Miles starts the investigation on Billy Hope, all while meeting a familiar face.
Waylon begins his work at Mount Massive, but something isn't right...
-----
Miles Upshur
(A Few Hours Earlier)
Miles's hands were steady on his steering wheel as he pulled into the parking lot of Leadville Health, a local hospital in the town. The lot was busy with cars buzzing by as they searched for parking spaces, and elderly couples and parents of little children walked in and out of the building. Despite all of this, the lot wasn't necessarily loud.
People had always known to mind their own business around the city. That probably explained why nobody questioned what dark mysteries lay beneath the town's surface. The fact that a local nurse had vanished without a trace, and a young man had gone missing just a week ago around the same location had Miles scratching his head.
William Hope's case file didn't have much in it, and Miles wasn't the best at detective work, however there were a few pointers in his file that could potentially lead to new discoveries.
Miles pulled his dark car into one of the spaces closest to the entrance. 'Screw walking.'
He glanced over at the passenger seat of his car. A silver camcorder was perched on top of a tan file. Miles reached over into the seat, setting aside the camera and picking up the file, giving a long look at the cover of it. In big, bold red letters read CONFIDENTIAL. The folder was fairly light as not much paper lied inside, and even less information on the potential whereabouts of William Hope.
Miles breathed out and opened the file, giving it a quick look over just to make sure he got the location right. There were only two papers inside. One was a slightly wrinkled picture of who Miles assumed to be William. He had greyish looking eyes with a carefree look within them, with dirty blonde hair that was cut low to his head. No facial hair was present, and he looked pretty young and seemed to look happy as he sat in a campfire chair holding a marshmallow toaster stick. A large brown dog sat next to him with its head in his lap. The man wore a slight smile as he looked towards whoever was taking the photograph.
The other piece of paper held a few notes. One was where he was last seen; on the security footage of the hospital beginning to enter the building. The paper stated that he had a medical appointment that day and was there to pick up medication for his severe mood swings. Not much other information was evident, other than the fact that he had grown up with a severely abusive mother who had lost her rights as a parent when he was 16.
There was a small yellow index card paperclipped to the top of the file. On it was a note that was written in handwriting.
I won't fear what's said against me. I am the only me, and I would have known if I've done something to upset people.
Miles could only wonder what the card meant. How did it play into all of this, and who was the person that wrote it? What was said against them? What did they mean by "I am the only me"? This almost sounds as if they're trying to clone them.
Miles chuckled to himself and lightly shook his head. He reached over and grabbed the camcorder, rolling it in his hands a bit and checking to make sure everything looked right. The camera was given to him as a Christmas present a few years back but it was heavy duty and very easy to use. He flipped the camera open, making sure that everything had decent lighting and his audio was working. In the top corner of the camera was a battery symbol, and by the looks of it there wasn't much energy left. He noted that he should stop at the store tonight and pick up some more. In the hospital, he'd have to use it sparingly so he could get everything important documented.
Miles got out of the car, camera and file in hand, and locked the vehicle. He straightened out his dark coat and started his walk into the building. On the way inside, he noted the different families that walked in and out. Did they know what had happened with Ariel? Had they known that William went missing around the hospital as well? Would they think twice about bringing their children here if they did know what strange things happened here?
As he crossed the street and walked toward the entrance, he couldn't help but look up at the different security cameras that were posted nearby. He counted 3 in total, one facing towards the parking lot, and two more posted to look at the sidewalk and doors.
Miles walked through the double doors, noting the glares that he got from the security guards. Of course they'd all still be mad given what had gone down the day before. He sneered back at them and made his way over to the front desk, counting three more cameras in the lobby of the hospital. One faced the doors, another faced the waiting area, and one more faced the front desk and a small corridor near it. Everything in front of and inside the hospital can definitely be viewed by the cameras, so it doesn't make sense that William just disappeared when entering the building. It just isn't possible. Someone definitely would have seen what happened on the cameras. Unless they just weren't working that night, something would have been picked up.
"Can I help you?" a gentle voice said, and Miles turned his head away from the ceiling, previously stuck in his thoughts. He faced an older woman with short hair.
"Yes, actually," he held up his camera, pointing it in the face of the short lady. "I'm here to investigate the mysterious disappearance of William Hope."
The woman instantly shrunk in on herself, holding up her hands to shield her face from the camera. She cringed, "I'm sorry, sir, but could you please put your device away? You're not permitted to record here." A slight scowl made its way onto her face as she looked at his camcorder.
Miles furrowed his eyebrows, but reluctantly folded the screen of his camcorder back and put it in his jacket pocket. It was a hospital after all, so it made sense that recording wouldn't be allowed here; privacy issues and all that. "Right, sorry ma'am," he apologized, and held out his hand to her. "My name is Miles Upshur, and I am a reporter and investigator for the press. I'm here to research the unknown whereabouts of William P. Hope."
At the mention of the name, the lady's eyes widened for a split second before she put her head down and furiously typed away at her keyboard. She adjusted the ring on her finger for a moment before looking up a bit. "I'm not sure who that-"
"I was wondering if you could spare a moment to talk. Please. It's important," Miles blurted before she could continue, trying to put on a calming demeanor. He had seen his fair share of nervous interviewees, so staying collected and relaxed was what could make or break this opportunity of getting new information.
"Excuse me sir, but would you like to check in to see a patient or not?" the lady asked him, visibly frustrated.
Miles paused for a moment, and let out an exhale through his nose. "Uh, sorry I guess not." He knew that his presence at the hospital the day before had caused some issues, but he couldn't help but be disappointed by the lady's reaction.
The woman must have noticed his disappointment, because she glanced at Miles with a conflicted look. In one moment, Miles saw right through her and concluded that she knew more than she was saying. She knew who William Hope was. Why wasn't she willing to talk about it? Being nervous is understandable, but you'd think that someone who works at a hospital would be pretty interested in the well-being of a young man that had mysteriously gone missing.
"Would you tell me if there was something that happened to him?" He asked her, leaning forward on the counter a bit and lowering his voice so people around them couldn't hear. She furrowed her eyebrows and kept her gaze away from him.
"I..." she whispered before trailing off, letting her gaze linger on his eyes, and Miles could feel her confliction. The lady grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, leaned forward and lowered her voice as well, speaking in a hushed tone. "Mr. Upshur, I'm so sorry about your sister's state, but I assure you that everyone here understands, and we'll help her to the best of our ability."
Confused, Miles attempted to glance down at the paper that she was writing on, but the lady clicked her fingers and gestured for him to keep his eyes on her. She wrote fast and spoke a bit louder, "If you'd like to get in contact with one of our more specialized doctors down in Glenwood Springs, here's their address and phone number." The lady then folded the piece of paper she was writing on and handed it to Miles, all while keeping her eyes on him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must go help one of our patients."
With that being said, she spun around on her heel and walked into the back room that was closed off from Mile's view. Miles kept his view on the door that separated them for a moment, utterly confused by the interaction, before realizing that he still had the paper in his hand. He cast a quick glance around him and over his shoulder, making sure that no one could see what the woman had written. The paper was crisp as it unfolded, and Miles felt his heart race as he began to read what was on the page.
Do not mention Billy Hope.
Miles couldn't believe what he was reading. This was a whole mystery waiting to be uncovered, and now this woman gave him a note telling him not to mention William? He had a few questions to say the least.
Why did she say "Billy" Hope? Why couldn't he be mentioned? Was this some sort of cover up? Why did the lady look scared when Miles mentioned William? This whole situation sent shivers down Miles's spine. For every answer he's gotten so far, he's had more questions. This was more than just some kid gone missing, this lady was scared to mention William. That's not normal.
Miles folded the paper back up and stuck it in his pocket, baffled by the weird notions of the reception lady. He turned around sharply and was about to walk out the door before ramming into someone else. Both parties stumbled to the ground, and Miles could hear a small " oof " as they collided.
Miles was about to stand up and curse the random human with a wave of annoyance, but when he looked up he was surprised to see a young woman sitting on the ground and rubbing her leg. She had long, wavy brown hair and tan skin, with a light blue top that settled across her shoulders. The young woman couldn't be much older than Miles was.
She looked as if she were about to be just as annoyed before her eyes settled on Miles. Her look softened a bit before she laughed at him. Miles didn't understand what she was laughing at exactly but he then realized that his shirt felt slightly wet. He looked down and sure enough, there was a slight wet stain on his shirt and what looked to be pink and blue flower petals stuck to it as well. He felt his face go slightly red but shook it off and glared back at her.
"Rude, how dare you assault me with that bouquet," he feigned offence, and the lady laughed even harder. This got the attention of some of the people in the waiting room, and they were both met with harsh glares. Miles rolled his eyes and got up off the ground. He patted himself to get rid of the dust his pants had collected, and picked up the camera and file that he'd dropped. After getting himself dusted off, he put out a hand towards the woman and she took it, lifting herself up. She leaned down to grab the bouquet, picking it up and checking it for damage. The woman sighed, noting the various broken stems.
"I'm sorry about the flowers," Miles apologized.
"No no, you're fine. Accidents happen. I'm Lisa by the way, what are you doing here?" the woman asked, holding out her hand. Miles looked between her eyes and her hand for a moment, taken aback by her sudden forwardness. She must have noticed his hesitation because she continued, "Sorry, that might have been rude. I know you work for the press; saw you on the news yesterday, heh."
"Ah, I hope I didn't make a bad first impression, then," Miles responded cheekily, slightly embarrassed at the thought of her hearing what awful things were definitely stated by the hospital staff. Oh well, it wasn't like Miles really cared, he was just doing his job, albeit a bit more than your average reporter.
Lisa chuckled, fiddling with some of the petals on one of the flowers. The pastel blue of the plant matched her shirt in the most delightful of ways. "No, I suppose that being a reporter requires someone to... dig a little deeper if you know what I mean. Playing by the rules doesn't always make for an interesting story."
Miles's mind was blown. This random lady he had run into was right on his level, and she wasn't even a reporter! Was she? He had never really been too interested in other people's opinions, because most people just disagree with the way he goes about getting the information he needs. Oddly enough, in the two minutes of knowing this random woman, he had been understood more by her than his boss in the entire time of his career.
"Exactly what I told my boss! I swear, he tells me to get a good article for the newspaper, but gets mad when I actually go through with it. What gives?" Miles laughs, lightly poking fun at Mr. Fischer's antics. "I suppose Murkoff is a pretty scary company to mess with-" he cuts off abruptly, remembering the way his boss had talked to him about said company. Mentioning them wouldn't get them in trouble, would it?
"Murkoff? Like Murkoff Corp. up in the mountains?" Lisa asks quickly. Miles nods, and she continues. "What's happened with them? Is it something bad?" She starts looking increasingly worried, but weirdly curious, as if this has been something she's researching. Maybe she has a local interest? Miles wasn't sure.
"I'm afraid I can't really disclose that with you, miss. Sorry," Miles states. He didn't want to chance accidentally blowing the cover on what he was doing. For all he knew, this was a Murkoff employee out to get him. It could also be a secret investigator for one of those other news companies.
"Oh, that's alright. I suppose that much should be obvious, given that you're still investigating it," Lisa responds, putting her head down a bit in what Miles's guesses is disappointment. "I was only wondering because, well, my husband is doing some temporary software work for the company. He leaves later this evening, actually, and he has to drive all the way to the old asylum. Creepy right?"
Miles picks up on her statement right away, interest peaking intensely at the fact that Lisa's husband was supposedly going to Murkoff's building. They were located right in the heart of the mountains just outside of Leadville. Apparently, in the mid 1960's it used to be an old asylum meant for the criminally insane, however it was shut down in 1971 after it was reported that patients weren't properly being taken care of. It was mostly just an old burn on Leadville's history, however it was still disturbing to say the least.
Murkoff had reopened the asylum in 2009, however it wasn't meant for the use of housing patients from what he had heard. It's been kept unknown exactly what goes on there, but it is Murkoff's main base of operations. What Miles would give to get a tour of that place, given the creepy history or not. However, Murkoff's always been kind of quiet and they don't allow anyone near the premises.
There was an old report about them finding someone camping out in the forest behind Mount Massive, and they were sued right into the ground. They hadn't been doing anything even close to harm to the company, but it's a widely known rule to stay away from the building unless absolute permission is given.
Not that Murkoff is necessarily a bad company. In fact, most people aren't sure what their purpose is. It's been a hub for telecommunication and cybersecurity studies from what Miles has heard, but nothing's ever really been confirmed. Murkoff has definitely been decent about supporting local businesses like the Press for example as well as Leadville Health, so they had that going for them.
It was known to people not to mess with the company, though. There had been businesses in town who had gotten into disagreements with Murkoff, only to be completely shut down weeks later. Whatever Murkoff was doing had to be important.
"Yeah, actually. Really creepy," Miles stated, thinking to himself a bit. He had a case he was currently working on, but looking into this whole Murkoff thing could be something interesting too. Only thing was, if he was found out about, he'd be sued into oblivion. He mulled it over in his head, deciding that reporters have to do what's necessary, however he probably wouldn't be in big trouble because he probably wouldn't get very far anyway. Pulling an orange business card out of his pocket, he held it out to Lisa and said, "I know we've only just met, but I dig deep into little mysterious things, ya know? Have your husband contact me if anything odd happens, although I'm sure he'll be fine." He smiled at her as she grabbed the slip from his fingers.
"Thank you, err.... Miles Upshur," Lisa responds, smiling as she reads the name on the card. "I'll tell him to keep this on him." She slides it into the back pocket of her dark jeans.
He notices the wristband on Lisa's arm and gestures to it. "Are you here visiting a patient?"
"Yes, actually! My neighbor recently fell ill, and I thought I'd be kind enough to bring her some flowers," she smiles sweetly, holding the flowers up for him to see. "Although, it's a shame they're a bit messed up."
Miles noticed her slight frown as she looked at the flowers. "They're lovely. I'm sure she'll like them. It's a very nice thing to do, actually," he assured her, attempting to get her to make eye contact with him. He understood the pain of losing someone to an illness. He had lost his aunt to a nasty respiratory infection. Miles could only hope that her neighbor would get better.
"Thank you, Miles," she stated softly, looking at him. A few moments passed as they looked at each other. There was something quite odd about Lisa, but Miles couldn't decide if it was really a bad thing. In the short time they had known each other, he felt weirdly connected to her. Her curiosity interested him, and he could understand her interest in wanting to know more.
A light ding was heard from one of the nearby elevators, cutting off their eye contact. Lisa cleared her throat a bit and adjusted her shirt, as Miles looked around the room, becoming intensely interested in the weird layout of the chairs in the waiting room.
"I suppose I should get to Stella. I know that's her coming down, and she would be upset if I were late," Lisa smiled fondly, referring to who had to be the patient she was visiting. She fixed her hair and it fell down her shoulders in light waves. "I'll see you around, Miles. Thank you for the card. I'll talk to my husband about it."
With that, she was off and walking down the corridor. As Miles looked past her, he could see an elderly woman with dark grey hair walking with a cane, and deep blue eyes. It was odd that he could see how blue they were from where he was standing, but he shook it off as he watched the scene play out in front of him.
Lisa walked up to the woman, and they shared a brief hug. They exchanged words, none of which Miles could hear. Lisa gestured to the flowers and the older woman put her hands over her mouth, in what Miles could tell was a surprised smile. A few more brief words were exchanged and Lisa started her way deeper into the corridor. The woman kept her eyes on the flowers for a moment, smiling to herself before she looked up and made eye contact with Miles.
In an instant, the smile was wiped from her face and a new one took form. Miles couldn't place what emotion she was trying to convey, but she knit her eyebrows together and paled. She kept her eyes on him for a few moments, looking increasingly worried as time went on, before abruptly turning around and hobbling down the corridor.
Miles was confused at that. What was with the people here? He had never met that woman before and it was like she just saw him get murdered.
He shook his head and sighed, pleased that he at least met someone new. With that he straightened out his jacket, and started his return back to his apartment to decipher the note from the secretary.
--
Waylon Park
(Present)
It had been almost a week into his time working at Murkoff. Waylon had a tight schedule to follow each day and everything in the facility was tense. He hadn't seen daylight since the day he had arrived, and each day of work had him riddled with anxiety. He was meant to take his medication, but he hadn't thought it was necessary given the fact that he wasn't told he'd be staying here overnight for multiple days in a row. This left him with all of his fingernail tips chewed off and his skin constantly itching with nerves.
The work he had been doing was easy. People would report having some simple tech issues with their computers and he'd make sure everything was running smoothly. The only thing that Waylon struggled to understand was all the high class security. He had been told that the work he'd be doing was important, so why did he feel like an outsider to all of this? Mr. Blaire had made no appearances since the day of his arrival, and he'd been under the authority of a bossy scientist named Andrew.
Andrew gave Waylon incredibly uncomfortable vibes and he couldn't stand being around the scientist for more than two minutes. He would find every reason possible to excuse himself and work in private. Andrew's behavior boggled him, as he looked at Waylon like he was some sort of meal to be devoured, and it made Waylon's insides turn.
What really bothered Waylon however was the way that Andrew and the other scientists would talk. Before rounding certain corners, he could hear snippets of conversation being stated in hushed voices.
"...funny to watch them squirm... knowing they can't do anything about it..."
"...dream states are becoming more real to them... we could very well have....you know they can't help it..."
"...-rider is becoming more unstable...starting to make the higher ups upset...:"
Every time Waylon would walk down the halls, he'd try to quiet his footsteps so he could hear what was being talked about. Sitting in the dull grey of his room each day was becoming more and more boring for him, so it was the only thing that kept his mind active. Other than the fact that he missed Lisa and the little boys more than he ever has. He wasn't prepared to go days without them, so it was hard sitting in his room at night by himself with nothing to entertain him.
Waylon had gotten his phone back on the day of his arrival, however he was too paranoid to use it after overhearing the conversation outside of Mr. Blaire's door about bugging his phone. It sent him into a weird panic mode whenever he'd get a notification, wondering what it was and who could potentially see it. He tried his best to stay off his phone until he got out and could get a new one.
One more thing that Waylon couldn't quite understand was the fact that he thought he was going crazy. Multiple times during the nights, he'd wake up to what he'd think are screams. Screams from inside the facility. They'd be faint and Waylon wasn't sure how he was able to wake up to such quiet sounds. Thus, he thought he was out of his mind.
He was a whole floor underground, and this was a heavily guarded building. It didn't make sense that he was hearing such sounds. Other noises that he could sometimes pinpoint in the night were loud banging noises and faint shots as if there were a whole war going on at the top of the building. It scared him senseless, and he found that most nights he had difficulty staying asleep.
One such night he was hearing these noises was tonight. Waylon had been excused from his duties for the evening and allowed to retire to his room. He had taken a shower and put on some night clothes that Murkoff had provided him, getting ready to settle into bed. Once the building's lights went out, everything was silent, and Waylon's eyelids were gettin heavy. Sleep just about overtook him before he was suddenly woken up by the faint sound of someone yelling.
The yells weren't any normal screams, but it sounded like a jumble of words. Waylon's fingers shook and his legs wobbled as he quietly snuck to his door. He attempted to open it, but it was locked, just like any other night after his curfew. He couldn't see into the dark hallway, so it was no use. All he could do was listen for another one, but it never came.
Everything was submerged into silence once more, and Waylon snuck back over to his bed and under the covers, pulling them up around his head in fear.
'I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy.'
His head felt as if it were spinning. Shutting his eyes, he pulled the covers even further up and over his face. Nothing felt right. Everything was too out of place, and the air around him warmed up as he heavily exhaled.
Another scream and a few tap, tap, taps followed and Waylon felt himself shrink into the blankets more. He couldn't decipher what he was hearing. This had to be a nightmare. He was way underground, so this just couldn't make any sense. The scream and taps were quiet, but they sounded urgent. Waylon knew that wherever they were coming from, things couldn't be right.
Waylon wrapped his pillow around his head as a few more taps continued, attempting to shut out the noise. He twisted and turned in the sheets, but nothing worked.
A low, faint humming sound was stuck in his ears. It was like a television displaying only static was stuck between his ears. Shapes and odd colors flashed in the darkness of his closed eyes. It was like warped butterflies swarmed his vision. However, he didn't dare open them, too scared to see something he may regret.
The last thing he could recall was feeling faint and light headed, but everything went dark.
-----
Thank you all for reading! My AO3 has more information about this book, as well as more drawings, but I want you guys to also have your own interpretations of what the characters look like, so I won't be including as many here!
This book goes by the same name there, and my username is Vebz .
~ Kay