Prologue - A Hole In The Story

It was definitely inside. Keith’s gut twisted, a warning. Before him stood a decrepit wooden door that splintered from the bottom and held signs of rot that etched over its surface. He raised a hand and pushed. The door’s ancient hinges creaked in chapters until a jolt rocked the frame. Stuck–wedged against the concrete.

Go figure, he thought.

Keith pressed a strong arm against the rotted wood and shoved. The door groaned in defiance. He gave it another push forcing the bottom corner to chip off, but it budged. Upon seeing the inside a foul stench assaulted his nose. Carrion was the likely cause, but it would take dozens of animals to make a smell like this.

“You’re kidding me.” The pesky man behind him said. “Like I’m about to go inside there it smells like road kill. This probably isn’t even the right place, I doubt that thing just got up and walked in peacefully.” He gagged and yanked his collar above his nose. “Man I doubt it would want to stay in it either.”

Keith didn’t bother with conversation, he knew how the man was. An HQ lackey who sat in the office all day treating field work like poison. It was a stupid idea to partner up in the first place but the neckties above them deemed it a two man job. Ridiculous, two men for an identification mission.

“Eye witness report.” Keith said in a sharp tone, then walked inside.

“And what, we get those all the time.” The pesky man argued. “Half of them are from lunatics who make them up. Let's just say we searched it and go grab a drink, easy as that.”

Keith gave no hint that he heard what the man said. He kept his eyes glued to the floor and fixated on the weight of his steps. One hand led the way with a flashlight while the other fastened a firm grip on the mechanical weapon at his side, an Atrox, they called it. Some weird name rich folk were proud to come up with. He couldn’t care less what its name was, only if it could take the life out of whatever he considered a threat.

The man behind continued to grumble. Keith treated it as background noise by now. He couldn’t be careless here, something the non-field agents wouldn’t know. The air inside was thick with dust and his light could only manage a few feet ahead before showing a curtain of it. Seeing as the outside sun only reached his heels now, he had to trust his other senses. It was noon so he assumed all the windows were boarded up. Probably how they left the place after it closed. Keith bent down and traced the floor with his light. Scanned around him, then stood back up. He had an idea of where he was now, better than moving blind.

A shadow flashed from the corner of his eye. He snatched the Atrox out, flipped a red switch on the side, and shifted the light in front of the barrel. The weapon hummed and an electric blue light emitted from the sides. The switch clicked back with a sear and the hum died off. It was ready to fire. He felt his finger swell as it latched onto the trigger, waiting to give it the slightest squeeze once the shadow popped out again.

Suddenly, the lights started to flicker. The bulbs above him dinged until they held a buzz and the room turned a dim yellow.

“Well look at that they can still turn on.” The pesky man said.

Keith clicked a button on the Atrox and its blue light disappeared. He pulled it down and slipped it back into the holster. All that to get spooked by a street rat. Maybe being too cautious was carelessness in itself. He shook it off and looked around. The place was riddled with shelves and all forms of scrap metal that piled together to create small hills in various places.

“Maddison,” he addressed. “Don’t needlessly touch things.”

He was ignored. “I wouldn’t have guessed this used to be a department store with the shape it's in now, looks more like an abandoned workshop” Maddison said.

Keith clicked his tongue. He turned off his light and clipped it to his belt. Then took another look, wires wrapped around the ground and multi layered shelves found themselves on their side more than upright. It was a mess sure but no signs of life, at least none he could find.

Again movement, fast and beside him. He slung the Atrox out faster than the first, dropped his hip and aimed. A soda can hit the ground with a clank, took a second bounce, clanked. Then a third, clanked. Finally it rolled to a stop.

“Calm down there Keith,” Maddison said, hiding his laugh with a cough. “I only kicked it a bit.”

Pesky neckties, Keith thought.

“But look at this place,” Maddison continued. “There's no chance our guy is in here. He’s way too big for it, we would have seen him by now.. What was he again, four or five meters tall?”

“And six wide.” Keith finished. He kept the Atrox out this time, finger ready to pounce on the red switch, and moved forward.

“Not much of a chatter are you.” Maddison said. “Not like you need to be and all, but It’d be nice if you could hold a conversation. It would help distract me from this awful stench.”

Background noise. Keith stepped onto a half broken shelf resting against a pile of scrap. It looked sturdy enough to him. He took a step onto it and scanned the area, still nothing.

Clank, clank, clank.

Another soda can. He pinched the bridge of his nose and stepped down.

“It’s not here, this is a waste of time and it smells.” Madison grumbled.

“It’s here.” Keith insisted.

Maddison kicked another can causing another round of clinks. “And I’m telling you he's not. People get spooked when they hear something like this is on the loose. They make false reports left and right and you know it more than I do.”

“Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t check.” Keith said.

A painfully notable sigh came from over his shoulder. “Wow they really have you by the belt.” Then the kick of a can.

Keith snapped behind. The Atrox in his hand being safer than his bare fist. He opened his mouth, tired of Maddison’s lax attitude, but never uttered a word.

There wasn’t a clank.

“Where did you kick it?” Keith asked.

“What?”

“The can Maddison. Where did you kick the can?”

“You good old man? Just above those shelves there.” Maddison pointed.

Keith fired up the Atrox. It hummed and glowed blue. He walked to the tall wall of shelves and signaled Maddison to him. He heard a groan but Maddison complied and switched on his Atrox. Keith ran his open hand alongside the shelves till he found a split between the cluster. He pried it open with ease and squeezed through, but jerked his foot back before he fully stepped inside.

“What’s the matter?” Maddison asked, peeking his head over Keith. It was obvious what happened.

A massive hole claimed the ground of the department store. The bottom as deep and undiscovered as the ocean floor. Engulfing everything that used to be there, including the obnoxious can. A black hole, that seemed to never end.

“Five tall, and six wide.” Keith muttered.