The truck stops, and I feel my heart skip a beat. It is that time once again. We must continue on our ventures and repay for our sins (more like their sins). Something felt off this time around. With our encounter with Melissa, we had all the details. Who she was, why she died, and what we could expect.

However, they gave us nothing. No name, no reason for their death, not even a gender. We were going into this completely dark. Somehow I felt a bit more at ease not knowing. With Melissa, there was an attachment, now, there is nothing. 

I step out into the pouring rain with my betrayers, armed with all the equipment we can carry, and hurry inside. As the door creaks closed, it almost becomes dead silent aside from the patter of rain. All my hairs prick up. It is real. We are here once more.

I set off on my mission, I would rather die alone than depend on the help of others. I enter a dusty, lifeless room, and the shivers start again. There are dozens of photos atop the table, presumably of the victim and those he knew. The only common feature in them was a bright young man who seemed to have his entire future planned out. A sinking feeling hit my stomach. What could have happened to him? His smile reminded me of Jack’s, and I broke down in tears.

Moments after, I gathered myself and found a letter addressed to someone called Jeremy. “Dearest Jeremy, I write to you now in the hope that this letter finds you well. I have made a discovery in the research of a flu vaccine. The first breakthrough in years. I will be heading to the labs tomorrow to test my theory, hopefully, I will return with better news. Signed your father, Harry”. The letter confirmed the date, this man lived many years ago, and it proved the bright future theory. But one thing left, what happened to him? 

Before I could look further, a scream echoed from down the hall. I could not tell who it was, but I bolted outside the room to check what happened. There was no one inside the house. I rushed to the windows, and the truck was gone, there was no sight of my former friends nor our current employers. 

Everything fell silent. If they were nowhere to be found, then what was that scream I heard? I ventured closer to where I thought the sound originated. I opened the door at the end of the corridor, and I was met with the most gruesome sight. The dead body of what looks like Harry. But how is that possible, he should have been dead for many years now, there is no way his body could have stayed intact.

I edge ever closer, and it feels like his face changes. That looks like Jack not Harry? No, it can’t be, his body is at the morgue. Is this a trick they are playing? Right before I can touch the body, I feel an icy hand fall upon my neck. I swivel around to see the ghost of Jack staring back at me as his mouth opens wide. “It’s all your fault, you should have done better”.

I bolt upright to find myself lying in the bed assigned to me in our cell. It was all just a dream. Thankfully that is all it was. I can feel the sweat dripping from pores I did not even know existed. If that was a dream, then why did it feel so real? And who are Harry and Jeremy? I’ve never even heard of them before. Are they playing tricks on my mind as well? Surely not, this is real life, this is not the movies, that technology doesn’t exist. 

The nightmare and its potential meaning continue to play on my mind for the rest of the sleepless night until I hear a knock at the door with a “wake up” from a familiar voice. It is time to go again.