Welcome To Strangervill

The unknown

Carter rummaged through his cluttered closet, pushing aside old notebooks, scrap metal, and various makeshift gadgets from earlier experiments. Finally, after a few moments of digging, his fingers closed around the smooth surface of an old video camera—one of those long, rectangular handheld models his dad used to use. He blew a layer of dust off, noting the familiar weight and clunky design. It was dated, sure, but functional. He set it on the edge of his shelf, positioning it to capture the glass container with the rats.

"Alright, let’s get a closer look at what’s really going on," he muttered, carefully focusing the camera on the small enclosure.

He adjusted the frame to ensure the blossomed fruit and the two rats were in full view, then hit the red “record” button. The old tape whirred softly as the camera began capturing every tiny movement. Carter leaned over the container, his eyes narrowed as he observed the rats intently. The blossomed-fruit rat seemed to be more alert, its beady eyes glancing around as if fully aware of its surroundings. The non-infected rat, on the other hand, twitched its nose curiously but otherwise acted as a typical lab rat, oblivious to any danger.

Then he heard it—a loud snap from the other side of his room. He turned, a smirk forming on his face. “Looks like I’ve got my next test subject.”

Crossing the room, he retrieved the latest trapped rat, transferring it into the container alongside the first two. Now, with three rats—the blossomed fruit rat, the standard fruit rat, and the newly captured one—he was ready to observe.

He leaned in closer, dictating into his audio recorder, “Test subject one: exposed to blossomed fruit. Subject two: control rat. Subject three: fresh wild rat, unexposed. Initiating proximity experiment to observe any possible transfer effects.”

To his surprise, the blossomed rat moved with a deliberate sense of purpose. Its tiny paws shoved the other rat toward the blossomed fruit, pushing the control rat closer to the crimson-hued slice. The normal rat resisted, squeaking, but the blossomed rat’s determination seemed unnervingly human—as though it knew exactly what it was trying to achieve.

Carter scribbled furiously in his notebook, flipping between his notes and the recording. “Observation… it appears the infected rat demonstrates a behavior that could be interpreted as… spreading or transmitting its condition to other rats. The act is deliberate, as if following a specific purpose or command. Possible parasitic or viral influence?”

The blossomed rat seemed focused, almost fixated on getting the second rat to take a bite. The behavior was bizarre enough to make Carter’s stomach twist with excitement—and a touch of unease.

Switching back to the audio recorder, he documented, “Conclusion of current test… Suggests the potential for contagion, or some kind of mind-control influence at play. No definite answer yet on whether it’s viral, parasitic, or something else altogether.”

Satisfied, he turned off the audio recorder and carefully closed his notebook, pressing the pen between its pages. But he left the camera running, its small red light blinking as it continued capturing every movement within the enclosure. He wanted to see if the behavior would persist even in his absence, and he figured he’d review the footage in the morning.

Carter stretched, feeling the exhaustion finally catching up to him. He glanced back at the camera once more, murmuring to himself, “Let’s see what you’re really up to…”

As he switched off the lamp and climbed into bed, he could still see the red recording light blinking softly in the darkness, casting an eerie glow over his room. He drifted off to sleep, his mind racing with theories, too tired to notice the van parked a few houses down, hidden just enough to go unnoticed in the quiet neighborhood.