. His pace continued to slow, and the tone of the voice became subtle and non-existent. Afterwards he saw the shadowy silhouettes in the description of the scouts’ testimonies. They were everywhere, even so close to touching Jan. They stood by the window, sat at their desks, corners. Some had their faces covered, for lack of a face they had.

It was not too long until Jan reached the desk. But as he closed in, the silhouette behind it started to twitch uncontrollably. Its bodily motions became erratic, distressed even, and it grew more distressed as he moved closer. None of the other shadow figures reacted.

Everything seemed fine for the most part. Though nothing about this was considered ‘fine’ in a natural rational sense. The disparity in this school was so immense that Jan started to shiver. The last time he had the shakes was his third month into combat. But this was worse; inside he could feel his stomach churn, sweat dripped from his brow, knees about ready to buckle. Everywhere, the atmosphere was oppressing, savage, and disturbing.

Of course, Jan did not anticipate the next five minutes when he placed his foot on one of the floorboards. A very loud, heavy creak roared across the room, followed by an audible crack. His body jolted, and so had the figure in front of him. Quickly he retracted his leg back as the stirring voices of the shades erupted into inhumane screeches and wails. The floor started to vibrate, the walls shook, and dust fell from the ceiling threatening to collapse; the chairs and tables rocked back and forth, with some occupied by the shadowy figures, being lifted by them and thrown across the room. None went in his direction however.

More screams followed, as did the figure in front that started to deform. The way this figure screamed, it was different, nothing like the others. When it screamed, it was dark, deep, a devious shrill almost. The twisting shadowy head thrashed around, blurring and rotating in an incomprehensible speed. He saw the body twitch instantly, as if it was trying to break from its stance. 

While the screams had not stopped, neither had the figures in the room attacked him. Jan moved with caution though as he continued his slow pace. He looked down he saw what appeared to be decrepit skeletal remains of adolescent beings cluttered together in what appeared to be a basement below. The puzzle was piecing together in place nice and perfectly. All that was left was the answer, if there was any to be found.
One foot over the hole, he reached for the small steps leading to the desk. Again, one foot after the other, his gun raised and aiming at the twitching figure. It appears it was following his movements, but Jan was not going to fool around any longer to find out. His right hand had a firm grip on the rifle’s stock, trying to steady the rifle in balance as he guided his left hand for the desk drawers. With his grip firmly latched the handle, he slowly pulled it towards him where he revealed a knife, a book, and a key. Slowly the shades started to vanish, one by one, with the screams across the classroom before they dissipated in silent echoes. The deformed shade in front, started to thrash violently and in a twisted pattern; it grew and grew into a large, bestial figure before vanishing itself. What was left were a pair of glowing, floating red lights that remained stationary, staring at him for a whole minute before they disappeared like the rest.

Even though the tension was gone, the nightmare did not seem over. The ever-gripping atmosphere of dread and savagery remained. But for the moment, he felt a sense of relief and safety. The suited man made his way down the aisle, over the hole and up the steps. He stood on the opposite side of the desk, looking down at the three old worn objects. The knife, stained in dried blood; the book, ready to collapse into dust; and the key, rusted and worn. With his left shoe, he pushed aside the rug beneath to reveal what appeared to be a trapdoor. A grunt escaped his mouth, “Alright then.” Then he raised his head up to face the bewildered Jan as he tipped his head down. “A fine and commendable action if I do say so myself. Wonderful work Mr. Marlow. You have calmed the disturbance, for the moment. I didn’t think it would had been possible.”

What he said there had not made a lick of sense. Had he expected this to happen? Did he know? Jan kept on asking himself these questions as he stared, stricken with unease. “What… sir I do not…” but once more, the suited man interrupted him. “Mr. Marlow, starting today this site is now under the authority of the New Dawn Initiative. Your men will have their memory wiped and this whole incident will be well under wrapped once we secure and block this area off. You’ve done an outstanding job clearing the disturbance; this will definitely speed up our operations here.”

            “You knew… you…”

            “Yes. But do not look at it as though it was a deception; this was merely a test to see how you would react and act in the face of an anomalous situation. Honestly, I am amazed; not only did you pass by ensuring my safety from harm, but you also went far and beyond after you addressed the situation and ended the disturbance of these specters for the time being.”

            “I’m not… sure what I did… or what’s going on now.”

            “Revelation hides the beast from the eyes of man. We had thought about sending one of our operatives to handle it until I decided to vouch for you to handle. I admit, it has earned me a great deal of trouble from my peers, but my word most of the time, outweighs their combined voice. Your keen perception and awareness has proved them that you are the right man to hire. To be frank, this was not as much of a security detail. But... handling dangerous anomalous entities is not something one can do lightly. And you more than proved your worth in the job field.”

It took him a moment to digest this. Jan had just finished with a malicious force of disparity, pain and fear; now he is being offered a job as a security official in this organization that deals shit with this? Hard to believe he was going to accept his offer now. But then he asked, “Would you consider your position now? You are passed with excellence to earn it now more than ever. You would be doing humanity a huge favor.
Jan looked around the school building. Light started to shine inside the dark room, illuminating whatever was left of the corners. Then he faced the suited man and sighed. “Alright,” he started, “I… accept your offer. Not sure if I am going to regret it. But… I want you to tell me now; who are you… really.”
The suited man smiled as he straightened his suit. Then he turned around and started to make his way out the door. “You my friend, can just call me, The Director. We do not use our real names in this line of work. A formal title or surname is fine. Check your pockets, make sure you got everything. Do not want anyone from the outside to find out about our identity. Wouldn’t you agree? Chief Johnathon?”

There was no one around aside from him and the man. Jan wondered who he was addressing. Then it took him a moment to consider the statement he said about the names.

             Soon the ambiance of the jungle returned. The bugs and the birds in the trees and the leaves started to chant and sing. Ruffles in the grass signaled the return of the wild beasts who had once made their homes here. He took one last look around the area before approaching the now amnesiac group.

            “Boss? What? Where… how… how did we get here?” asked Jason, who seemed to have recovered fully. How in such a short amount of time? Probably from The Director, his new boss.

            “Long story,” he started. “Plants with hallucination properties. But unfortunately, I have discovered there to be no research institute in the area. The Nazis have not been here. Have not been at all. Unfortunately, the expedition is a failure. Some bad Intel. Let us head back to camp and pack up. We got a long day ahead of us.”

The group made an audible agitated grunt as they packed their gear and started to haul back south. As soon as they were out of ear shot, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. It read: NDI; Chief of Security Johnathon Doe. Facility-1,

Jonathon took one last look around the environment and sighed. Then he pocketed his card and made his way back south. It was time to go home.