Chapter 3: Visions of the deep

David was lost, he has been wandering aimlessly for hours? days? He can't remember how long its been. After the light faded he was left in his house where he had been before the specter and flash disappeared. David was sure he was still dreaming but this dream was long, too long and it was making him nervous. He had tried pinching himself but that just hurt so he tried punching himself and that just hurt more. David was worried he may not wake up, that this was the afterlife and he was to spend it alone forever.

Noises could be heard in the distance but they never seemed to get closer no matter how long he walked so he decided to search for people all while thinking about his situation. He was sure he wasn't dead unless that flash of light was him dying but he felt fine before that. David was stumped but that was all washed away as he heard a noise close to him, closer than the others and it was a strange and terrifying sound like a gurgle mixed with a growl.

David moved towards it in a as stealthy way as possible, he peeked around a corner of the building he was next to and saw a baby stroller. The stroller was old and seemed to be soaked if the droplets of moisture coming off it was any indication.

David, seeing this was both gladdened to know there were others here but was wary as the stroller was in the middle of the street by itself. The sound came again, a gurgled growl. David thought the kid might be choking so he moved to investigate.

As he was getting closer a sudden movement from the opposite side of the stroller caught his attention, a woman in high class Victorian style clothes approached the stroller. 'Must be the mother' thought David as he slowed and moved back to the corner without breaking his gaze.

What he saw shocked him, the woman was walking, her dresses movement indicated this but there was no bounce to he step as if she was sliding or hovering. David watched with interest as the woman neared the stroller and stared into it with her head tilted to the side as if in amusement, her face was covered in a thick white veil matching her dress. No words were being said as she just stood there watching the child as it occasionally made a choking noise which the woman "giggled" at, she moved a gloved hand to her mouth and her shoulders shuddered.

David was frozen with fear, this was not normal, hell wherever he was wasn't normal. David came to the conclusion that he was in his town but it was in a perpetual night with a constant fog that left things difficult to discern at a certain distance. The only reason he could see at all was because the lights were on in every building he saw and the streetlights were as well, not to mention the moon was unnaturally bright giving it all a eerie feeling.

David decided to leave before she sees him. Before he could break his gaze away he saw the woman shake her head in a loose motion before it stopped, facing his direction.

---

Jackson's talk with the woman who's name he learned to be Katelyn proved to be fruitless. Katelyn was a bank teller and the girl Jackson met at the door was her daughter Amy. Katelyn had supposedly not known there was a black market in town, she promised Jackson that she would ask her daughter about it and if she found out anything she would tell him.

Jackson didn't hold out hope for that so he decided it would be best to move on. Jackson's next person of interest was past the Chief's house so he would take care of Jen's problem then go and deal with more of his own. When Jackson arrived at the Chief's house he was surprised to find the door was open, this set Jackson on guard, an open front door was never a good thing in his experience. Jackson had to stop thinking that every house he entered would be his last after all it's a different place with a lower crime rate.

Jackson approached the door and caught a whiff of salt or a beach, this was odd because the town's only body of water was a lake to the south and it isn't saltwater. Since Jackson had arrived in this town nothing seemed to be normal but then why wasn't everyone questioning the weirdness of it, 'the weird place should have weird people Jackson' he told himself. Jackson arrived at the front door of the Chief's house and called out to him.

"Chief David, its Jackson, you in there!?" Jackson said loudly but got no response in return.

"Your daughter Jen asked me to check on you!" Jackson said and again got no response.

Jackson was starting to get worried, 'Is his car here?' Jackson thought to himself, when he checked by looking to the driveway he saw that, yes his car was still here. 'Fuck', Jackson drew his pistol and entered the house. The first room he entered was the living room and saw the television off and the seats were empty, he checked behind any furniture that might be able to hide someone. the second was the kitchen with plates still in the sink and everything looking normal, even the knifes in the rack were all accounted for, 'good no missing knifes, I think'. Jackson was getting more and more nervous the longer he searched until he cleared the lower floor and found nothing amiss, 'It's like the Chief just opened the door and walked out without taking his car, 'why'.

Jackson found one locked door that he thought would maybe lead to a basement but he'll save that for later, no need making unnecessary noise before he checked upstairs. Jackson moved up the stairs slowly with his gun in a low ready stance, 'Please let the Chief be okay'. The stairs made little to no noise as he reached the top to find a hallway with four doors, two on the left and two on the right. Jackson started with the first left and found a decent sized bathroom, 'Nothing'. First right a sparse bedroom, maybe a guestroom or Jen's old room kept clean and neat. Jackson felt a chill run down his spine as he approached the next right door, the scent of seawater was stronger here.

Jackson opened the door slowly, what he found was strange, an empty room covered in water. Everything in the room was soaked and disheveled, like a wave of water crashed through, 'What the hell'. Jackson was stunned, he looked down and saw the floor just outside the door was dry, only the bedroom was wet. 'Check the last room, then kick in the damn basement door', Jackson was confused and nervous and that was quickly turning into anger, anger that he couldn't understand what was happening. Jackson flung the last door in the hallway open and found the Chief's study, neat and tidy as every study usually is, 'Nothing, damnit'. Jackson moved downstairs and towards the possible basement door.

Jackson with his anger clouding his mind at his inability to understand the current situation and worry that his first week in this new town would involve a police funeral, he kicked the door, once, twice, three times until it gave out.

Jackson fumbled for a lightswitch but only found bare and damp walls, so he pulled out his personal flashlight and shone it in and what he saw made no sense.

"GODDAMNIT" Jackson was looking at a staircase that descended into a pool of murky black water while he slammed his fist into the wall next to him. He had to call backup and a crew to either drain the water or dive into it. Jackson knew the next few days were going to be difficult.

Jackson walked outside the house and made a call to the station, who picked up, well if it wasn't Jen, 'Fuck'.

"Hello" Jen's voice came through in a professional tone.

"Hey Jen, it's Jackson, I need forensics and a dive team or a drainage team" Jackson said in a low tone.

"Sure, where do you need them?" Jen asked slight more relaxed.

"---The Chief's place" Jackson said quickly and grimly.

There was a silence for a long time before a choked and quiet voice replied simply "Ok".

The line was disconnected soon after, there was nothing to do now but wait and hope they find nothing.

Jackson waited five minutes before he heard sirens and saw a couple cars speeding towards the house who's porch stairs Jackson was sitting on. After the cars arrived a couple of officers came to Jackson and asked him for the details.

"House is empty with one bedroom disheveled but I can't determine if anything was taken" Jackson said quickly.

"Anything else of note detective?" the officer asked.

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"The disheveled bedroom is soaked in water and the basement is flooded" Jackson said.

"Flooded? well that explains the dive team and the drainage truck" said the officer thoughtfully.

Jackson looked past the officers and saw the one person he hoped he wouldn't right now, Jen. She was being held back by an officer that seemed to know her. Jackson excused himself from his current conversation and made his way to Jen, even if he didn't want to talk to her right now due to how emotional she might be right now he was the only one that has the whole story right now.

"Jen" Jackson said simply.

"Did you find him, is he okay" Jen asked quickly and hysterically.

"I didn't find him and there was no sign of blood, he might be okay" Jackson said trying to calm her.

"What about the dive team why did you need them" she asked in the same manner.

"The basement is flooded and I cant see through it" Jackson said reassuringly.

"What basement, he doesn't have a basement" Jen said, confusion added to her tone.

Jackson was certain what he saw was a basement or at the least a cellar which is basically the same thing (legal uses be damned) and it was flooded of that he had no doubt for he saw it with his own eyes.

"There isn't a basement?" Jackson asked trying to make sure he heard her right.

"No, where did you see this" Jen asked

"Come on, I'll show you" Jackson led the way towards the house.

Jackson and Jen entered the house and went to where Jackson saw the basement, when he got there he saw that the door was shut again and nobody was nearby. Jackson called the dive team over and opened the door to reveal a pantry filled with snacks and cooking supplies.

When Jen saw where Jackson was leading her she was confused as the door he showed her was for the pantry, unless her father had it redone but that was unlikely as that would take a considerable amount of time and money, not to mention he had no need of a basement.

Jackson saw a pantry and was certain he had gone crazy, so many things that don't make sense had happened since he came here. Jackson had taken a hit to the head on one of his last assignments before he moved but it was minor and even the doctors said he would be fine, were they wrong?

Jackson upon thinking this ran toward the bedroom that was covered in water. Jen followed mostly because she was confused by Jackson's behavior. Jackson reached the bedroom and found that while the place was still tossed it wasn't wet. Jen followed behind him and also saw the tossed room.

"What happened here?" Jen asked distraught.

"This was the room that was soaked in water" Jackson said quietly.

"Then why isn't it?" Jen asked starting to get annoyed by Jackson's behavior. 

"It was, or so I thought" Jackson whispered

Jackson told himself that he would come back here and investigate on his own time later, he had to know if he was seeing things or if that was real because it felt very real.

Jen left to talk with the officers in forensics to see if they found anything while Jackson was lost in thought, 'I know what I saw so why did it all change'. Jackson left what he knew to the remaining officers and decided that he would head back to the station to write his report.

---

David was certain he made no noise so how did she see him. David was running through streets and alleys trying to escape a pursuer that he wasn't even sure was chasing him. David stopped running once he found a building he knew and forced open the doors and slammed them shut behind himself.

The building David entered was the home of one of his old military buddies, the lights were all on and there was a eerie silence in the house. David didn't move for what seemed like hours just listening and hoping he heard nothing outside or inside. David wasn't even sure the lady he saw was hostile but he didn't want to find out, she could have been a saint but that matters little to David. 

The usual caw of ravens was the only thing that broke the silence, David noticed that the town's only form of "normal" wildlife that he saw was the birds but even they acted strangely. The birds would watch David as he ran and moved, He noticed that they seem to follow him as if they found him entertaining or were just waiting for him to mess up and die so they could eat. Regardless David didn't want to be outside anymore than necessary and even indoors felt like he had a monster around every corner.

David decided that staying here until he had to move was the best decision. He searched the cabinets and pantry and found a sparse amount of food, he didn't know why there was food here when nobody seemed to live here but he would take what he could get.

*knock*knock*knock*knock*

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