“Goodbye Jeff! Goodbye Liu! We’ll miss you!” Jeff’s parents waved farewell as their two children waved back from the bus windows. Jeff and his brother were about to indulge in the brightest highlight of their school year, and perhaps even school life. It was the spring geography trip to Argentina! Despite Liu being a year above Jeff, special reforms to the school curriculum allowed two grades to go on the epic outing this time. Geography was the favourite subject of the brothers; Liu was an A-grader, as opposed to Jeff who was earning Cs. But the two were equally enthusiastic about this trip. Liu was more physically excited, chatting to himself about what he’d do while Jeff just sat on his seat and smiled softly. Alongside studying the nation’s history, economy and environment, they would be able to get up close to the wildlife, try out the exotic cuisine and send back photos to jealous friends and family.

They would spend the earliest few days of the visit in Buenos Aires, the capital city, and then tour down the coastline from there. Their teacher, Mr Reynolds, smiled to see them reading over their geography books, comparing their work to each other. “Ah, never seen two brothers get on that well…there are just some students who just never let you down…” he murmured happily as he leaned back and sipped his coffee. Then he saw three students sitting ahead of him who made him frown, and get up from relaxing. “…and those who do…” he groaned as he watched the students throw paper airplanes around. That trio were Randy, Troy and Keith. They were the apex bullies of Jeff’s whole grade, known for calling names, stealing money and the legendary setting off the fire alarm falsely, nearly getting them suspended.

Additionally they were the apex pranksters, with Keith holding what looked like the country record for the amount of practical jokes. Many of these resulted in someone visiting the nurse’s office, and he always was able to evade any detention by telling the teachers it was Troy, who accepted the blame. Their behaviour had actually dramatically improved over the last few months, as throwing paper airplanes was totally innocent compared to the other class atrocities they had committed. Mr Reynolds was a bully-buster and studier, suspecting it was solely for the chance to go on this excursion, as they wouldn’t have been allowed if conduct was broken.

Jeff had been their prime target in their days of terror. Randy, who was the leader of the gang, once skateboarded past Jeff making him drop all his books, and while he picked them up Troy and Keith would lurch up and grab whatever they could from behind and zoom off on their skateboards, leading to a chase that could last hours. Jeff was always useless at fighting back, so would just say “hmph…” and just let himself have what ever more they could throw at him. It was actually Liu who did the chasing, as he stood up for his brother and had trained in athletics. Liu always walked home with Jeff, as he had some difficulty with remembering directions, sometimes teaching him his jogging skills.

On the bus ride to the airport though, the brothers sat far from the decaying antisocial behaviour of the troublemakers. “I feel kinda…corny I ain’t as good at Geography as you…” Jeff sighed. “Counter depress yourself brother, you’re doing great,” Liu patted him on the back. “Oh…okay…” he smiled a little. The flight to Buenos Aires went by swiftly. Jeff slept while Liu used more of his seemingly endless energy devoted to reading up on their destination. Upon arriving, the class spent the next few days touring the city, snapping photos, visiting museums and filling out worksheets. “Eureka! Observe this Jeff!” Liu cheered as he wore a souvenir hat saying “Buenos Aires Rocks!” He snapped a photo of him wearing it to put in his project book which would be done when returning home.

The bullies, contrary to how they acted to get on this trip, showed little interest in their surroundings other than chuckling at other students for wearing zany souvenirs like Liu’s hat, with Keith just frowning and making strange comments like “that crazy hat could destroy them with its addictive nature..”. When visiting another museum, Jeff was probing around a stack of leaflets for anything of interest, and he found instead a little creased booklet in the “guide booklets” section titled “Historical and Urban legends of Argentina – for the thrill seekers!” It was dark on the cover except a lightning bolt and some gray thunderclouds. The title was written in snow-white bold. He flicked through the few pages, and instantly rushed over to Liu who was looking at a statue. “Hey Liu, you might wanna, uh, check this out…I think…” he said, brushing his black hair back. “Thanks Jeff,” Liu read what had grasped his brother’s attention.

Olympic Merchants

In 1995, the bustling American sports shop brand Olympic Merchants spread to South America, going as far as Argentina. Early Internet sources speak of one shop that opened in a remote place. The place was mistaken for a tourist hotspot due to poor planning. The shop was abandoned and the builders involved in its construction ceased to be heard from. Sceptics say this tale might have been to cover up a financial issue, as Olympic Merchants received a lot of money from donations to find the “missing people”, and nobody has found them to this day, especially given the place the shop was built on was never confirmed due to conflicting sources. Olympic Merchants shut down in 1997 due to true unsolvable money problems.

The Calomenio

The Calomenio is a mythical creature present in Argentinean folklore going back to the dawn of the nation’s existence. Descriptions vary, as on the fantasy side, it has a collection of supernatural powers which could change its appearance, and is best known for having a distinctive whistle to alert its presence. Only people who have claimed to have encountered the being know what its whistle sounds like, as the stories tell if you attempt to copy its hiss it will “come after you”, but most of the time it simply chooses somebody to follow and not harm, just mess with their mind. The only properly documented encounter took place in 1976. Sanis Malo, a resident of the Maribiun village in the countryside of Argentina claimed she was awoken in the dead of night by footsteps. Without looking, she heard a whistle, leaving her firmly believing the Calomenio was in her room that night. Sceptics tend to dismiss the Calomenio as a misidentification between legend and fact. What do you think?

Isla Prohibido

A small island located a few miles from Villa Gessel, this island is uninhabited and has been ever since. It is often shielded by fog, and the waves around it are vicious all year round. In the early 90s some buildings were constructed there for unknown purposes, but most likely by scientists working undercover, as nobody else has ever wished to go to that place, as they often feel uneasy, for there have been reports of headaches, strains or even nausea by those driving boats by it.

 “Hmm…just a mini trilogy? Liu scratched his head, and pondered why this booklet was so small, looking at all sides of it, then went to the stack to see more copies of it, but found none. “Why was it in there anyway?” Jeff wondered, taking a step back. “Considering the size and quantity of this booklet…” Liu continued to speak in the words school had taught him. “It wasn’t intended to be placed here…” “Oh my…” gasped Jeff. “Excuse me?” Liu got the attention of a museum guard. “Is this booklet intended to be in that stack?” he asked. “No, we got rid of that booklet ages ago, it was persuading people to visit Isla Prohibido, and it wasn’t detailed enough anyway,” he told. “Then…somebody must have found this one, perhaps hidden nearby after they got removed and put it back in the stack!” Liu theorized, smiling like he had solved a huge murder mystery.

“Well what’s this then nerdy…” grunted Randy, who had appeared from nowhere and snatched the booklet. “Olympic Merchants…they suck…Calomenio….the hell is that crap all about…hey a strange island…” “What are you doing?” Liu asked, his eyebrows going diagonal. “HA! Headaches and crap! I can handle those, can’t we dudes?” he called out to his two pals. “Yeah…! I think…” said Troy, looking up as if his mind has escaped him. “I get headaches from Mr Reynolds’s lectures…but I can suck them back in,” hissed Keith. “Liu…” he towered over the brighter and braver brother who had become dark in his shadow. “Jeff…” he creaked his head to Jeff, who had taken several more steps back. “We’re gonna be stopping in that town where d’creepy island is near and I have a great idea…not one that’s crap, crap, crap…” he snarled.

“Disclose it!” Liu defensively stood up straight. “We’re gonna rent a crack-I mean speedboat and go to that island!” Troy said. “Or to be more precise…” Randy beamed maliciously and seemed to speak like his more intelligent rival. “We steal one…!” “Do you have type C insanity? We’re only children! And there is a strong possibly Mr Reynolds could get sued if something this undesirable occurs! It’s common sense!” Liu protested. But before he could grab hold of the teacher’s attention (Jeff just stood there hopelessly), Randy pulled his hand out from his pocket. “Don’t…” he whispered. He had a knife, gleaming and curved. “Yes…don’t…” chuckled Troy. “…I think…”

“Even if that place is as dark as my pranks…I’m still going…” Keith hissed again even sharper. Jeff and Liu both knew how unpredictable these bullies were, they could never really tell if they were just joking or seriously into crime. Randy had a knife though, so was flying into the crime side. “What are your motives to travel there?” asked Liu, staring into his cruel eyes. “Back home my secret squad is holding a little contest to see who can visit the creepiest place, we’ll win instantly if we go to that island, the others have just been to closed shops, which are so damn not creepy, just crap!” he boasted. “And Jeff, in case you wondered why we’d picked on you all this time, it was because you’re a lame guy who never stands up for himself or shows any power, but this island trip will be an epic chance for you to improve, with our bullying being motivation and we’ll need nerdy here as well!”

Randy swooped back to Jeff as his two accomplices got out knives of their own with Troy dropping his in his crooked fingers, and Keith scanning his eyes for guards noticing the scene. “Jeffrey, its time to go…” hissed Keith. The brothers spent the next few days with their lives secretly at stake from their classmates as the bullies followed them everywhere, their blades always pointing towards the poor boys’ backs. Being smart, Liu tried to think of ways to signal Mr Reynolds or any of the other teachers, but Randy noticed him, and would sometimes just make the tip of the gently blade prod his back.

By the time the energetic classes arrived in Villa Gessel on a free day, the gang ordered Jeff and Liu to rent them a speedboat to take to Isla Prohibido, which they worked out was just beyond the horizon from checking online maps. Liu just sighed the entire trip as not even his brain had helped him, while Jeff turned pale and emotionless, as he was just so distraught this was happening. After renting a boat costing all their money, (which Jeff said he wished could buy him more friends) the five hopped in and Troy, who claimed to have experience of boating drove the ship far out of the allowed boating zone. As well as being distracted by the strong scent of the sea, he spun the little boat around uncontrollably three times before Keith pushed him over with one finger to take the steer.

“Hold this, take pics whenever we want them and don’t get anything crap and out of focus,” Randy snapped. “That camera is always focused! It’s built of complex imaging devices to you!” Liu snapped back, but then leaned back when Randy and Troy unsheathed their weapons once again. “Sorry Liu, saying stuff never really works on these guys…” Jeff whispered. “Y’know dudes, if this goes how I planned it (heheh) we could go search for that sports shop place next!” Randy grinned demonically, his eyes looking brightly creepy in the reflecting water. “I uh, could get a new football!” Troy excitably cheered. “Shut the hell up Troy,” grunted Randy. “You know all freaking profits go to me unless you find them first, which you won’t after all that…you know what…” “I took away that stuff from Troy…he had too much…it was my turn…” rasped Keith, his vision going directly ahead all the time.

After a handful of moments of jumping small waves and with Keith fearlessly not gripping onto the sides for safety, the island appeared in sight, further than they thought. It appeared as wide as a village, but only as tall as a two storey house. There was a beach at the front consisting of only dark gray sand just big enough for their boat to fit on. A wall of rocks even darker than the sand stretched from side to side with cracks and broken chunks about to fall off. Quite noticeably, the water around was more calm, with big ripples rather than vicious waves like the booklet said appearing every now and then. Leafless beige trees could be seen dotted around the rocky wall, getting shorter the further they hid behind the stone guard. There were no signs of animal life, and some small plants were growing around the wall, many crawling into the cracks. That was pretty much all in sight, until Keith pointed out a little dead fish half buried in the sand with its scales ripped off. A stench of rotten leaves drifted into their noses as Keith steered the boat onto the shore. Randy showed his knife once more, making Jeff and Liu step onto the sand, which felt very sticky and cold. “Let me just have…” Randy snatched Liu’s phone from his pocket to take the photos. “No headaches in us yet, ain’t that good? This place can’t defeat me!” he added.

They all noticed a hidden stairway carved into the wall, camouflaged in the broken parts. Ascending it, with Randy still making Jeff and Liu lead the way, they came to a long grassy area that stretched over to some dark green lumpy hills. The dead trees all looked crooked from here, and many had lost branches that littered the ground. There were still no signs of life in this barren island so far. “This place looks just as exhausted as me all the time…” Jeff sighed. “You’re not like that brother, you’re bright…” Liu whispered. “Shut up or I’ll hammer this into your head,” grunted Randy, now pointing his blade to Liu’s head, then Jeff’s, in which he kept slouching like he didn’t know Randy could stab him. “Keith,” he tossed the camera to Keith. “All photographs will be snapped in low definition to save light…” he whirred. “Okay…whatever the hell that meant…” Randy commented as Keith walked ahead slowly, taking the first photo without any hesitation.  “Can I take some pics?” yakked Troy. “No!” Randy yelled. “How can these three individuals accommodate each other if they are all disapproval of each other?” Liu speculated in his head. Jeff meanwhile thought about how he had been pulverized by advanced insults and pranks over the years, and if going to this island meant he’d be as strong as them their behaviour was some appalling propaganda.

Passing beyond the grassy plain, the boys came to a slope made of chalk. The hidden fall was steep and as tall as two of the boys standing on each other’s heads. Beyond the pit was featureless arid ground leading to a forest of lifeless trees up ahead. To the east and west were piles of boulders infested with vines. Keith hopped down without any problem, and Randy followed, but not before making Jeff and Liu prove it was safe by making them crawl down. The sea smell vanished here, replaced by mouldy wood and dust, as if the island itself was so ugly the fresh scents nearby wished to escape. “I’ve forgotten…what Mr Reynolds taught us about how places end up like this…” Jeff slurred to himself. “I’ll fail for sure…even if I get out of this alive…”

After trekking through the dense and silent skeletal forest for what felt like half an hour, the group reached a sight that made them all gasp, aside from Keith. A large rusty sign bigger than any of them was perched to the right of a dry path. Around them in this zone were rotten grass patches and sharp rocks, with another deceased patch of trees fencing around in the distance. The sign had been battered for however long it had been here, and on it was scratched off red paint like it was written in nearly-dried blood. WELCOME TO OLYMPIC MERCHANTS! It shrieked. “Olympic merchants? It was built here?!” exclaimed Liu. “So there was a cover up…” he added. “Hold it,” Randy went ahead. “Okay, C’mon…” he called. They all followed him up the path, with Jeff looking around a bit longer before Keith dragged him along. Eventually they came to a two storey building that exploded into the scene. It had large window spaces devoid of any glass aside from some shards below. The walls had grainy concrete that looked like it would collapse at any second, with many small pieces of rubble already in their ground graves.

There was no paint visible; all of it had presumably been ripped off by time. The big cut-out metal letters displaying the shops name above had since fallen off so it read “OL, MP, M, C, AT, with the T crooked and the second M twisted upside-down. The other letters were under a carpet of brown dust. The doorway had a little revolving door which also had been smashed. There were plants sprouting around the door and all the way to the roof. The battle between man and nature was also depicted within the shop, where they could see larger plants entering from holes in the floor. Randy rather naively went towards the shop, unaware of any hazards it could present.

Liu and the other bullies followed, with Keith darting his eyes as if looking for dangers. Jeff decided to stay outside until Keith stepped in again with the blade. “We all go…” he whispered. “So, it seems they thought this was a popular tourist resort…” Randy assumed. “And shut down before I could shoplift here…Jeff, you would make a good shoplifter wouldn’t you?” Jeff didn’t answer. “Wouldn’t you?!” Randy growled. “No,” Jeff answered. “Because…they have security that would notice me.” “Well, at least you’re obviously smarter than the people who built this place, as they thought this island was a damn tourist resort somehow! Did they get hypnotized by crap or what?!” he gloated as he kicked some dust heaps that were so thick they felt solid. “Yeah even I’m smarter than ‘em!” said Troy. “Well, there must be a rational explanation,” Liu stepped in to the talk. “No there isn’t shut up,” Randy interrupted as he observed the interior. Most of the wallpaper was peeling off, revealing black mould behind that stunk of rotten meat. A round dark brown ant nest, the first major sign of animal life, was stuck to a former cashier table. A long but very narrow line of black running insects heading towards one plant that was about to be gradually shredded.

The cash register was lying on the floor, overrun with spider webs. Tennis rackets, soccer balls and baseball bats were among the countless sports equipment seen covered in dust webs and rubble grains, lying in piles scattered around. At least one pile had some red mushrooms growing out of it. Racks of sports outfits were leaning on the walls or lying down, and the outfits on them had torn with animal bite marks all over them and more invading mould. Posters on the walls showing people doing various sports had more spider silk and dust attacking them, with the people’s cheerful and energetic faces looking devilish from the natural chronic assault. There was a doorway with black burnt wallpaper around it leading upstairs, the door of which had fallen off and cracked. Troy rushed over to the register, but Randy was faster and whipped it up, brushing off the webs. “Awh, can I still have some?” he innocently begged. “No…” Randy looked inside and found no money. “Crap,” he tossed it into one wall, causing half of it to crumble off.

The group all coughed, with Keith snapping another photo before spluttering. Jeff then stared at the doorway, feeling colder air bash onto him. “Wonder what’s up there…” he stepped over to it. “Whoa Jeffy!” Randy shook his head as some grime had landed in it and pounded over to him with his knife, but Jeff stopped before he even showed the blade as he had become so familiar with it around him. “Before you do the honors of leading the way again, it is interesting for us to find out this lame shop happens to be built on the same island in that legends guide…thing! Perhaps you can boost your cool factor even higher than…Keith But of course never me…!” “Heyyy….” groaned Keith. If…you help solve the mystery…of why those builders disappeared,” he dared him.

“I officially diagnose you with type B insanity Randy!” yelled Liu. The group stared at him, Jeff looking neutral, Randy grinning, Keith frowning and Troy confused. “We mustn’t go further! This place got abandoned for a reason!” “Sure Sherlock, it did say in that booklet the builders disappeared! What reason? We’re gonna find out!” Randy contradicted. “It may have been…a money thing…a cover up…” Jeff reminded slowly from behind Randy. “If they really did disappear, we progressing will conclude us to a fatal ending!” Liu warned, ignoring Keith lifting his weapon up until it reached his throat. “Well I disagree, if we see anything I’ll push you towards it first giving us a head start! HAHAHA! Now c’mon!” he laughed. Troy laughed so uncontrollably Keith had to flick his face to get him to calm down. “And I was informed that these boys required me for safety…” Liu thought.

Heading up the staircase, with the poor brothers having to lead the way again, they came to a storage room with walls pretty much alike to downstairs other than having no posters. Cardboard boxes that had decayed and spilled open, their insides were packed around here, smelling like old fruit for some reason. Some panicking mice squeaked and darted for cover. What snatched their attention here was a gash at the end of the room from where the weakest wall segment had collapsed. The gash showed the gray sky and arid ground leading to the forest, but they could see a part of it that was previously obscured when they were outside. They stood in silence observing the scene for a moment, hearing only wind blowing in the distance and the stairs creaking just as Keith hopped off them. “Caution, this floor could collapse easily…” warned Liu. “In fact I’m not going across it!” he stood his ground and crossed his arms. “Sissy…” Keith whispered as he followed Randy, Troy and Jeff. “Um, I don’t wanna go either,” Jeff turned to walk back to where his brother stood.

“You’re both going!” growled Randy. “And any injuries….Troy is responsible for!” “Uh, okay then!” Troy affirmed stupidly. Knowing there was an obvious higher chance of being stabbed then falling, Liu followed them. The walk got even more risky when they clambered out of the wall gash and slid down a rubble slope, but it felt smooth with the countless debris pieces packed together.  “Whoa...” Jeff nearly slipped over. “Well…at least the worst part we’ve gone through,” he smiled a little. “LOOK OUT!” Liu pushed his brother out the way as a piece of the wall suddenly slipped and fell right where he stood.

Jeff’s head would have been crushed into his chest had Liu not saved him, and the bullies barely even reacted to the heroic act, aside from Randy just grunting at them for making a loud noise. “If there’s anything worth seeing around here don’t let your loud mouths that think they know all of geography scare it off,” he warned. “Agree I do…we could become flooded with fame,” Keith murmured. “Woohoo!” cheered Troy. “Oh crap…” he said when Randy watched him fool about. “We must go further; they could be more to see…” Randy ordered, making Jeff sigh, which felt like his only prime feeling. Moving on towards the rotten forest, no more signs of human activity were seen, and the only fauna were some more mice and a cawing crow-like bird. But after passing the woods they reached another eye catcher of an area.

A mighty quarry big enough for a street and its houses, with countless more chalk slopes like the one seen earlier, lay directly before them. Chalk rocks were seen littered around like two giants had wrestled around here. There were yet more rotten trees that had stalked Jeff’s group on their journey. The smell of rock was occupying this zone, and only more distant breezes could be heard in the background. But the most amazing sight was several big construction vehicles that were lodged in certain parts.

First they looked at a dusty digger with all its paint torn off. Its windows non-existent and wheels lying several feet away from it in all directions. It sat on a pathway going up the walls of the site. A dump truck in pretty much the exact same state as the digger other than having brown vines rooting over it lay sideways in the right center of the pit. Then a cement mixer truck at the back with a mammoth boulder that had landed on its mixer, so it was hard to identify it as a mixer in the first place. Additionally, bricks, metal poles and drills flattened by other collapsed rocks could be seen if one peered closer, camouflaged by the whiteness of the chalk and grayness of the dust. “An abandoned building site? Sweet,” Randy charmingly spoke, his voice echoed despite not being loud.

Keith clicked the camera. “This one…for my secret fellowship…” he stuffed the camera away. “Why is this place here?” Jeff asked, confused. “I thought only Olympic Merchants got built here, and we just passed it a moment ago!” “Well Sherlock,” Randy glared at Jeff, who flinched. “It seems they weren’t the only ones to build stuff here!” “Well...that story said they mistook this island for a tourist spot because of its strange stuff…and that means the story of it getting abandoned because of choosing the wrong location must be true instead of that financial cover up…so what about the builders who vanished? This must be where they were building a bigger shop or something…” Jeff left the answer hanging. “Well then it looks like we should continue to find out! Glad to see you’ve finally gone along with us!” Randy announced. “Um, well I don’t…uh…” Jeff didn’t finish his reply and just followed. “No Jeff!” called Liu. But Keith once again acquainted Liu with his blade to drag him along with them. “Remember, since it was my idea to search for these missing men, all credit goes to me,” Randy pointed to himself arrogantly.

Approaching the quarry, the boys let their eyes loose once more at the sights. Troy laughed at the busted vehicles, saying his future car would look like them as soon as he got his license, without realizing he was mocking himself. “Hey look, that dump truck has Caló Industrias logo on it, it seems they were the dumb ones who picked this place…!” he chuckled. Jeff was the odd one out as he just stared downwards at his feet instead of at the scene. Liu gulped when his attention walked by the crushed mixer, then darted to the edges of the site in case they would meet the same fate.

Keith took another photo of the battered building machine. “Rock crushes mixer…equal to what’ll occur should Randy crush his luck…” he muttered. “What?” Randy snapped at Keith. “You heard nothing Randy,” said Keith, bravely. After finishing their trudge across the site, they clambered up the slope, in which Jeff slipped several times before getting up. “So, which way next?” Randy asked Jeff and Liu. “Uh…” Jeff uttered. “I don’t know,” Liu protested. “Aren’t you the one who does everything?” he snarled. Liu rolled his eyes and nodded, and pointed north-east. “Very well, lets go that way!” although in front of them the rotten woods were the only sight, getting darker in the denser areas deeper in.

To make a long story short, they trekked through this somewhat humid forest for half an hour, hardly talking, just watching over for tripping hazards below, aside from Jeff who walked anywhere. “Man, this island is bigger than I thought,” Jeff muttered as he crushed piles of leaves. “And so is your brightness brother,” Liu smiled at him, but his inspirational quote didn’t make Jeff turn his seemingly-permanent frown upside-down. “Hold it; I just remembered that guide booklet mentioned scientists may have been working undercover here, ooo I can feel that fame…” Randy mentioned. “We’ve already been through a potentially deadly abandoned building site, now you intend to explore an abandoned science base? Define yourself?!” Liu yelled at Randy, but his rage was cut short by the knife once more. “A person who knows how to have fun,” he grinned. “Now come on guys…” “I approve…but disapprove of possible eternal damnation…” Keith hissed. As they went through the woods, Jeff stopped at a random moment. “Hey look over there…” he pointed at wide area just ten yards ahead of them that appeared to be a large cut in the earth which all the flora was avoiding, and was devoid of any woody smells.

Approaching it, they saw it was as big as car, a death trap if they hadn’t been watching their footsteps. Looking down the ravine, they saw its interior was gray, with sharp rocks sticking out of the walls, and nearly invisible in the shadows were ledges which would allow one to walk down, if you had very fine athletic skills, which were beyond Liu’s. At the very bottom was a eyebrow-raising sight, there was what appeared to be a yellow jumper with a hood, with gray pants behind it with white shoes, as if there was a pile of clothes shaped to look like a dead guy. “Woohoo lets base jump!” Troy began to jog on the spot. “No you idiot, look…” Randy stared down at the body shape, and the group just stood there for several minutes, not even Troy was dumb enough to attempt to get down there to investigate, they just observed. “Is that…a dead guy?” Jeff murmured to Liu. “I suspect it’s a mannequin, from the Olympic Merchants…” he answered. “But how did it get out here Einstein?” Randy cawed. “I’m uncertain…but the most rational reasons would range from strong weather to…a predator believing it was a real person?” Liu theorized, he checked his surroundings in case his predator hypothesis was true. Jeff’s eyes were frozen as he looked at the strange shape, he didn’t move at all, just stared it at like he was a statue. He stopped frowning and put on a neutral mouth expression. “Jeff?” Liu tapped him on the shoulder. “Whoa!” Jeff burst back into animation and wobbled, but Liu dragged him away from the gap. “Thanks brother…” he puffed. The bullies, who paid no attention to the scene, just discussed what it could be.

“Just a pile…of clothes set by a past explorer with the skills to freak us out, like my great uncle…” Keith whirred. “Maybe a failed base jumper! Good thing I’m a boss at that kind of thing!” Troy chuckled. “The closest to base jumping you’ve done was playing the floor is lava in the classroom,” Randy remarked. “No time for anymore of this crappiness let’s go!” Randy sped ahead, suggesting he was more cowardly that Jeff thought, and Liu thought about how cowardly he was too, whether he could fight him to it…On the other hand it seemed strange he was able to explore abandoned places that could be just as lethal though. Their journey through the skeletal forest continued. Sure enough, Randy’s irritating luck about finding the science base was right. They crossed some more hills before seeing five white one storey portable buildings before them blast into view. They sat in an arid plain around the size of a soccer pitch. They couldn’t tell if the buildings were painted with strong white paint, or had their colorful paint torn off by the clock. The windows were as usual gone with the shards missing perhaps because of wind. Their doors had wrenched off much like the Olympic Merchants shop, and yet more ravaging greenery could be seen swarming indoors. They certainly weren’t portable now, as they had a foot of them buried in the dirt below them rather than being on stands that had disappeared. The air felt much colder here even though arid plains were normally hotter.

More of the uninteresting dead trees occupied the arid plains behind the bases. The view beyond them in the near-distance lead towards another forest, which seemed to separate all the interesting zones on this island. With their attention heading back to the science bases, Randy rushed ahead to explore the first one, but not before forcing Jeff and Liu to come with him. The door of this one had broken in several pieces with the footprints of a small mammal going in and out. The interior was not as interesting as they expected. The base had several rooms carpeted by so many shards of glass they could only stare through the doorways, even though they had shoes they didn’t want to risk stepping on anything else dangerous in there, as it seemed Randy and Troy had some sanity left. Keith was excluded, as he just hopped about on the deadly floor, his shoes apparently strong enough to resist chemical damage if it was in there. Rotting tables, dirty sinks, crippled microscopes and drawers of simple cracked tools were the only things salvaged but then left re-abandoned.

“Ooo lemonade!” Troy excitedly chirped. “No Troy that’s bleach,” said Randy. “I found zilch…” called Keith in a tone louder than he had ever spoken before, but it was just an average talking tone. Exploring the few other rooms they found they were in pretty much the same condition, with a battered motivational poster being the only observation worthy sight. “Hmm…that poster suggests these scientists must have being having a difficult experience here…” Liu suggested. “Additionally, it said nothing in the guidebook about these scientists abandoning their bases, so I guess it’s up to us to theorize about what became of them,” he added. “And since you’re on the boring side of things, you think it was a money problem or something like that?” Randy assumed. “Well, I don’t know exactly, but if this island can trigger symptoms like headaches and strains they might have been forced to leave or something of that category, I cannot describe for sure…” Liu wondered, taking a look at every scratch on the wall and heaps of dust on the floor.

They explored the other bases for about twenty minutes and found nothing attention grabbing, everything looked the same as the first, except for a TV Keith unearthed under an ocean of wall rubble. “I found this TV, it means something different…different is great…” he murmured, saying something pleasing but still not smiling. “Is that TV gonna have something these scientist guys did or just what they watched in their spare time?” Jeff asked. “None shall be foretold,” Keith hissed in his ear as Randy plugged it in. Amazingly, the TV worked! This was probably the only power left in the base, although how they didn’t know how.

“Okay fellas lets see something that’s actually cool about this place! Take a shot Keith of this TV! Since I decided to switch it on all credit goes to me as usual!” First the screen showed static and buzzes, and when the actual footage of whatever it had flashed up; they all got certainly much more than they bargained for. The screen depicted a black and white video which had about half of the static and buzzes the screen had when it was switched on. The single shot in the video, which appeared to be very old, with Liu estimating to be from the early 1910s, showed part of a graveyard. As the quality improved a little, they saw there were a few crooked and cracked tombstones, two in front and two behind, and a stone wall to the left and bushes in the background.

There was no sound other than the interrupting buzzes, but the viewers were focusing on an angel statue raising its arms and wings perched atop a cross. What made the group turn their heads to the side in confusion was when the statue gently turned from facing forwards to the right, as if there it was on a wheel, but no wheel was visible at all. The shot was over in less than six seconds, and before any of them could release their comments another shot appeared. This one in a wider area of presumably the same cemetery. Dozens more gravestones were scattered in the background all tattered and aged. An angel statue similar to the first one was on a large coffin, and it moved from facing behind to forwards, all in about five seconds “What…the hell is this…?” gasped Randy. “Looks like the kind of place my parents would hang out,” muttered Keith. But the third shot of the film was the most hair-raising.

In this shot, which lasted around four seconds, a pathway going through the cemetery revealed more gravestones, most like the previous ones seen but a few had fallen over. Although this grave was assumed to be European, two palm tree trunks were briefly visible in the background of the path, with a wall beyond them, suggesting this was filmed in Argentina. However, the boys paid chiefly attention to the main attraction of this shot that made them all feel a rush of butterflies in their stomach and their skin crawl, except for Keith being the bravest. A human skeleton was walking down the path, turning its head left and right with a cruel smile on its fleshless jaws. Its arms and legs moved like it was a puppet, but no strings were visible, and its feet made black soot-like patches appear in the leafy path, so if it was a puppet it certainly was a big one, but with all the static now popping up they couldn’t tell. Then the footage ended, leading to pure static before Liu switched off the TV.  “Okay…do not inquire me about that footage’s explanation,” he told them.

“What the hell was that creepy junk?” gasped Randy. “Looks creepier than anything…I like it…” Keith commented, standing in the shadows. “I’m gonna have nightmares!” cried Troy, walking around in circles. Jeff was speechless for a moment. He stared at the TV while the others talked about their own conclusions to what they had watched, his eyes didn’t blink, and his frown became a neutral expression, and then arched upwards very slightly. “Jeff? Are you okay?” Liu asked. “You look very pale.” “Huh? Oh yeah I am Liu, its just…that video was so weird…I really don’t like this place…”

“I guess you’re right,” Randy said, gripping his knife. “I thought so Randy! You’re a coward!” Liu concluded. “No I’m not Nerdy, it’s just…if you can’t even explain that video then…well…uh…” Randy struggled on what to say. “Okay…perhaps it was a vintage horror film?” Liu suggested. “With computer effects though…those moving statues…I can’t remember any ways effects like that could be done in those days, and it wasn’t stop motion that’s for sure…and that skeleton…” he shivered. “Well to prove that I’m right, (like always!) I won’t abandon this quest! C’mon Jeff…” he prodded the knife into the air inches from Jeff’s back. “Uh, okay…” said Jeff. Randy asked Liu to take the footage with them, but when he tried to unplug the TV the socket sparked and buzzed, making Jeff jump back. “God dammit! The TV’s been destroyed now, that plug was its only power source,” Randy blared.

They left the discarded base to rot further into history and hiked further on towards the next milestone beyond the forest. On the way Jeff’s face was pale, Liu watched him as he muttered to himself under his breath, which he used to do a lot when feeling depressed or worried. Liu instantly assumed his paleness was because of this overwhelmingly tiring and chilling trip. To avoid making himself lose this battle against the bullies, he wondered about Randy’s confidence in being fearless and whatever would happen when the teachers found out about this, if they ever did, as Liu couldn’t tell what could stop him, especially when someone strong like Keith was around, for he always was a master at hiding in school and never flinched when the angriest teachers yelled at him.

The soulless forest was much alike the others, so similar Jeff stopped and asked if they weren’t travelling in circles. “Actually no, I don’t think we are, let’s uh, keep going up, I mean uh, north,” Jeff said. “Good then, you know the right ways,” Randy grinned. Over the marching minutes, they passed by sharp rocks, areas burnt probably by lightning strikes, little animal burrows, slopes going up and down, and no signs of living animal life unlike earlier. This forest just went on forever, but at long last they came out of the woods.

They stood atop another steep slope with a natural sight certainly more intriguing and beautiful that the previous ones. A small lake, grayish blue around the size of a soccer pitch just like the arid plains. To the right of the lake were grainy rocky hills as tall as horses and the same to the left. Beyond the lake was the rest of Isla Prohibido, just another passed away forest. The sky above had gray and white clouds, signalling a rainstorm. The ground by the lake was covered in pebbles, and the water was so calm they could see leaves bobbing on the spot in the front center. To the west and east the lake had some boulders leading to more dead forests, although it was possible to go further, Randy made an announcement. “Let’s not go any further, this is enough, other squads back in ole ‘Merica will be jealous enough! Keith take some pics of me here! Troy you don’t need to be in them because nobody will believe you got here alive.” “Will do boss!” Troy saluted. “Jeff, get in one with me then!” Randy made Jeff stand next to him with his knife to his back, unseen in the photo.

“I approve,” Keith hissed after he snapped the shutter. Liu just stood by the rocks, staring out at the lake, with Troy holding his knife close to him. “Okay already!” Liu scowled. Randy then wanted to get a few more shots of him doing action poses in several parts of the zone, and so did Keith. “I should look creepier, creepy is how I should look,” he asked, his eyes glaring into Randy’s like he would bite him. Jeff then sat on the pebbles and tried to skim stones. “Huhh…” Jeff thought about how a knife would probably be by his throat for the rest of his life just because he had to think he was like them, but he didn’t even shed a tear. Liu turned to him, but Troy made him stay where he was. “Boss ain’t finished yet!” he squawked.

There was silence as Troy taunted Liu by nearly poking his blade at his face and neck. “I’ll spit on you, you damn bastard!” Liu roared inside his head, but being smart enough to keep his life, he just let the simpleton fool around more. Keith and Randy took more photos, and Jeff skimmed another stone, that was until as abruptly as could be, an ear-splitting voice crashed into the scene. “RANDY! KEITH! TROY! JEFF! LIU!” the bellowing screech echoed spotlessly about ten times as the five were frozen in shock, sending little birds hidden in the treetops rocketing into the dirty sky. Racing out of the woods and snapping twigs like a steamroller was going over them was a man carrying a clipboard, it was Mr Reynolds! “Why the hell are you boys here?! Do you know how dangerous this is?! Was this your idea Randy?! Some students said they saw you make Jeff and Liu get on a boat and drive off!”

Randy’s jaw dropped, and his knife slipped out his hand as he treaded back, Keith showed no emotion, he just stood waiting to be yelled at. Troy took the knife away from Liu and shivered on the spot. Jeff just turned back to stone skimming. “I was about to call the police but my phone ran out so I had to rent a damn boat like you did and come looking for you lot because I was worried sick! I shouldn’t have let my thoughts get ahead of me; I should have known you three were up to no good just like the old days! I went past abandoned places that clearly were hazardous! Did you as well?! I hope you didn’t and if you did you better be happy you didn’t get hurt or die! And also it’s a damn lucky miracle your footprints got preserved in the ground otherwise you’d be lost permanently!”

“Well, uh…we wouldn’t get lost permanently, because, uh, we were about to head back, um…” Randy took another step back. “We came here because, uh…” “Spit it out then!” snapped Mr Reynolds. “Keith! You too! And you Troy! Is that a knife?!” Liu just watched, spreading a little smile that these bullies were about to get what they deserved. While Mr Reynolds ranted on to the bullies about how dangerous it was going out here, Jeff was still staring at the lake, turned smooth again after he’d stopping skimming pebbles. Jeff didn’t even think about waiting for Mr Reynolds to call him over, he just fixed his eyes on the water. However, he suddenly saw ripples appear roughly ten yards ahead of him, getting larger and larger the further they spread. “Hmm…a fish…or something floating upwards…” he assumed quietly to himself, still staring just the same as before.

A little pile of jet black string like objects emerged from the surface gently in ten seconds; it looked like a dead octopus with much more arms than usual that were also very thin. As the pile rose, the side of what looked like a man’s head, around the size of a child’s with grayish-black skin appeared. It had a flat pig-like nose facing west, and its mouth was too thin and vague to properly see. Jeff just gawked at the strange shape, his mind had gone blank, he just sat cemented in the spot, but you couldn’t tell if he was scared stiff or curious. The head rose higher mildly revealing no visible neck, but instead hunched shoulders that created bigger ripples. The arms appeared up to the bony and hairy elbows (or, from how Jeff saw it, just one elbow as it was from the side), and then a thin torso. Was it a strange trashed dummy just bobbing up to the surface? Nobody could answer that, as Jeff was the only one observing the unknown object emerge, and his mind had become a featureless void.

His skin turned pale again, much paler than before. The figure was no dummy, as its head twisted like it was a doll around to look to the south slowly, then back to facing the west. This caused the soaked hair to slither like snakes. There was no wind whatsoever; the only sound heard was Mr Reynolds ranting. The head of the figure opened below the nose where the mouth should have been, and water drooled out. Jeff couldn’t see the details of the mouth as it shut abruptly and was at a distance. Jeff’s eyes opened wide as the unknown creature twisted its head around to face the boy, the rest of its body following even slower, as if the water was a swamp to it. He saw its eyes were huge, taking up forehead space. The eyes were snow-white with little black dot pupils in the dead center, and had no other features at all but that, so it looked quite dead. Jeff’s eyes were fixed on the figure’s eyes, and they beamed into each other for around fifteen seconds, in which the only new movement was the figure lifting its arms higher, revealing hands with slumped fingers. This was followed by it standing higher, with some dark brown mouldy rags appearing around its hairless abdomen.

Jeff was not aware that the people behind him had also caught sight of the little water man, and all hell erupted down. “JEFF! JEFF! GET AWAY FROM THE WATER NOW, NOW, NOW!!!” Mr Reynolds stampeded over to the student like an angry monster, but to save him instead of kill him. Randy was fixed to the ground and was shivering like he was buried in snow, and so was Troy. Even Keith took several steps back with a dropped jaw. “Jesus Christ…what the hell is that thing…?! Jeff…what’s it doing…?!” Liu began to huff and puff, and so did the bullies. Mr Reynolds clamped his fingers around Jeff’s jacket and tugged him away from the waters edge, so hard his fingernails actually cut Jeff’s jacket and shoulders. “WHOAA!” Jeff shrieked back into life. “GET THE HELL AWAY!” he bellowed.

The bullies all vanished into the forest, and Liu kept rushing forwards then backwards, unable to decide if he should help Mr Reynolds get Jeff to safety or flee for his own life, as he watched the black figure staring murderously with its chilling eyes at his brother. But Liu was overwhelmingly supportive, and his instincts made him turn to saving his brother. However before he could Jeff and Mr Reynolds had already swooped into the woods following the bullies, making deep footprints as they ripped the ground in panic. “COME ON LIU NOW, NOW, NOW! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM THERE NOW!” he ordered furiously as if the ground was about to collapse. He ran back to pull Liu away.

Liu spun his head to get one last glimpse at the mysterious creature that had provoked his teacher’s wild behaviour, only to see it had vanished, leaving some foamy bubbles where it was. The group ran and ran, occasionally checking behind them to see if the unknown entity was following them, risking tripping over on the ground hazards. As soon as they reached the abandoned base they panted like weak dragons trying to breathe fire, drenched in sweat from their marathon escape. However, it was far from over as their deranged teacher dragged them on with no break. Thankfully, by the time they reached the shore again, nearly fainting from exhaustion, police boats were there to escort them back to civilization, with the lead officer telling them the other students had phoned to get help. They got out unharmed aside from a few small trips resulting in Troy having a nosebleed and Liu having small cuts, but that was if you didn’t count Mr Reynolds pulling Jeff away from the lakeside.

“I’m…so bloody sorry…Jeff…” puffed the exhausted teacher as Jeff looked at his ripped jacket with the scratches. “I…just had…to get you to safety…it’s what my job…is…” he then bawled his eyes out for the rest of the trip home, becoming more wet with tears than his sweat did to him. The bullies initially discussed what that strange figure was, but then looked at Jeff with misty eyes and depressed frowns with Randy wiping sweat from his forehead, and tossing his knife in the sea. Jeff’s face was still bright pale and white, and his hair appeared much blacker than usual, but his mood went back to the usual weak and neutral. Liu was scowling at Randy, but then shed a tear, until his eyes drooled.

The group all returned to the hotel, reunited with all their classmates, however, for the bullies they had a long chat with the cops and teachers, and Liu went back to skin jittering about whatever the hell they witnessed in the lake, and all the other mysteries of that island added in. “Should I tell them what we uncovered…as well as that figure?” Liu uttered to himself out of his bedroom window. “No,” Jeff answered, standing by the bed with plasters on his scratches. “We deserve a break from all that, but thanks for sticking up for me,” Jeff spread a large smile. “Um, Jeff, what do you think that black thing was?” Liu wondered. “Because based on my own knowledge, I theorize it was an old dummy, but the flaws in this theory are its movements in a windless area…” he returned to his good old technical language.

“I dunno, but did you hear it make that sound?” Jeff said, looking behind him. “No…I didn’t hear it make any sound at all,” Liu turned his head to one side. “I did, when it was staring at me it made a sound like this “FWEEEEEEEE FWEEE, FWEEE, FWEEEEEEEE….!” He whistled.  “A whistle…” Liu rolled his eyes and thought. “Wait a moment…” Liu left the room. By the time he returned night had fallen. Opening the door, he moved his hand up and down to find the switch, but it wouldn’t turn on. “Blast! Has our room had a power outage…? Oh Sorry Jeff I had to get that guidebook about the paranormal occurrences here in Argentina because…Jeff…?”

Liu was staring at Jeff who was slumped down in front of the bed. “Jeff?” he asked again. The curtains suddenly burst open as the open window allowed a freezing storm to pummel in and moonlight to glimmer, to which it was revealed to Liu the person sitting by the bed was not Jeff, but the leader bully! What Liu saw made his face turn pink, his hair stand up and his skin soaked in buckets of sweat as if he was in a desert running like he was when he escaped the island. At the same time he slowly panted as if he had fallen in Antarctic waters because Randy’s bottom jaw was dislocated. It was broken much more open than possible, with the handle of a knife poking out of the back of his mouth. A pool of redness was slowly flowing out through his teeth, most of which had broken out and floating on the pool, which had doused the previously-spotless bed sheets. His tongue had been severed and was skewered on the fingers in his right hand. His eyes were wide open and infested by veins and dirt, and his feet actually twitched, causing Liu to lunge back. “Wh-wh-wh-what…h-h-h-ha-has…h-h-h-ap-ap-ap-pen-pened…?!” he stuttered, his eyes twitching as if he had just been slaughtered like Randy, and then paused.

He then caught sight of a second person lying on the floor in the shadows, a bottle of bleach and a white puddle below it was lying just outside the darkness next to the body. Then a third body, also in the shadows lying against the wall with several knife handles coming out of the top of its head, with lumps of hair stuck together by fresh flowing liquid. “J-J-J-J-J…J-Jeff…?!” Liu cried, his eyes so wide open they looked like they’d pop out, and his heart was thrashing so monstrously it felt like it would tear its way to escape his body.

“FWEEEEEEEE FWEEE, FWEEE, FWEEEEEEEE….!” The nightmarish whistle that interrupted the scene pulled Liu’s viewpoint to a figure standing upright in the windowsill, as if it popped out of thin air. Illuminated by the moonlight, Liu saw this person had black hair, snow-white skin, eyes bigger than normal with black rings around them and white inside with little black dot pupils. A hideous grin bearing shiny teeth was below a bloody nose. What made the grin cause Liu to vomit uncontrollably was that the skin around it had been sliced like melted butter so it looked like one giant scarlet grin, dripping a mini-rainstorm of blood. The rest of his face had small cuts and abrasions. The figure wore the same white hoody Jeff had worn that day, and he clutched a red-soaked knife in front of him. “Yes…!” he called over malevolently, pulling the blade across his blindingly-white throat, but only making a long cut. “I AM bright…!” He pulled up his hood and disappeared with a powerful leap into the night.