Hey,
is that your stuff?
It was
broken...
How…?
After some trial and error, Kogan figures out how to spread his weight so as to walk without getting stuck in the wax.
Unfortunately for me, there are no laws of physics that will stop me from sinking up to my ankles with my weight, so I hang back and keep the camera rolling as Kogan carefully picks his way around the walls of the honeycomb — which I guess is what I’m calling it now because it’s the only word I can think of to describe what I’m seeing.
Don't
fall!
What kind of halfwit do you take me for, Oliver?
Er… right, sorry.
Be careful, you’re almost there.
Yes,
I can see
that.
I make my way along the edge of the dark residue, keeping an eye out for anything that might be lurking in the shadows and trying to keep the direct path to Kogan as short as possible as he traverses the pitted wax floor. I take the liberty of filming more of the area and make another bizarre discovery.
Are
those...
...muffins?
Kogan's squelching footfalls sound faster. I look up to see him tearing back towards me, his mother's vase clutched tightly. His dark eyes are wide with panic, and his mouth opens as if to shout a warning, but before he can say anything, disaster strikes. He stumbles, the vase slips from his hands and rolls to a stop as he skids backward, directly towards one of the gaping pits.
AH!
Kogan!
The suction pulls at my shoes. I lose one and stumble, barely managing to catch myself before face-planting into the dark sludge. The sickly sweet stench invades my nostrils, and I choke back a gag as my fingers fumble for purchase. Kogan’s frantic movements stir up an unsettling squelching sound as he clings to the edge of the pit by his fingernails.
Hold on!
For one heart-stopping moment, our fingertips graze before he slips further with a strangled cry. I thrust myself forward again, this time, my hand circles his wrist just as he nearly disappears down into darkness.
Our eyes meet, wide and terrified, but my attention is pulled to the abyss over his shoulder.
A wave of nausea rises up from my gut, and I blink, trying to make sense of what I’m seeing. A void that stretches not only downwards but backward, forward, and through me, like the walls of reality itself have been peeled back to reveal the incomprehensible.
Kogan's pained cry snaps me back to the present.
I've
got you!
I stick my flashlight between my teeth and grab him with both hands. He’s heavier than I remember—just days ago, I lifted him easily out of harm’s way when those boxes came down in his apartment. Now, it takes everything I’ve got to pull him back from the edge of… whatever the hell is down there.
Kogan hisses as he's dragged upwards, his body scraping against the edge of the pit before he collapses onto the ground beside me, chest heaving with panicked gasps.
In the next instant, he’s snatching up his fallen vase and scrabbling away, back to the edge of the hardwood floor. I look around for my camera. It’s lying just a short distance away, right next to the random tray of muffins I saw earlier. I pick it up and inspect it. It’s a little dirty, but still recording.
What
the hell are you doing?!
Kogan yanks hard on my jacket, throwing me off balance, and I fall flat on my ass. But my complaints die on my tongue when I notice the tray of muffins hovering in the air, as though lifted by invisible hands. One by one, they blink out of existence before my eyes. Kogan’s still yelling, tugging on my arm, but I can’t tear my eyes – or my camera – away.
Run,
you idiot!!
Kogan makes a strangled sort of sound, releasing my arm and taking off in the direction we’d come from.
In the next instant, the now-empty tray drops from the air with unnatural speed, faster than gravity should allow, and crashes to the ground. The impact sends the floor splintering outward, blowing me back so far, I come down on hardwood.
The danger finally sinking in, I scramble to my feet and sprint after Kogan, now just a halo of white light in the distance. I guess he grabbed the flashlight. But I still have the dim glow of my camera light to guide me as I race to catch up.
I’ve lost both my shoes by this point, but I don’t care. The ground shudders beneath my feet, each tremor feels like the footfall of some colossal beast. My lungs burn as I close in on Kogan's frantic silhouette ahead of me. The shaking grows fainter the further we run, but after several long minutes we still haven’t reached the door we came in by.
Kogan stumbles to a halt, doubling over with his hands on his knees as he takes gulping breaths. Sweat glistens on his forehead, his eyes are wild and darting.
Where's the fucking door?!
I slow my pace, a sickening realization creeping over me.
IMAGE
Wait,
are we...
are we
going the right
way?
I sweep the camera around us, it’s meager light source illuminating nothing but hardwood floors and popcorn ceiling surrounded by a sea of shadow.
The
footprints!
Where
are the footprints we saw earlier?
Kogan straightens, his chest heaving as he flicks the flashlight around the area as well.
Shit.
Kogan, I think we might be
lost-
Oliver,
you can't get
lost in a 100 square meters.
Kogan's tone is harsh, but there’s a tremor to it. He's scared. And if I'm being honest with myself, so am I.
We’re not alone in here. We could be sharing space with something beyond comprehension. The memory of the abyss lurking just below our feet still haunts me, even as I try to push it out of my mind. When I first saw it, all sense of purpose seemed to slip away from me.
My past mistakes, my desire for redemption, and even Kogan’s life hanging in the balance felt trivial in the face of such endless nothing. No. Not nothing. Just… other. Thinking about it still brings back a sense of uneasy detachment from the world.
I look over at Kogan, forcing myself to focus on the present, taking in the way sweat beads on his brow and upper lip, how his breathing remains labored.
He seems to be favoring one of his legs, and then –
- How did I miss it?
Kogan, you're bleeding!
"No shit, Oliver, that thing almost swallowed my fucking leg!
Huh? You mean when you fell in the hole?
It
pulled me
in!
What?!
With a groan, Kogan's eyes lift up to the ceiling in an exaggerated roll, clearly fed up.
I-I
have no idea what you're talking about.
No, really.
The giant
fucking bug that was just chasing us, genius!
Bug!?
My mind reels as I try to grasp what he's saying.
Fuck
off, Oliver!
You can’t
convince me it’s all in my head this time, I've got the physical proof right here!
Kogan yanks up his pant leg, revealing a grotesque wound. My breath catches —
Numerous abrasions cover his calf in a perfectly-spaced helix formation, as if something with a cylindrical mouth and far too many teeth bit down and refused to let go.
I'm going
straight to the police when we get out of here,
Your little
security outfit obviously can't handle whatever the hell is going on in
this place.
Assuming
you’re not all behind it in the first place!
He may not be entirely wrong about that. I feel like I’m in way over my head here. But going to the police won’t help - I’ve tried.
Ignoring his tirade for now, I kneel down before him to get a better look at the lacerations.
They don’t look too deep, thankfully, but it must be painful. He jerks his leg away from me and starts reprimanding me about personal space.
Kogan, I believe you.
For a moment, Kogan seems speechless. He stares down at me, his eyes wide and searching.
Is...
is it still here?
...No.
It gave up chasing us about halfway.
I nod and swallow hard, turning back to face him.
What
exactly did
you see?