UCSD Gothic: Down the Slope

You sprint down the slope, trying to escape the darkness. At the bottom of the hill, your foot slips on the slick leaves and you tumble onto the pavement. You look back up from where you came. The hundred glowing eyes stare down at you but don’t follow, suddenly blinking out of existence. Are they gone?

While the eyes may be gone, the fog has followed. You feel its gentle touch on your skin. There is nothing outside the fog. Where are you? You walk forward, whichever direction that may be. The fog grasps your feet, like a thousand tiny hands reaching from the earth, pulling you down. You pull your foot away and forward and suddenly the force is released. You nearly fall as your foot swings in front of you and you swear that you hear a faint scream of anguish. You continue on in this manner until your legs are sore. You need rest.

Suddenly, you see something out beyond the fog: a bright red light in the sky. Then it disappears. And then appears. Could that be the big pole that towers over Revelle? Maybe the fog wouldn’t follow you to Revelle. But it’s so far away. But it’s the only sense of direction you have. The fog clings to your body, barely allowing you room for breath.

You struggle towards the pole, the fog trying to drag you down every step. You will make it. You can do it.

Then, you notice something odd. The pole’s blinking pattern seems… off. Is that the pattern it usually flashed? Or maybe it’s a message. The pole blinks in Morse Code, usually repeating the same message over and over. But is it saying something different tonight? Something for you?

Long long short. Long long long. Pause. Short long short. Short short. Long long short. Short short short short. Long. Pause. Long short short. Long Long Long. Long short. Long. Pause.

Then it started over. It was saying the same thing over and over again. Maybe you can translate it? You pull your phone out to find that the Morse Code key is already on your phone, as if it knew that you would need it. So you translate.

You wait for the pattern to start again. G. O. GO. That’s the first word. Is it giving you directions? R. I. G. It must be telling you to GO RIGHT!

By the time the ‘H’ has flashed, you’re already running to the right, and unlike before, the fog doesn’t, or maybe cannot, stop you. You hear a wail from the fog all around.

And then, your foot lands on dirt and you instantly freeze. The fog clears from your view and the forest returns to your sight. Did you miss part of the message? Or was it meant to bring you back here? This can’t be right. You try to turn and run, but the fog, now that it has left your sight, has gathered thickly around your legs, like an ankle weight attached to a doomed prisoner.

As you stand there, unable to move or run, a thousand glowing eyes materialize in front of you.