Hurry Hank

The Witch of the Mine

As long as I've lived in this town of Lenard, I've heard the stories. The stories about creatures lurking around every house, beasts that soar through the sky, Golems that sit, watching and waiting. But one has caught my attention. Since the first time I heard the story, I knew that there could be a hint of truth in it. In the old mine shack at the edge of town it is said that a lady of shadow roams around. Abandoned for years, only silly and arrogant kids go there, and they always come back haunted by demons not seen from the outside. Going there is said to change you. No one's been able to describe this lady fully, only to the extent that she looks like a shadow, forever stalking the light. And, because of those reasons, she is said to be a witch of course.

I don't know much about witches, but I intend to learn much more than anything I could ever read. I've always been thirsty for knowledge, drinking from wherever there is flowing water. The newest stream, and one that seems to be the most treacherous, is learning about the supernatural. It's been a long time since I've thought about investigating the old mine shack and the 'witch' that resides there, but I feel if I want to learn about the supernatural, why not start with something in my hometown that has never been answered.

"MOM," I call to my her to get her attention, "I'm going out today to Ulysses' house!"

"Alright, Hank. Dinner is on your own tonight so just be back by ten so you don't wake us."

"Sounds good!" I say back and put on some sneakers, a baseball cap and grab my bag with my mom's camera, batteries, memory cards, my phone, flashlight, and some snacks. I find my bike in the garage and start pedaling down Meridian road towards the old mine. If my mom asks Ulysses if I'm over he should have me covered, I mentioned going to a girl's house today to him at school today as I'd planned this for a while. I continue down several roads and feel the humid air flow through my clothes and hair. It's only about seventy-five degrees but it feels so much hotter. Humidity has a way of doing that. The Sun is shining brightly on my back, I feel sweat start to collect on my shirt and I pedal forth. I probably should have told someone where I was going to be, but hey, I'm either going to see a witch or come back disappointed.

I get to the trail leading directly to the mine shack and walk my bike around a chimney to some deteriorating wooden boxes and get my stuff ready. Hopefully the witch or lady or whatever didn't hear me, I don't want to be startled by them. If I do, I might throw up. I hear something up in the trees near the shack. I get out my camera and hold it as steady as my shaking hands allow and point it towards the trees. Every noise I hear I shift the camera to is, until I see it. A squirrel. "Wow, thanks my dude..." I say discontentedly. I stand up to stretch and that's when I feel eyes are on me. I slump back down behind the boxes and put my backpack back on, with my flashlight in the outside pocket. Footsteps sprint to the shack, I peered my head around my cover and see a shadow, the lady, hunker into it.

"Wha.." is all I get out of my mouth before I start having trouble breathing. I can't tell if it's anxiety or intuition or something else but I am now having to force air in and out of my lungs. I lurch over and the weight of my bag shifts to my side and drags me down. I turn on the camera and angle it to the shack before my eyes begin closing. My breaths, still labored, become little and far apart. I attempt lifting my head, but to no avail.

And then I feel it. Energy bursts through my veins and I shoot myself up, and get my breathing back to normal, my throat feels raw. It seems a lot darker outside, I don't know how that could have happened though, I was on the ground for, like, a minute, I don't know. I grab my camera and check the amount of time it had been recording. 3 hours. I came here at three, it's six now. I can't believe this. I was sure I had not been laying there for three hours. I scroll through the footage and see movement in the shack, bursts of light and bursts of sheer darkness. I make sure all this footage is on the memory card and exchange it for another in my backpack.

Whoever is here either has no clue I'm here or knows I am here and wants me out badly, sucks for the latter though, I'm going in. I just went through a whole ordeal and I'm not going to let my afternoon go to waste. I decide to leave my bike behind the boxes so no one will steal it and I make my way towards the shack. I stand next to the entrance and listen. Silence. I take that as a good sign, turn my camera on, and walk in. It's a good thing I hit record once I stepped on the floor boards because it broke under me. It wasn't very loud, I'm not sure if someone in the mine would have heard it, but I get up, take a splinter out of my shin, and keep walking, being careful to step on well-supported floorboards. I make it to the other side and find a staircase and continue down with my flashlight.

I search through every level I make it to, looking for signs of witchery. On one floor there was a cauldron and on another there was a display of different berries and flowers and a kind of recipe book. I don't know how many levels I've been down, but I assume it's a lot because it's seven now and I'm having to replace my flashlight's batteries, they drained too fast. On the next floor I get to I start hearing faint wails and yelling. I go down one more floor and see a mine shaft, that's where those noises are coming from. I crouch down low and softly head through the passage. I reach a fairly large chasm with a small drop off, maybe ten to twelve feet and find a path down. I continue walking and see magnificent rock formations and start taking some pictures.

"HEY!" Someone yells from above. I quickly scoot over behind some decent sized rocks and start videoing the ceiling. A light shines through and I see a path leading up to a higher shaft entrance in the ceiling, which is several dozen feet above me. The shadowy witch lady peers through it, and even with light right next to her she is still dark and featureless. She suddenly turns and heads back where she came, and I follow soon after along an incline on the wall. I move through the shaft that turns into a cavity and eventually end up crawling. I see a lot of light shining from an immense room. I get close to the edge and push my camera up so I can see what is happening. What I see I will never forget.

A massive expanse of openness underground has an abyss, no, a portal, for a floor. Creatures and Beasts, and what I assume are demons are trying to climb out and reach the surface. I move my camera around and see the lady. She is no witch. It seems she is keeping those, those things down there. I pop my head over so I can see her with my own eyes, then her eyes lock with mine. Every eye in there locks with mine. She says something to me, and before I knew it, I am back at the surface again, panting like a dog, looking for my bike, and my camera nowhere to be found.