Dark Secrets

I swore I would never speak of what happened that day.  I was afraid that if I did they would come and find me.  Make me disappear, or worse harm my family or friends.  Son, here in the twilight of my days I would like to tell you a secret, one I have kept for 66 years.  You may not believe it, or you may.  Whatever you do, do not speak openly about it or they may come for you.

I remember it like it was yesterday.  I got a call about 2 broken golf carts that needed repair at about 4pm.  I remember being so pissed because I was supposed to get off at 5 and I knew this would take hours.  None the less I gathered up my tools, jumped in my van and headed to that industrial, pollution filled facility.  It had only been a few days since my last visit there, but upon my return I noticed a lot of changes.

They had installed 2 new automated security gates, with barbed wire across the top.  I had to get out and go to the security house to sign in.  The sign in sheet had a total makeover as well: Name, Organization, Date, Time, Badge Number, Vehicle Type, License Number, Computer Serial Number, Smart phone Serial Number.  Humm, computer or smart phone...... I thought.  They gave me a new badge and let me in.

I reached the golf carts in question and got out my tools.  I took off the battery cover on the first one and immediately noticed one of the battery wires had been disconnected.  Not broken, but unscrewed.  "What the hell?" I thought.  I put the wire back on and hopped on to test it out.  I drove around the entire facility and it was running fine.  I noticed a line of large trucks lined up down one side of the road.  They appeared to be hauling loads of wood chips, like the kind you might put in a flower bed.

I decided to give the golf cart one more trip to make sure it was running A-OK.  In the middle of the second lap is when something caught my eye.  One of the trucks was being lifted up and a 45 degree angle.  It seemed so weird that I quickly snapped a picture with my cell phone.  I drove on past it and down the road, when I heard a loud *CrAsH* and metal *BaNgInG* on metal.  Then there was this very loud sound like very high winds, like a tornado almost *WoOsH*.  Without thinking I took my foot off the pedal and slammed on the brake.  I turned my head around and what I saw made me jump right out of the seat.  There was a security truck right behind me, only inches from my bumper, with the blue and red lights flashing angrily.

A man got out and walked stiffly up to me.  It was a very odd walk, like his legs did not bend at the knees.  He asked me some questions:  "Who do you work for?  What are you doing?  How long are you going to be here?  Do you know it is dangerous to stop on the main road?"  I told him the truth and apologized, he told me to go on and finish my work up.  I could not help but to wonder, where did he come from?  It was like he appeared out of the air.  I had been going there for 5 years and never saw him before, or that security truck.  I started driving back and glanced back again, the truck was gone...... like it just vanished into thin air.

I parked the golf cart by the security gate and started looking at the other one.  It had gotten dark so I had to go to the van and grab my flashlight.  "That is really weird, I thought I parked on the left side of the parking lot, not the right" I thought to myself.  I had been here so many times I just figured my mind was playing tricks on me.  Flashlight in hand, I walked back to the golf cart.  After looking around in the battery compartment I noticed the same thing, one of the battery wires had been disconnected, not broken, just unscrewed.  "Holy Sabotage Batman!"  I yelled in my mind.  This was just too weird.  I do not know if our people had done this to get out of working tonight, or if their people had done this to make our people leave.

I decided to put the cable back on and test this cart as well.  I drove around to the back of the facility and heard some very loud *BaNgInG* noises again.... and then a *SwOoSh* that seemed right above my head.  It was dark now and I was trying to stick to the main road only.  I heard a loud *VrOoM vRoOm* very close to me, accompanied with a very bright *FlAsH* of light, so I stopped.   I could not really make out what I was looking at because it was so dark.  "Ah Ha!"  My new smart phone had a night vision camera.  I pulled it out and pointed at the area of the noises.  The picture was of another truck at about a 45 degree angle.  I changed the settings on my phone and snapped another picture as quickly as I could, and drove off.  Back at the parking lot I checked the pictures again.

What I saw in the second picture was shocking.  I had taken a inferred picture of the area, because smart phones these days can do almost anything.  What looked like a normal semi truck was shining a very iridescent silver.  The whole truck seemed to be glowing, not unlike a distant star on a clear night.  What had originally appeared to be wood chips was now glowing an eerie fluorescent blue.  I had assumed the chips were being unloaded earlier, but now I realized they were being pushed, forcefully, at a very high speed at what appeared to be a solid metal wall, several feet thick.  This was causing the *WoOsHiNg* noise I had heard several times.  It reminded me of watching the space shuttle take off on TV.  For a second, I found myself mourning for the people that died on the space shuttle Challenger, all those years ago.

I felt like a child who just learned something new, I had to see it again and again.  I decided to "Test" out the cart once again.  I drove around to approximately where I had saw the truck, but this time I took the side road behind it, instead of the main road in front.  I snapped a picture and it was blank.  I changed settings and snapped another, but it was blank too.  "What the Fuck" I thought.  I drove on toward the next road when I heard a very loud *RoAr!*  I could not see anything, but there was definitely something there.  I came to a dead stop and snapped another picture.  I clicked the picture and looked at it.  I got so scared I dropped my phone and floored the golf cart.  It was chasing me, right behind me breathing down my neck.... whatever vile, evil thing it was.

 
I knew now those were not trucks like I had assumed earlier.  They were alive, like some sort of wild animal roaming the forest for food.  I was in their forest, and I was food.   I drove as fast as that cart would go back to the parking lot.  I didn't stop for the stop signs, or slow down for the railroad tracks, just flew right over them.  I reached the parking area and skidded the cart into a spot sideways.  I grabbed my loose tools from the floorboard of the cart and threw them into the toolbox, and as fast as I could I ran and jumped into my work van.  I locked the doors and tried to catch my breath.  As I looked outside everything looked normal.  The parking are was lit up and there were several vehicles parked in their "reserved" spots, just like always.

I decided I better just leave.   I drove to the gate and the guard motioned for me to come to the window.  I slowly walked over, trembling.  He said I looked pale and asked if I was OK.   I told him it had been a very long day and I was tired.  He asked me to walk through a metal detector, and then to sign out.  "Do you have a camera, laptop, or cellphone?" he asked.  "No, I lost my phone earlier today," I told him.  He invited me to the next Southern Misfits Roller Derby match, and wished me a safe night.  I had been to several matches and he knew we were big supporters. *WiNk, WiNk*

I drove out of the gate and about a mile down the road when I saw another *FlAsH* of light.  I pulled over and looked up into the clear night sky.  I saw several bright stars directly over the facility.  I watched for several more minutes and saw another *FlAsH* and a streak of light come from the facility, at about a 45 degree angle.  I decided I needed to get home before it got any later and put my van in drive.

Just then, there was a *FlAsH* and I saw a black Cadillac Escalade, with red and blue lights flashing angrily in the grill.  It had just appeared in front of me from no where.  I put the van in reverse and saw a second *FlAsH* behind me.  Yep, another black SUV with flashing lights.  To my knowledge it was perfectly legal to pull onto the shoulder of the road.  I put the van in park, turned it off and rolled down the window.  There really was not anything else I could do, I was pinned in on both sides.  "If you have not done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear" was a quote running through my mind.

There, a few feet from my van, appeared the security guard from earlier.  This time he was wearing a solid black suit and sunglasses.  He very clumsily and stiffly walked to my window. In his hand he held a small wallet with a badge and an ID card.  Curious, he only had 4 fingers on his hand.  FBI, John Smith, it said.  Without even a movement on his part I felt something dragging me out the window and it slammed into his vehicle.  As I hit it, and hit it hard,  I heard a very loud *GrOwL* and I knew what it was.  Mr. John Smith never moved, nor did his mouth, but I felt his words inside my mind.  It hurt terribly, intense pain,  so intense I passed out.

"We work for the Federal Government of the United States of America.  We own you.  We know everything there is to know about you, your family, pets and friends.  You will forget everything you saw here tonight, EVERYTHING!  We have ways of watching you from the sky, and we can track you wherever you try to run to.  If you ever mention this we will know.  Even if you do talk, you have no proof, and NO ONE will believe it.  Live you life, James, and never speak of this again."  Then there *FlAsHeD* this horrible monster in my mind.  It was so horrible I cried every time I pictured it for years afterward.  It was eating a person, chewing him up, with blood everywhere.  It was my friend from the Guard Shack.

I woke up in my bed at home.  Every part of my body hurt and I had a terrible headache.  There were 2 sores on the back of my neck, like puncture wounds.  I had a mysterious new tattoo of a smiling mouth with iridescent blue, viciously pointy teeth, on my chest.  I knew it was a reminder.  I called in sick at work for a few days.  When I did go back I found my van parked, with my tool box still sitting on the passenger seat.  I opened it up and there was my phone.  I must have picked it up when I loaded up my tools.  I had proof, but who would I tell? 

Several weeks later I got a call to go back to the facility.  One of the golf carts was broken down and they needed it that night.  I called them back and told them to check the battery wires before I came down there.  The wires were fine so I had to go.  I checked in at the gate and went straight to the golf carts.  I found a loose wire and fixed it.  This time I just drove it in the parking lot to test it.  While I was signing out at the guard shack I asked when Joe worked.  I did not see him at the Southern Misfits game like I normally did.  He was their EMT, he was at every game.  The guard told me they had not seen him in 3 weeks.  He said Joe apparently abandoned his post that night and no one, even his wife has heard from him since.  Now I knew why he was not at that game, that was not just a vision in my mind..... they killed him.  

I have not told anyone until now.  You can't believe how guilty I feel for my friends death, even to this day.  If I wouldn't have been so curious, he would still be alive.  Shortly son, I will be gone from this Earth.  This is my only confession.  It feels good to finally let this horror out, and with my death they will believe the secret is dead.  I have always been so proud of you and I love you.  This is my final goodbye, Dad.