Rift 2: κρέας πυρετός

A man named Boris sighed, an expression of annoyance visible. He tapped his keyboard keys with hurried movements. A few minutes later, he hears the ding-dong of an email and stares at his screen, the light reflecting off his brown eyes. He turns in his chair and stares out past the glass with a view of trees, plants, and a majestic dream.

Lyla walked, or more accurately, rushed past rooms filled with people and devices, towards a door labelled head researcher and walked inside the office with a curious expression. The man named Boris threw an object towards her and gestured towards the door, so she then left just as quickly as she had come with a brown document in hand, which she opened and stared at the black letters upon the white sheet.

"Hmm."

She was intrigued but knew that this mission was dangerous, so she grabbed herself a weapon, and to be more specific, a Glock 17. She left in a 1969 black Aston Martin DB6.

. 

She was heading to West Melbury, which is located in the county of Dorset, South West England, two miles south of the town of Shaftesbury, 20 miles north-west of the major town of Poole, 55 miles south-east of Cardiff, and 96 miles south-west of London. West Melbury lies roughly one mile southwest of the Wiltshire border. West Melbury falls within the unitary authority of Dorset. It is in the SP7 postcode district. The post town for West Melbury is Shaftesbury.

Once Lyla had arrived in the village of West Melbury, she would park her car in a place that would not be too conspicuous, though this village was small with a population of 300 or perhaps a little bigger, so the possibility that a crime would occur in such a peaceful place felt like it would be low.

Lyla left her car and began walking. This place mostly had detached houses occupied by usually one or two people, and any higher number than that was a rare sight. She walked past the homes and other historical buildings this area was known for. As she walked, she noticed some people walking with dead fish eyes and oily skin; others worked on their gardens with obsessive focus, though their plants seemed red in overall colour with a tangy, putrid odour that she could smell from a distance; and additionally, she walked past large slimey-like structures with odd shapes.

She walked through the village and slowly made her way out to the endless green fields. Grass and emptiness were the only things around. Soon she began to create more and more distance from the village, and this lasted a good while before she finally arrived. She saw what looked like a two-story, rather large, wooden structure standing in front of herself. She walked across the wooden base towards a red door and clicked a small white button beside the door.

Soon she heard a click sound, and the door slid open with a squelch, and half of a wrinkly white face pops out through the tiny space left by the door being moved.

"Hello? Can I help you?"

The voice of dry vocal cords emits, and Lyla gives a small smile with a cheery attitude and energy.

"Hi. Sorry for taking so long. I heard you needed some maintenance done at your home."

The door then opened entirely, and an old man with oily pale skin and dead fish eyes, dressed in a blue cardigan with brown trousers and shoes, and a hunched back, revealed himself.

"Ah. Yes. Please come in."

Lyla followed the man as he walked inside and guided her. In front of the door, which was now closed, was a staircase, and she turned right just as the man was entering a room with mixed red and yellow walls, numerous paintings, a couch, a table, and a TV, with a few other doors pressed against the walls. After a few moments of glancing around, Lyla would speak.

"So sir. What did you need help with?"

The man turned to Lyla and seemed to scan her, though he had a rather innocent smile on his face.

"My....tv seems to not work. I have no idea why it won't turn on. I've tried all I can to turn it on, but I cannot seem to get it to work."

He said this as his smile faded and tears swam down his cheeks. Lyla watched and felt generally disheartened by this sight; however, she could not rid herself of this strange feeling that she was being watched.

"I'll go get some biscuits whilst you work."

Just like that, the old man scuttled off through one of the doors and disappeared from the room.

Lyla took this moment of opportunity to have a closer look around the room. The walls felt spongy, like jam.

"Odd. Why does it feel so strange?"

The portraits around the room seem to showcase people in unusual positions, such as standing or sitting on furniture, and the same portraits seem to be of different kinds of bones. The couch was red in colour, and Lyla swore that she could feel a pounding whenever she touched it. The table was white in colour with four legs, and the TV, which was apparently broken, turned on immediately once Lyla found the power button.

"Huh. That was easy? Maybe he just got confused?"

A little more snooping led Lyla to one of the corners of the room, where there was a chair that she somehow missed when she entered the room. The chair was wooden and did not exactly stand out; however, feeling the chair was not meant to be here, Lyla moved it, revealing a hole that looked quite big, and from said hole, Lyla could hear something. laughter? Anguish? Soon she heard footsteps coming from the door the old man went through and placed the chair back over the hole, though she did not realise it was slightly out of place since she was in a rush.

The old man came out of what could be guessed to be the kitchen, as he had a tray in hand with a cup on it and a few different biscuits.

"Sorry for the long wait." The old man stated

Lyla decided, however, that it was time to go.

"Sorry. I'm quite busy, so I'll have to have it another time, but I've fixed your TV."

Lyla then turned; however, she glanced at the tea and biscuits, both looking oily and red. She quickly made her way towards the door and left, ignoring the man's words.

 How much do I pay?"

Lyla rushed, almost running at this point. Something was wrong with both that house and the village itself. Soon she caned across the village again and retraced her steps. There were now a lot more people, but they were all staring at her on the sidelines as if not curious but with ominous intent. Lyla also noticed how the floor, grass, trees, buildings, etc. seemed to be oily now. Everything seemed to wiggle ever so slightly.

She got to her car, got in, and quickly slammed the accelerator pedal, though in the rear view mirror all she could see behind her were waves of red. She quickly headed back to headquarters, though it did take a while, and informed her boss Boris of her findings. A day later, teams had been sent to the village and across the fields towards the house of the old man. The results of the large operation were, well, lacklustre.

It was gone. The entire village was gone. The old man's home was gone. Every individual was gone. All that was left were puddles of water and a protein found in muscle tissue called myoglobin. There were apparently signs of a rift that was previously here; however, said rift was unable to be found now.

No one really understands what has happened here. Lyla's mission was to investigate the numerous deaths that had happened in this village, which were supposedly somehow linked to the old man she had met and his home; however, not much was left to investigate. The whole situation was documented and called the " κρέας πυρετός "