What happened in Sharpe county (part one)

In January of 1994 an entire corner of Sharpe county, West Virginia was inexplicably evacuated in the middle of the night. The area —100 square miles composed of windy rural back-roads and tiny coal communities— was easy enough to evacuate, having had less than 2000 residents.

No news was ever broadcast, no one who lived there knows why, and the government agencies responsible locked down the entire Section of the state for time immemorial as the *state conservation & enforced seclusion area.* Creative name, huh?

Personally I think it’s a depressing one, but so is working here sometimes. I’m not one of the suits or a researcher, but I do keep this place and whatever lies deeper within at bay and from breaching containment. Sounds complicated, I know, but it’s mostly just monitoring cameras, patrolling for containment breaches, and notifying the higher ups of movement.

Last month, however, I think I found whatever started all this mess, and I’m seriously debating whether or not I should notify anyone.

Early in the afternoon while patrolling the interior to check out some problem spots I decided to veer off the red-dog road and onto an overgrown path to the side. my black, state issue Kawasaki side-by-side chugging through the brush like a tank as I look at the fading signs of what used to be a farm to my left.

After about 15 minutes of riding this way, I find myself in a large clearing of intersecting trails so I decide to cut the buggy off. I make sure to mark the way I came by standing up a log next to the path, then throw my pack over my shoulder to walk around a while.

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This place is eerie as all hell, but I take every chance I get to explore and hike while I’m working. Probably not an incredible idea given the researchers are always blabbing about “existential danger” or some shit, but whatever. I’ve seen some weird stuff, but nothing too dangerous *yet* I suppose.

That day, I felt an extremely strange urge to follow the path to my left, way too narrow for the Side-by-Side & poorly defined anyway. At several points it just stopped, only to pick up a dozen or so feet later.

After an hour or so of walking, I saw what I thought looked like a clearing with the stone foundation of a very old building on its edge, and in the very center of the clearing stood a black stone pillar wide and tall, standing firm like the nightmarishly vague figure of someone in your most confusing dreams. I immediately decided to walk off trail, to see up close the thing looming 200 yards away. As I got closer I noticed just how insanely still the air felt.

Where birds once chirped and a breeze once blew only silence & the sound of my boots hitting leaves remained, and my head started to feel fuzzy for some reason as I intently watched my surroundings for any movement, any evidence of wildlife.

I found none.

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As I stepped into the clearing, it was like another world somehow. I blinked & in an instant the sky was an orange purple, and when I looked around for the trail that was behind me I saw nothing. I looked at the monolith in the center, watching it for minutes as if waiting for it to lunge at me before stepping closer, and I could now see that it had carvings in it, some even inches deep and painted white to contrast the black stone.

I run my fingers along the lower carvings on the left, observing the strange scenes and figures depicted. One, of a group of around ten people(stick men, at least) praying at the base of a pillar; presumably this one. In another they are seen laying around it, I suppose dead.

Above these two is a carving of a face. Its eyes are deep and horrifying, its mouth is wide agape, arms forcing their way out from its screaming maw. Circling it entirely is an inscription in a language I’ve never seen before.

Even higher up on the pillar was a large carving, one that seemed like a doorway or portal to me. Around two dozen figures kneeled below the “doorway,” and standing in the middle was a figure around ten times the size of the rest with antlers like an elk, a massive staff in its right hand & minions gathered at its side. Interestingly, it and its ilk were painted red while all the worshipping figures were white.

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All of a sudden, I awoke laying in the clearing below the pillar, the sky back to its normal blue and the pillar back to being smooth & black save for a few marks where you could see the remnants of carvings. I quickly stood up, brushed myself off and looked at my watch.

4:05 PM. Had I really laid there for three and a half hours?

With the day half over and my map marked with the spot where I ventured off trail and where I thought I was. I arrived back at the side-by-side at 4:30 and quickly rode back to my quaint security cabin at the edge of the Zone. I’ve been trying to put it out of my mind, but I sincerely don’t know if I can. Maybe I should tell the boss, see if they wanna send researchers out there?

All I know is the place creeped me out more than all the other stuff I’ve seen in my year and a half working here combined. Let me know what you think I should do… And if you guys are interested I could probably spill a few more state-secrets later.

For now, I’m out folks.