THE MYSTERY CITY

CHAPTER 5

“ To know the boundaries of the city - the city is much larger than I thought. Because of the fog, the outlying areas seem to not exist, but apart from the center and the abandoned Brantford, there are at least two more areas. Thus, plus or minus the population of this city can exceed 10-20 thousand. Typical for the province, but I expected that there would be a lot less people.

Find a way out of the city - I don't know if it's possible. I managed to catch only visiting people who literally entered the city hours ago. However, despite the fact that they were still aware of themselves and remembered their past, they could not tell how exactly they entered the city and which road they were moving along, since they had forgotten.

To know the exact date, apparently, is impossible. There are no newspapers after 1996, and every week is an exact copy of the previous one. How long the city has already existed, do not know. I was looking for some photographs of residents to determine how much time has passed by the change in appearance, but there are no photographs with the faces of the townspeople. I searched the library for books older than 1996, but it's empty.

Find people who still remember something - in remote areas, at first glance, with the memory of people as well as ours. It was not possible to accurately determine, I had to return before sunset. In our area, only a girl who works in a tea shop inspires hope. I'll try to talk to her tomorrow.

Visit the archive - I moved everything more or less valuable from the archive to the attic. Tomorrow I'll see if there is anything useful in these papers ... ".

“And then I tried to talk to her and forgot everything,” Alex sighed heavily, examining another letter, but not written by him, the content of which was more like a half-mad cry for help.

“ I have read legends about worlds that can be reached by passing through a fog, a mysterious crevice, or entering a cave. One example is the story of the long journey of Maile-Duin from Ireland, who brought a curse on himself and his team, and they had to wander around different magical islands. The Celts have many such legends.

Someone returned in his right mind and solid memory, someone lost his mind. I am writing this and I think that my mind will also leave me soon, because in reality such worlds cannot exist, but could it be that the city itself is such a world? Or a piece of it. Yes, it is easy to explain everything that is happening around us with magic and horrors, but I see no other answer.

Purely theoretically, suppose that in ancient times such cities were real. Physically connected to the real world by a road, a path, a cave entrance, or something else. These cities have their own laws of nature, life, everything. Except time. Other creatures live in these cities. Not people. But people can also cross the border of the city and live in it. In some legends, people almost immediately forgot everything they saw in other worlds, which can also apply to this city. Game with people's memory. Here we are strangers, any influence can be exerted on us.

All these fairy tales and legends about divided worlds have always seemed to me just fiction. Now I don't know what to believe. Especially as soon as night falls. Such creatures walk in the fog that it is incredibly difficult to believe in reality, as well as in one's own sanity .

The time was nearing evening. The library was about to close. Realizing that he would definitely spend the night in Brantford, hiding from the monsters, Alex hastily began to draw up a plan of action.

First of all, all letters, notes and notes were hidden so that Hope would not find them if she wanted to visit the library again. However, it was up to Alex himself to find them as quickly as possible in the event of the return of Thomas and his false memories. Before the library closed, he decided to write himself another letter. The pen trembled in his hands as he quickly scribbled words on a piece of paper, hoping not to forget what he had written:

“ My name is Alex.

I'm not from Nightingale City. I am not a librarian. I have three friends: Charlie, Zoey and Lis. They must be found. Perhaps we are all here in this city.

I don’t know exactly under what circumstances, but I voluntarily came to this city, and later forgot who I was. For a long time I lived under the name Thomas, thinking that I was a librarian. I thought that I lived in this city all my life, but this is a lie. I suspect that all the inhabitants of the city are newcomers who have forgotten their past just like me. Our memory can change every night. It could be the mist of the city, or the tea from the Tea Witch's shop. Under no circumstances should you drink it. You can't trust the Tea Witch.

Monsters live in the fog. They come out every night and walk around the city. Most of them are in the Brantford area. I have hidden letters, correspondence, and newspaper clippings in the library that might help you get to the bottom of this city, or even get out of it.

The exact size of the city and where its borders are unknown. Conventionally, I live in the center, but there are other areas where people live. Until 1996, this city was normal, according to newspaper articles. Since then, plus or minus 25 years or more have passed, since I don’t know exactly how long I have been living in this city. After the autumn of 1996, everything changed in the city, and it became like this:

no memories

no real names

no developments

no children

no animals

no seasons

no holidays.

It remains a mystery why I even came to this city. Alas, I did not remember all the fragments of my past. The entrance to the city definitely exists, but no one can remember where ... ".

The message to himself dragged on, threatening to turn into a fantasy novel about himself, and Alex stopped. There was plenty of information, if we take into account other messages hidden throughout the library, it remains only to mention them at the end of the letter, which he did. After some deliberation, I decided to put the letter in a spare pair of shoes, which was in the closet. Every morning he will look into the closet, dressing for work, and will not be able to help but notice a suspicious piece of paper.

Next came the turn of clothes. Sleeping in pajamas is comfortable, but hiding from the monsters, sitting motionless in the ruins of the house, is better in something warmer and more outdoor. Before a possible run, the body needed a good recharge from a hearty dinner.

“Ideally, you need to find or draw up at least a rough plan of that area in order to know where to run away,” he thought during dinner.

The last part of the plan was to meet Miss Hope. Not looking at night. There were too many people in the shop on Tuesdays. The meeting will take place on Wednesday morning. On Wednesdays, no one goes to the Tea Shop, you can safely lead the younger witch to a direct conversation, and if you're lucky, she will run away for a walk, as she sometimes likes to do, and then it will be even easier with a conversation. Will not turn away from direct answers.

Feeling like a complete fool, Alex carefully laced up his boots, going to sleep on the couch. I didn’t want to soil the bed with not too clean soles. Street clothes, street shoes - Alex is ready to go to bed.

The miracle did not happen, but the guy did not count on it - the awakening in Brantford happened as scheduled - and immediately after the suffocating nightmare. Now the terrible dream became a little more understandable, an unknown something called him “Alex”, approaching closer, and he himself felt that he should remember this “something”. Remember and tremble with horror. However, the fog and the familiar pavement-scraping sound were top priorities.

Pressing his ear to the ground, under heavy heartbeats, Alex tried to determine which side the monsters were moving from, and quietly crawled on all fours in the opposite direction until the fog opened up another saving house in front of him. Fear urged you to get on your feet and run, but panic is a bad friend in survival hide and seek. Old houses creak too loudly, you need to move slowly and calmly.

"Yes, I'm just a darling of fate!" he thought as he crawled under the bed. From all directions he could hear them gathering, perhaps the true inhabitants of Nightmare City.

A roar, a roar, a creak, a creak… movement in his direction. Or not. Holes in the walls of the house created an unpleasant acoustic effect - all sounds seemed incredibly close. Heavy breathing around him. This time, the city did not give him a chance to calmly dream about the past. The night dragged on painfully long. Every jerk or run of monsters shuddering Alex perceived only as his discovery.

"They're coming for me!" pounded in his temples.

In the distance, he heard a scream and goosebumps running down his skin became completely unbearable. The man screamed. Perhaps the same poor fellow who remembered himself. Only he was not lucky enough to find shelter. Under his screams, the guy cringed more and more, feeling hot tears roll from his eyes. Shame and helplessness. He stays where he is and can't do anything. He will not come to the aid of this man. He does not even know which way to rush with this "help". And can he help? They're all food in the feeder here. All they can do is hide and pray to all the gods for their own survival, listening helplessly to someone being eaten. The screams became more and more desperate, forcing him to curl up under the bed in a ball to stifle the nascent scream of his own despair. Then, suddenly, everything went silent. The silence made it worse.

Today he survives alone, he must be silent and remain undetected.

Welcome to Nightmare City, enjoy your stay!

He greeted the dawn with a mixture of bitterness and hope. The darkness tormented his mind, torturing him with confusion, shame and panic. The night ended, graciously giving him a day of respite. Morally crushed, he barely made himself run to the city center. On the evening before, for some reason he was sure that his best defense was realizing himself. It seemed that the truth itself is both a weapon and a shield, but reality has made its own adjustments. He is scared and helpless like a small child. He hid under the bed, and monsters roamed around. And no one could help him or the one screaming in the night.