-- Backstory
June 18, 2033
A few hours outside of New Heights
Since it was rediscovered, the topic of the old Wakeman house creeped its way into every conversation. Over time the town moved, leaving the older buildings to nature. The house was lost to the thick woods surrounding it, trees invading every crevice. With its crumbled exterior and molded wood, stories and rumors were bound to circulate. Some believed it became inhabited by ghosts and other wayward spirits, others believed it became a hotspot for extraterrestrial beings. 14-year-old Navie Jones believed none of that. In fact, she thought the supernatural was stupid, and called it a “coping mechanism for losers and geeks alike”. Her opinion more or less set her apart from her peers. In an attempt to seal this divergence, she went off to find the house, show them that there’s nothing there, and prove once and for all that ghosts and aliens do not exist.
She knew her parents wouldn’t approve of a trip to a decaying building, so she set her plan to be enacted at night. Once they went to bed, she gathered a flashlight, a helmet, and her camera and climbed out the window and scaled down the lattice crawling down the house. Once down, she clipped her helmet on and snuck her way down the street on her bike. After a while the sidewalk ended and she reached a path. Only a few minutes later the path faded, and she was left to trek the mud and brush the rest of the way.
About 15 minutes later, her flashlight happened upon the fallen siding of the house. Truthfully, she was terrified, but her pride had the best of her. Flicking on her camera she scrambled her way up the porch and into the house.
“Everyone is so…stupid. Ghosts and stuff obviously aren’t real. This house is just…old.”
After kicking around a few objects, she noticed a purplish substance clinging to her shoe. She figured it was just another product of time rotting this house away and continued filming as she walked through the house.
Turning and approaching the hallway, her eyes widened. The slam of the camera hitting the ground echoed as Navie made eye contact with…something. It definitely didn’t look human, and it definitely didn’t look friendly. When she went to go run her limbs went numb and her heart felt as if it were stopping. The creature crept closer until it was face to face, even then moving closer and circling her like a vulture circling its prey. Suddenly, a shockwave, starting from her chest and shuddering through to her fingers and toes. Pain settled into every joint and nerve. Before she could let out a scream her eyes rolled back, and her body slumped to the floor.
Thirty minutes later, she awoke. Every part of her body felt as if it were burning with the power of a billion suns. She was drenched in the same purplish slime as before; this time it was glowing. She didn’t feel alone, not just in the house, but in her body. Whatever that creature was, it made its way into her. No matter how hard she pulled at her own body, it didn’t budge. She was so dazed she felt like a zombie. At that moment, she just wanted to get home. She left the camera, the flashlight, and even her bike, passing it as she shuffled home.
Climbing up the lattice, sliding through the window, and slumping onto the floor, she finally put her body to rest, sleeping.
Once she woke up, everything felt…fine? The goo was gone, and the pain had faded away. The feeling of a lingering presence still remained, but everything else disappeared as if it were all just a nightmare.
end of backstory...for now