The Landmass dubbed "Black Landing'
There’s 7 more people in the obituaries this morning.
Four John’s, two Jack’s, and a single Missy.
Sipping on my disgustingly bitter black coffee and smelling the scent of old cigarettes caked into the wallpaper. I start my morning as I usually do.
I’m a reporter. I moved from New York City five years ago to get away from the noise and chase a personal project. An anonymous letter left in my office had informed me of a strange happening in the wilderness of Appalachia. It quickly became an obsession.
That’s where my troubles began.
That letter was written in my grandfather’s handwriting. A man who’d been dead for exactly a decade to the day. A man who I had seen once and never again on my 7th birthday.
“Mr. Yuen keeps coming down to find you.” My oldest coworker Nora whispered to me. She was an eagle eye and always knew everything that was happening in the office. A gossip queen in spite of her ancient age.
“Did you tell him I was chasing a lead?” I said in a muted tone. I kept reading the morning newspaper without a care. It was from one of our competitors. The sight of it made my coworkers grimace. They had an unusual amount of company loyalty to this small town newspaper.
“You’re always out chasing a lead.” She retorted sarcastically. Giving me a side eye over the edge of my paper. I just flicked it back and forth to unwrinkle it and ignore the look.
“Yeah, I’m doing my job.” Anytime I needed a bit more time to look into my personal project, I used the ‘chasing a lead’ excuse. Usually it would work, my time in New York made it easy to shit out attention grabbing articles fast. I could probably do the work of almost everyone in my half of the office if I didn’t have anything better to do.
About 7 miles out of town, an inconspicuous trail held what I was looking for. At the edge of a narrow cliffside was a breathtaking view. Miles and miles of blackened, ashen trees covered the landscape. Whether due to a rogue forest fire or a purposeful arson. Almost 4-5 square miles of thicket had been burnt to a crisp and left dead quiet like a cemetery.
The ground was a deep vanta black, the only thing coming out of the abyss on the forest floor was stumps of fallen trees. All light absorbed into the center from the edges of the almost perfectly square charred vista.
“Strange sight ain’t it?” I turned and an errant hunter stood about 20 feet behind me. Rifle loosely in hand looking out where I was just moments ago. He didn’t seem hostile. Just as awestruck by the sight as me.
“Folks out here call this place Black Landing. Sure you can see why.” He chuckled to himself. Smoothly stepping along the trail next to me. I noticed he was dressed oddly. In mostly dark dark dark green or black clothing. He had on formal wear and was as pale as a ghost with a thin black mustache.
“This place has existed for far longer than even I. And I’ve been here a long.. long time, boy.” The man said as he looked through me. As if he could see my soul shifting behind me. I didn’t dare turn away from him.
“W-Well.. I won’t be here long. Don’t wanna interrupt anything you’re up to.” I said as I felt a bit of sweat go down my neck. As he stepped by me I felt cold air overtake the entire forest. The chilling breeze appeared as I noticed it was getting dark despite it being around two in the afternoon last I checked.
“Alright then, best be getting on then Mr. Hart.” The man said. His use of my given name, chilling me to my bones. I pressed my glasses back into place and nodded before quickly stepping off and heading back to my car. I turned my head as I sped up only to see he had vanished into thin air.
I sat in the driver's seat on the side of the road for a good seven minutes. Trying to calm down before turning the key. Thrumming, my car skittered to life then died just a few seconds after. Then it wouldn’t kick back on. The starter was dead.
“Son of a..” I smacked the dash in frustration. My irritation turned into something else entirely when I heard shuffling in the bushes back towards ‘Black Landing’ as the gentleman called it.
I heard whispering, not from one person. It sounded like hundreds. Fading in and out, whispering to me specifically. Promising the best story if I just came deeper into the forest.
I had been living in this town for 7 years. How had I not come near this place before? I grabbed my camera from the front seat and stumbled after the whispering. My curiosity ate at me despite the creeping chill.
It led me so far, far enough that I got turned around and couldn’t tell which way was home. It had been dark since I first met the mysterious gentleman in the woods. I didn’t have a watch to tell me what time it was now, but it felt like it was at least 9 pm. Had I really been out here that long? I felt like I was wading through cold wet moss.
“Howard.. Howard Hart.. come forth into these blackened trees. Be bestowed with the best tale ever woven in the history of histories, meet your doom with mystery. Blackened land is blistering..” An older man’s voice smoothly rolled out from deeper in the forest. I had made my way back to the cliff side, led by the repeating rhyme. It only paused as I stepped near the edge. A few bits of dirt and rocks kicked by my feet tumbled off the cliff edge. The loose bits of dirt finished their echo, then the voices continued.
“Howard.. Howard Hart.. come forth into these blackened trees. Be bestowed with the best tale ever woven in the history of histories, meet your doom with mystery. Blackened land is blistering. For if you step into our arms, your story shall be marked in the heart of hearts. But no more shall you just be. All will be. All will be.”
This time ‘Black Landing’ was glowing. Like the ground and stumps had been inverted in color. Although the hard ground still was a dark black. The whispering echoed from the center of the blackness. In vain of pulling me in.
I snapped photos. At least a hundred. Until my camera was out of film and then some more. I pressed the button till my finger wore out. I’m not sure what else I was to do, action is fruitless in the presence of this. The darkness of the landscape would make it hard to tell any details either way.
Black Landing lunges forward.