In The Beginning (The Blightridge #1)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Everest

Our footsteps echo loudly through the forest. The crunching of dead leaves underfoot bounces off the trees and the looming rock ledge that overlooks this abandoned place.

The air feels dense, and a thick fog clings just far enough off the forest floor that we can’t see more than a few feet ahead of where we’re walking.

The atmosphere is charged with an eerie tension that has my heart beating faster in my chest. It feels like I’ve stepped into a vivid dream where the fabric of time seems to stretch and bend as it pleases.

The foliage here is mesmerizing. Axel is easily a dozen steps ahead of me and steadily gaining ground because I’m leisurely strolling along as I take in the array of plants and trees. Even though I recognize everything around me, there’s a ton of different species.

There have been a few noticeable animal trails snaking through the underbrush, but it’s evident that new plant life has already started to envelop them.

This place has remained untouched for years, possibly even decades, as nature slowly reclaims every inch as its own.

We’ve yet to encounter any signs of live animals, which seems really weird. I haven’t even seen a single bird.

“I think I see a fence, Ev.” Axel’s voice booms through the silence with a hint of excitement. It startles me, causing me to nervously jump, clutching at my chest.

“Jesus… tone it down a bit, yeah? You trying to give me a heart attack?”

“Sorry, the echo was a bit louder than I expected. We aren’t even that close to the rocks anymore.

” His voice is laced with confusion as he looks back at me, and I kind of understand why.

He’s right. There really shouldn’t be that much of an echo anymore.

I try to glance behind me, the fog doesn’t allow me to see the rocky mountain we came from, but we’ve been walking at a relaxed pace for a while now.

We’ve spent nearly three hours hiking to this place already, climbing down some seriously steep cliffs that only experienced hikers would be comfortable traversing.

It took us almost a week to even plan this little excursion.

We looked over dozens of different maps and studied the topography of the area intensively.

We didn’t really have a choice; We didn’t have anything else to go off of.

Both of us were genuinely concerned that there wasn’t even going to be a building out here because the satellite images showed absolutely no proof that anything existed this far out.

At all. This location is so far away from the nearest town that I don’t know why anyone would have ever built anything out here in the first place, or how.

As I’m walking, I spot a few vibrant berries clinging to a vine wrapped around a tree just a few steps from where I’m following behind Axel, so I veer off to grab a couple of them.

“Where did you say that you heard about this place from?” Axel questions as he stoops down in front of an opening in the fence and shucks off his backpack.

“It was an anonymous tip that I got on the website. It was in the same message as Blightridge.” I reply casually as I stroll towards him with a handful of ripe berries.

I grab a few of them from my hand and offer them to him.

He peers at me with disgust, so I shrug my shoulders as I pop them into my mouth instead.

“What if those are poisonous? I’d never be able to drag you out of this place to get help, Everest.” He scolds with worry.

“Please, Axel. Do you have no trust in me?” I scoff with an eye roll. “They’re just blackberries. I wouldn’t risk eating something that I wasn’t one hundred percent sure I knew what it was.”

“Fine,” he concedes as he stands up and grabs a few from my hand. “Turn around. I need the wire cutters from your bag. There’s no way my big ass is fitting through that opening.” He says before tossing the berries into his mouth.

I peek around his shoulder as I turn around to give him access to my bag.

I don’t even know if I would fit through the tiny hole in the fence, honestly.

If I could, I’d have to crawl through it on my stomach.

It’s not like I have an aversion to getting dirty or anything.

In fact, I love it, but I don’t want to have to hike back all day in damp clothes, and everything out here seems to be wet.

I always carry a spare change of clothes with me, but I save those for emergencies.

“So, have you heard anything back about Blightridge?” He asks as he pulls the cutters from my bag.

I turn back around, watching as he snips pieces of the fence in a methodical pattern.

I’m glad he knows what he’s doing because I probably would’ve just made a mess out of it.

Once he has the hole cut large enough, he holds the edges back and uses the cutters to wrap the pieces he cut around the fence, essentially holding the hole open for us. Crafty little shit.

“I mean, we haven’t been back to the office in a few days, so I’m not able to check my email, but I hadn’t heard anything before we left.

At this point, it’s like the place doesn’t even exist. What I did manage to find on it was basically just word of mouth.

No pictures. No first-hand experience or sightings. It’s just… weird.”

As Axel stands up, he motions for me to turn back around. He tucks the cutters back into my bag as he hums in thought. “Kind of like this place, yeah? Whoever sent you these tips must really have the inside scoop. Maybe they’ll send some more good shit our way.”

It hits me kind of unexpectedly, the oddity of the locations they provided, how secluded and…

empty they seem to be. A quick search revealed little to no information about either place online.

This building is not just off the beaten path; It’s miles away from the nearest town.

Positioned at a coordinate that seems to mark some forgotten corner of the map.

There was absolutely nothing about Blightridge, just an email address to contact the so-called director there.

It all feels a bit too planned. A wave of concern surges through me as I glance back over my shoulder nervously.

“What if someone is trying to lure us somewhere to murder us, Axel? What if we’ve just walked into a trap?” I hiss as I turn back toward him. I’m not usually one to panic, but this place is already making my skin crawl.

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous. It’s obvious that no one has been here in years, Ev.” He turns back toward the fence and proceeds to enter.

“They could’ve used a different path to come in. Maybe they knew a shorter way!” I whisper as I grab his arm to keep him from squatting under the fence. He glares back at me and shakes off the hold I have on him before crawling through.

“I didn’t just spend the last week of my life planning this, and then half a day hiking here to turn back now, Everest. Get the fuck in here, you big chicken.” He demands as he dusts off his hands.

I let out an annoyed huff as I duck beneath the fence, following behind him. “Fine, but if we get killed, I’m going to haunt you for all of eternity. You’ll be reincarnated, and I’ll stay in purgatory just to make your next life miserable, you asshole.”

“Fine by me…” He mutters under his breath as he turns around and walks off. “It’s not like I could get rid of your clingy ass, even if I tried.”

Guilt hits me hard, knowing that he’s probably right. I depend on him entirely too much, and I know that I can be a lot to handle sometimes, but then I remember how shitty his life would be without me. It’s not like he has any other family or friends nearby. I’m all he has.

“I heard that, you asshole!” I yelp as I stumble toward him on unsteady feet. Man, bending over like that kind of made me lightheaded. I’m probably not drinking enough water, so I reach for the travel mug clipped to my bag and take a big swig before snapping it back in place.

Our conversation quiets back down as we trek through the tall grass and bushes in our path.

Axel is a man of few words anyway, and I think that’s one of the reasons I like spending so much time with him.

We don’t have to fill the silence. We could.

We always have plenty to talk about, and we share a lot of common interests.

It’s just that we both enjoy the spaces between.

There’s something in the silence that gives power.

It’s especially noticeable when you’re out in nature, the way we are right now.

The way we often are when we’re together.

We get to experience the chirping of birds, the rustling of leaves, the traipsing of rabbits or deer, snakes slithering, and bugs buzzing.

The sounds that tell stories of all the life unfolding around us.

It doesn’t take long before I’m lagging behind Axel again, as I usually do.

Poor fella spends an awful lot of time waiting around on me, but I think that he just enjoys having someone to explore the outdoors with, so he rarely ever complains.

I certainly don’t, because I’d rather not investigate all these creepy places alone.

Not to mention, have you seen Axel? Good God.

He’s the best kind of eye candy. All tall and muscular.

Tattoos for days. He drives a motorcycle and works on cars, for fucks sake.

He’s only ever shown interest in women, and he’s far too much like a sibling for me to actually go there, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the view.