《Beyond the Noise》


 Chapter 1

    During the quaint years of my adolescence, I often found myself spending most of my free time in a way that many would find peculiar. I would listen to music constantly, drowning out the world around me, while daydreaming different scenarios that could range from me being a magical sorceress to me living a life that was simply better than my current one. The music allowed me to sink into whatever story that I was dreaming no matter my surroundings. I lost hours of my life, that could''ve been used for a worthwhile cause, to my pathetic fantasies. My habits consisted well into my teenage years and unsurprisingly, I developed hearing loss from the constant audio consumption.


    Growing up in a major city where there was never a tranquil moment, I valued the few times when it truly did seem like the city went to sleep. However, my hearing loss made it so that any time it became too silent a shrill ringing would emerge from my right ear. I soon discovered that this was a condition known as tinnitus. Luckily, I did not face any worse damage to my hearing, as I could still hear all the sounds required to function normally, but I would never be able to experience true silence ever again.


    I turned to other methods of escaping reality that wouldn¡¯t cause harm to my ears such as reading, drawing, and writing. They worked and I was soon able to take some sort of control of my life only spending an hour or so a day on my hobbies. But I could never escape the longing of a better, more exciting life that I knew awaited me just beyond my fingertips. I soon got my wish.


    During my junior year of university, for the first time ever in history, there was recorded and proven documentation of a supernatural phenomenon. Two weeks before Thanksgiving, in the middle of Times Square, a section of the ocean appeared in the sky. About 15 feet above ground, 60 feet wide, and 1.7 inches deep, a gigantic block of ocean water still filled with aquatic life floated in the middle of the plaza. The area was closed off from the public until the block of water eventually plummeted onto the ground merely three days later. The fish and seaweed that were still in the water were taken to labs to be studied but there were no unusual findings.


    After this occurrence, a multitude of supernatural experiences emerged everywhere around the world. By the time I graduated university, these magical events became mild nuisances in the daily life of a person.


    ¡°Ugh, my flight was delayed because another flock of birds stopped mid air.¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t ride the train to work because a cactus appeared in the middle of the tracks!¡±


    ¡°Oh, the Eiffel Tower is wiggling again?¡±


    Regardless of the public¡¯s indifference, the government and numerous universities began to hold expeditions and research trips to areas with high supernatural occurrences in an effort to discover the cause of these events. I, being a hopeless philomath, of course, applied to volunteer for these expeditions. Obviously, it was very competitive, with numerous college grads such as myself applying, hoping to put this on their resumes. But by a stroke of luck I was accepted to the first expedition I applied for which was being funded by multiple universities including the one I graduated from.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    The group consisted of five members each with varying backgrounds. Firstly, there were two recent college grads who served as research assistants: myself and another girl named Olivia, the babies of the group. We had a nurse, a very (very) large bearded man named Redmond, who, at first meeting, seemed to glare at me with a concerning amount of hostility, which I later discovered was how he looked at everyone. The other man of the group, Cain, seemed to be the complete opposite in terms of personality, always having a grin plastered across his clean shaven face and constantly oozing charisma out of his pores. I also recall him throwing a smug wink my way which I kindly returned with a scowl. He was one of the main researchers. Finally, Imelda, the other main researcher and the lead of the expedition. I estimated her age to be around late 30s or early 40s, judging by the slight graying of her hair. I also made note of her muscular arms and the amount of time she probably spent on her physical health despite her busy schedule as a researcher. As soon as we all arrived at the meeting site, she made a point to emphasize the efficiency of time to remind us not to spend too much time socializing.


    With the rest of the members, I boarded the charter bus that would take us to our research site, a small town in Oregon. Looking around the bus, I found myself being surprised that the universities would actually pay for decent travel accommodations. I recalled the summer before my senior year and my horrific experience with my first research trip. The university that funded the trip had provided us with cozy mold stricken cabins to stay in which eventually caused half of our group to go delirious from the toxins. With this memory in mind, I worried that the universities accidentally spent all of the budget of the trip on this one bus. Either way, I reveled in the space and picked a seat near the middle. I closed my eyes in relaxation preparing to take a long well deserved nap. But soon my peace was interrupted by an ominous presence.


    ¡°Fancy, right?¡± Cain said as he plopped down on the chair next to me resting his hands on his head. When I didn¡¯t respond immediately, he swiveled his head toward me with his signature grin, as if he was doing me a favor by sitting next to me.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± I nodded vigorously as I faked a smile. I wanted some way to imply that I wanted personal space but I found that being sassy with the higher-ups usually didn¡¯t end well. Seeming to be satisfied with my response, Cain turned his head right back around. Getting bored, he turned around again and looked over his seat, beginning to hassle the other research assistant, Olivia, who was sitting a few seats behind us. Olivia was the only person in the group who didn¡¯t stand out in any way, shape, or form.


    Everything about Olivia was bland. Her blonde hair looked as if someone had taken a vacuum and sucked all the life out of it, leaving only a dank gray color that would remind most of a rat¡¯s fur. So much so that I had unconsciously started calling her "rat hair" in my mind. Her skin lacked any sort of pigmentation at all, giving her a prominent anemic look. She was also meek, always speaking in whispers and avoiding eye contact, and it was obvious that she would not be able to stand up to Cain.


    ¡°Hey, we¡¯ll have enough time for talking once we get there. Quiet down now.¡± Imelda said, giving Cain a firm stare. Cain threw his head back and guffawed, giving Imelda a mock salute. I didn¡¯t know much about my team members other than their roles in the expedition but it was clear that Cain and Imelda had some sort of history with each other in the past. In the front of the bus, Redmond swiftly glanced back at us with an irritated look (or maybe his regular look), being so tall that his head loomed above the headrest of his seat. I sighed and rested my head against my own headrest, hoping that the bus ride would go swiftly.

 Chapter 2

    After we had arrived, we all immediately went to our provided cabins in town to rest. Before we went off to bed, Imelda instructed us to be prepared for fieldwork in the forest the next morning. To my surprise, the cabins were actually nice unlike my previous expedition experience. The next morning, not even ten minutes after stepping into the forest, I met my demise.


    ¡°Shit.¡± I lifted my boot up to see the unmistakable brown smear of defecation that I¡¯d seen enough times while walking in the city. I had always been able to evade any unexpected obstacles like gum, dirty underwear, and even used toilet paper but I never really got used to evading such obstacles in heavily wooded environments like this one.


    ¡°Damn¡­¡± Cain said, giving a sympathetic pout.


    Redmond turned to look at the disaster of my boots.


    ¡°Here,¡± he said, handing me two wet wipes, his voice so deep that it seemed to rumble through the ground around us. Everyone except for Imelda turned around to face him. It was the first time any of us had heard him speak. Even when we had all met in the beginning, Imelda was the one to introduce him.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I quickly responded, not wanting to make a big deal out of my accident. We had things to do.


    Seeming to have the same idea, Imelda presented a basic plan.


    ¡°Most of the supernatural occurrences in this town have been reported to be in this forest. We could split into two groups to cover more ground. But we also don¡¯t know what to expect. It could be wiser to stay together.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the worst that could happen? A bear starts flying at us?¡± Cain said, throwing his arm around my shoulder. ¡°I say we split up. It¡¯s obviously the more efficient plan. I¡¯ll go with this one and you can take Olivia and the nurse.¡±


    Olivia cleared her throat, ¡°I disagree. This is our first time in this environment. We only have one medic and it would be much smarter to scope out the area first before exploring on our own.¡±


    Cain sighed exasperatedly removing his arm from me, beginning to gesture rapidly, ¡°Okay, okay, you definitely made some good points there but¨C¡±


    A blaring boom interrupted Cain followed by forceful cracking sounds. Redmond quickly pulled Olivia and I under his body, attempting to shield us. I peeked at the sky through the gaps in his arms to see bright flashes of white light and electricity zipping across the sky. A thunderstorm was probably the least surprising thing that could happen in our world. But something else that caught my eye. Fractions of the sky looked to be almost shattered with vibrant, sunny patches scattered amongst the darkened sky. The bright flashes of light continued to streak across the atmosphere.


    A high pitched shriek distracted me from my observations. I turned to see Cain curled up on the ground in a fetal position. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder how Cain had gotten the main research position. Perhaps he was related to one of the program coordinators. Imelda crouched on the ground next to him looking up in the sky in awe. I followed her gaze and saw a new development. Maple trees, too many for me to count, spiraled rapidly in the air. Large pieces of branches and leaves rained down on us. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was an optical illusion but some of the trees started to look as if they would hurdle toward us. Redmond looked down at us with utter bewilderment. I was puzzled until I saw the source. During all the commotion, Olivia had taken out her camcorder and started to record the scene. If the situation wasn¡¯t so dire, I would¡¯ve praised her for her efforts.


    Luckily, as quickly as it started, it stopped. The trees crashed onto the ground around us and the sky began to clear up from dark to slightly indigo. The shatters remained and patches of blue sky made a magnificent blend of indigo and blue that reminded me of broken glass. We all stood and gazed in astonishment at the beauty.


    While the others continued to be mesmerized by the sight, I noticed something in the depths of the woods around us. Followed by a faint rustle, it looked to be a pair of almost imperceptible human eyes peering at me from the darkness. They looked unnatural. Too big. Too synthetic looking. Goosebumps crawled on my arms as unease took over me. But not even a second later it disappeared. I forced myself to take my attention off of what I just witnessed to view the sight with the rest of the group. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The familiar smell of eggs and sugar filled my senses. After our encounter with the thunder storm- tree tornado, we had gone to Becky¡¯s Local Diner to eat and talk because apparently near death experiences made people quite famished. I still couldn¡¯t fully take my mind off of the eyes in the woods. Hopefully a hot greasy meal would distract me.


    ¡°Geographical location and land elevation can make a state more susceptible to natural disasters. Maybe it¡¯s the same in this case.¡± Olivia said.


    ¡°Nuh uh. Portland¡¯s only two hours away, and it hasn¡¯t gotten a single occurrence close to this level in months.¡± Cain replied, mouth full of chocolate pancakes. The occurrence had damaged the area so much that emergency services from the next town over had to be called in. Luckily, we were the only ones in the area at the time and nobody had sustained any severe injuries. However, Cain and Redmond both had a few minor fractures and scratches due to the falling branches.


    Cain sighed, ¡°I mean what if Redmond died? Then I would¡¯ve died¨C


    ¡°No, not really.¡± Olivia interrupted.


    ¨Cand you all would¡¯ve lost your best member,¡± Cain shoveled in a forkful of pancakes, bacon, and egg. ¡°I am so glad they have a full time breakfast menu.¡±


    ¡°I absolutely cannot imagine eating a heaping amount of sugar before bed. How will you go to sleep?¡± Imelda cut into her omelet.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t all sugar. It has vegetables too.¡± he replied pointing at a hash brown. He chortled, the mushed up food in his mouth becoming visible. Once again, I wondered why he had been chosen for the expedition.


    ¡°Hey, you.¡± A voice said from behind my back. I turned around to see one of the old men that had been dining when we first entered.


    ¡°Are you those inspectors?¡± He asked, crossing his arms.


    Imelda started to answer, ¡°No. We¡¯re researchers from¨C¡±


    ¡°Well, tell your little research company that you don¡¯t need to kick us out of our homes¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    The old man grumbled as he pushed up his glasses, ¡°You inspectors have been hasslin¡¯ us non-stop about moving because of those occurrences.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t¨C¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if beavers start flying or it starts snowing in the middle of July,¡± The old man¡¯s voice started to rise, causing a scene. ¡°This has been our rightful home from the beginning and you can¡¯t make us leave!¡±


    ¡°Tell that to the Natives.¡± Olivia muttered.


    ¡°Excuse me¨C?!¡±


    Redmond stood up, not having uttered a single word during our entire time at the diner. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, we¡¯re trying to enjoy a peaceful meal,¡± he said, his voice firm but calm. Towering over the old man, he continued, ¡°Have a good night.¡± Looking up at Redmond, the old man cursed under his breath and walked away.


    ¡°Damn, beefcake. Wish I could scare people like that.¡± Cain said, voice filled with awe.


    ¡°So, this must¡¯ve been happening for a while. Maybe since the very first occurrence.¡± I asked, hoping for more information that could possibly give an explanation to the eyes I saw in the woods.


    ¡°If I was a geezer and lived in a place that had this many occurrences, I would just pack up and leave. Like, imagine being late to work because a gorilla appeared in your car. I can handle maybe three occurrences a week.¡± Cain said, scraping off the leftover scraps on his plate.


    ¡°You would just leave the only home you¡¯ve known for your whole life?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yup!¡± he said, hopping off his seat.


    As we stepped out of the diner, Cain and Imelda got into a heated debate about an unknown topic. Though, it was more like a one sided argument with Cain doing all the talking. I looked over at the rest of the group members. Over the past few days, I was proven wrong on more than one occasion. Redmond wasn¡¯t some seething hothead and Olivia definitely wasn''t timid or meek. This place also seemed like a charming small town but clearly had some big secrets.


    As we walked to the cabin, Olivia suddenly pointed up at the sky with a gasp. I gasped as well, my breath stopping in my throat.


    Above us, three whale sharks glided across the night sky, following a single file. Their skin glowed majestically as the moon shone on them, making the patterns on their skin sparkle like stars. As they drifted, time itself seemed to stop. The area around them wavered and other pedestrians began to take notice. The whales seemed to also affect the area around us. The atmosphere wavered almost like a sheet of paper. As the whales continued to float, I felt something that I hadn¡¯t experienced since I was a child. True silence.