The Ruin by Charles Lankiwicz (books to read for self improvement TXT) 📕

“Still people did disappear as well as see lights.”

Jim held his hand to his head and said: “Hon, let’s just drop this subject.” Then he went on to tell her of the work he had done on the house that day.

That night Joan woke up. Something just didn’t seem right. After the first night she hadn’t heard any more noises. But she felt a tension now. Her breathing was faster. She looked towards the window in the dark room and thought she saw flashes.

Instantly, she got up and went to the window. At first she saw nothing then she began to notice faint flashes of blue, like someone turning a flashlight on and off quickly. She recalled what the women had told her about people seeing lights and evidently this was it. She resisted an impulse to wake Jim up. She wanted to be absolutely sure before she did. The lights would sometimes stay on for a minute then go off again for another minute. Now they were coming closer to the house.

She didn’t hesitate and went to Jim shaking him.

“Jim! Get up! There’s something outside–it’s the lights!”

“Wha..What,” he said, as he stumbled out of bed and went to the window. Looking out he could see nothing. Everything was pitch dark; it was a moonless night.

“I don’t see a thing–it’s pitch dark out there.”

“I tell you I did! There were flashing blue lights!”

“Well there not there now and I need some sleep,” with that he went back to bed.

Joan stood at the window feeling both foolish and frustrated . She had looked like an idiot. But she had seen lights! Tomorrow she would find out for sure what was going on.

The next day dawned and the sky was a brilliant blue.Jim had gone into town to get some hardware. She was determined to find the source of the lights she had seen and confront him with evidence.

As she went into the woods the underbrush was formidable and she soon became deep within it. Looking back she could barely make out the house even though she had gone only a hundred yards or so. Guess I’m no girl scout–it’s not going to do for me to get lost in these woods. She had read that people in woods tended to go in circles, always tending to the right until they did so. She hesitated. Maybe I’d better get a compass, or even forget about this.

As she did so, she noticed a difference in the view ahead. It seemed lighter, less dense. Carefully she walked towards it, seeing it gradually become more open, then she stopped at the edge of a barren patch of woods. Everything was grayish, the ground and the gnarled trunks of bare limbed trees. Visibility was poor; she could only see about a hundred yards or so. Nothing moved. There were no birds or even insects. She thought, was this a recent forest fire or perhaps a diseased area where the plants and trees had been affected?

She felt tense. A voice inside her seemed to be saying, don’t go any further. Forget about it. She started to turn back when she remembered the book. It had made reference to a tower of some kind. She decided to walk on.

The ground was spongy and left impressions of her feet so she would be able to retrace her steps. Also if there was a tower it would be a landmark, even in this fog.

As she trod on she occasionally looked back. Was something following her? But she shook it off to her imagination. What could possibly be out here. Even an animal would find nothing of interest here.

Then something did appear ahead. At first it was a vague impression of a darker area in the mist. Then it became gradually clearer as she approached.

It was indeed a tower of some kind. It reached about seventy feet high and about fifty wide. But of curious construction. She couldn’t identify it as being of any civilization she was familiar with, not Egyptian, Roman, Gothic or anything else. It had odd looking angles and the few windows appeared to be of a triangular shape. Though vines clung to it and dirt was piled around it. It still seemed to be intact. She touched the tower and felt not stone but some kind of material that seemed warm and with a faint throb going through it.

A curious hum was in the air; something just on the edge of hearing, almost like a dog whistle, not quite in the range of human hearing, but she could sense it, nonetheless.

There seemed to be no opening, and she walked around to the other side of it. Now she could see curious tracks that led to a hole in the ground right next to the tower. She walked over to it and peered into the hole. It was about ten feet wide and it seemed to go in deep. Now for the first time she noticed a foul smell that made her put her hand over her face.

Was it an animal? If so, she could not dare to go in there. What if something came out at me she thought. She quickly backed away from the tower and walked back towards the house.

Her mind was awhirl as she went trough the woods. What had she found? The book indicated that evil was associated with it. Perhaps she should just forget about it. But it would be very satisfying to tell Jim that her ideas had a basis in fact.

At dinner she told him about the tower. His eyes lit up with interest as he listened.

“Well now, that’s something! We’ll have to check it out tomorrow. We may have found a major archaeological discovery here. Our names will be in the papers and on CNN.”

“But from what I read and the talk in town, it would be an evil place. Maybe we should avoid it.”

“No way. We’re going there tomorrow, and I’ll see that we’re equipped to explore.”

With that he pulled out a handgun and put it on the table.

Joan frowned. She did not like guns and never had anything to do with them.

“Hon, we need this. We’re out here in the woods and if anyone started any trouble here it’d take a hell of a long time for the law to arrive.”

“You don’t even know how to use it.”

“I know how to aim and pull a trigger. Besides I hope that I never have to use it. Just showing it may be enough to ward off trouble.”

She was looking at a blood red sky shoot trough with black clouds. It was dark and she was running, running from something. It was getting closer and closer. She could feel something touch her back.

Joan woke up with a scream getting Jim up as well.

“Hon it’s all right–you just had a bad dream. Just go back to bed.”

Joan’s breathing was fast and her face was covered with sweat. “But it was so real!”

“I think you’re just letting this place get to you. Once we get everything organized it’ll be all right.”

The next day they where at the back of the house. Both had sturdy clothes on for going through the woods. The sky was heavily overcast and low, giving a gray look to everything.

Joan said, “It looks like it may rain. Maybe we should call it off.”

“I’ve got to see this tower. It’s been on my mind ever since you mentioned it. Besides, we won’t be gone that long.”

With that they went into the woods, which started a hundred yards away from the house. Today they looked even darker and dense then they had the day before.

“You better lead, Hon. You know the way.”

Joan felt indecisive; a part of her wanted to turn away. But she went forward.

“Maybe, we’ll have a picnic out here later,” said Jim.

“Not in these woods,” answered Joan.

They went through the dense woods until they came to the barren area. Again a low fog hid everything past a hundred yards.

“Something bad must have happened here,” said Jim. “Looks like some kind of pollution must have reached here and killed everything off.”

“But there’s no industry in this area. The nearest power plant is at least 50 miles away.”

“Air currents can be pretty strong; even stuff from Japan can cross the Pacific to reach us here...Hey I see what you mean about the tower.”

A darker area appeared just ahead that gradually became clearer as they walked towards it. Joan felt a sense of dread that wanted her to cry out: No, don’t do this. Let’s go home and forget about this. But she did not want to appear ridiculous to Jim.

It looked the same as it did yesterday when they came to it. Jim stood with his hands on his hips looking up at it.

“I can’t figure out who could have built it,” he said. “It’s certainly not modern but it looks like nothing I’ve ever seen in books or documentaries. Whew! What’s that smell?”

Jim walked around the tower to the source of the smell. As he did so he looked at the ground. He saw the tracks. They look familiar he thought, as he bent down to examine them. They looked upon closer examination similar to the tracks he had seen in the basement. He felt a sense of unease.

“They were there yesterday,” said Joan.

“Well let’s see were they lead to,” said Jim as he followed them to the opening. Here the smell was extremely pungent.

“Something must be living down there, something foul,” said Joan.

Jim pulled out his flashlight and the pistol and started to enter the opening.

“Are you crazy! You could be attacked by something!”

Jim glanced back and hesitated thinking, she’s probably right. But I have the pistol and flashlight. Whatever is down here can’t be very big. If I call the authorities, they’ll likely seal the area off and we’ll be out of it. This could be something big and I want us to be part of it. And I want to find out just what kind of vermin I’m dealing with. Whatever is in here is also in the house–I’m going in.

“It’ll be alright Hon. I don’t think this could be very deep and I’ve got a light and gun.” With that he disappeared into the opening.

Joan pursed her lips and folded her arms tightly. Once Jim got an idea, there was no stopping him. She could just wait and see what happened.

Joan waited for what seemed like an interminable time but was only a few minutes. Once Jim had went inside she had heard nothing from him. Then she heard a faint sound, just on the edge of hearing. She could not make out what it was.

“Jim! Jim are you all right? Answer me!”

But she heard nothing more. A cold feeling came in her stomach and she began breathing faster. This is too long. I’m going down, she thought.

She entered the tunnel, using her own flashlight. The smell was stronger her, almost unbearable. She shined the light ahead but the beam faded out in the distance. The tunnel was about 20 feet wide at this point and consisted of hard packed earth. A part of her wonder why it was so symmetrical, like it was deliberately made.

“Jim answer me! Jim I’m getting worried. Where are you?”

She glanced back at the opening, now some distance behind her. She had never liked closed in spaces. It brought back unpleasant memories of when she had locked herself in a closet as a young girl, and could not find the light switch. She’d have never enter this if it hadn’t been for Jim.

But there was no answer to her calls. Thoughts of a cave-in entered her mind. Maybe she should go for help. But that would possibly make it too late for Jim. She forged ahead, casting the light. Now the ceiling was coming lower as she shined the light upwards, occasionally plant roots came through. On the floor