The police were sent to investigate the mines after hearing no response from the miners.
"..Hello?" the flashlight on his head flickered.
"Hey, there's no one respondin-"
Thud!
"Who's there?!" He cautiously held up his gun after seeing the dead body of his colleague on the ground.
His flashlight flickered again. A scream came out of the man's mouth and resounded in the mines as something jumped out of the darkness and pounced at him, increasing in number and aggressively ripping out his flesh.
Then the sound of a glass breaking. It was completely dark now.
—
"Mr. Floyd, the police aren't back yet, and the connection was cut off."
"Then send the soldiers!" The man sighed. "I already have so much to do.." he loosened up his tie. This man had quite an ornate suit.
"Just make sure the public doesn't know." He said. 'He must be afraid that the media would come after them..'
"..Yes, Mr. Floyd. I will send soldiers right away."
"Good. You may go."
*
After a day has passed, the families of these miners have started to worry.
It was in the middle of the night and there was one particular average two-story house that had some rather extraordinary people. On the second floor, in a room, there was a woman with the name of Ria Amaia.
She had dark black hair, with the ends in blue, and brown eyes. She was sitting on her bed, putting on black rubber shoes when a little blue-haired girl of about 12 years old came into the room.
"Mom, why isn't dad back yet?" The child said.
"Mika, he probably has a lot of work. He'll come back soon, don't worry." She said this, though the woman's expression looked completely worried.
"Just go back to your room and sleep, alright? You can't sleep late all the time."
"Okay.." the little girl said. But she halted and turned around, "About you and dad.."
"Yes?" The woman answered while putting on a lab coat.
"Nevermind.." she said and turned back to her room. She lay down on her bed, thinking. Maybe something happened to dad.. she thought. No, mom is probably right..
She looked at her phone. It was 2 am, and her dad still wasn't here. She was tossing and turning until she heard the door open, getting her hopes up.
"You should sleep now." Her mom came in, and sat on the edge of the bed. She gave a kiss on her forehead before she left. "Goodnight."
"Okay, mom. Goodnight."
Then her mom went out and closed the door.
She stared at the ceiling. Dad will be home tomorrow, for sure. She kept thinking, but she still couldn't shake off the feeling that was bothering her.
"He even told me he had a story for me today.." she mumbled to herself. She was eager to hear another one of her father's adventurous stories, even if she knew they weren't real.
Mika was embarrassed because she felt she was too old for her dad's stories now, but they felt really real and exciting.
Then her eyes lead to the window.
Suddenly, she had an idea.
—
She dusted off her clothes and held the strap of her bag. She never imagined she would escape from home like this.
"I'm just gonna check on dad, that's all.."
The child had decided that she would see for herself what exactly is happening in the mines.
"I think I'm supposed to go this way.."
The place where her dad worked wasn't far from home, even though mine sites are usually in remote areas. Her father works in a coal mine.
Mika sometimes went with her dad on his way to work.
Maybe I should've just gone with mom.. but i'm already here anyway. She stopped for a moment to look at the entrance, then put on her mask and walked through the tunnel leading to the inside. It was darker than usual, making it hard to see.
She turned on her flashlight and looked around. "It doesn't look like anyone's here." She started walking around and searching for people.
"Why is it so quiet?" It was unusually quiet, unlike her last visits, since everyone would be mining and working.
Since she and her dad often went here, she was familiar with the ways and directions.
She started walking towards the control room, where the CCTVs should be. No one was at the control room, but at least it was on.
She skimmed through the screen. It was dark, but thankfully to the light the CCTV gives, she saw a small group of people on a dead end. Her face lit up, and she was about to run to go there, however, she wasn't sure if she knew the way.
Yes, she was familiar with the ways in these mines, but everything just looks so similar that she doesn't know which dead end that was!
She decided to take a guess, and started to walk. After a few minutes of walking that felt like a very long time to Mika, she reached a dead end, with no people. So she walked again to another one, then again to another one. "Enough," she panted, "I'm too tired.." She whined.
How should I get there.. but do I need to go there? I really don't want to keep doing this.. Maybe if I make noises, they'll notice me? She thought. So she started shouting.
"Can anyone hear me?!!" She shouted. "It's me, Mika!!" Her screams echoed through the place.
That should be enough..
"Dad!!" She shouted another time, just to make sure. I'll just sit here for now.
She started to feel embarrassed of what she just did after some moments in silence. She stood up and walked, hoping to run into them.
While she walked, she saw what seems like a person from afar. Finally! She carefully ran, so as not to trip and caught up.
"Hey," she said from behind the small group of people.
She walked closer. "Dad?" And closer.
Until they turned to her, and her expression crumbled.
Her dad was as pale as a ghost and his face was almost deteriorating. It wasn't just her dad, but everyone! Her knees weakened, but she knew she had to flee when they all started to run after her.
Ahh!! she screamed in her head as her heart started beating rapidly.
Unexpectedly, after some running, they all froze the moment she went into a spot with light. "Dad, what happened here? Why are you like.. uhm, that?" She attempted to communicate.
But then all of a sudden, one of the miners threw a rock at the light source above, and the light went out. They started moving again, and the little girl continued to run.
Mika knew she couldn't keep up this much running. She was slowing down.
They were arm's length close, and as they reached for her, she jumped on the spur of the moment, and landed on another lighted place. The miners stopped once again.
"Talk to me!" she said. But when she noticed another miner moving, she immediately ran before one of the miners threw a rock again.
She focused on trying to lose them, and hid in the meantime to rest. She went to a corner and made sure there weren't any miners following her anymore.
"Phew." Her heart still wasn't calming down. When she looked to the right, someone abruptly covered her mouth which led her to a muffled scream.
"Shh!! It's me!!" A boy whispered. She quieted down when she saw the face of the person.
It was her brother.