NOTE: This story is not quite finished. When it is, I will edit the ending in. I checked my pack one last time for the necessary equipment for the day’s outing. “Nalgene…full. First aid kit…got that. Cell phone…yup. Camera, spare batteries, spare film…uh huh. Mini Maglite, full-size Maglite…got both. Medical ID tags…yup. Wire cutters—Dan, what the hell are wire cutters doing in my backpack?!” I demanded, rounding on my companion. He shrugged. “There might be barbed wire around the entrances. You never know.” I sighed and put them back in my pack, zipped it shut, and slung it over my shoulders. Ever since I’d met Dan, he’d been bringing me along on crazy expeditions, exploring storm drains, abandoned buildings, and other places no sane person would go. I thought that this was a little odd, but being bored and tired of “normal” teenage kid activities, decided to go along for the ride. Today, the plan was to find a way into the cave system of a local (abandoned) brewery. Dan eyed my jeans, running shoes, and black T-shirt. “Katie, I hope you’re not too fond of those shoes. Some of the passages we’ll be exploring will probably be flooded.” I rolled my eyes. Dan had this way of thinking that I was a typical girl, more interested in footwear than history or adventure. “Trust me, I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to go today. These are my work shoes, and a little water won’t hurt them.” He took his tripod and camera bag out of his trunk, then slammed it shut and clicked the “LOCK” key on his chain. We heard the locks secure, then walked into the nearby municipal park—for all the world looking like two college kids out for a romantic stroll to watch the sun rise. Ha. Under the cover of early morning dusk, we sneaked through the park and found our way to the chain-link fence that bounded the old brewery. “We’re lucky,” Dan whispered to me. “Someone’s already cut a hole for us to climb through.” Sure enough, there was a gap in the fence that I could easily fit through. With Dan watching for police or other early risers out for a walk, I slipped through the gap and dashed to a spot of relative safety behind a pile of broken machinery. Moments later, he caught up with me and together we began our search of the building, hoping to find a door that had been jimmied open. Before too long, we’d picked up a crowbar, but then discovered it wouldn’t be necessary. One door, about three feet from the ground, was hanging slightly open. Dan pushed it open further, switched on his flashlight, and took a look inside. Then he signaled to me to climb in after him. After I had, I turned on my flashlight as well and glanced around nervously. The place was musty, dusty, and smelled funny—plus I was getting a bad vibe. I put it down to nervousness and ventured farther in, noting the graffitied walls, garbage strewn everywhere, and varied fire extinguishers in the oddest of places. I snapped a flash photo of the room, temporarily blinding Dan, who had found a vertical shaft leading to a cellar of some sort. When his vision cleared, we climbed down the ladder into a low-ceilinged room with a soft dirt floor. Shining our flashlight beams into the far corners, we realized that there was nothing of interest in this cellar, and no way to get into the other chambers. After clambering back out of that space, Dan spotted a staircase leading to what looked like the skyway into the next building. He snapped a few pictures of the walls and broken machinery, and then we ventured up the stairs, through the skyway, and into the stockhouses. Here we strolled through the building, taking in the experience as a whole. (Dan stole a “Caution: Caustic” sign and put it in my backpack for safekeeping.) Before too long, we found a way down to the ground floor again, where we found the entrance to the cave systems. I froze. My flashlight threw its beam down the stair to the cave system, and I could hear footsteps. Intermittent footsteps, but footsteps nonetheless. Dan sighed and nudged me downwards. “It’s just the water dripping, Katie. Relax.” At the very least, I unfroze and gingerly tiptoed down into the tunnels, Dan following just behind. My feeling of foreboding became stronger with each step—until I saw the architecture. My jaw dropped. It was half natural, half brick, with dirt floors and all sorts of piping throughout the place. To say the least, I was amazed. I flipped my long braid back over my shoulder and moved forward, ignoring the nagging sensation that something in these caves wasn’t quite right. We moved through passages with still water, passages with moving water, and rooms with slippery mud. At one point, I nearly fell into a large puddle; fortunately, Dan caught my hand and steadied me. We reached a dead end, which was somewhat puzzling. These caves stretched under the entire brewery, and I knew we couldn’t have traveled that far yet. I swept the beam of my light around the smallish room we stood in, and Dan gasped. Just below my waist level was a crawl tunnel. Dan crouched and looked through, then got up and shook his head. “Even if I thought I could get through there, it’s not worth trying. It says that that’s a dead end too.” I was slightly confused by this, and thus looked through the tunnel myself. I didn’t see anything, I was hit by a wave of such intense, out-of-body rage that I paled visibly and backed off, then noticed something odd—the crawl tunnel now seemed blocked off as well. I turned to Dan, about to tell him to leave quickly, but as he was already on his way out I didn’t think it necessary. Before long, we were back in one of the first chambers, also one of the smallest. I stood in the middle and could almost reach out and touch each of the walls. Dan was a few feet to my right, with one hand on the wall, when suddenly he asked me, “Do you feel it too?” I nodded. “I want to channel this spirit, “ he continued. “Turn out your light.” I did so, and he switched his off as well. For a while, my eyes just adjusted to the dark. Then, I could feel the angry presence growing stronger, and I glanced to my left (needlessly, I told myself, there’s nothing there to see). That’s when I saw it. Ten feet to my left was a human-shaped blue haze. Had it had facial features, it would have been staring straight at me. For a moment, it was perfectly still, then I saw it shake its head and raise what looked like a fist. I held its gaze, desperately trying to communicate to this astral being that we weren’t there to harm it, we were only interested in photographing the place. Unfortunately, the ghost didn’t understand what I was trying to say. It began moving towards me, and it couldn’t wish me any good. I screamed, flipped on my light, and shone it directly at the spot where the ghost had been. There was only a solid wall, but as I flung myself at Dan, who automatically wrapped his arms around me, I heard a distinct voice say, “Get out.” I pulled frantically at Dan’s hands, dragging him along with me as I ran for the stairs out of this awful place. I didn’t stop running until I was once again aboveground, but then sank down onto the ground and began to weep; I was so unnerved by what I had seen. Dan knelt next to me, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder, and asked me what I had sensed. I sobbed out my story, breaking down when I told him that it had begun to move towards me. He nodded grimly. “Dan, I know you’re thinking that you want to go back. I can’t do it. I can’t.” He slipped an arm around me and gave me a quick hug. “Not today, at least. But you have to wonder…how did it get there, and why does it want to stay hidden so badly?” ----- Later that evening, I sat on my bed with a notebook and pencil, trying to remember exactly what had happened in the tunnels. After about four hours, I gave it up as a lost cause. Maybe it’d be clearer in the morning. So I changed into pajama pants and a tank top, then, as I was about to turn out my light, heard the little “blip blip” that meant I had a new text message. Sure enough, it was from Dan. Brewery, Wednesday, 5AM. Be ready. I groaned. I didn’t expect the next one to come so soon. I sent a quick reply confirming that I’d be there, and flipped off my light. My thoughts just before sleep were something of a jumble—the eerie appearance of the ghost itself, the rage I’d felt in the last chamber, how it had felt to be in Dan’s arms—I quickly crushed that last one. This ghost was way more important than a summer fling. Finally, I fell asleep, only to wake at the most innocuous sounds. When I actually fell sound asleep near three o’clock, my usually pleasant dreams were interrupted by something very familiar. I stood at the top of the stairs to the cellars, watching Dan at the bottom. He turned left and into the small chamber we’d visited earlier that day. I somehow floated down to him, watching as he photographed every nook and cranny and corner of that space. Before long his flashlight failed him, and went out entirely. The room was plunged into darkness, the echoing drip in the distance as unnerving as ever. Dan swore quietly, and I called out to him. “Run!” I shouted, but he didn’t seem to hear me. However, the blue haze that I had seen that day HAD heard me, and once more began to drift my way. No—not my way. The ghost was drifting towards Dan, who was still swearing under his breath, and as far as I could tell, fiddling with his flashlight. I took in a deep breath as the ghost reached out a hand towards Dan, obviously intending to choke him. Hurling myself forward, I passed right through Dan (who shivered) and stood before the specter threatening my friend. “What are you doing here?” it demanded of me. “You are not welcome, nor is your friend. Leave this place. Do not come back, or next time I shall kill.” “You will not kill us,” I retorted. “We’re here to photograph, not to destroy. We want to preserve this place as much as you. You will leave us alone.” The ghost raised its hand again, this time reaching out to choke me. I gasped in a last breath before its fingers closed around my throat. Nothing could save me from this. I awoke, gasping. I sprang from my bed and dashed to my mirror. There were red finger marks all over my neck and throat. If a dream could do that, what would going into the brewery again do? Don’t worry, I told myself, you’ll find out soon. Meanwhile, it was six AM and I doubted I’d get back to sleep. Time for breakfast. ----- Five AM Wednesday morning came far too soon for my liking. I'd had a bad night closing up at work, then came home only to have more disturbing dreams about the ghost. So when my alarm clock went off at 4:20, I rolled out of bed somewhat reluctantly. I stifled a few yawns and started on my pre-expedition routine--shower, dress in jeans and dark shirt, braid hair, lace up running shoes, eat something, assemble survival kit. Most of that had been completed successfully when my cell phone beeped at me from the table. Once again, it was a text from Dan, letting me know that it wasn't exactly warm out, and that I should bring a sweatshirt. I had finished filling my Nalgene and had just zipped my backpack shut when Dan's black Sable pulled into my driveway. Grabbing my stuff, I quickly ran out to meet him. He'd popped the trunk, so I threw my backpack in with his tripod and camera equipment, then jumped in the passenger seat and supplied the harmony to the chorus of the song issuing from the radio. Dan threw me a glance as he backed out, and then sped off down the street. "Kate, are you sure you want to go back?" I nodded. "We didn't even see half the place last time." We drove in silence for the rest of the way. But when he'd parked, he looked over at me again. "You're really brave, you know. You're the only person who’s ever gone in this place with me, and now you’re intent on going back, despite the fact that you saw a ghost last time you ventured in.” I shrugged. “Curiosity beats cowardice, every time. And don’t think I’m not scared, because I am.” Dan gestured to the nearby municipal park. “If that’s the case, let’s go.” We got in through the same gap in the fence and then through a door someone had propped open. I was expecting Dan to head straight for the cave system again, after all, it was the only way to be sure of getting from one building in the complex to another. Therefore, I was mildly surprised when he poked me and pointed toward a stairwell that was definitely not built to code. Fortunately we’d encountered rickety staircases before, and as such knew to hold the railing at all time and stay on the inner edge of the steps. After reaching the top, we popped out of the stairwell into a mostly empty room. I registered a few empty vats and the obligatory random fire extinguisher, and then noticed the roof access ladder built into the far wall. I could only assume that that’s where we were heading, seeing as there wasn’t much else in the room worth investigating. I was right. Dan headed straight for it, and I followed, privately wondering what the heck was so special about the roof. Once we were up there, though, I could understand why we had spent the energy to get there. From this particular rooftop, I could see the rest of the entire complex, not to mention a spectacular view of the St. Paul skyline in the distance. I put my backpack down and sat with my back against a handy vent, looking out over the city. Dan joined me and produced some muffins from his bag, then offered one to me. “Thanks,” I said quietly. “I love lemon poppyseed.” Dan grinned. “I was pretty sure you’d like this. I found it on Monday morning—“ “Wait,” I interrupted. “You were here on Monday morning? What time? Did you explore the tunnels at all?” He looked slightly surprised. “Yeah, I was here Monday, maybe around four or five in the morning, but I wouldn’t say I really explored the tunnels…I got in and looked around for a few minutes, but my flashlight died, so I had to get out.” He saw the expression on my face and stopped short. “Why?” “I…” I began, and faltered. “There was something odd going on there, too. That ghost was lurking, and then it came closer. But another presence of some sort uncloaked itself then, and distracted it. I got out then, because I didn’t have a light, you know?” Dan got up and pulled me to my feet as well. “Kate, you’re shaking. What’s wrong?” Yes, I was shaking. “Dan,” I whispered, “I think I was that other presence. I had this dream, early Monday morning…” He listened carefully and didn’t automatically dismiss it. “You’re sure of the time?” “Positive. I didn’t fall asleep until about three, and woke up a little after six.” I swallowed a bit of muffin and looked Dan directly in the eye. “That ghost was going to attack you. I stopped it, but I want you to promise me that you won’t go in those tunnels without me.” Dan stared at me, considering. “Then let’s go now.” I couldn’t argue. Not after what I’d just said. Damn. Five minutes later we were back in the tunnels, flashlights at the ready. I was still cursing at myself, I just wasn’t ready for this. Nevertheless, I led the way to the farthest chamber, where we’d met a dead end before. Dan stood next to the crawl tunnel, looked at me questioningly, and I switched off my light. A minute later, he followed suit. We stood in darkness, with me constantly checking over my shoulders to see if the ghost would show. Beside me, I heard Dan gasp. “What is it?” I asked, turning toward him. For the first time, Dan sounded scared. “Something cold…it felt like a hand…touched my ankle. Can you see anything?” My reply was cut off by my own scream. “No, not by your—AUGH!” Cold hands had closed around my neck, pressing on my throat. I tried to breathe, with little success, and I heard a voice I’d heard twice before. “I warned you the first time you came. I warned you in your sleep. You did not listen, now you will.” Dan turned his light back on and shone it full on my face. I was gasping for breath and trying not to cry from the effort it took just to get oxygen. I heard Dan mutter, “oh, shit,” before the ghost continued. “As a man, I worked in these cellars until the day of the cave-in. I was trapped in a cooling chamber, and no one could hear me calling for help, except the one who did not listen. You’re not here to free me, either! You’re here to torment me in my captivity! Well, you can die here too!” And if I thought I’d been surprised enough that day, I obviously hadn’t. Dan took a flash picture of me (and incidentally, the ghost too). The bright flash was enough to surprise me and stun the ghost, who let go of me. Dan quickly picked me up and made a run for the exit, both of us completely terrified. “That,” I gasped, “is why no one should ever go alone.” I didn’t get to say anything else, because that’s when I passed out.