by Brian Harmon
The ones at the Hosler lot had clearly been determined to tear him to pieces. One of them had even climbed up into the tree and launched itself at him, shredding his pants leg in the process. In contrast, the ones that appeared at the asylum hadn’t been violent at all.
And it didn’t appear that this one was, either.
In fact, as he watched the strange thing, it began wagging its long, stiff tail back and forth as if happy to see him.
“The hell…?”
He risked a glance back up the hill. No one was looking this way. He was alone with the creature.
When he looked back at it, he saw that it had turned around and was wading back down the middle of the creek, into the shadowy tunnel created by the overhanging branches of the crowding trees. After a few steps it stopped and looked expectantly back at him.
It wanted him to follow?
That was insane. Did he really dare to let this beast lead him into the trees? What part of that idea wasn’t utterly stupid?
And yet the strange black creature continued to look back over its shoulder at him, its tail swishing back and forth as if it were nothing more than a clever and friendly (if remarkably ugly) dog.
Eric glanced back up the hill again. Both Paul and Aiden were out of sight, having wandered around the other side of the playground. Neither could see him where he stood.
He came here looking for something. Now this creature clearly wanted to show him something. He didn’t seem to have much choice. And when he looked back, the creature was already wading deeper into the shadows.
He didn’t dare let it leave his sight.
“Isabelle,” he said as he stepped up to the bank and looked down into the shallow water below. “Tell Paul where I’m going.”
Isabelle texted him her assent and he stuffed the phone into his pocket. Ahead of him, the creature entered the deeper shadows, splashing as it went.
Eric stepped out into the water and felt it immediately soak into his sneakers. It was colder than he expected.
The feeling was unpleasant. The water here could hardly be called clean. He could see litter lying at the bottom. But the trees that crowded the banks beyond this point were far too dense to pass through. The only way forward was up the middle of the stream, directly behind the creature.
This is stupid…
He ducked under the low branches and began making his way slowly after the creature. There was an unearthly gloom hanging over the water here. This thicket of trees could not have been very large. He could still hear the traffic from the nearby roads and the ceaseless droning of the factories. And yet the foliage was so dense that he could see no sign of the surrounding city. In fact, he could barely even see the sky through the branches above him beyond the first twenty feet.
It felt cold here. Perhaps it was nothing more than the deep shade and his wet feet, but he thought it felt unnaturally chilly, almost ghostly.
The creature didn’t seem to mind the atmosphere. It trotted on through the water without hesitating, occasionally glancing back to make sure he was still following. Eric watched it, still expecting it to turn on him, but it didn’t seem at all like the ones he encountered on Hosler. Those things had clearly been dangerous, bloodthirsty beasts.
What made this one so different?
As the stream grew narrower between the crowding foliage, the water slowly grew deeper. Eric felt the cold water creeping higher, soaking into the legs of his jeans, up his shins, over his calves.
Ahead of him, the black creature began swimming, its long, sleek back protruding from the surface, slithering through the shadowy current like a great, black snake.
How deep did this little stream get? He began to worry about his wallet and keys. And Karen’s phone, of course. What if he had to swim? He looked down at the mud that churned around his feet. The idea was extremely unpleasant.
He was reminded of a vast marsh he was once forced to wade through.
Was it merely coincidence that he kept finding himself reminded of that strange journey?
The water rose just a few more inches, up past his knees, and then mercifully began to lower again. The creature, too, found its footing and continued on its feet, wading instead of swimming as they rounded a sharp turn in the stream.
By now, Eric couldn’t even see the park he’d left behind. All he could see was the narrow tunnel carved through these queerly dense trees.
This reminded him of many of the places he saw the previous year, back in the fissure, when he strayed too far into that other world. There was no such fissure here, as far as he knew, and yet he could almost believe that he was entering another world. The atmosphere was not so different.
He watched the creature ahead of him. There was something wrong with it. Although it passed through the water naturally enough, something didn’t seem right about it. The harder he tried to look at it, the more wrong it looked. And yet, he still couldn’t quite grasp what it was that was wrong.
Then, suddenly, the thing turned and sat in the middle of the stream, looking back at him with its emotionless, white eyes.
Eric stopped and stared at it. What was it doing?
Isabelle sent him a text. He withdrew the phone and looked down at the screen, confused. YOU’RE THERE
“I’m where?”
THE UNSEEN. WHATEVER IT IS, IT’S THERE SOMEWHERE. I CAN FEEL IT
Eric turned and looked around. He was surrounded by nothing more than thick brush and trees. Clearly, it remained unseen.
The black creature turned its long snout and stared up at the high bank on Eric’s right.
That way.
Apparently.
Eric turned and examined the bank here. It was steep and rocky. There was nothing as convenient as a set of steps. There was not even a game trail. He could see nothing through the trees and brush and he could hear nothing but the droning roar of the nearby factories. There didn’t seem to be anything there.
He glanced back at the creature, considering. “There?” he asked it, cocking a thumb up toward the top of the hill.
Amazingly, the creature dipped its long, toothy snout down and then up again. A single nod. “Yes.”
Eric stared at the creature. Had he really just seen that?
This day just kept getting stranger.
He took a moment to access the camera on Karen’s phone and snapped a picture of the thing. Sitting there in the middle of the creek, the shallow water churning around it, its pose was far less threatening than goofy, and yet those bizarre white eyes and bulging yellow teeth were eerily unearthly.
He sent the picture to Karen’s email address and then turned and looked back up the bank. According to the creature that led him here, the seventh unseen location encoded in the strange, numeric clues Aiden assembled from the first six locations was somewhere at the top of this brushy bank.
Before he could begin climbing, Karen’s phone began ringing. The black creature cocked its head inquisitively at the sound of the Spice Girls.
“Don’t you judge me.”
The call was from Paul. Naturally, he wanted to know where the hell he’d disappeared to.
“I’m in the creek, of course.”
“In the creek. Of course. How stupid of me.”
“I know. You should really try to keep up.”
“Right. Well, Isabelle already told me you were in the creek. But where in the creek? I can’t see you.”
“I’m not that far. Probably just out of sight.”
“You want me to follow or stay here?”
“Maybe you guys should hold back until I’ve looked around. I don’t think we all need to get wet.”
“Well, I don’t mind staying here, but your little buddy’s already in the water heading your way.”
“What? Aiden?”
“Yeah. He’s leaving my sight right now.”
Eric looked back the way he came. Now that he was listening, he could hear someone splashing through the water. He could already see the waves
sloshing up onto the bank. He was going to be coming into view any second now.
It shouldn’t have surprised him. After all, while Eric had only known about the unseen for a few hours, Aiden had been searching for these places for years. To him, it had clearly become an obsession, one that wasn’t likely to allow him to stand idly by while someone else did his work.
He turned his eyes back to the creature that led him here, wondering if it would have any objection to Aiden’s presence, but the thing had vanished. There was no sign of it.
“Where’d it…?”
“What?”
Eric looked around, but the creature was simply gone. There weren’t even any ripples in the water to tell him which direction it might have gone.
“Eric? You there?”
“Yeah. Sorry. It’s nothing.” He glanced back at Aiden as he splashed through the water toward him. “Okay then. You stay back there and keep an eye out for us.”
“No problem. You two have fun.”
“I’m sure it’ll be a blast,” Eric assured him.
“Did you find anything?” asked Aiden as Eric pocketed the phone again.
Eric decided not to waste time discussing the mysterious, vanishing creature that led him here and simply replied, “Maybe. Up here.”
The bank on this side of the stream was not merely steep, but also crowded with small trees and thorny brush. Climbing up wasn’t going to be easy, but at least there were strong branches to provide handholds.
“I’ve already searched this area,” Aiden told him. “I’ve waded up and down this creek and I’ve scoured the woods between here and the industrial park. What makes you think there’s anything up here that I’ve missed?”
“Just a hunch,” grunted Eric as he pulled himself up onto the sloping bank and stomped back some of the thorns.
“A hunch?” Aiden sounded skeptical.
He was perceptive, Eric realized. And it was no wonder, when you considered all that he’d been through. But the thought of discussing the strange little creature that led him here, a creature that seemed to have enough intelligence to actually answer a question with a definitive nod of its head…it was just too tiring to think about.
“A hunch. Yes. Just trust me.”
Aiden didn’t move. He stood in the water and watched him climb. “Maybe you haven’t noticed, but I have a few trust issues.”
“Well get over it.”
“He’s not very nice. I thought teachers were supposed to be nice.”
“Teachers are supposed to be effective. Sometimes you have to take off the kid gloves. Especially when the student drops out of high school and disappears off the face of the earth for six years.”
Aiden shrugged. “Whatever.”
“Yes. Whatever. Just come on.” Eric gripped the base of a small tree and pulled himself higher. As he reached the top of the embankment, Karen’s cell phone began to ring again.
“I hope his hunches are better than his taste in music.”
“We’ve been over this,” growled Eric.
“Why does he even have a cell phone? Didn’t he used to spend the whole first day of school ranting to every class about how much he hated cell phones?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Eric pulled himself the rest of the way up and pushed through the thick brush as he fumbled the cell phone back out of his pocket. It was Karen.
“What the hell is that thing?”
Clearly, she’d received the picture he sent her.
“That’s what tried to tear my leg off over on Hosler.”
“You saw another one?”
“I’ve seen several of them. It’s strange, but only the first ones were mean.”
“Well please don’t bring one home.”
“But that’s what I was going to get you for your birthday.”
“Only if you plan on building a doghouse with a spare room for you.”
“Harsh.”
“Deal with it. God, those things are ugly.”
“Believe me, I noticed.” Eric tried to peer through the trees, but it was difficult to see more than a few yards in any direction. Everything out here was hidden, unseen or not.
“Where are you now?”
“I just climbed out of the creek at Lister Park.”
“You know, I have friends who’ll let you use their pool if you want to take a dip.”
“Gross. People pee in swimming pools.”
“What was I thinking? Are Paul and Aiden still with you?”
“Aiden’s with me.” He glanced back as his young companion hauled himself up over the embankment behind him. “Paul’s back at the park, keeping watch.”
“Keeping watch for what?”
“Pissed off, lard-ass cowboys, mostly.”
“Oh. So you’re making lots of friends today, then?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Don’t go getting yourself shot at or anything.”
Eric grimaced. “Of course. Don’t be silly.” Changing the subject, he asked, “How’s the shower coming?”
“We finished the cupcakes, but I decided to make one more batch, just to be sure.”
“Sounds like a good idea. The extra guests and all.”
“Exactly.”
Aiden pushed through the brush and searched the area to the right. Eric turned left and tried to see through the foliage. This was going to be difficult. “I should probably hang up now. I may need to talk to Isabelle.”
“Did you find something?”
“No. That’s why I need her. She says she can sense something odd when I’m near one of these unseen places.”
“Oh. Well, that’s convenient.”
“A little bit, yeah.”
“Okay. Keep in touch. Send more pictures or something.”
“Sure. You and Diane have fun with your cupcakes.”
“We will. You have fun not getting yourself killed.”
“Of course.” Eric disconnected the call and asked, “Am I getting closer?”
I CAN’T TELL. BUT YOU’RE DEFINITELY STILL IN THE AREA.
“Does she feel something?” asked Aiden.
Eric nodded. “She does. We’re close.” Ideally, Isabelle would’ve been able to tell him if he was getting warmer or colder, but of course that would be too easy. But at least she could tell that he was in the vicinity. If she lost that feeling, he’d at least know he’d gone too far and to backtrack.
“The industrial park’s right over there a few hundred feet,” Aiden said, pointing to the east. “I spent several days walking around here and didn’t find anything.”
“Did Glen ever come here?”
“I’m not sure. Those first few months he explored most of this area without me while I waited at the motel. He said it wasn’t safe for me to be out.”
“I guess it wouldn’t have been.” He remembered those first few months well. The city was worked up into a frenzy over Aiden’s disappearance. The news networks had done their job well and fanned the flames until they’d milked the story for all it was worth.
“He said they’d find me if I went back home. They’d kill me.” He stopped and stared off into the distance, distracted. “Just like they eventually killed him…”
Eric didn’t know what to say. That must have been terrifying for a teenage boy to endure.
Aiden shook it off and turned around, searching for whatever it was that must be hidden out here. “I never knew for sure that he was telling the truth. Not until they caught him.”
“Understandable,” agreed Eric.
Aiden glanced back at him. “But that’s not the kind of thing you take chances with.”
“True.”
“Besides,” said Aiden, perking up, “I didn’t really want to go home.”
Eric recalled the vicious contempt he’d shown for his mother. He had no intention of speaking of her again. Instead, he turned his attention back to the task at hand.
Something was here. The clues Aiden had gathered all pointed
to the vicinity of Lister Park, which was just west of here. That…thing...back there led him to this exact spot in the creek.
He turned and looked back at the broken branches where he ascended from the water below. If that was where the thing had pointed, then perhaps he needed to focus less on searching this area and more on searching directly out from that spot.
He lined himself up and began shoving his way through the brush, ignoring the thorns that occasionally snagged his shirt and jeans. About fifteen yards from the bank, he found some rocks that appeared out of place.
A closer inspection revealed that it was not rocks, but crumbling concrete, and as he knelt down to examine them even closer, he realized that he was looking at the remains of an old foundation.
Something had stood here once, a very long time ago. But Eric had no idea how to even begin to deduce what it might have been. A house was the most likely thing, he supposed. Although it could have been almost anything.
Raising his voice for Aiden to hear, he asked, “Have you done any research to tell you what might have been built in this area in the past?”
“Research is basically useless,” Aiden replied. “Like I told you before, if it’s unseen, it and everything relevant to it is pretty much ignored. That includes public records. Even if you found a paper that contained an article, you wouldn’t see it.”
“So how the hell do you find them while you’re traveling?”
“The real trick is telling them apart from the buildings everyone can see. Glen taught me. There are signs. First, an unseen is going to be in some state of disrepair. If you can’t see it, you can’t perform upkeep on it. Second, there’s always a perimeter. It’s never just the building that’s unseen.”
Eric considered this. Now that he was thinking about it, there were a few things that were odd about the places he’d visited today. “Like the sidewalk in front of it not being kept up? Or the parking lot?” He remembered the sidewalk that bordered the Hosler lot and the crumbling asphalt and high weeds around the asylum.
“Exactly. Also, if people never park in front of a place.”
Eric recalled the empty spots in front of the store adjoining The Creek Boutique.
“You learn to look for a lot of what’s not there. Sometimes the simple absence of graffiti and vandalism will let you know that others can’t see a place.”
