Eyes open with a gasp as a body shoots up from the ground. The sounds of rolling thunder in the distance is clear over the sounds of heavy breathing. It's night, or looks to be night, and the sky is overcast. The panicked man looks at his watch to find it has stopped working before looking at the abandoned street he's just laying on. The street is cracked, with mossy roots cropping out of it making it look as if the road hasn't been tended to in decades.
The man gripped his head, a splitting headache, a sense of confusion as he tried to remember anything before waking up in the middle of the street. One memory was still solid in his mind: his hand reaching out to a woman, vision getting blurry as tears rolled down his cheek. “I love you.” He remembers saying before everything faded to black. He had one motivation, finding his way back to that woman. He stood up and patted his pockets, finding a cracked and broken smartphone in his front right pocket. A set of keys in his front left. In the back right pocket is a wallet.
The man checked the wallet, quickly finding an identification card. “James Holden” followed by date of birth information. Somehow James knew the date indicated he was twenty six. He put the wallet into his pocket and looked around once again looking for anything that could help him figure out where to go. That's when he started to hear movement in the distance. Looking around for it James called out to it. “Hello? Is someone there?”
Some sort of quadrupedal creature that James couldn't place started rushing at him while snarling. James didn't move or anything. The moment it got close it started bouncing on its front legs and keeping its distance. James took one step towards it and it immediately turned around and ran letting out a whimper sound. James shrugged and looked at the building next to him. He saw it in his memory of the woman but in that memory it was daytime and the building was in better shape. “How long have I been out?”
Not sure where else to go or what else to do, James entered the building. He walked around the dark unlit building looking for any signs of life. Despite there being little light James had no issues seeing in the dark. As he searched he saw no signs that anyone had been in this building in ages but he continued looking. Eventually he reached the door to the bottom of the air traffic control tower and started climbing steps to get to the room. He reached out and grabbed the door only to find this one was locked.
James jiggled the locked handle before letting go. “None of the other doors have been locked.” He then knocked on the door with the knuckle of his middle finger. Shave and a haircut, as if out of habit. Much to his surprise he heard movement from the other side. Eventually he heard a voice from the other side of the door. “H-hello?” James got a tad excited but was also confused. “Hi there, would you be so kind as to let me in? It's kinda weird out here.”
There was a long pause before the door slowly opened. The person on the other side must have been in his sixties and was wearing a tattered pilots uniform that was the older fashion and definitely not modern. James blinked a few times as he looked at the people held up in the room behind the door. Not a single one was under forty and they were all dressed in old rags and covered in dirt. The pilot moved and let James in. “Who are you and how did you get here?” The pilot locked the door behind James.
James noticed a number of the people in the room weren't human. They had pale grey skin, androgynous features, and no face outside beady black eyes that blinked at James. Despite not having facial features their faces still had wrinkles denoting age. The pilot chuckled nervously. “I know this might look strange but I assure you they're harmless.” James blinked a few times before finally answering the question that was asked of him earlier. “I'm not exactly sure, I just kinda woke up outside with a splitting headache and a fuzzy memory.”
One of the people walked over and reached for James' pocket and pulled out the wallet before looking at the I.D. “It says here his name is James Holden and he's twenty six. This is a Wisconsin I.D. so he's not from around here.” A short old man stood up as the wallet was returned. “Holden? Any relation to Jack?” James responded almost instinctively. “Yeah, he was my dad.” The old man tilted his head. “Was? You mean he's dead?” James shrugged. “My memory is fuzzy but I think he has been for a while now.”
The short old man closed his eyes and sighed. “I served in the military with your father. He was a great man.” James narrowed his eyes. “How long have you been in this abandoned airport?” There was a dry chuckle from a few people before the short old man answered. “We've been here trying to get help for forty years.” The old man that grabbed the wallet noticed James' watch. “If this thing broke when he got here, it means he's been here for three days.”
James was confused. These people have been here for forty years, he got here three days ago but only just woke up. He didn't feel hungry despite not eating for this amount of time. His memory clearly showed the building in good shape but now it looked abandoned and these people have been waiting for help. “Where exactly are we?” James asked. The short old man chuckled. “The world of fear, both a part of but separate from the normal world. I'm surprised you survived on your own for three days.”
James looked outside the window at the airstrip outside. “I only woke up a bit ago. Something out there came up to me but didn't attack. I'm not sure why but it felt like it was scared of me for some reason.” One of the non-humans shambled over and lightly tapped James. “He's a Cryptid honey.” The short man blinked a few times. “That doesn't make any sense, Jack and his wife were both human as far as I know.” The other person shrugged. “I don't know what to tell you, Frenchie.”
James blinked a few times looking at his hands. “I was born human.” He then looked up at Frenchie. “Wait, did they just call you Frenchie?” Frenchie nodded. “Yeah, did your father mention me?” James chuckled. “You're the guy that performed cunnylingus on a prostitute after the whole platoon basically ran a train on her.” The faceless figure next to Frenchie shifted its features to make an angry face at Frenchie. “It was before I met you babe.” James’ expression changed. “You and an entire plane went missing.” He looked at the crowd. “Around forty years ago…”
The pieces were all coming together, except how James himself got here. He kneeled down and rubbed his hand on the ground before dusting the dirt off his hands. He then looked at the radio the tower used and pointed. “Does that thing work?” The pilot looked where James was pointing and let out a short laugh. “This place doesn't have any power, we tried rigging a battery from our plane to it but even when powered it only gets a signal for five minutes after midnight every day.”
James blinked a few times before checking his broken watch and frowning. “I don't suppose anyone has a spare that works?” One of the faceless hands him a wristwatch. “I'm not using it anyway.” It said in a feminine voice. James nodded to them. “Thanks kind stranger.” Frenchie squinted at how nonchalant James was being in the situation. Despite seeing what looked like monsters and being in a place full of them James showed no fear. “Aren't you even a little bit scared?”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
James shrugged. “Not really. I guess I'm simply not in any real danger. The only monster I ran into outside seemed scared of me oddly enough so I guess I'm not at risk here.” Frenchie blinked a few times. “What are you?” James shrugged. “My memory is still kinda fuzzy, but I'm here to help and that's all that should matter.” James walked over to the radio and looked at it. “I guess all I can do is wait.”
Ishwada paced back and forth, clearly worked up. There was a native American man sitting calmly at a desk in front of Ishwada. Kathryn sat in a chair behind Ishwada and simply eyed the floor. “No man left behind, that's the motto. You can't seriously be ordering me to move out and just forget about it.” The man at the desk sighed. “I'm going to take this from the top since there seems to have been a miscommunication. First off, you neglected to disclose James' status as a hybrid Cryptid.” Ishwada slammed his fist on the table. “He's still a voting citizen, even if he stopped being human. The non-human citizen protection agreement-”
The man behind the desk raised his hand and interrupted Ishwada. “Secondly you had open conflict with the Black Scripture in public. Straight up tanks in a public area. Do you have any idea how difficult that makes a cover up?” Ishwada got more animated as he talked. “Yeah? And what about the nun? Is she being brought up on any charges for attacking and at least attempting to murder a U.S citizen?”
The man behind the desk sighed. “We are in talks with the higher ups of Black Scripture to negotiate arrangements with them. But my decision is final. James Holden is to be declared missing presumed dead after he couldn't be found after the terrorist attack on the airport by rogue entities. You are to return to your post in Wisconsin. No more Black Eagle resources are going to be spent on this case to locate a… monster, one who is most likely already dead. Especially considering the fact you failed to disclose that you discovered this case was connected to a previous case that was closed before you even joined this organization.’
Ishwada once again slammed his fist on the table, this time both of them. “Director Hawkes, James Holden a.k.a Pitch Black is an irreplaceable asset to Black Eagle and has been instrumental in a number of high profile cases! If there is so much as a sliver of a chance he's still alive somewhere out there we must treat it as an absolute certainty and spare no expense.” Hawkes gently put his open hands on the table, taking a firm and stern tone. “Pitch Black is a man eating abomination. Citizen or not he has committed multiple murders. I watched the dash cam and CCTV footage of every camera in view of the scene personally and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that he did not survive the attack on him. Even if he did, under the laws he'd be a criminal and I'd have no choice but to subject him to the full extent of the law.”
Ishwada pulled away from the table and rubbed his face. Director Hawkes continued. “It's been three days. There has been no sign of him, not even a new radio message from what you claim to be people trapped in some other dimension that you believe to be the missing passengers from a plane that vanished forty years ago. You have any idea how hard it is to believe someone not only survived but stayed fed and safe for that long in a place you yourself said would be full of monsters. We don't even have solid proof this other world even exists.”
Kathryn finally looked up from the floor. “I'd like to request access to the Finkton files. Everything you have.” Hawkes looked over to Kathryn. “Franklin Finkton was a nutcase that-” Kathryn raised her voice. “Don't you dare try and feed me that bullshit. I know very well that's not true and have no doubt the higher ups in Black Eagle like yourself have always known Finkton was right. You've been keeping not just regular people but your own in the dark. And for what, because you think people are safer not knowing? That's bullshit especially when Ishwada and his people are supposed to be the ones protecting people and the secret. How can he even effectively do that when you're also keeping secrets from him?”
Hawkes pinches the bridge of his nose. “I'm closing this case, end of discussion. Black Eagle will not be devoting any more resources to this case and you are not to use NexGen resources to try and recreate the Finkton gate. James or Pitch or whatever you call him is dead. If he does somehow show up I'll have no choice but to pursue him with the full backing of the law.” Kathryn seethed with anger. “With what evidence? You don't even have a corpse or evidence against him.” Hawkes smirked. “I have reports from Commander Ishwada, ones that track the exact number of deaths your boyfriend is directly responsible for. His victims being criminals doesn't absolve him of his crimes.”
Kathryn growled but returned to eyeing the floor. “James once told me his dad was married here. I'd like to see where before going home.” Ishwada lit up. “We actually had our marriages at the same time, I can take you there and even show you pictures.” Hawkes leans back in the chair. “I'll give you three days of leave before you're back on duty. After that I fully expect you both to return to your posts. You'll have no access to Black Eagle or NexGen resources during that time and I'll not be reopening this case if you find new evidence during that time.”
Ishwada left the building with Kathryn in tow, taking her to a park with blooming apple and cherry blossoms. “Jack and I were best friends once upon a time. Did a double wedding and everything back in eighty six. A plane that a friend was taking vanished over the Bermuda Triangle and Director Hawkes’ father was here looking into it. It was my first encounter with Black Eagle. After my daughter died and James said it was a monster and I saw Black Eagle people again I knew the story about a bear was a lie. I joined Black Eagle to get revenge originally. Now I stay out of some sort of duty I guess. And I worry about what kind of person they'd promote after I retire.”
Kathryn nodded. “We're going to ignore the order he gave us, aren't we?” Ishwada smiled at her with the biggest grin. “You bet your ass we are. Hawkes can suck it, we're getting Pitch back without support. Spend our own money if we have to. I'll make sure we use the next three days to our full advantage.” Kathryn nodded with determination. “Pitch is still alive, I can feel it in my bones.”
James watched the clock on his wrist as the time moved. Eventually it hit midnight and he started hitting the button on the radio in Morse Code. The pilot watched from behind him. “So you don't remember much from before you got here, but remember Morse Code?” James nodded. “My father drilled it into me to the point it's engraved in my soul.” Frenchie laughed. “Sounds like Jack alright. Always prepared for shit to hit the fan.”
The pilot listened to the beeps of the radio. “What are you saying?” James looked over at the pilot as his finger continued hitting the button. “Kathryn. Then just in case whoever is on the other end doesn't know Morse Code I'm sending a secondary message that Kathryn would understand.” The pilot tilted his head. “Who's Kathryn?” James narrowed his eyes as the only thing he knew for sure stuck with him. “She's the love of my life.”
Anderson had been ordered to close the case around the radio and officially he had done just that. Despite this he was still in Florida when he had been ordered to return to Wisconsin and take temporary command while Ishwada was on leave. He didn't care if the orders came from the Director himself, he was going to stay for as long as he could before Hawkes would forcefully have him moved. After three days of no radio hiccups on the forth night it finally chirped to life around midnight.
Anderson pulled out a guide for Morse Code and wrote down the message. One word, Kathryn. Followed by a single chirp, four chirps, then three chirps. The message repeated the entire three minutes. After the message window ended he called Ishwada who actually picked up. “Anderson? Why are you calling me in the dead of night? I thought you were ordered to take charge while I was on leave. Did something happen in New Arkham?”
Anderson sighed. “Yeah….. about that. I never took a plane back, I'm still in Florida. In fact, against orders I'm in the air traffic control tower. After several days of radio silence they've sent a new message. This time in full Morse Code.” There was a pause before Ishwada responded over the phone as he woke up Kathryn. The two were staying in the camper at the airport. Ishwada then put Anderson on speaker phone.
“Okay Anderson, what was the message?” Anderson's voice came clearly through the phone. “It was one word, Kathryn. Followed by a set of numbers. One, four, thee. It doesn't make sense to mean A, D, C because that doesn't mean anything.” Kathryn smiled. “One four three, it means I love you. It's from a cheesy movie we watched together. Pitch is alive, and he's on the Otherside. The only question is, how in the heck do we rescue him? If any of us could build a Finkton gate it would have been Pitch.”
Ishwada rubbed his chin. “Well the plane got there via the Bermuda Triangle, so maybe we can use that.” Anderson shook his head on the other end. “That option is no good. There hasn't been an incident involving The Triangle in decades. There is the possibility Pitch can navigate back on his own. He did pull something from the Otherside by mistake once even if he didn't fully shift. I'm going to assume you're not going to simply wait for him to figure out something on his end though.” Kathryn chuckled. “You're damn right.”
