The Backrooms(Book 1)

Chapter 6

I sat by my window, watching the evening shadows stretch across our quiet suburban street. The day had been unremarkable. It had been 2 weeks since I went to camp, and not much had happened. The events that had taken place there continued to play over and over again in my head. I just wasn't myself anymore. My mom claimed I had lost a part of me at camp. But she wasn't wrong. Ever since, she'd felt guilty for sending me away in the first place. I still kept in touch with Lewis and Amanda. And it appeared I was not the only one going through the trauma. None of us had been able to get any proper sleep in a while. Though we tried to bury it deep within, covering the trauma with a smile just to make our friends and family happy, it still wasn't genuine. One could not simply move on after discovering something of that nature. I spent most of the day in my room, lethargic, until a white van rolled past our house, catching my eye. Stamped on its side in bold, black letters was a single word: "A-sync." The name sparked a memory, flooding my mind with the image of a leather wallet and the chilling discovery from two weeks ago.
We found a card in the wallet. The card bore the same name: "A-sync."

Snapping back to the present, my pulse quickened. I needed to talk to Amanda and Lewis immediately. Grabbing my phone, I sent a quick, urgent message to our group chat: “Emergency meetup at my place. NOW. It's about the guy in the forest. I've found something important.”

Within twenty minutes, there was a knock at my door.

“Ron?” my mother called out. “Your friends are here.”

“I’m coming,” I replied, hurrying to the door. Amanda and Lewis stood there, their faces a mix of curiosity and concern.

“Please, come in,” my mom invited. “Oh!” She gasped, looking at Amanda. “You have such beautiful eyes and your hair… it’s amazing.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Parker,” Amanda replied, blushing slightly.

I came downstairs quickly, feeling a mix of urgency and embarrassment.

“She’s a nice girl, don’t you think?” my mom asked, a teasing note in her voice.

“Mom!” I exclaimed, flustered. “We need to go.”

I led Amanda and Lewis up to my room, shutting the door behind us and locking it. I glanced around, ensuring we were alone. “What’s going on, Ron?” Amanda asked as we settled into the room.

I took a deep breath and explained about the van. “I think this company, A-sync, is connected to that man we found. It's too much of a coincidence. We need to find out what they do.”

Lewis frowned, his usually relaxed and jovial demeanor replaced with a serious expression. “I don't know about this guys. Maybe we should go to the police.”

“Could you stop being a coward for once!” Amanda snapped.

“It's not my fault I'm the logical one” Lewis retorted.

“Guys cut it out!” I interjected. I took a deep breath and went back to the matter at hand.
“I thought about that Lewis,” I admitted. “But we don't have enough evidence. A business card and a van aren't exactly solid proof. We need more information first.”

Amanda nodded thoughtfully. “Okay, so what's the plan?”

“I looked up A-sync online,” I said, pulling out my laptop. “Their website is vague, something about advanced synchronization technology. But there’s hardly any information. It feels like a front.”

“So, we investigate,” Lewis said, leaning forward. “But how? We can’t just walk into their office and start asking questions.”

I clicked through a few tabs on my laptop, showing Amanda and Lewis the addresses and contacts I had found. “I think we start with this,” I said, pointing to the screen. “An old employee left a bad review about ‘unethical practices’ at A-sync on a job site. Maybe they’ll talk to us.”

Amanda leaned closer, reading the review intently. “It’s a long shot, but it’s our best lead yet,” she said, her voice filled with determination.

Lewis nodded in agreement. “We should reach out to him right away. If he’s disgruntled, he might be willing to spill some details.”

We all agreed and decided to meet the former employee the next day. As we planned our approach, a sense of determination settled over us. The risks were high, but the need to uncover the truth outweighed our fears. The mysterious van had been a sign, a clue leading us back to the unanswered questions that haunted us.

I glanced at Amanda and Lewis, feeling a surge of gratitude and resolve. Whatever A-sync was hiding, we would uncover it together.

The next morning, I kissed my mom goodbye and dashed out of the house.

“Goodbye,” she called after me. “Have fun at school!”

Little did she know the plans I had. Lewis, Amanda, and I skipped school and met the former A-sync employee at a small, nondescript café on the edge of town. The place was dimly lit and quiet, the perfect setting for a secretive meeting. The man, named Jeff, was middle-aged with tired eyes and a nervous demeanor. As we sat down, I could see the hesitancy in his gaze.

“Thank you for meeting us,” Amanda began, trying to ease the tension. “We just have a few questions about A-sync.”

Jeff glanced around, as if checking for eavesdroppers, before leaning in. “You kids shouldn’t be messing with this. A-sync is involved in some serious stuff. I don’t know much, but what I do know, it’s dangerous.”

“We found a dead man in the forest,” I said, deciding to cut to the chase. “He had an A-sync business card. We think he might have been involved with something.”

Jeff's face paled. “A-sync… they were experimenting with things they shouldn’t. Things that… mess with reality. That’s all I know. After I saw some things, I quit. I had to.”

His cryptic responses left us more frustrated than informed. Despite our probing, Jeff wouldn’t—or couldn’t—reveal anything more concrete. We left the café feeling like we’d hit a dead end.

Back at my house, we sat in my room, trying to piece together what little we had learned. Lewis stared at the laptop screen, scrolling through more job reviews and employee records.

“That guy was useless,” Amanda muttered. “We’re back to square one. Maybe we should try a different approach. Someone else who worked there, maybe.”

“That’s it!” Lewis suddenly exclaimed. “Remember Mr. Hendricks, the guy who used to live down the street? He went nuts last year and was committed to Riverview Asylum. I just found an old article—he worked at A-sync too!”

A spark of hope ignited within us. If Mr. Hendricks had lost his mind because of something he saw at A-sync, maybe he knew more than Jeff.

Getting into the asylum to talk to Mr. Hendricks was going to be tricky. We spent the next few hours devising a plan, finally settling on a mix of social engineering and a bit of hacking to bypass the asylum’s security. And with that, Operation Midnight Echo…was a go.