I’m stuck in a place called Candletown. Please help me. [Part 3]

My last post is here

I’m at the old mining structures. I knew I couldn’t just sit there and waste on top of that hill, waiting for nothing in nowhere, so here I am, having followed my instincts. Probably a stupid idea; my “instincts” got me into this mess. I doubt they’ll get me out.

But here I am.

These buildings are rusted to hell and back. Tall conveyor belts link storage tanks to multi-story structures of weathered, sun-baked iron. There are half-buried train tracks here. They pop in and out of the sand and dirt like they’re as anxious as I am to be there. Hiding in time, like I wish I could. Some mine carts are toppled out in the desert past the structures. There is an old battered boxcar sitting on a piece of rail behind them. I can tell this used to be quite an active site, some long time ago.

There’s a few minecart rails running from here to the mines down the street. Might be my next stop. But first I needed to explore here. I didn’t think I’d find all that much but… well, I’ll explain.

I got out of my jeep and headed into the long rectangular structure directly in front of me. It’s metal door made the most awful screech as I pushed on it, like it hated me for even trying. I admit I tensed up. I didn’t want Shay or Bray to know where I was, so any noise made me extremely paranoid. I wasn’t even sure I could truly hide from them, but dammit I was – am – going to try. Hence, I propped the door open with a fallen brick, worried it would scream again if I let it shut.

Every step I took produced a little plume of dust. I pulled my shirt up to cover my mouth and nose, and pulled out my phone to turn the flashlight on. It was dark and grimy here. Undisturbed. There were a couple of desks, filing cabinets, and shelves scattered around, but they all seemed mostly empty. I pulled open some desk drawers, found some hard hats and hammers, and closed them back up. The filing cabinets produced much the same. Some lug nuts, wrenches, and scrap, but nothing noteworthy.

I did notice the “company slogan” for whatever mining corporation this had been. “Dig deep”, it said, written in bright bold yellow letters on the interior side wall of the office. Seemed generic enough to apply to any mining company, but it didn’t really matter.

After some rummaging, I headed up some stairs to what I assumed were the foreman’s offices. It was, uh, more clean? Certainly still dusty, but more organized to say the least. In the center, before a set of bay windows overlooking the office space below, a desk sat facing the door. An empty swivel chair greeted me as I came in. It was tempting to sit, to try and relax for a moment. But I knew better.

I pulled open the filing cabinets here. Still nothing. Rummaged through a tool chest near the corner. There were, as expected, tools. And finally, I reached the desk. Its surface was empty, dusty. But the top drawer was a different story.

When I opened it, I nearly had a heart attack. I mean my heart leapt. Inside was a picture of either Bray or Shay. Behind them stretched an empty desert of nothing. I want to say it was the Nevada desert. But it looked so wrong. There was a plant I’d never seen before, with a single beautiful red flower blooming, way in the distance. The stones were an off color, almost black. The more I stared, the more I understood this was not Nevada.

I picked the photo up. Beneath it, scrawled into the desk drawer with what might’ve been a knife, were the words, “Dig Deep.” I leaned in to inspect the writing. See if I could decipher whose handwriting it was. And as I got close, a little red moth made its escape from the drawer.

It flew past my face in a flurry, making me gasp and fly back. I swatted at it – panicked, even – backed away. Started stomping my feet in adrenaline fueled anxiety.

“Fuck fuck fuck!” I cried. “What do you want‽”

I cracked open an eye. The moth was gone.

Letting loose a deep sigh I leaned back on the wall and let my head hang. In my hand I still held the picture of one of the twins. “Dig Deep”? I was starting to think it wasn’t just some company slogan. Honestly, I don’t think this is just “some building”, or “some town”.

It feels… I mean this might sound crazy, but it feels like the town is talking to me. Like… like it has something to say. “Dig Deep”? “Does it hurt”? I pressed my fists to my eyes and tried to think, think! But no matter how hard I tried, truth be told, I can’t even remember what got me started on “Nowheresville, USA”. The entire reason for me coming out here, the reason for it was a mystery. I remember my sister. I remember… having a job. Working. But everything is so fragmented. It’s like my mental thread of cohesion was snipped into thousands of little bits.

I groaned, let fly several curses under my breath. Tears sparked behind my eyes, if you know that burning sensation I’m talking about. Like I needed the release, but didn’t earn it. A fire behind my eyes that wouldn’t quite light. I bit my lip and stood back up, letting my shoulders sag and my spirit go limp.

Casually, accidentally, I cast my gaze out to the office space below. There, dozens of red moths had taken up space, fluttering about in an invisible, nonexistent wind. They bobbed, spun, flirted with each other. I watched in what I can only describe as bewildered awe. In five minutes, over a dozen, two dozen moths had showed up.

I left the foreman’s office and headed down the stairs rather slowly. The moths danced through the air, spinning and twirling, like they could hear some sort of music inaudible to me. In the air, I tasted the cold, the longing, the sadness that seemed to follow these moths wherever they went. It tasted like, ah, “empty”, if that were a flavor. Void. Cold, sad, and hopeless. And it spoke to me on some emotional level, so much so that I almost felt lost in it.

Candletown is a grieving place, I’m finding out. Dark and hollow and pained. I feel it longing for more. For something it can never have. I felt it surrounded by those moths. And I feel that same feeling somewhere deep inside of me, too. I don’t know if I accrued it as I stood in the center of those waltzing moths, or if it was already inside of me, drawn out by the town. All I know is that as I stood there in those moths, I felt my knees weaken, my body slump, and my soul despair in the quiet.

It was the darkest silence I’ve ever experienced.

I shambled my way out of that building like a ghoul, fresh from the grave. When I got to my jeep, I just sat there, staring blankly at the building. In the windows, I could see the moths still locked in their delicate dance. I wondered if they were watching me, as I watched them.

I’m headed back to the hill, for now. I plan to sleep in my vehicle there, as far away from – well, between – the town as I can get. That’s what feels the safest. Then, tomorrow, I’m going to the mines. I don’t know how to explain it, but looking at this picture of one of the twins, I feel called there. Like I am supposed to be there. It might be a lure, or a trap. But it might be my next hint at getting the hell out of here too.

It’s getting dark now, as I prepare to get on my way. There’s no moon out, so you’d think there’d be stars, but… there aren’t. The sky is just darkening with no sign of space, or stars, or anything. It’s like there’s some kind of firmament over me, or a giant void. I’m scared.

My sister is calling me. I’ll update once I’m at the hill, and let you all know how the call went. Wish me luck tonight. I could use all the luck I can get.

Edit:

I’m at the hill, and just got off the phone with my sister. She’s really worried about me. I told her I’m still alive, still kicking. I asked if she’d called anyone for me, and she said she didn’t know who to call.

I don’t blame her. I mean, do you call the cops? The government? A paranormal specialist? I don’t know, and neither does she. So she’s just been biting her nails, waiting to hear back from me.

I did send her a picture of the photograph of the twin. The photo itself went through, but it just came up black on her screen, which is unsettling to say the least. In that moment, it sunk in just how truly isolated I am.

I’m shocked I have service at all, honestly. But it seems like the only thing that’s going to get out of here are my words.

I’ll keep you all updated when I hit the mines tomorrow. I’ll try and keep alive, or sane, or just… keep whatever it is this town is trying to take from me.

Because it does want something from me. I know this now. It’s talking to me. Demanding, from me. But it can’t have whatever it wants.

I refuse to give up even a shred of my soul to this cursed place.