Lost In The Mist

Chapter One: Is My Phone Broken?

Claire walked outside onto the porch and yawned. She loved the smell of the fresh dew and the sweet, sunset colored roses. Claire's yard was mainly emerald colored grass, tall, hardy trees, and a few rocky patches in some spots. It looked as if it were a park, because it was so green and verdant.There was also a babbling brook, right next to the swing her grandfather made. She loved to sit in that swing and think, it was almost like meditation.The area was all around beautiful and peaceful.

The air was filled with beautiful arrangements of blue, yellow, pink, and orange, the sun had risen only a few minutes ago. Claire stared at the feathery clouds. She took in a slow, deep breath of fresh air while she stretched her arms, and then slowly let it out. Claire had a sleepy yet happy look on her face; it almost made her look like she was high off of breathing in country air.

Claire sauntered down the stone porch stairs, and was immediately greeted by  her black and silver German Shepherd, Kevin. He smiled that cute, doggy grin; he always did when Claire was around. Kevin licked her hand and waited for her to pet him. Claire bent down and gently rubbed his soft neck, when she heard the most atrocious noise. It had sounded as if you had taken nails to a chalkboard (or as if someone scraped a crowbar down the side of a grain bin).

Claire and Kevin both jumped at the sudden, shrill assault on their ears. Kevin stood on alert, and Claire immediately took off to investigate the origin of the clamor. She began searching for anything that was metal, since the noise was a ear-splitting screech. Then Claire felt something furry brush up against her, then she realized it was her dog. Kevin came along with her for two reasons; He wanted to keep Claire safe, and he wanted to know what made the terrible sound (it made his ears ring). He began to run alongside Claire, and ready for adventuring.

They sprinted through the green grass until they heard it again. Claire covered her ears and clinched her together, bracing herself for the screech; Kevin barked and growled, he hated that noise. Claire climbed up a small pile of rocks for a better vantage point, still trying to locate the source. She saw a large opening in the ground a couple hundred meters away, that definitely was not there before. At first, Claire thought she was seeing things. She pushed back a couple strands of wavy blonde hair out of her face so she could double check. Claire still saw the gaping scar in the land, she was astonished that something like this could happen overnight.

"What the heck?" Claire whispered to herself, out of confusion. Kevin trotted over to her to see what she was looking at. When he saw the wide crater, he instantly took off toward it.

"Kevin! Come back!" Claire yelled. Then she sprinted off after him, hoping he wasn't getting into trouble.Claire loved Kevin like a son, and she would die to protect him. She couldn't quite keep up, and she was terrified from what might happen to Kevin.

Claire couldn't see Kevin through the foliage, and she thought that he might've fallen in the gaping hole. At last, Kevin barked, and Claire dashed towards him, and finally grabbed him by the collar.

"Don't you ever do that again!" Claire raised her voice, worried that Kevin had been hurt. Soon after, Claire looked into the hole, and saw a ladder down to the bottom. The walls were lined with metal, and the door was the same as a bank vault's. The bottom of the tunnel was deep and dark; it was at least seventy-five feet down to the bottom. Claire told Kevin to stay by the bushes, and not to move until she came back up. Kevin grew antsy at her orders, but he did as he was told.

Claire reached into her jean's pocket and took out her phone. She switched on the flashlight, and began to climb down. Claire had to push her fear of falling and getting hurt back down as she scaled down the ladder. Her curiosity kept rising as she
descended, and she was also wondering how long this was here, and why. She tried not to think about what else could be down there with her too much; it would distract her and she might accidentally let go.

When she reached the bottom, Claire saw a big metal door standing wide open. She stepped through, and saw a chemistry lab filled with tubes and beakers. Claire picked up a small beaker with an amber colored liquid, that was labeled, C.L.A.S. She pocketed it and moved on.

"What is this place?" Claire wondered. She carefully walked on until she reached a large, cherry wood cabinet. She opened it slowly and carefully. Claire was prepared to punch anything that came flying out of that cabinet, but nothing did. Claire just saw more tubes and beakers of the same serum, until she noticed the bottom shelf was a little uneven.

"Wonder what's in here." Claire thought. She opened it, and pulled out a dusty, brown leather book. It had a strange emblem on the cover, along with an embossed picture of a wolf howling at the moon, and mysterious symbols inside that were strangely familiar. The only words Claire could read were, "Trust no one."

Claire walked back toward the ladder, when she saw what had caused the noise. She would've asked them what they were doing on her property, but Claire heard a gun cock, and she panicked. She hid under the lab table, and turned off her flashlight. As Claire hid, the culprit walked past, and chills went down her spine.

She decided to create a diversion so she could escape. Claire snuck some chemicals off of the table, and mixed them together. She knew they might explode in her face, but if this person found her they might kill her. So Claire took that risk, and threw the chemicals in the opposite direction. They fizzed and popped loudly, and the crook jumped, then ran to see what caused the small explosions.

As they were still going off, Claire quickly went back up the ladder and sprinted back towards Kevin once she was on solid ground. "Run!" She yelled.

Claire and Kevin ran back up to the swing by the brook, and when Claire sat down to catch her breath, she opened the book again.

She was puzzled by the humanoid characters, they slightly resembled computer circuits and hieroglyphs in their page layout. Whoever wrote this book had neat handwriting though, every little symbol looked neatly drawn and flawless.

Then Claire and Kevin heard that awful screech again. Kevin growled and barked, he had had enough of that horrible noise!

Then Claire saw the creep shut the door of the hole, and put the dirt back on top of it. She zoomed in her camera lens and took a picture of the man's face, but it was still too far away. Claire opened her photo editor, cropped the picture, and sharpened the image. When she saw who it was, she nearly fell in the brook. It was her father!

"No, there has to be something wrong with my phone, right?" Claire implored, staring into Kevin's amber eyes, looking for the slightest hint of an answer. Kevin only cocked his big head to the side at this, and then he whimpered. The person she saw was very close to her, which came as a tremendous shock. She didn't even think he was capable of something like this! Claire grew suspicious of what the man was doing down there, and then decided to confront him about it.

So, she told Kevin she was going inside, and ruffled his fur before jogging back up to the porch and heading inside.