Eidolon: Zones of Danger

Chapter 1: Arrival

The road stretched long and quiet before Elias, the tires of his old pickup crunching over the gravel. The further he drove into the mountains, the more the world behind him faded into nothing but distant memories. There was something about the isolation that called to him, like a whisper from an old dream, one he could never quite shake.

He passed the faded sign that marked the entrance to Bent Creek, the nearly-abandoned mountain town he'd heard about from a fellow traveler weeks ago. Population: 17, the sign claimed, but it felt like an overstatement. If anyone still lived here, they were keeping themselves well hidden. The fog that clung to the trees and the crumbling buildings gave the place a ghostly quality, as if it had been forgotten by time itself.

Elias rolled to a stop near the outskirts of town, pulling his truck onto a patch of overgrown grass. He killed the engine and listened to the quiet that followed. No birds. No wind. Just the thick, unsettling silence that seemed to settle over everything.

He stepped out of the truck and took a deep breath, the cool mountain air filling his lungs. The air felt different here-heavy, like it was pushing down on him. But instead of feeling unwelcome, it felt... familiar. Elias couldn't explain why, but he felt like he'd been here before, even though he knew that wasn't possible.

The fog rolled in from the nearby trees, creeping low to the ground like it had a life of its own. Elias watched it for a moment, noting how unnaturally thick it was. He'd seen fog before-living in British Columbia meant seeing it often-but this was different. It seemed to move with purpose, swirling around his legs before dissipating just as quickly.

There was a pull here, something that went beyond curiosity. A faint sound, distant but distinct, broke the silence. Was it a voice? Or maybe... footsteps? Elias hadn't come all this way for nothing. He came to get away-from people, from noise, from all the things that never made sense to him. Being here, in this forgotten place, was exactly what he needed. The idea of a small, quiet town where no one knew his name felt like a relief.

He grabbed his pack from the truck and slung it over his shoulder. A few supplies, enough to last him a week or two while he got his bearings. He could figure out the rest later.

Elias made his way toward the nearest row of abandoned buildings, their windows dark and broken, walls covered in years of neglect. The town felt like a place people had left in a hurry, like there had been some great exodus no one wanted to talk about.

It wasn't long before he found the fence.

A tall, rusted chain-link barrier stretched along the perimeter of the town, warning signs plastered across it, faded and peeling. Danger. Do Not Enter. Unsafe Conditions. But something else caught Elias' eye: markings on the ground. Small posts painted in different colors, some barely visible through the overgrowth.

The blue markers were the first ones he noticed, spaced every few feet along the outer side of the fence. They were bright, bold, and seemed to signify the area was safe-perhaps something to do with the supposed contamination that forced the evacuation of the town. He could see them stretching back toward the road, marking where the world was untouched.

But just beyond the blue markers, he noticed another set-green. The color was less bold, more faded, almost blending into the environment. Elias felt something strange the moment he crossed into that area, like the air grew thicker, pressing against his chest, but not in a way that felt dangerous. More like an awareness. A presence that lingered just at the edges of his mind, making him feel like he wasn't alone.

He crouched to inspect one of the green markers, and just beyond it, he saw yellow, then orange markers, leading toward the town's interior. Each color seemed to radiate an increasing sense of tension, though Elias couldn't explain why. He stood up and glanced further down the street, noticing a distant patch of red markers. They stood out like a warning, even though he didn't fully understand their meaning yet.