"The
Dead Lights of New Dublin it is then.
Ok, everyone gather around.” Kyle loved this; he loved telling stories as much
as he loved reading about monsters.
The
others, including the toy companions and Stone Guardian sat down with the fire
between them and Kyle; “for dramatic effect,” he insisted.
“The
tale as told goes like this.” (Kyle put on his best storytellers voice.)
“About fifteen years ago, a brother and
sister of 16 and 17 were making the journey from Flannigan’s Wake to Southport,
alone. Flannigan’s Wake is the farthest city to the north, and as such it is
remote and the journey from there to the next city is a week’s boat ride.
Three days into the trip, their
small boat had a nasty collision with jagged river rocks (The
rivers aren’t well maintained out that far you see) and started to sink. The two managed to run the boat ashore just in
time. They were now stranded in the middle of nowhere with no way to get home
or finish the journey south. The jungle is far too thick to make the trek worth
it, not to mention the various hungry beasties.”
“Here
come the monsters” sighed Clare. Kyle ignored her and carried on.
“They had the supplies in what was
left of the boat, so they could wait for help. But they had no idea when that
would come along. They had no choice but to set up camp on the river bank and
wait. Nathan, the younger brother, took the canopy off the boat and set it up
as a temporary tent. His older sister, Liz, drug the supplies up under it to
keep them dry.
That first night they heard the
sounds. A strange wailing filled the air it was quickly followed by the sounds
of crashing and breaking undergrowth. It seemed to be coming from deeper in the
jungle. They had no idea what creature the sounds belonged too, but decided
they had no desire to meet it. Sleeping in the broken boat was as far as they
could get from the forest.
By morning the sounds were gone,
leaving the two slightly braver but still wary. The sun being up didn’t hurt
their bravery either.
Brother and sister decided that
with the daylight things weren’t so bad and since it may be some time before
rescue came, they might as well explore the surrounding area. They left a note
with their tent stating their intent, grabbed two fishing spears, a bag with
some food in it, and started for the tree line.
They hadn’t gone 20 feet past the
tree line when they found massive tracks through the forest. The branches in
the trees above the tracks were broken as well. Something very big had gone by
during the night.
The tracks looked like nothing
Nathan or Liz had seen before. They formed two continuous lines from wherever
they originated to where ever the thing had gone. They both looked entreatingly
at the other, as if to say “do you want to continue on, or go hide in the boat
again?”
Since they wanted a good story to
tell when they were rescued and because they had the fishing spears (which gave
some amount of comfort) they pressed on. The branches were broken in the
direction of travel so Nathan suggested they go in the opposite direction, “to
see where it came from.”
After walking a mile or so, Liz
spotted a second set of tracks, the same as the first but in a different
direction. A little further on there was yet another. Whatever creature had
left these either had many relatives, or ran about the forest a lot.
Abruptly the tree line came to an
end at a tall wall. It was covered in moss and countless other types of forest
plants. Curiously, the top two feet of the wall was absolutely clear of
vegetation. “What would cause that?” they wondered.
Seeing no reason to stop now, and
not wanting to leave the unknown track-maker unidentified for another night,
they chose a direction and followed the wall.
Another mile on and they came
across a break in the barrier. It was humongous, almost as big a river steamer.
Neither Liz nor Nathan was keen on finding what made it. But it was an entrance
into whatever the wall concealed.
Upon looking in, a grand sight greeted
their eyes; a city of gleaming crystal towers. Some were tall, seeming to reach
the sky; others were small, closer to the ground but were no less fantastic.
They came in all shapes and sizes, some like clear cubes balanced on a corner,
others in strange and twisting patterns. Water flowed from high up in the
towers, creating an image of some fairy kingdom. It was the most amazing thing
the brother and sister had ever seen.
“Fairies
aren’t scary.” Danny stated. Kyle gave him a look. “I’m getting there.” “So, it
was a city like this one?” Mara asked. “Yep, now let me continue.”
They had to explore it and were so
eager to do so the mysterious creature was all but forgotten.
Getting closer to the buildings,
they saw that the windows were badly cracked and many were broken. The
structures themselves seemed to very old and worn. Grass and saplings grew in
the cracks in the street. But, this didn’t take away from the majesty of the
place. It was still beautiful, it was just slightly tarnished.
So, Nathan and Liz set about
discovering what they could about this enigmatic lost city. Their lost city.
The two wandered aimlessly for a
few hours as the sun grew higher in the sky. It was hottest during midday, so
they sought a cool spot to eat a lunch. The perfect spot was in the shade of
one of the towers, under the tattered remains of what had been an awning. Water
cascaded down the side of this particular one and filled the air with a cool
mist.
It was their own city now, so they
started naming things as they ate. “This tower should be Waterfall Tower.” Liz
put forward. “That’s original.” Nathan scoffed. “You have anything better?” she
responded. He didn’t.
Cool and no longer hungry, they
decided to try checking out the insides of some buildings. They started with
the Waterfall Tower because Liz wanted to see the view from the top.
It was hard going. The stairs were
badly overgrown and some were missing altogether. It didn’t take long before
they realized it was just too far to the top. They picked the floor they were
on and headed for the windows. From their view, only ten floors up, they could
see much of the city and it was even more stunning from on high.
Nathan began looking around in the
room where they were. It was a bedroom. This struck him as odd because he could
tell what is was, everything else was old and falling apart but this room
looked almost new, like someone was living in it still.
This gave him immediate chill
bumps. A sense of panic quickly came over him. Who… or what was living here.
Having had enough, he dragged Liz, with much protesting on her part, down the
ten floors faster than either thought possible.
“What is wrong with you?” she
screamed upon leaping off the last step. Nathan was silent for a moment, trying
to catch his breath. “Well. I’m waiting.” Liz stomped her foot impatiently.
Able to breathe properly now he
told her what he saw and what he thought it meant. Liz was sure it was nothing
but didn’t let that stop her from teasing Nate. “Maybe… it was… A GHOST!” He
leapt at her loud proclamation. But then said that “ghosts don’t sleep in
bedrooms, they don’t sleep at all! And they especially don’t make up beds and
dust shelves.” “How do you know?” Nathan didn’t really know, but he was sure
hoping he was right. The alternative made him uneasy.
Liz was still adamant they check
inside of buildings. Nathan went with her, but kept an eye out for anything
else weird. He felt like he was being watched and kept thinking he saw
something out of the corner of his eye.
Nathan was following behind his
sister when she suddenly turned around and said “How are you doing that?”
“Doing what?”
“Making it sound like you have two
sets of footsteps.”
“Um, I’m not. See I told you this
place was creepy!”
“Whatever, you aren’t fooling me.
Just stop it.”
“Liz…” He stopped himself and just
nodded, he knew she didn’t believe him. They continued on with their
explorations.
He saw nothing else like the clean bedroom until they wandered into what
looked like clothing store from the outside.
Liz was all “oohs and ahhhs” at the
many mannequins clothed in various fashions. Nathan was disturbed by the fact
that they looked new. The cloth wasn’t rotted or mildewed and the mannequins
themselves seemed to be untouched by time.
When he pointed this out to Liz she
pooh-poohed his “irrational” fears of clean spaces. So, he kept his mouth shut
as she tried on the various things in the store. After what seemed an eternity
to Nathan his sister’s thirst for ancient fashion was quenched.
Kyle
and Danny exchanged knowing glances at this. Girls and clothes.
When they left the building a faint
noise was heard, a low sound that was very much like a crying woman. Liz then
decided it was probably best to leave the area as fast as possible.
The sun was approaching the horizon
now and the siblings remembered what had led them to discovering the city, the
mysterious track maker. Neither wanted to be in the city after dark.
When they reached where the hole in
the wall had been it was gone. There was no trace it had ever been there.
“Maybe we just got turned around.”
Liz suggested.
“No, look over there, the cube
building was on our right as we entered.” Nathan was sure this was the spot. So
what had happened to the wall? How could it just be fixed?
Liz was now getting worried, the
sun was halfway set and the wall and buildings had already cast much of the city
into darkness. They started a fire next to the wall, feeling safer with a solid
something at their backs.
Nate of course was feeling slightly
haughty, Liz now believed him something was up with their city. But where did
that leave them? Stuck in a scary, strange place with odd goings on in the
dark.
Thankful now that Liz had gotten
clothes, they used them as blankets. The two huddled close to each other as the
final rays of sunshine disappeared. Night had fallen.
Nathan suggested they try to sleep.
Liz, who was finally frightened, wondered about what might come upon them in
the dark. Nathan said he would stay awake and take watch for a while, then
switch with Liz. She agreed.
She did nod off after a short
while, tired from the day of exploring. Nate was wary at first, looking for
whatever had been causing the mysterious noises. But he too fell asleep.
A loud wail awoke them both. That
was followed with the sound of a crumbling wall and then by the sound of branches
being crushed and broken. Instantly the fishing spears were in their hands,
what the fishing tools could do against whatever was causing the racket they
did not know.
The sound continued behind them and
behind the wall for some time, its source seemed to be going around and around
doing who know what.
The racket gradually faded off into
the distance.
Nathan and Liz did not want to
leave their fire and the safety it represented. With the apparent danger gone,
they decided to try to sleep again. Neither did.
Still some hours before dawn, Liz
was staring at Waterfall Tower when she noticed an odd glimmering behind a
broken window. At first she thought it was starlight reflecting in the room.
But then it started to move.
The glimmer became a blue glow and
began moving in peculiar ways behind the window. First, it went from side to
side in front of the window; it then moved back and forth, deeper into the
building, then back near the window again.
Liz tried to speak, to get Nathans
attention but no sound would come out of her mouth. She managed a squeak.
Nathan, who had been staring at the sky, heard her and turned to look.
“What was that sound?” he joked. “You
swallow a mouse?”
Liz could only point at what she
saw. Her hand was trembling as she did. Nathan looked and saw the light as
well. Again, he was overcome with chill bumps. He knew it was in the room they
had been in earlier.
While the two were staring, frozen
to their spots, they noticed more lights starting to glow in the tower and then
in other buildings throughout the city. What was going on? What were they?
Nathan regained his ability to
speak and said “I think… I think they are dead lights.”
“Whats?” Liz croaked.
“Dead lights. You know, the spirits
of the dead, the dearly departed, those who have gone before.” He said
exasperated.
“Oh” was all Liz could say. Now she
was twice as frightened as before, and didn’t think that she could take much
more of this.
Their legs did not want to move, so
they sat still. All they could do was watch the lights. They noticed they were
different colors; some were red, others blue and even some greens and oranges.
“I wonder why they are different
colors like that.” Liz stated this as more of a question, hoping Nate knew
more.
“They say they just are. Maybe it
depends on the kind of person they were in life. I don’t know.”
The lights now filled many windows
in the city, and there were even some on the ground in the distance. The
siblings hoped they stayed in the distance.
It was weird, not just that they
were seeing what appeared to be ghosts, but because they seemed to be confined
to single areas and followed specific paths in them. The lights moved in
squares and in patterns of lines.
As the dawn slowly approached and
the sky got lighter, the lights gradually went out. They faded back into the
dark as if they had not existed at all.
Having had enough of being in this
city of the dead, they packed up and left, following the wall, before the sun
even came up. But it seems they had not gone unnoticed in the night, Liz
noticed the footsteps she had heard the day before. She stopped their walking
with a hand motion and put a finger to her lips.
The footsteps continued for a
second more, as if it had not expected them to stop all of a sudden, then
ceased.
“That wasn’t you yesterday, was
it?”
“No.” came the whispered reply.
Brother and sister looked at each
other, nodded, and broke into a run. Hoping to find a door or a gate out of the
city they still followed the wall. The following footsteps started moving
faster as well. This only served to make the two run faster.
“Please, where is a stupid gate?”
Nathan cried.
Then, as if in answer to his prayer
they stumbled across one. It was massive, larger than any in their city, and
unfortunately, locked shut.
A door was located off to one side
and they tried its handle. Yes! It was unlocked and on the other side was the
forest. Just as Nathan was shutting the door, he heard the footsteps arrive at
the gate. He was too scared to look at what had been chasing them, but he still
held the door open a crack, afraid to call attention to where they were.
The footsteps slowly came closer to
the door. Nathan and Liz saw that its dead light shining under the door. A slim,
waxy hand appeared at the side of the door.
Nate yelped and Liz straight out
screamed. They both pulled on the door and slammed it shut. They bolted for the
trees not bothering to look back. They continued running for several miles,
back in the direction of the river.
Tired out, Liz called for a stop.
They rested against a tall buttress tree. When Liz got her breath back she
heard Nathan still wheezing for air.
“Stop breathing so loud.” She
chided.
“Liz… I thought that was you.”
Not bothering to even look at each
other, they started to run again. They dashed straight into a solid wall of
darkness. It was hard to tell what it was under the forest canopy; it was still
quite dark. The noisy breathing was coming from it.
Almost in a state of shear panic, they
backed up slowly. This was the source of the tracks. It seemed to be sleeping.
But, just as they thought they were going to get away from it unnoticed a
bright, flashing yellow dead light started to glow in the center of the dark
shape.
Then it wailed. It was the most
chilling and mournful thing they had ever heard.
Not needing any other cues to leave, they
ran faster than they had ever done before towards the river. The thing started
to follow.
“No, no, no, no, no…” chanted Liz
as they ran. “Please let us get to the river.” she prayed. The loud sounds of
trees and bushes being crushed followed closely behind them. The wail sounded
again, it was close.
Suddenly a light came on before
them. It was on the beach. “It can’t be there, it’s behind us.” screamed Nathan
breathlessly. Just before they were going to start running in another
direction, they heard a voice calling out.
“Nate, Liz? You out there? What’s
all that racket?” It was their father, coming back to Flannigan’s Wake from a
long trading trip.
“Dad!” the siblings cried out. They
ran out on the beach, grabbed any personal effects from their makeshift tent
and leapt into the boat.
“GO! DAD GO!” Nathan screamed.
He was going to ask why when the
trees across the beach started to part and break. And then the light shone
through, followed by that horrible wail. He didn’t need any other explanation.
He quickly pushed the boat off the beach, jumped in and started the motor. They
sped off towards home as fast as possible, leaving the strange city, its ghosts,
monsters and mysteries behind.
