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00:00:04
The job interview was the strangest I'd00:00:05
ever had. The hiring manager, a woman00:00:08
named Sarah with a sad smile, asked me00:00:11
only three questions.00:00:13
Could I follow instructions without00:00:15
asking why?00:00:17
Was I comfortable working alone in the00:00:19
dark? And did I have anyone who would00:00:22
immediately notice if I went missing? I00:00:25
should have walked out right then, but I00:00:27
was desperate, broke, and tired of00:00:30
sleeping in my car. So, I answered,00:00:33
"Yes, yes, and no." She slid the00:00:37
contract across the table and said,00:00:39
"Welcome to Harrow Creek Mining. You00:00:42
start tomorrow, and I'm sorry." Harrow00:00:46
Creek looked like every other dying West00:00:48
Virginia mining town. Shuttered shops,00:00:50
rusted equipment, and empty houses with00:00:53
sagging porches.00:00:54
But it felt different. The air tasted00:00:57
metallic, like blood mixed with cold00:00:59
dust. And there was a sound constant and00:01:02
low, like a bell ringing somewhere far00:01:04
away. When I asked the motel owner about00:01:07
it, she went pale.00:01:10
You hear it already? She whispered. Most00:01:13
don't hear it until their third day. She00:01:16
gripped my arm so hard it bruised. When00:01:19
it gets loud, when you can't ignore it00:01:21
anymore, you run.00:01:24
You hear me? You run and don't look00:01:26
back.00:01:28
Her name was Betty Hatfield and she'd00:01:30
lived in Harrow Creek her whole life. 7300:01:33
years of watching the town hollow out,00:01:35
watching young people leave and00:01:37
desperate people arrive. People like me.00:01:41
She ran the Sleepy Hollow Motor Lodge,00:01:43
the only place still taking guests. The00:01:46
room smelled like cigarettes and pine00:01:48
saw, and the TV only got three channels,00:01:51
all static.00:01:53
I tried to sleep that first night, but00:01:55
couldn't. The bell kept ringing, soft at00:01:59
first, then building like it was moving00:02:02
closer. I got up and looked out the00:02:04
window. Main Street was empty except for00:02:07
a figure standing under the broken00:02:09
street light by the old Piggly Wiggly.00:02:12
They weren't moving, just standing there00:02:15
facing the mountains.00:02:17
I watched for 20 minutes. They never00:02:20
moved. never shifted weight or checked a00:02:23
phone or did anything a real person00:02:25
would do. Just stood there staring at00:02:29
the dark ridge line where the mine00:02:30
entrance sat like an open mouth. At 30000:02:34
a.m., I finally fell asleep with the TV00:02:37
on. I dreamed about tunnels that went00:02:40
down forever, about hands reaching out00:02:43
of coal seams, about a bell the size of00:02:46
a house buried in the earth swinging in00:02:49
darkness. When I woke up, my mouth00:02:52
tasted like rust and my pillow was00:02:54
covered in black dust that definitely00:02:56
wasn't there when I went to bed. Betty00:02:59
was at the front desk when I came down.00:03:01
She had coffee ready, strong and bitter.00:03:05
You look like hell, she said, not00:03:07
unkind, just stating fact. First day is00:03:11
always rough. You'll get used to it. She00:03:14
paused, studying my face. Or you won't.00:03:18
Most don't last a week. I asked her what00:03:22
she meant. She just shook her head and00:03:25
pushed a paper bag across the counter.00:03:28
Packed you a lunch. Don't eat anything00:03:30
they offer you down there. And don't00:03:32
drink the water from the taps in the00:03:34
tunnels, no matter how thirsty you get.00:03:37
Why not? Because, she said quietly, it00:03:41
ain't water. The mine entrance sat 3 mi00:03:44
outside town, carved into the side of00:03:46
Copperhead Ridge. The road up was gravel00:03:50
and switchbacks, lined with dead trees00:03:52
that looked like they'd been burned from00:03:54
the inside out. My Ford Ranger coughed00:03:58
and wheezed on the clan, threatening to00:04:00
die with every hairpin turn.00:04:03
There were six other vehicles in the00:04:04
parking lot. three pickup trucks that00:04:07
had seen better decades, a Dodge Caravan00:04:09
with a cracked windshield, and two00:04:11
sedans that looked ready for the00:04:12
scrapyard.00:04:14
And standing beside them, waiting in the00:04:16
pre-dawn gray, were five people who all00:04:20
had the same expression,00:04:22
empty like someone had scooped out00:04:24
everything behind their eyes and left00:04:27
just enough to keep them upright.00:04:30
A man in a yellow hard hat approached00:04:32
me. He was maybe 40 with a beard that00:04:35
hadn't been trimmed in months and hands00:04:37
that shook even when he held them still.00:04:40
His name tag said, "Dale Parsons, safety00:04:43
officer." "You the new hire?" His voice00:04:47
came out rough like he'd been screaming.00:04:49
"Yeah, started today." He nodded slowly,00:04:54
then reached into his jacket and pulled00:04:56
out a folded piece of paper. yellow00:04:58
legal pad, the kind you'd find at any00:05:01
Dollar General. The writing on it was in00:05:04
pencil, pressed so hard into the paper00:05:06
that some words had torn through.00:05:09
Read this. Memorize it. Don't lose it.00:05:13
He pressed the paper into my palm. And00:05:16
whatever you do, don't think you're00:05:18
smarter than the rules. You ain't. I00:05:22
unfolded the paper. Seven rules numbered00:05:25
and underlined. If you hear the bell00:05:27
ringing, count the chimes. If it rings00:05:31
more than seven times, find the nearest00:05:34
painted white line and stand on it until00:05:37
the ringing stops. The drinking00:05:39
fountains on level three run clear.00:05:43
Do not drink from them. The water on00:05:45
level 5 runs brown.00:05:48
Drink only from these.00:05:51
If you see another worker standing00:05:53
completely still, do not approach them.00:05:55
Mark the location and report it to Dale00:05:57
at shift end. Your headlamp will00:05:59
flicker. This is normal. If it goes out00:06:02
completely, stay where you are and count00:06:05
to 60 before moving. Sometimes you will00:06:08
hear voices calling your name from00:06:09
deeper tunnels. These are not your00:06:12
co-workers.00:06:13
Do not answer. Do not investigate.00:06:16
If you find a lunch pail that isn't00:06:18
yours, leave it where it is. Do not open00:06:22
it. Do not move it. The bell rings at00:06:25
3:33 a.m. every night. You will hear it00:06:28
even when you're not in the mine.00:06:31
This is normal. If it rings at any other00:06:33
time, refer to rule one.00:06:36
I read through them twice trying to find00:06:38
the joke. Some kind of prank they played00:06:41
on new guys. But when I looked up, Dale00:06:44
wasn't smiling. None of them were. This00:06:48
is serious? I asked. You'll find out. He00:06:52
turned and started walking toward the00:06:54
entrance. Shift starts in 10 minutes.00:06:57
You're with me and Lloyd today. We're00:06:59
checking the support beams on level00:07:01
four.00:07:03
Lloyd turned out to be the youngest of00:07:04
the group, maybe 25, with the kind of00:07:07
thin frame that comes from not eating00:07:09
enough. His last name was McCoy, another00:07:13
old West Virginia name that probably00:07:15
went back generations.00:07:17
He didn't talk much, just handed me a00:07:20
hard hat, a headlamp, and a respirator00:07:23
that smelled like someone else's breath.00:07:26
"Battery pack goes on your belt," he00:07:28
said quietly. "Keep your light pointed00:07:31
down unless you need to look up. Don't00:07:33
shine it in anyone's face."00:07:35
"Why not?" He glanced at Dale, who was00:07:39
signing us in on the clipboard attached00:07:40
to the mine entrance. "Sometimes it00:07:43
ain't a face anymore." Before I could00:07:45
ask what that meant, Dale waved us over.00:07:49
The mine entrance was reinforced with00:07:50
new concrete, but beneath it, you could00:07:53
see the original stonework from the00:07:55
1940s.00:07:56
Someone had spray painted a cross above00:07:58
the door. Multiple coats like they kept00:08:01
adding layers whenever the paint wore00:08:03
thin. "Stay close," Dale said as we00:08:07
entered. "Don't wander off. Don't touch00:08:09
anything that looks wet. And if you feel00:08:12
tired, really tired, like you could just00:08:14
lay down and sleep forever, you tell me00:08:17
right away. Understand?00:08:20
I nodded. The tunnel sloped down into00:08:23
darkness, and the air changed00:08:25
immediately,00:08:27
colder, heavier. That metallic taste00:08:30
grew stronger, coating my tongue and00:08:33
throat. And underneath everything else,00:08:36
so faint I almost missed it, was the00:08:39
smell of something rotting.00:08:41
We descended into the earth. Our00:08:43
headlamps cutting thin beams through the00:08:46
dark. Behind us, daylight became a00:08:48
distant memory, then disappeared00:08:51
entirely.00:08:52
And somewhere deep below, I could swear00:08:55
I heard it. The bell ringing softly like00:08:59
it was welcoming me home. Level four was00:09:02
colder than the upper tunnels. Our00:09:04
breath came out in clouds that hung in00:09:06
the stale air, barely moving. The00:09:09
support beams we were checking dated00:09:11
back to the original operation. Thick00:09:14
posts of wood that had spent 70 years00:09:16
holding up thousands of tons of rock and00:09:19
earth. Dale ran his hands along each00:09:22
one, checking for cracks. "Forgive00:09:26
for any sign they might fail." "Most of00:09:29
these should have been replaced 20 years00:09:31
ago," he muttered. his headlamp swept00:09:34
across the tunnel walls, revealing seams00:09:37
of coal that gleamed dully in the light.00:09:40
But the company says they're fine.00:09:42
Company says a lot of things.00:09:45
Lloyd worked silently beside him, making00:09:48
notes on a clipboard. Every few minutes,00:09:50
he'd glance over his shoulder at the00:09:52
darkness behind us like he expected00:09:54
something to be standing there. The00:09:56
third time he did it, I looked too.00:09:59
Nothing but empty tunnels stretching00:10:01
back toward the shaft entrance.00:10:04
Don't do that, Lloyd said quietly.00:10:08
Looking back just makes it worse.00:10:11
Makes what worse?00:10:14
He didn't answer. Just went back to his00:10:16
clipboard writing numbers that probably00:10:18
meant something to someone who knew what00:10:20
they were looking at.00:10:22
We worked for 2 hours moving deeper into00:10:25
the network of tunnels. The bell sound00:10:27
grew louder the further down we went,00:10:30
though neither Dale nor Lloyd seemed to00:10:32
notice it. It had rhythm now, a pattern00:10:35
I couldn't quite figure out.00:10:38
Seven rings, pause, seven rings, pause.00:10:43
Over and over, like a heartbeat made of00:10:46
brass.00:10:48
Around 9 in the morning, Dale called for00:10:50
a break. We sat on empty equipment00:10:53
crates someone had left against the00:10:54
tunnel wall, drinking water from our00:10:57
thermoses.00:10:58
Dale pulled out a sandwich wrapped in00:11:00
wax paper. Lloyd didn't eat anything,00:11:03
just stared at the ground between his00:11:05
boots. "You hear it yet?" Dale asked me,00:11:09
not looking up from his sandwich. "The00:11:11
bell?" "Yeah, since last night." He00:11:14
nodded. "Started early for you. Took me00:11:18
4 days." Lloyd here didn't hear it until00:11:20
his second week. He took a bite, chewed00:11:24
slowly. Means you're sensitive. Means00:11:27
you'll see things sooner, too. See what00:11:30
things?00:11:32
The things that don't leave, Lloyd said00:11:35
softly. He was still staring at the00:11:37
ground. The ones who couldn't stop00:11:40
listening.00:11:42
Before I could ask what he meant, my00:11:44
headlamp flickered00:11:46
once. twice, then went completely dark.00:11:51
The darkness in a mind isn't like00:11:53
darkness anywhere else. It's absolute,00:11:57
total, the kind of black that presses00:11:59
against your eyes and makes you forget00:12:01
what seeing ever felt like. I could hear00:12:04
Dale and Lloyd breathing beside me, but00:12:07
I couldn't see my own hand in front of00:12:08
my face. Rule four. If your headlamp00:12:12
goes out completely, stay where you are00:12:15
and count to 60 before moving. I started00:12:18
counting. One Mississippi, two00:12:21
Mississippi, three Mississippi.00:12:24
At 15, I heard footsteps, not from Dale00:12:27
or Lloyd, who were sitting perfectly00:12:29
still beside me. These came from deeper00:12:33
in the tunnel, from the direction we'd00:12:35
been heading. Slow steps, deliberate,00:12:39
the kind of pace someone uses when00:12:40
they're in no hurry, when they know00:12:42
exactly where they're going and what00:12:44
they'll find when they get there.00:12:47
23 Mississippi 24 Mississippi. The00:12:51
footsteps grew closer. With them came a00:12:54
smell I recognized from my first night00:12:56
at the motel. Rust and rot and something00:12:59
else. Something organic that had been00:13:02
underground too long. My heart was doing00:13:05
painful things in my chest, but I kept00:13:08
counting, kept sitting still. 3700:13:11
Mississippi 38 Mississippi. The00:13:14
footsteps stopped right in front of me,00:13:17
close enough that I should have felt00:13:18
breath on my face if the thing standing00:13:20
there still breathed. The air grew00:13:23
colder. So cold that moisture beatated00:13:26
on my skin and froze there. I wanted to00:13:29
move, wanted to run, wanted to do00:13:32
anything except sit in the dark with00:13:34
something inches away from me that I00:13:37
couldn't see. 52 Mississippi 5300:13:41
Mississippi.00:13:42
Something touched my shoulder. Not a00:13:45
hand. Too many fingers. Too many joints.00:13:49
Moving like spider legs trying to find00:13:51
purchase.00:13:53
I bit down on my tongue hard enough to00:13:55
taste blood. But I didn't move. Didn't00:13:58
scream. Just kept counting.00:14:02
59 Mississippi 60. My headlamp came back00:14:06
on, bright and steady. The tunnel was00:14:10
empty. Dale and Lloyd sat beside me,00:14:13
their lights also back on, their faces00:14:15
carefully blank. But Lloyd's hands were00:14:18
shaking so badly he had to tuck them00:14:20
under his arms. "Good," Dale said after00:14:24
a moment. "You followed the rule. Most00:14:27
people don't. Most people run." He stood00:14:30
up, brushing cold dust off his pants.00:14:33
The ones who run don't come back up. My00:14:36
shoulder still felt cold where the thing00:14:38
had touched me. I didn't want to look at00:14:40
it. Didn't want to see if they were00:14:42
marks.00:14:44
But I couldn't help myself. I pulled my00:14:46
collar aside. Five dark spots, perfectly00:14:50
round, arranged in a pattern that almost00:14:53
looked like fingertips,00:14:55
except there were seven of them instead00:14:56
of five. and they were sunk into my skin00:15:00
like someone had pressed hard enough to00:15:02
leave permanent impressions.00:15:04
That'll fade, Dale said, not sounding00:15:07
entirely convinced.00:15:10
Usually does mostly.00:15:13
We went back to work, checking more00:15:15
support beams, moving through tunnels00:15:17
that all looked the same. Every shadow00:15:20
seemed deeper now. Every sound echoed in00:15:23
ways, and the bell kept ringing,00:15:26
constant and rhythmic, like it was00:15:29
counting down to something. Around noon,00:15:32
we reached a junction where three00:15:33
tunnels met. Someone had painted white00:15:36
lines on the floor here, thick stripes00:15:39
that formed a circle about 6 ft across.00:15:43
Inside the circle were dark stains that00:15:45
looked suspiciously like dried blood.00:15:48
Lloyd gave it a wide birth, refusing to00:15:50
even look at it directly. What's that00:15:53
for? I asked. Rule one, Dale said. If00:15:58
the bell rings more than seven times,00:16:00
you stand here inside the circle. Don't00:16:03
matter where you are in the mine, you00:16:05
get to a white line and you stay there00:16:08
until it stops. What happens if you00:16:11
don't? Dale's jaw tightened. He pointed00:16:15
his headlamp down a side tunnel, one we00:16:17
weren't scheduled to check. See for00:16:20
yourself.00:16:22
20 ft down the tunnel, something was00:16:24
standing against the wall. It might have00:16:26
been a person once. It had the right00:16:28
general shape, the right approximate00:16:31
height. But it was wrong in ways my00:16:33
brain struggled to process. Its limbs00:16:36
bent at places where there shouldn't00:16:38
have been joints. Its head tilted at an00:16:41
angle that would have broken a living00:16:43
person's neck.00:16:44
and it was perfectly completely still.00:16:49
Rule three.00:16:51
If you see another worker standing00:16:52
completely still, do not approach them.00:16:56
How long has he been there? I whispered.00:17:00
Since before I started, Dale said, been00:17:03
there at least 3 years, maybe longer.00:17:06
He's on the list number 47.00:17:10
the list00:17:11
of people who didn't follow the rules.00:17:14
Dale turned away from the figure.00:17:17
Company keeps track, says it's for00:17:19
safety records, but we all know what it00:17:22
really is. It's a headcount, a reminder00:17:25
of how many the mine's already taken.00:17:29
If you like the stories, please hype the00:17:31
videos from a button like this just00:17:33
above the comment section. They helps00:17:35
the videos to get more reach and perform00:17:37
well. It would take just a few seconds00:17:39
and cost nothing, but would help the00:17:41
channel grow even faster.00:17:44
Thank you.00:17:46
We moved on, leaving the thing that used00:17:48
to be a person standing in the dark.00:17:51
But I could feel it watching us leave.00:17:54
Could sense something behind those empty00:17:56
eyes tracking our movement. And I00:17:59
wondered how long it would be before00:18:00
someone found me standing in some00:18:02
forgotten tunnel, bent wrong and frozen00:18:05
forever. just another number on the00:18:07
company's list. Dale and Lloyd sat00:18:10
against the tunnel wall, separated by00:18:12
about 10 ft of space, each in their own00:18:15
pool of headlamp light.00:18:18
I realized I'd never seen them sit close00:18:20
together. Never seen them make casual00:18:23
conversation like normal co-workers00:18:25
would.00:18:27
I pulled out the paper bag Betty had00:18:29
packed, a ham sandwich on white bread, a00:18:32
bag of UTS chips, and a Coke that had00:18:35
gone warm. Simple food that tasted like00:18:38
the best meal I'd ever had after hours00:18:40
breathing cold dust and fear.00:18:43
Lloyd wasn't eating again, just staring00:18:46
at something in his hands. When my light00:18:49
caught it, I saw what looked like a00:18:51
photograph. Edges worn soft from00:18:54
constant handling. A woman and a little00:18:57
girl both smiling in front of a00:18:59
Christmas tree. "Your family?" I asked.00:19:03
He looked up surprised like he'd00:19:05
forgotten I was there. "Was00:19:08
wife took my daughter and left 6 months00:19:10
ago. Said she couldn't watch me00:19:13
disappear a little more every day." He00:19:16
tucked the photo back in his pocket.00:19:18
She wasn't wrong. I can feel it00:19:21
happening. Pieces of me going missing00:19:25
sometimes. I forget my daughter's middle00:19:27
name. Sometimes I can't remember what my00:19:30
wife's laugh sounded like.00:19:33
Why don't you quit?00:19:35
Can't? His voice was flat. Companies got00:19:38
clauses in the contract. You try to00:19:41
leave before your year is up. They sue00:19:43
for damages. Most of us signed because00:19:46
we were broke. Now we're trapped. He00:19:49
looked at me directly for the first time00:19:51
all day. How long did they give you? I00:19:55
thought back to the contract, the one00:19:57
I'd barely read before signing.00:20:00
12 months.00:20:01
Same as everyone. 12 months in the mine00:20:04
or financial ruin. He pulled out his00:20:07
water bottle, took a long drink.00:20:10
Nobody's made it the full year yet. Not00:20:13
since they reopened this section 3 years00:20:15
ago. Dale cleared his throat. A warning00:20:18
sound. Lloyd went quiet, but the damage00:20:21
was done. My appetite vanished. I00:20:24
wrapped up the rest of my sandwich and00:20:26
shoved it back in the bag. We need to00:20:28
check level five before shift ends, Dale00:20:31
said, standing up. Water quality test.00:20:35
Monthly requirement.00:20:38
Level five was deeper than I'd expected.00:20:41
The descent took 20 minutes, following a00:20:43
shaft that spiraled down through layers00:20:45
of rock and coal. The temperature00:20:48
dropped with every step. By the time we00:20:50
reached the bottom, I could see frost00:20:52
forming on the exposed pipes that ran00:20:54
along the ceiling. The drinking fountain00:20:57
was in an al cove carved into the tunnel00:20:59
wall. Someone had mounted a mirror above00:21:02
it, cracked and spotted with age. The00:21:05
water ran continuously from the top, a00:21:08
thin stream that splashed into the basin00:21:10
below. And it was brown, exactly like00:21:14
the rules said, not muddy brown. Rust00:21:18
brown, blood brown.00:21:22
Take a sample, Dale said, handing me a00:21:25
plastic bottle. We send it to the00:21:27
company lab every month. They always say00:21:30
it's fine. We drink it anyway. I held00:21:33
the bottle under the stream. The water00:21:36
was cold enough to hurt my fingers, and00:21:38
it had a smell like old pennies left in00:21:40
the rain. When the bottle was full, I00:21:43
capped it and set it aside.00:21:45
That's when I saw the writing on the00:21:47
mirror scratched into the glass with00:21:50
something sharp, probably a knife or a00:21:52
nail. Letters 2 in tall, crude, but00:21:56
readable.00:21:58
They're still alive down here. We're all00:22:01
still alive. Please help us.00:22:05
Below it, someone else had written,00:22:08
"Don't listen. They're not people00:22:09
anymore."00:22:11
and below that in fresher scratches that00:22:13
looked recent. The bell is hungry. The00:22:16
bell is always hungry.00:22:19
Don't read the mirror messages, Dale00:22:22
said, but his voice lacked conviction.00:22:25
They'll mess with your head. Who writes00:22:28
them? Workers who've been here too long00:22:31
or things pretending to be workers. Hard00:22:33
to tell the difference anymore. He00:22:35
checked his watch. A battered Timex with00:22:38
a cracked face.00:22:40
We need to move. Still got two more00:22:42
levels to check. But before we could00:22:45
leave, I heard it. My name spoken00:22:48
clearly from somewhere deeper in level00:22:50
5. A woman's voice familiar in a way00:22:53
that made my chest ache. It sounded like00:22:56
my mother who died when I was 17, who I00:22:59
hadn't heard speak in 8 years. Tommy.00:23:03
Tommy. Honey, where are you? I need00:23:05
help. Please. I'm lost down here. Rule00:23:08
five. Sometimes you will hear voices00:23:11
calling your name from deeper tunnels.00:23:13
These are not your co-workers. Do not00:23:16
answer. Do not investigate.00:23:19
But it sounded so much like her. The00:23:22
exact pitch and tone, the way she used00:23:24
to call me when I was late for dinner.00:23:27
My feet started moving before my brain00:23:29
caught up, carrying me toward the voice.00:23:32
Dale grabbed my arm hard enough to00:23:34
bruise. Don't.00:23:37
That's my mother. She needs help. That's00:23:40
not your mother. Your mother's dead. And00:23:43
whatever's using her voice wants you to00:23:45
think it needs help. It doesn't. It just00:23:48
wants you deeper in the tunnels where we00:23:50
can't follow.00:23:52
The voice came again, more desperate00:23:54
now. Tell me, please. It's so dark down00:23:58
here. I'm scared. Don't leave me alone.00:24:03
Every instinct I had screamed at me to00:24:06
go to her, to help, to at least answer00:24:08
so she'd know I heard her. But Dale's00:24:11
grip on my arm kept me anchored to00:24:13
reality.00:24:15
Lloyd had moved closer, too, putting00:24:17
himself between me and the deeper00:24:19
tunnel. "Close your eyes," Lloyd said00:24:23
quietly. "Count to 30. It'll pass. It00:24:27
always passes."00:24:29
I closed my eyes and counted. The voice00:24:32
kept calling, kept begging, kept using00:24:35
my mother's words and inflections. At00:24:38
15, it changed, became angry, bitter,00:24:42
started saying things my mother would00:24:44
never have said, horrible accusations00:24:46
and threats. At 23, it wasn't my00:24:49
mother's voice anymore. It was something00:24:52
else. Something trying to sound human,00:24:54
but failing. The words came out wrong,00:24:57
syllables stretched and distorted,00:25:00
multiple tones overlapping like several00:25:02
people speaking at once. At 30, it00:25:05
stopped. When I opened my eyes, the00:25:08
tunnel ahead was empty and silent.00:25:12
"Good," Dale said, releasing my arm.00:25:15
"You're learning." My hands were00:25:18
shaking. I shoved them in my pockets so00:25:20
they wouldn't see. Does it always know00:25:23
the right voice to use? Always. It gets00:25:27
in your head somehow. Finds the person00:25:29
you miss most. Last month, it used00:25:32
Lloyd's daughter's voice. Month before00:25:34
that, it was my brother who died in a00:25:37
rock. Dale started walking back toward00:25:39
the shaft. Company says it's acoustic00:25:42
phenomena. Air pressure and echoes00:25:45
creating auditory hallucinations,00:25:47
but we all know better. We climbed back00:25:50
up to level four in silence. The bell00:25:54
was ringing louder now, more insistent.00:25:57
I counted the chimes without thinking00:25:59
about it. Always seven, never more.00:26:04
Never less.00:26:05
Always that same rhythm that seemed to00:26:07
sync up with my heartbeat.00:26:10
As we reached the junction with the00:26:12
white circle, I saw something. A lunch00:26:15
pale sitting right in the middle of the00:26:17
painted lines. old style metal, the kind00:26:20
my grandfather used to carry. It looked00:26:23
brand new, no rust or dents, like00:26:26
someone had just set it down moments00:26:27
ago. Rule six. If you find a lunch pail00:26:31
that isn't yours, leave it where it is.00:26:34
Do not open it. Do not move it.00:26:37
Dale, I said, pointing. He looked at the00:26:40
lunch pail and went pale. That wasn't00:26:43
there an hour ago. I checked this00:26:45
junction myself. Should we report it to00:26:49
who? The company. Dale laughed, but00:26:53
there was no humor in it. They're the00:26:56
ones putting them there, testing us,00:26:59
seeing who's dumb enough to look inside.00:27:03
What's in them? Lloyd shook his head.00:27:07
Nobody who's looked has been able to00:27:08
say. They just start screaming and don't00:27:11
stop.00:27:12
had a guy two months ago, Tommy Atkins00:27:15
from Beckley, found a lunch pail on00:27:17
level three. Opened it up and his mind00:27:21
just broke. They had to drag him out.00:27:24
Last I heard, he was at Sharp Hospital00:27:27
in Weston, psychiatric ward, still00:27:31
screaming.00:27:32
We gave the lunch pale a wide birth, but00:27:35
I couldn't stop looking at it. Couldn't00:27:37
stop wondering what was inside. What00:27:39
could possibly break someone that00:27:41
completely?00:27:43
And as we walked away, I swear I heard00:27:46
something moving inside it. Something00:27:48
wet and wrong, scraping against the00:27:50
metal, trying to get out. The bell rang00:27:54
seven times. Then, after a pause that00:27:57
felt like the mine itself was holding00:27:59
its breath, it rang an eighth time. The00:28:03
eighth chime echoed through the tunnels00:28:04
like a deathnell. Dale's face went white00:28:07
in the beam of his headlamp.00:28:10
Move now. He was already running toward00:28:13
the white circle, the one with the dark00:28:15
stains inside. Lloyd and I followed, our00:28:18
boots pounding against the rock floor,00:28:21
sending up clouds of cold dust that00:28:22
choked our lungs. We reached the circle00:28:25
and jumped inside just as the ninth00:28:28
chime rang out. Then the 10th, the 11th.00:28:33
Don't move, Dale hissed. Don't step00:28:36
outside the lines. Don't speak. Don't00:28:39
even breathe loud.00:28:41
The 12th chime, the 13th. The00:28:44
temperature plummeted. Frost spread00:28:47
across the tunnel walls in crystalline00:28:49
patterns, moving fast like timelapse00:28:52
footage. Our breath came out in white00:28:54
plumes that hung frozen in the air. And00:28:57
something was coming up from the deeper00:28:59
levels. I could hear it. Not footsteps00:29:03
this time, more like a dragging sound,00:29:06
wet and heavy, accompanied by a clicking00:29:09
that reminded me of crabs scuttling00:29:11
across rocks. The 14th chime, the 15th.00:29:16
It appeared at the edge of our light. At00:29:19
first, I thought it was multiple people00:29:20
walking together, but as it came closer,00:29:23
I realized it was one thing. One massive00:29:26
thing made from pieces of people who'd00:29:28
been in the mine too long. Arms and legs00:29:30
jutted out at wrong angles, some still00:29:33
wearing work gloves and steeltoed boots.00:29:35
Faces pressed out from its center mass,00:29:38
mouths open in silent screams, eyes00:29:41
clouded and distant. The 16th chime, the00:29:45
17th.00:29:47
The thing circled our white circle00:29:49
slowly, those faces turning to watch us00:29:52
as it moved.00:29:54
I recognized one of them. The stillness00:29:56
in his features, the particular angle of00:29:59
his head, number 47 from the side00:30:02
tunnel. He'd been absorbed into this,00:30:05
whatever this was, and he was still00:30:07
aware. His eyes tracked me with00:30:10
recognition and something that might00:30:12
have been pleading.00:30:14
The 18th chime, the 19th, Lloyd was00:30:18
crying silently beside me, tears00:30:20
freezing on his cheeks.00:30:23
Dale had his eyes closed, lips moving in00:30:25
what might have been prayer or might00:30:28
have been counting.00:30:30
I kept my eyes on the thing circling us,00:30:33
watching as more details emerged from00:30:35
the darkness.00:30:37
At least 30 people had been folded into00:30:39
its mass. Some looked recent, their skin00:30:42
still holding color.00:30:44
Others were older, nothing but bones00:30:47
held together by something black and00:30:49
viscous that dripped onto the tunnel00:30:51
floor.00:30:53
The 20th chime, the thing stopped00:30:57
directly in front of me. One of the00:30:59
faces pushed forward, stretching the00:31:02
black substance that bound it to the00:31:03
mass. The mouth opened wider than any00:31:06
human mouth should, and a voice came00:31:09
out. Not one voice. Many voices, all00:31:13
speaking at once in a chorus of agony.00:31:15
Join us. Join us. The bell is calling.00:31:19
The bell is hungry. Join us. The 21st00:31:23
chime. We were like you. We followed the00:31:26
rules. We thought we'd survive. But the00:31:29
rules just delay the inevitable.00:31:31
Everyone joins eventually. Everyone00:31:34
becomes part of the bell's choir. My00:31:37
feet wanted to move. wanted to step out00:31:39
of the circle and run, but I forced them00:31:42
to stay planted. Forced myself to00:31:44
remember that the white line was the00:31:46
only thing keeping us from being pulled00:31:47
into that mass of bodies and bones and00:31:49
screaming faces. The 22nd chime, one of00:31:53
the arms reached toward us, fingers00:31:55
stretching and lengthening like taffy,00:31:58
reaching across the white line. The tips00:32:01
of those fingers smoked when they00:32:02
crossed the painted boundary, like holy00:32:05
water on cursed flesh. But they kept00:32:07
coming, kept reaching. Dale opened his00:32:11
eyes. Don't let it touch you. If it00:32:14
touches you outside the circle, you're00:32:17
gone.00:32:18
The 23rd chime. The fingers were inches00:32:22
from my face now, close enough that I00:32:24
could see they weren't quite fingers00:32:26
anymore. The nails had grown into long00:32:28
black talons. The skin had split in00:32:31
places, revealing bone that looked more00:32:34
like coal than calcium. And they were00:32:37
cold. So cold that the air around them00:32:40
froze solid, forming tiny ice crystals00:32:43
that drifted down like snow. The 24th00:32:47
chime. Then silence.00:32:50
The bell stopped ringing. For a moment,00:32:53
nothing happened. The thing stood there,00:32:56
its many faces watching us, that00:32:58
elongated arm still reaching. Then, like00:33:02
someone had cut its strings, it00:33:03
collapsed. The bodies and bones that00:33:06
made up its mass separated, falling to00:33:08
the tunnel floor in a heap of limbs and00:33:10
torsos and hollow skulls.00:33:14
The black substance that had held it00:33:15
together evaporated into smoke that00:33:17
smelled like burning rubber and spoiled00:33:19
meat. We waited 30 seconds, a minute, 200:33:24
minutes. "Okay," Dale said finally.00:33:28
"It's over. We can move."00:33:30
We stepped out of the circle carefully,00:33:32
like the floor might give way beneath00:33:34
us. The pile of bodies remained where00:33:37
they'd fallen, but they looked different00:33:39
now, less real, more like stage props or00:33:43
wax figures.00:33:45
When I got closer, I saw they were00:33:46
fading, becoming translucent, until they00:33:50
vanished entirely, leaving nothing but00:33:52
dark stains on the rock floor.00:33:56
What was that? My voice came out.00:33:59
The bell's collector. Dale said he was00:34:03
shaking. Adrenaline or fear or both.00:34:06
When it rings more than seven times,00:34:08
that thing comes up from the deep00:34:10
sections. It takes whoever it can find.00:34:13
The white lines are the only protection.00:34:15
They're painted with something special.00:34:18
Ground limestone mixed with salt and00:34:20
bone meal. Old miner's trick from before00:34:23
the company took over.00:34:25
Lloyd had sat down on the tunnel floor,00:34:28
his head between his knees. That's the00:34:30
third time this month. It's getting more00:34:33
frequent. Used to be once every few00:34:35
weeks. Now it's every few days.00:34:38
Why is it getting worse? Because the00:34:41
mine is hungry, Dale said. Always has00:34:44
been. The original operation shut down00:34:46
in 1952 after the disaster. Cave-in00:34:50
killed 47 men on the night shift. took 300:34:53
weeks to recover the bodies. Some they00:34:55
never found. Company sealed the deep00:34:58
sections and walked away. Nobody touched00:35:01
this place for 60 years. He sat down00:35:03
beside Lloyd, suddenly looking much00:35:06
older than 40. Then Harrow Creek Mining00:35:10
Corporation bought the land. New owners,00:35:12
new money, new technology. They said00:35:15
they could safely extract the remaining00:35:16
coal deposits.00:35:18
They reopened the sealed sections00:35:21
and they found something down there.00:35:24
Something that had been trapped for six00:35:26
decades. Something that had been feeding00:35:28
on the miners who died in the collapse.00:35:32
The bell, I said. The bell. Nobody knows00:35:36
what it is. Some kind of entity. Some00:35:39
kind of phenomenon. It rings because00:35:41
that's the only way it can communicate.00:35:44
And every person who hears it, every00:35:47
person who stays in the mine long enough00:35:49
becomes part of it. Becomes food for00:35:52
whatever's down there in the darkness.00:35:55
I thought about the contract I'd signed,00:35:58
the 12 months I'd committed to. There00:36:00
has to be a way out. A way to break the00:36:03
contract.00:36:05
There is, Lloyd said quietly. Death.00:36:09
That's the only way out. Die before the00:36:12
mind takes you. At00:36:14
least you go on your own terms.00:36:17
He looked up at me with eyes that had00:36:19
seemed too much. That's what my wife00:36:22
wanted me to understand. She wanted me00:36:25
to quit even if it meant losing00:36:26
everything. Because at least I'd still00:36:29
be me. At least I'd still remember her00:36:31
man. Our daughter's birthday. The sound00:36:34
of her laugh. We sat there in the cold00:36:38
tunnel, surrounded by dark stains where00:36:40
bodies had vanished, listening to the00:36:43
ordinary sounds of the mine, distant00:36:46
dripping water, the creek of old00:36:48
timbers, the whisper of air moving00:36:50
through passages that went down forever.00:36:54
Then from the deeper tunnels, I heard it00:36:56
again. That voice, not my mother's this00:37:00
time, my own voice calling out to me00:37:04
from the darkness. Help me. I'm stuck00:37:08
down here. I can't find my way back.00:37:12
Please,00:37:13
someone help me.00:37:16
It was my voice, but saying things I'd00:37:18
never said, expressing fear I hadn't00:37:20
felt yet. It was my future self, calling00:37:24
from some deeper level where I'd00:37:26
eventually end up. Lost and alone and00:37:29
begging for help that would never come.00:37:32
Dale stood up slowly.00:37:34
Shift ends in 2 hours. We need to finish00:37:37
the inspection and get topside before00:37:39
dark. The mine is worse at night. The00:37:42
bell rings stronger. The things that00:37:45
hunt become bolder.00:37:47
We made our way back through the00:37:49
tunnels, past the still workers standing00:37:51
in their eternal vigil, past the lunch00:37:54
pales that kept appearing in new00:37:56
locations,00:37:57
past the drinking fountains that ran00:37:59
clear and brown and sometimes red. And00:38:03
all the while that voice kept calling.00:38:06
My voice promising me that I was already00:38:09
lost, already part of the mine, already00:38:12
belonging to the bell.00:38:15
By the time we reached the surface, the00:38:18
sun was setting behind Copperhead Ridge,00:38:20
painting the dead trees in shades of00:38:22
orange and crimson.00:38:24
The parking lot looked the same as it00:38:26
had that morning, but somehow different,00:38:29
too. like returning to a place you00:38:31
thought you knew only to find all the00:38:33
details slightly wrong.00:38:36
Dale clocked us out on his clipboard.00:38:39
Tomorrow, same time, we're checking00:38:41
level six. It's worse down there. Bring00:38:44
extra batteries for your lamp and maybe00:38:46
say your goodbyes tonight just in case.00:38:49
I drove back to the sleepy hollow motor00:38:51
lodge in silence, my hands tight on the00:38:54
steering wheel. The marks on my shoulder00:38:56
achd. those seven impressions that00:38:59
weren't quite fingerprints. And in the00:39:01
rear view mirror, just for a moment, I00:39:04
thought I saw someone sitting in my back00:39:06
seat. Someone with my face looking at me00:39:10
with hollow eyes, mouththing words I00:39:12
couldn't hear, but somehow understood.00:39:16
Welcome home. You were always meant to00:39:18
be here. The bell has been waiting for00:39:20
you. Betty had dinner waiting when I got00:39:23
back to the motel. fried chicken, mashed00:39:26
potatoes, and green beans that came from00:39:28
a can, but tasted better than they had00:39:30
any right to. She said it on the small00:39:33
table in my room without asking if I00:39:35
wanted it. "You need to eat," she said.00:39:39
"Body can't fight what's happening to00:39:41
you on an empty stomach."00:39:43
I hadn't realized how hungry I was until00:39:45
the food was in front of me. I ate like00:39:48
someone who'd been starving for weeks,00:39:50
barely tasting it, just shoveling it in.00:39:54
Betty sat in the room's only chair,00:39:56
watching me with those sad eyes that00:39:58
seemed to see right through me.00:40:01
You saw something today, she said. Not a00:40:04
question. The collector, that's what00:40:07
Dale called it. 24 chimes and this thing00:40:11
came up from the deep sections made of00:40:13
people, faces I recognized.00:40:16
Betty nodded slowly. My husband's in00:40:20
there. Been part of it for 15 years now.00:40:23
I see him sometimes when I dream. He's00:40:26
trying to tell me something, but the00:40:27
words come out wrong. All jumbled up00:40:30
with the other voices. Why do you stay00:40:32
here? Why not leave Harrow Creek?00:40:35
Can't.00:40:37
Not while he's still down there, still00:40:39
trapped in that thing. Not while there's00:40:42
even a chance he might come back. She00:40:45
stood up, moved to the window, looked00:40:47
out at the darkening mountains.00:40:50
When the company reopened the mine, I00:40:53
thought maybe it would be different. New00:40:55
equipment, new safety procedures,00:40:58
but it's the same as it always was. The00:41:02
mine takes and takes and never gives00:41:04
anything back.00:41:06
Dale said the bell is some kind of00:41:08
entity, something that was trapped when00:41:11
they sealed the deep sections in 1952.00:41:15
The bell was here long before that.00:41:18
Betty turned to face me. My grandmother00:41:21
told me stories her grandmother told00:41:23
her. The bells been ringing in these00:41:25
mountains since before white folks00:41:27
settled here. Cherokee used to avoid00:41:30
this valley. Called it the hungry place.00:41:33
Said there was a spirit trapped in the00:41:35
earth. Something that ate loneliness and00:41:38
despair and turned people into echoes of00:41:41
themselves.00:41:42
She came back to the table, sat down00:41:45
across from me. The first mining00:41:47
operation started in 1903. Within 600:41:50
months, they had 20 men go missing. Not00:41:54
dead in accidents, just gone, vanished00:41:57
down in the deep tunnels. They'd send00:42:00
search parties, but the parties would00:42:02
come back different, quieter, more00:42:05
hollow, and they'd all hear the bell.00:42:09
Then why does the company keep00:42:10
operating? Why keep sending people down00:42:13
there?00:42:14
Because the coal they bring up is00:42:16
perfect. No impurities, no slag. It00:42:20
burns hotter and cleaner than any coal00:42:21
ever mined in West Virginia. Fetches00:42:24
three times the normal price. The00:42:26
company makes millions while feeding the00:42:28
mind the one thing it really wants.00:42:30
People. Fresh meat for the collector.00:42:33
Fresh voices for the bell's choir. I00:42:36
pushed my plate away. Appetite gone.00:42:40
There has to be a way to stop it. to00:42:42
break whatever's down there.00:42:45
Maybe00:42:47
Betty reached into her pocket and pulled00:42:49
out an old photograph. It showed a group00:42:52
of miners standing outside the mine00:42:54
entrance dated 1951.00:42:57
47 men, all grinning at the camera00:43:00
despite the coal dust on their faces.00:43:04
These are the men who died in the00:43:05
collapse. My husband's grandfather is in00:43:09
this picture, third from the left. I00:43:12
looked at the man she pointed to, young,00:43:15
maybe 25, with the Hatfield family00:43:18
resemblance clear in his features.00:43:21
What happened to them? The company said00:43:24
it was a structural failure. Support00:43:26
beams gave way and half of level 7 came00:43:29
down on the night shift.00:43:31
But my husband's grandfather left00:43:33
letters, hid them in the walls of this00:43:35
motel before he went down for his last00:43:38
shift. He knew something was wrong. Knew00:43:41
the mind was changing, becoming00:43:43
something alive and aware.00:43:46
She pulled out a folded piece of paper,00:43:48
yellowed with age, the handwriting shaky00:43:50
and rushed.00:43:52
He wrote that the bell was getting00:43:53
louder every day, that it had learned to00:43:56
mimic voices, to call men deeper into00:43:58
the tunnels where they'd never be found.00:44:02
He wrote that some of the miners had00:44:04
started changing, that they'd work their00:44:06
shifts with strange smiles, like they00:44:08
were hearing music nobody else could00:44:10
hear.00:44:12
I read the letter, my hands shaking. The00:44:15
last paragraph was underlined three00:44:17
times.00:44:18
If anyone finds this, know that we tried00:44:21
to stop it. Tried to destroy the bell.00:44:24
We planted charges in the deep sections,00:44:27
enough dynamite to bring down half the00:44:29
mountain. But the bell knew. It rang 4700:44:34
times on November 12th, and we all went00:44:36
down into the earth like sleepwalkers.00:44:40
By the time we understood what was00:44:42
happening, it was too late. The charges00:44:45
went off, but they didn't destroy00:44:48
anything. They just sealed us in with00:44:50
it. 47 voices for the bell's choir. God00:44:54
forgive us. God forgive me. They tried00:44:58
to kill it, I said. And it turned them00:45:01
into weapons against themselves.00:45:04
The bell feeds on isolation, Betty said,00:45:07
on loneliness and despair. Every person00:45:10
who goes down there alone who hears it00:45:12
calling becomes part of its meal.00:45:15
But those 47 men went down together.00:45:18
They were connected. They cared about00:45:21
each other. That's what the bell00:45:23
couldn't digest. That's why they're00:45:25
still aware, still trapped in the00:45:27
collector instead of fully absorbed.00:45:30
An idea was forming in my mind. A00:45:32
terrible, desperate idea.00:45:36
What if we didn't go down alone? What if00:45:39
all the workers went down together,00:45:41
connected, refusing to let the bell00:45:44
isolate us?00:45:46
Betty stared at me for a long moment.00:45:49
Then a smile spread across her face. The00:45:52
first genuine smile I'd seen from her.00:45:55
You might be crazier than I thought. Or00:45:58
you might be the first person in 7000:46:00
years who actually understands what00:46:02
needs to happen.00:46:04
We talked for hours, making plans,00:46:07
discussing how to convince the other00:46:09
workers.00:46:10
By the time Betty left, it was past00:46:13
midnight.00:46:15
I lay in bed knowing I wouldn't sleep,00:46:18
listening to the sounds of the old motel00:46:20
settling and waiting because I knew what00:46:23
was coming at 3:33.00:46:26
At 3:15, I got up and made coffee in the00:46:29
little pot by the sink. Sat at the table00:46:32
with the TV on. Some late night00:46:34
infomercial selling kitchen knives. The00:46:37
volume was turned low, but it helped00:46:39
fill the silence. At 3:32, the TV went00:46:43
to static. At 3:33, the bell rang. It00:46:47
was louder than it had been in the mine.00:46:49
Clearer, like the bell was right outside00:46:52
my window, or maybe inside my head.00:46:55
Seven slow chimes that seem to resonate00:46:57
in my chest, in my bones, in the deepest00:47:00
parts of my brain.00:47:02
Rule seven. The bell rings at 3:33 a.m.00:47:06
every night. You will hear it even when00:47:09
you're not in the mine. This is normal.00:47:12
But knowing it was normal didn't make it00:47:14
less terrifying. With each chime, the00:47:17
room grew colder. Frost formed on the00:47:20
inside of the windows. My breath came00:47:23
out in clouds. And in the static on the00:47:26
TV screen, I saw shapes moving, faces00:47:29
pressing against the glass from inside,00:47:32
trying to push through into the real00:47:34
world. One of them was mine. The same00:47:37
version I'd seen in the rear view00:47:39
mirror. It pressed its face against the00:47:42
screen, mouth moving, saying words I00:47:45
could almost hear beneath the static00:47:47
hiss.00:47:49
Come back down. Come back home. We're00:47:53
waiting for you. We've always been00:47:55
waiting.00:47:57
The seventh chime faded. The static00:47:59
cleared. The faces disappeared. The room00:48:03
warmed back to its normal temperature,00:48:05
though the frost on the windows00:48:06
remained, forming patterns that looked00:48:09
disturbingly like hands reaching upward.00:48:12
I didn't sleep that night. Instead, I00:48:15
spent the hours until dawn reading00:48:17
everything I could find about Harrow00:48:19
Creek online.00:48:21
old newspaper articles about the 195200:48:23
disaster,00:48:25
historical society records about the00:48:27
Cherokee legends, geological surveys00:48:30
that mentioned unusual acoustic00:48:32
properties in the limestone caves00:48:33
beneath the valley, and one thing kept00:48:36
appearing across all the sources, one00:48:39
detail that nobody seemed to find00:48:41
significant, but that stood out to me00:48:43
like a beacon.00:48:45
Every major incident at the mine00:48:47
happened when workers were isolated from00:48:49
each other. Every disappearance, every00:48:52
strange death, every case of someone00:48:54
losing their mind.00:48:57
They all happened to people who were00:48:58
alone when the bell rang. But the 47 men00:49:02
in 1952,00:49:04
they'd been together, all on the same00:49:07
shift, all working in connected areas of00:49:10
Level 7. The Bell had to take them all00:49:13
at once. And even then, it couldn't00:49:16
fully digest them. They remained aware,00:49:20
trapped in the collector, still00:49:22
themselves in some horrible way.00:49:25
That was the key. The bell's power came00:49:28
from isolation, from making each person00:49:31
think they were alone against something00:49:33
vast and hungry. But if we went down00:49:36
together, if we stayed connected, if we00:49:39
refused to let it separate us,00:49:42
maybe we could starve it instead.00:49:45
At dawn, I called Dale. He answered on00:49:49
the fourth ring, voice heavy with00:49:51
exhaustion.00:49:52
What? I need to talk to you and Lloyd00:49:56
before shift. All the workers, actually.00:49:59
Everyone who's still got enough of00:50:00
themselves left to listen.00:50:03
What are you talking about? I think I00:50:06
know how to kill it. The bell, the00:50:09
collector, all of it. But I can't do it00:50:12
alone. None of us can. That's the whole00:50:16
point.00:50:18
There was a long pause. Then you know00:50:21
they'll fire us. Breach of contract.00:50:24
Financial ruin.00:50:27
Would you rather be financially ruined00:50:28
or end up as part of that thing we saw00:50:30
yesterday? Another face in the00:50:33
collector, screaming for help that never00:50:35
comes.00:50:36
Another pause. Longer this time.00:50:40
Finally.00:50:42
Parking lot. 6:00 a.m. I'll get the00:50:45
others.00:50:47
I hung up and looked out the window. The00:50:49
sun was rising over Copperhead Ridge,00:50:52
painting the dead trees gold and red.00:50:55
Beautiful. If you didn't know what those00:50:57
trees had died from. If you didn't know00:51:00
about the poisons seeping up from the00:51:02
mine, the spiritual corruption that had00:51:04
turned an entire valley into a feeding00:51:07
ground. Betty knocked on my door at00:51:10
5:30. She had coffee in a thermos and a00:51:13
look of fierce determination I hadn't00:51:15
seen before.00:51:17
My husband's mother wants to come, she00:51:19
said. So does Dale's sister and Lloyd's00:51:22
ex-wife.00:51:24
We've been talking all the families of00:51:27
people who've been taken.00:51:29
We want to help. We want to be there00:51:32
when you go down. It's going to be00:51:34
dangerous. If this doesn't work.00:51:38
If it doesn't work, we're no worse off00:51:40
than we already are. But if it does, her00:51:43
voice broke. If it does, maybe we can00:51:46
bring them back. Maybe we can free00:51:49
everyone the mine has taken.00:51:51
We drove to the mine together in Betty's00:51:53
old Buick, following the winding road up00:51:56
Copperhead Ridge as the sun climbed00:51:58
higher. By the time we reached the00:52:01
parking lot, there were already a dozen00:52:03
people waiting. Dale and Lloyd, the00:52:06
other workers from yesterday, and more I00:52:09
didn't recognize.00:52:10
People who'd worked at the mine and00:52:12
somehow survived their contracts.00:52:15
People who'd lost family members to the00:52:16
deep sections.00:52:19
people who'd been listening to the bell00:52:20
for years, waiting for someone to00:52:23
finally say enough. We stood there in00:52:25
the growing light, looking at the mine00:52:27
entrance with its spray- painted crosses00:52:30
and concrete reinforcements,00:52:32
looking at the mouth that had swallowed00:52:34
so many and given back only shells and00:52:37
echoes. "Okay," I said. "Here's what00:52:41
we're going to do." We gathered in a00:52:44
circle in the parking lot. 23 people00:52:46
who'd all been touched by the mine in00:52:48
one way or another. Dale stood beside00:52:51
me, Lloyd on the other side. Betty held00:52:54
the hand of an older woman who00:52:56
introduced herself as Margaret Parsons,00:52:59
Dale's mother. Lloyd's ex-wife,00:53:01
Jennifer, stood with their daughter00:53:03
clutching her leg. A girl may be 5 years00:53:06
old with Lloyd's eyes. The bell feeds on00:53:09
isolation, I began. Every story, every00:53:13
incident, every person who's been taken00:53:15
happened when they were alone. But the00:53:18
47 miners in 1952 went down together.00:53:22
They're still aware because the bell00:53:23
couldn't fully absorb them. Their00:53:26
connection to each other kept them from00:53:27
being completely digested.00:53:30
So, we go down together. Dale said,00:53:34
"Stay connected. Don't let it separate00:53:36
us."00:53:38
More than that, we bring the one thing00:53:41
the bell can't feed on. Hope. Human00:53:45
connection.00:53:46
Love for the people we've lost. I looked00:53:50
at Jennifer and her daughter. That's why00:53:52
the families need to be part of this.00:53:55
The bell has been eating despair and00:53:57
loneliness for over a century. We're00:54:01
going to give it the opposite. We're00:54:03
going to force it to choke.00:54:05
A man in his 50s stepped forward. He had00:54:08
burned scars on his arms and the look of00:54:10
someone who'd worked hard labor his00:54:12
entire life.00:54:14
Name's Wayne Renan. Lost my son to the00:54:17
mine last year. He was doing a solo00:54:20
inspection on level six when he00:54:21
disappeared. If there's even a chance00:54:24
this works, I'm in. Others spoke up. A00:54:28
woman named Patty Lester, whose brother00:54:31
had been absorbed into the collector 300:54:33
months ago. a young guy named Billy00:54:35
Keane, who'd survived his contract, but00:54:38
left pieces of himself behind. Each of00:54:41
them had a story. Each of them had been00:54:44
wounded by the mine's hunger. "We need00:54:46
supplies," Betty said. "Salt, limestone00:54:50
powder, anything that can be used to00:54:52
mark protective circles if things go00:54:54
wrong, and rope. Lots of rope. We stay00:54:58
physically connected if we have to."00:55:00
Lloyd pulled out his pickups tailgate00:55:02
and started organizing. People went to00:55:04
their cars and trucks, bringing back00:55:07
everything they could find. Rock salt00:55:09
from someone's garage, climbing rope00:55:12
from a sporting goods store in00:55:13
Charleston. Flashlights and batteries00:55:16
and first aid kits. Even a portable00:55:18
speaker someone had bought at the00:55:20
Walmart two towns over. What's the00:55:22
speaker for? Dale asked. Music, I said.00:55:27
The bell uses sound to isolate us, to00:55:29
fill our heads with its ringing until we00:55:31
can't think straight. We counter with00:55:34
different sounds, songs we know, voices00:55:37
we trust, things that remind us we're00:55:40
human and we're together.00:55:42
Jennifer was putting together a playlist00:55:44
on her phone, asking people for song00:55:47
requests. Someone wanted Take Me Home,00:55:50
Country Roads. Someone else requested00:55:53
Amazing Grace. Lloyd asked for his00:55:56
daughter's favorite song, some cartoon00:55:59
theme I didn't recognize, but that made00:56:01
the little girl smile. By 700 in the00:56:04
morning, we were as ready as we'd ever00:56:06
be. Dale had called the company, told00:56:10
them we were doing an emergency safety00:56:11
inspection on the deep sections. The00:56:14
supervisor on the phone said they'd be00:56:16
fired, sued, destroyed financially.00:56:20
Dale said that was fine. They could send00:56:22
the paperwork to whatever was left of00:56:24
us.00:56:25
We approached the mine entrance00:56:27
together, walking in a group rather than00:56:30
a line. The spray-painted crosses above00:56:33
the door seemed brighter in the morning00:56:34
sun. Or maybe I was just paying more00:56:37
attention.00:56:38
Wayne Renan reached up and touched one00:56:40
as he passed beneath it, whispering00:56:42
something too quiet to hear. The tunnel00:56:46
swallowed us.00:56:48
23 people with headlamps and00:56:49
flashlights, holding hands or gripping00:56:52
rope, staying so close we kept bumping00:56:54
into each other. And that was good. That00:56:58
was the point. We needed to feel each00:57:00
other's presence to know we weren't00:57:03
alone in the dark. The mind reacted00:57:05
immediately. The temperature dropped00:57:08
fast enough that our breath turned to00:57:10
fog within 30 ft of the entrance. The00:57:13
walls began to sweat, moisture running00:57:16
down in streams that pulled on the00:57:18
floor, and the bell started ringing, not00:57:21
its usual pattern. Fast, frantic chimes00:57:25
that over overlapped and echoed until00:57:26
the sound became almost solid, pressing00:57:29
against our ears. "Don't listen to it,"00:57:33
Betty shouted. "Focus on each other.00:57:35
Focus on why we're here."00:57:38
Jennifer started playing the music.00:57:41
Country roads filled the tunnel, tiny00:57:43
and distorted through the small speaker,00:57:45
but real human voices singing about00:57:49
mountains and rivers and home. Some of00:57:52
us sang along, our voices rough and off00:57:54
key, but genuine. The bells ringing00:57:57
continued, but it felt less oppressive,00:58:00
less absolute.00:58:02
We descended to level three. The00:58:04
drinking fountains were running, both of00:58:07
them, clear and brown water mixing00:58:09
together in violation of the rules.00:58:12
Steam rose from where they met, and the00:58:14
smell made several people gag. But we00:58:17
kept moving, kept singing, kept holding00:58:21
tight to each other. On level four, we00:58:24
found the still workers, not just number00:58:27
47. Dozens of them arranged in a00:58:30
corridor that led to the deeper00:58:32
sections. They'd been positioned like00:58:34
warning signs, bodies bent and twisted00:58:37
to spell out a message we couldn't quite00:58:39
read, but understood instinctively.00:58:43
Turn back. Go no further. This is where00:58:46
hope ends.00:58:48
Lloyd's daughter started crying.00:58:51
Jennifer picked her up, held her close.00:58:54
Don't look at them, baby. Look at me.00:58:57
Just look at mama.00:58:59
But I made myself look, made myself00:59:02
study each face, each frozen expression00:59:05
of terror and realization.00:59:07
These were the people who'd gone down00:59:09
alone, who'd tried to survive the mine00:59:11
through obedience rather than00:59:13
resistance.00:59:15
And the mine had taken them anyway,00:59:17
because that's what it did. It took and00:59:20
took and never stopped taking.00:59:24
They're still in there, I said quietly,00:59:27
still aware. We're going to free them.00:59:31
Wayne Renan stepped forward and did00:59:33
something I didn't expect. He hugged one00:59:36
of the still workers, wrapped his arms00:59:38
around the frozen figure, and held00:59:40
tight.00:59:41
"I'm here, Danny. Your old man's here.00:59:45
I'm going to bring you home."00:59:48
The figure's eyes moved. Just a00:59:50
fraction. Just enough to show something00:59:53
still lived behind them. And from its00:59:56
mouth came a sound, not quite words,00:59:59
more like a groan of recognition.01:00:02
We kept moving past the white circles01:00:04
and dark stains, past the lunch pales01:00:07
that kept appearing in our path. Billy01:00:10
Keane kicked one aside, and instead of01:00:12
consequences, we heard something like a01:00:15
shriek echo from deeper in the mine. The01:00:18
sound of something surprised, something01:00:20
frustrated.01:00:23
It's working, Dale said. The mind01:00:26
doesn't know what to do with us. Level01:00:28
five was worse. The walls were moving,01:00:31
not physically, but in ways that hurt to01:00:33
look at. They rippled like water, and01:00:36
faces kept pressing through from behind,01:00:39
mouths open in silent screams. The brown01:00:42
water fountain was spraying now, coating01:00:44
the floor in rustcoled liquid that01:00:46
steamed and hissed where it landed. But01:00:49
we had 23 people sharing 23 lights and01:00:52
there were no shadows big enough to hide01:00:54
in. The faces in the walls retreated.01:00:58
The water fountain sputtered and died.01:01:01
At the junction between level 5 and01:01:03
level six, we found writing on the01:01:05
walls, fresh, still dripping, written in01:01:09
something dark and viscous that might01:01:11
have been oil or blood or something01:01:13
worse. The same message repeated over01:01:16
and over. You cannot save them. You will01:01:19
join them. The bell is eternal. The01:01:22
hunger never ends.01:01:25
Margaret Parson stepped up to the wall01:01:27
and wiped away part of the message with01:01:29
her bare hand. Where she touched, the01:01:32
stone underneath was clean, unmarked.01:01:35
"My boy is down here somewhere," she01:01:37
said. "Has been for 15 years. Whatever01:01:41
you are, whatever you think you are, you01:01:43
don't get to keep him. You don't get to01:01:45
keep any of them.01:01:47
She turned to face the group, her hands01:01:49
still dripping with that dark substance.01:01:52
My son was a good man, worked hard,01:01:55
loved his family, never hurt nobody.01:01:58
This place took him and tried to make01:02:00
him into something else. But I remember01:02:04
who he really was, and I'm not letting01:02:07
this mine have the last word on his01:02:09
life.01:02:11
Others stepped forward, adding their own01:02:14
defiance.01:02:15
Patty Lester wrote her brother's name on01:02:18
the wall in chalk. Wayne Renan tied a01:02:21
photo of his son to a support beam.01:02:23
Jennifer had her daughter draw a01:02:25
picture, stick figures of their family01:02:27
with a sun overhead, and taped it where01:02:30
the dark writing had been thickest.01:02:32
Acts of love in a place that fed on01:02:35
despair.01:02:37
Memories and connections in a space01:02:40
designed for isolation.01:02:42
And with each small gesture, the mind01:02:45
seemed to recoil. Seemed to pull back01:02:47
from us like we were poison it couldn't01:02:49
digest. The bell changed its pattern. No01:02:53
longer the steady seven chimes or the01:02:55
warning of more. Now it was ringing01:02:57
constantly. A desperate cacophony that01:03:00
had no rhythm, no structure, just noise,01:03:04
trying to drown out our music, our01:03:06
voices, our human sounds of connection01:03:10
and hope.01:03:12
We reached the shaft that led to level01:03:14
six, the deepest section of the mine01:03:18
where the original disaster had01:03:19
happened, where 47 men had been sealed01:03:23
in with the bell 70 years ago, where01:03:26
everything had started. The shaft01:03:28
entrance was marked with police tape,01:03:30
yellow and faded, warning signs in01:03:33
multiple languages about unstable01:03:35
structures and toxic atmosphere.01:03:38
But the tape had been cut recently,01:03:40
hanging in strips, and there were01:03:42
footprints in the cold dust leading01:03:44
down. Fresh footprints, human prints.01:03:50
"Someone else is down there," Lloyd01:03:52
said. Dale checked the work logs on his01:03:54
phone, scrolling through the schedule.01:03:57
His face went pale. "Oh god, there was a01:04:01
maintenance worker scheduled for level01:04:03
six this morning. Emergency pump repair.01:04:06
His name is Tommy Atkins. The same Tommy01:04:09
Atkins from Beckley who'd opened the01:04:11
lunch pale two months ago. The one01:04:13
they'd taken to Sharp Hospital still01:04:15
screaming. He'd come back or the mine01:04:18
had brought him back. It's a trap, Billy01:04:22
Keen said. Has to be. The mine is using01:04:25
him as bait. Probably, I agreed. But01:04:29
we're going down anyway because that's01:04:31
what it can't understand. that we'd walk01:04:34
into a trap to save someone, that we'd01:04:37
risk everything for a person we don't01:04:38
even know.01:04:40
We started down the shaft to level six,01:04:43
all 23 of us, connected by rope and hope01:04:46
and stubborn human refusal to let the01:04:48
darkness win. And as we descended, the01:04:52
bells ringing grew louder, more furious,01:04:55
more desperate.01:04:56
It knew what we were trying to do. and01:04:59
it knew maybe for the first time in its01:05:02
long hungry existence that it might01:05:05
actually lose. Level six was different01:05:08
from the upper sections. The walls here01:05:10
weren't reinforced with concrete or01:05:12
steel beams. They were raw rock, ancient01:05:16
limestone carved with symbols that01:05:18
predated any mining operation.01:05:22
Cherokee warnings, Betty whispered when01:05:24
she saw them. Markers that said this01:05:27
place was wrong, had always been wrong01:05:30
would always be wrong. The air tasted01:05:33
like copper and earth and something01:05:34
else, something organic.01:05:37
Our lights caught movement everywhere.01:05:40
Shadows that fled from our combined01:05:42
illumination, but gathered thick in the01:05:44
spaces between, and the ringing had01:05:47
changed again, slower now, deeper. Each01:05:51
chime felt like it was coming from01:05:53
inside my chest, resonating with my01:05:56
heartbeat. We found Tommy Atkins a 10001:05:59
yards into level six. He was standing in01:06:02
the center of a natural cavern, arms01:06:05
outstretched like he was conducting an01:06:06
invisible orchestra. His hospital gown01:06:09
hung in tatters and his feet were bare,01:06:12
cut and bleeding from walking across the01:06:15
sharp rocks, but his face was the worst01:06:18
part. His eyes were open, but they01:06:21
weren't his eyes anymore. They'd been01:06:23
replaced with something that looked like01:06:25
black glass, reflective and empty.01:06:28
"Tommy," Wayne called out. "Son, can you01:06:31
hear me?" Tommy's head turned in our01:06:34
direction, his mouth opened, and the01:06:36
voice that came out was wrong. Multiple01:06:39
tones layered on top of each other,01:06:41
speaking in perfect synchronization.01:06:44
"You brought them all here. How01:06:46
generous.01:06:48
23 voices for the choir. 23 bodies for01:06:52
the collector.01:06:54
The bell. Thanks you for your offering.01:06:58
We're not offering anything. I said01:07:00
we're taking back what you stole.01:07:03
Tommy laughed and the sound echoed01:07:06
through the cavern, bouncing off walls01:07:08
that seem to pulse with the rhythm.01:07:11
You think you can starve the bell? You01:07:14
think your small human connections can01:07:15
overcome hunger that has lasted01:07:17
millennia? We have fed on this valley01:07:19
since before your kind learned to walk01:07:21
upright. We will feed long after your01:07:24
bones turned to dust. Behind Tommy, the01:07:28
cavern wall split open, not a crack or a01:07:31
collapse. It peeled back like skin,01:07:34
revealing a space that shouldn't exist.01:07:37
And in that space, suspended in darkness01:07:40
that seemed to have weight and texture,01:07:42
was the bell. It was massive, 10 ft tall01:07:46
at least, cast from metal that looked01:07:48
like iron, but moved like liquid,01:07:51
constantly flowing and reforming. Faces01:07:54
pressed out from its surface. Dozens of01:07:56
them, hundreds of them, all the people01:07:59
the mine had taken over the years. And01:08:01
hanging from the clapper, wrapped around01:08:03
it like a cocoon, was a human figure.01:08:07
the newest addition to the bell's01:08:08
collection.01:08:10
Danny, Wayne breathed. That's my boy.01:08:15
The bell rang once. The sound physically01:08:18
struck us, a wave of pressure that01:08:20
knocked several people to their knees.01:08:22
Jennifer clutched her daughter tighter,01:08:25
covering the child's ears. Betty gripped01:08:28
my arm hard enough to leave bruises.01:08:31
But we didn't break, didn't scatter,01:08:34
stayed together in our circle of light01:08:36
and human warmth.01:08:38
"Play the music," I said to Jennifer,01:08:41
"loud as it goes."01:08:43
She cranked the speaker to maximum01:08:45
volume. Country roads blasted through01:08:48
the cavern, competing with the bell's01:08:50
resonance. Other people started singing,01:08:53
shouting the lyrics, drowning out the01:08:56
ringing with human voices raised in01:08:58
defiance. The bell rang again, harder01:09:01
this time, trying to shatter our01:09:03
resolve. Cracks appeared in the cavern01:09:05
floor, spiderwebing outward from where01:09:08
we stood. The collector emerged from the01:09:10
darkness behind the bell. That mass of01:09:13
bodies and bones we'd seen on level01:09:15
four. But bigger now, so much bigger. It01:09:19
flowed toward us like a wave of01:09:21
screaming flesh. "We're not afraid of01:09:24
you," Margaret Parson said. She stepped01:09:28
forward, breaking from our circle,01:09:30
walking toward the collector with her01:09:32
arms open. "You hear me? I'm not afraid01:09:36
because my son is in there somewhere.01:09:39
And I remember him. I remember01:09:41
everything about him. every birthday,01:09:44
every scraped knee, every time he told01:09:47
me he loved me. You can't erase that.01:09:50
You can't eat those memories. The01:09:53
collector reached for her with a dozen01:09:55
arms, fingers lengthening into claws.01:09:58
But where they touched her, they01:10:00
recoiled, smoking like they'd grabbed01:10:02
hot metal.01:10:05
Margaret kept walking, kept talking,01:10:08
kept pouring out her memories of her son01:10:10
like weapons against the darkness.01:10:12
Others followed. Wayne Renan pushed past01:10:15
me, heading straight for the bell. I'm01:10:18
coming, Danny. Hold on. Your old man's01:10:21
coming. Patty Lester went next, calling01:10:24
her brother's name. Then Billy Keen,01:10:27
looking for the parts of himself the01:10:28
mine had stolen. One by one, we advanced01:10:32
on the bell and the collector, not as01:10:34
individuals, but as a united force of01:10:37
love and memory, and stubborn human01:10:39
refusal to let go.01:10:42
The bell rang frantically now, a01:10:44
continuous peel that had no rhythm, no01:10:47
purpose except to make us stop, to make01:10:50
us afraid, to drive us apart.01:10:53
But we were singing over it, all of us.01:10:56
Country roads and Amazing Grace and01:10:59
children's songs and hymns and anything01:11:01
else we could think of, creating a wall01:11:04
of human sound that the bell couldn't01:11:06
penetrate. I reached the bell's surface01:11:08
and pressed my hands against it.01:11:11
The metal was freezing, burning cold01:11:13
that seared my palms. But I didn't pull01:11:16
away beneath the surface. I could feel01:11:19
movement.01:11:21
All those trapped faces pushing against01:11:23
their prison, trying to break free. You01:11:27
fed on our despair, I shouted at the01:11:29
bell. You fed on our loneliness and01:11:31
isolation. But we're not alone anymore.01:11:35
We're not isolated. We're here together.01:11:38
And we remember everyone you took. We01:11:41
remember their names and their faces and01:11:43
their laughter and their love. And you01:11:46
can't digest that. You can't feed on01:11:48
connection. Others joined me at the01:11:51
bell's surface, pressing their hands01:11:53
against it, calling out names of the01:11:55
lost. The metal began to crack under our01:11:58
touch. Thin fractures spreading across01:12:01
its surface like ice breaking in spring.01:12:05
The collectors surged forward trying to01:12:07
protect the bell, but it was falling01:12:10
apart. Arms separated from the mass,01:12:13
bodies tumbling free, bones clattering01:12:16
to the cavern floor. And the faces, all01:12:20
those trapped faces were changing. The01:12:24
terror fading from their features,01:12:27
replaced by something that looked like01:12:29
relief.01:12:30
Tommy Atkins collapsed. those black01:12:33
glass eyes shattering. Real eyes01:12:36
emerging underneath. He was screaming,01:12:39
but it was his scream now, not the01:12:41
bell's voice using his mouth. Dale and01:12:44
Lloyd grabbed him, dragged him back01:12:46
toward our group, wrapping him in01:12:48
blankets someone had brought. The bell01:12:51
gave one final desperate ring, the01:12:54
loudest yet, powerful enough that blood01:12:56
ran from several people's noses. The01:12:59
cavern shook, rocks falling from the01:13:01
ceiling. But the sound was changing01:13:03
mid-ring, becoming higher, thinner, like01:13:07
metal straining past its breaking point.01:13:09
And then it cracked. A single fracture01:13:12
running from top to bottom, splitting01:13:14
the bell in two. The trapped figure01:13:16
inside, Danny Renan, fell free. His01:13:20
father caught him, held him, sobbing as01:13:23
he felt his son's chest rise and fall01:13:26
with real breath. Around us, the01:13:29
collector was dissolving entirely. All01:13:31
those absorbed bodies crumbling to dust01:13:34
that smelled like old paper and autumn01:13:36
leaves. Peaceful dust. Released dust.01:13:40
The faces in the bell's metal went01:13:42
still. And for a moment before they01:13:44
faded, I saw them smile, grateful, free.01:13:50
Finally allowed to rest. The cavern01:13:52
began to collapse. Not violently, but01:13:55
deliberately, like the mine itself was01:13:57
giving up, letting go of its hunger and01:14:00
its hold on this place. We ran, all 2301:14:04
of us, plus Tommy and Dany, stumbling01:14:06
through level six and up the shaft,01:14:08
through level five and level four, past01:14:11
the still workers who were moving now,01:14:13
following us toward the surface,01:14:15
relearning how to be human. The mine01:14:18
groaned behind us. Ancient timbers01:14:20
snapping. Stone grinding against stone.01:14:24
But ahead was daylight.01:14:26
Beautiful, painful, overwhelming01:14:29
daylight.01:14:31
We burst out of the entrance and into01:14:33
the parking lot, collapsing on the01:14:35
gravel, breathing fresh air that tasted01:14:37
like freedom. Behind us, the mine01:14:41
entrance collapsed inward with a sound01:14:43
like thunder. Dust billowed out. coating01:14:47
our vehicles and clothes. When it01:14:50
cleared, the entrance was sealed01:14:52
completely, buried under tons of rock.01:14:56
And in the silence that followed, I01:14:58
realized what was missing.01:15:01
The bell. I couldn't hear it anymore.01:15:05
That constant background ringing that01:15:07
had been there since my first night in01:15:09
Harrow Creek was gone. The air felt01:15:12
lighter, cleaner. The dead trees on the01:15:16
ridge looked a little less dead. Betty01:15:19
stood beside me, tears running down her01:15:21
face, but she was smiling.01:15:24
It's over. After all these years, it's01:15:27
finally over.01:15:29
Dale helped Tommy to his feet. Lloyd01:15:32
lifted his daughter onto his shoulders01:15:34
while Jennifer held his hand. Wayne01:15:37
supported his son, who was weak but01:15:39
alive, awake, remembering his own name.01:15:44
Margaret touched her boy's face with01:15:45
shaking hands, hardly believing he was01:15:48
real. All around us, people were01:15:51
reuniting with family members who'd been01:15:52
lost, holding tight to those who'd been01:15:55
freed from the collector's embrace. 2301:15:57
of us had gone down. 43 came back up.01:16:02
The bell's choir was silent at last. The01:16:05
company tried to sue us, just like they01:16:08
promised. breach of contract,01:16:10
destruction of property, industrial01:16:13
sabotage. The lawsuits piled up like01:16:16
snowdrifts, threatening to bury us in01:16:18
legal fees and financial ruin. But then01:16:21
the state inspectors showed up, and what01:16:23
they found in the mine's records made01:16:25
the company's lawyers very quiet, very01:16:28
fast.01:16:29
70 years of disappearances, documented01:16:32
and filed away. Insurance payouts for01:16:35
accidents that never happened. quarterly01:16:38
reports that mentioned acceptable loss01:16:40
rates for human workers.01:16:42
Betty's husband's grandfather wasn't the01:16:44
only one who'd left evidence. Others had01:16:47
hidden letters, journals, photographs.01:16:50
Stories the company had tried to bury01:16:52
along with the bodies. The lawsuits01:16:55
disappeared. So did Harrow Creek Mining01:16:58
Corporation dissolved overnight. Assets01:17:01
liquidated.01:17:03
Nobody went to prison. Nobody ever does01:17:05
when corporations kill people slowly,01:17:08
carefully, with plausible deniability.01:17:12
But at least the mine stayed closed. At01:17:14
least no one else would be fed to the01:17:16
hunger in the dark. We meet on the third01:17:19
Saturday of every month. All of us. The01:17:22
ones who went down and the ones who came01:17:25
back up. Betty hosts at the motel, which01:17:29
she's turning into something better than01:17:31
a way station for desperate people. A01:17:34
community center, maybe a place where01:17:36
people can gather and remember they're01:17:38
not alone. Lloyd brings his daughter,01:17:41
who started drawing pictures of the01:17:42
mine. Her therapist says it's healthy,01:17:46
that she's processing the trauma through01:17:48
art. The stick figures she draws are01:17:51
always holding hands, always connected,01:17:54
always stronger together than apart.01:17:57
Wayne's son, Dany, is relearning how to01:17:59
be human. Some days are better than01:18:02
others.01:18:03
He still forgets things, still loses01:18:06
time, still wakes up with cold dust on01:18:08
his hands even though he hasn't been01:18:10
underground in months. But he's trying.01:18:13
His father helps him, patient and01:18:15
steady, refusing to let him feel alone01:18:18
in the recovery. Tommy Atkins doesn't01:18:21
come to the meetings. He's still at01:18:23
Sharp Hospital, still working through01:18:25
what happened to him. But he sends01:18:28
letters sometimes, rambling and01:18:30
disjointed, but getting clearer each01:18:32
time. Last month, he wrote that he's01:18:35
starting to remember who he was before01:18:37
the mine. Starting to believe he can be01:18:40
that person again. I left Harrow Creek.01:18:44
Couldn't stay in that valley. Couldn't01:18:46
keep looking at Copperhead Ridge where01:18:47
the mine entrance used to be. But I come01:18:50
back for the meetings. always will01:18:53
because sometimes late at night when I'm01:18:56
alone in my apartment in Charleston, I01:18:58
hear it faint and distant, but01:19:01
unmistakable, the bell ringing from01:19:04
somewhere far away. The first time it01:19:07
happened, I called Dale in a panic. He01:19:09
admitted he heard it, too. So did Lloyd,01:19:12
Betty, Margaret, and everyone else. The01:19:15
bell wasn't completely gone. Echoes01:19:18
remained. Phantom sounds of something01:19:21
that had existed for so long it left01:19:23
marks on reality itself.01:19:25
But here's what we learned. When I hear01:19:28
the bell ring, I call someone from the01:19:31
group. Usually Betty, sometimes Dale or01:19:34
Lloyd. We talk until the ringing fades.01:19:38
Share stories, make plans for the next01:19:41
meeting, remind each other that we're01:19:43
still here, still connected, still01:19:46
refusing to let the darkness isolate us.01:19:49
And the ringing always stops, always01:19:52
fades back into silence. Because that's01:19:55
the thing about hunger. It can't survive01:19:58
when it's met with connection instead of01:20:00
isolation.01:20:02
With hope instead of despair, with01:20:05
people who refuse to be alone in the01:20:07
dark. The mine is gone. The bell is01:20:11
broken.01:20:12
But we remain not as victims, not as01:20:15
survivors, but as proof that sometimes,01:20:19
if you're brave enough and you have01:20:20
enough people beside you, you can walk01:20:23
into darkness and come back carrying01:20:25
light. We meet on the third Saturday of01:20:28
every month. And we always will because01:20:31
we're never alone when we hear the01:20:32
ringing anymore. And together, we're01:20:35
stronger than any hunger in the dark.Description:
" I got a Job at a Mining Town in West Virginia...There are STRANGE RULES to follow ! " creepypasta 💚 Our New Channel : https://www.youtube.com/@Mr.GrimArchives 💚 Join Our Membership : https://www.youtube.com/@MrGrim_ltd/join 👉If you'd like one of your own stories to be narrated, submit it on: https://www.reddit.com/r/Mr_Grim/ 💕 Disclaimer : This is an Original Narration by Mr. Grim done in the Metalabs Studios. ❤️ Support the Author and Site: 👉 Written by u/Adorable-Mousse5477 🎵 Support the Music: 🎤 Artists: @co.agmusic and @Myuu 📧 Contact: Coagmusic@gmail.com , https://www.facebook.com/unsupportedbrowser 💰Support Them : https://www.patreon.com/u3550597 https://www.patreon.com/myuuji 🔍 Keywords: creepypasta rules creepypasta mrcreeps darksomnium letsread creepypastarules cryptidstories missing411 firetowerstories parkrangerstories governmentscarystories zombiestories ghoststories paranormalstories spinechillingstories aloneatnight gasstationstories somniumstories insomniastories letsnotmeetstories creepyencounters horrorstories scaryhorrorstories truecreepystories darkhighwaystories reststophorrorstories cabinhorrorstories kidnapstories traffickinghorrorstories middleofnowherehorrorstories cophorrorstories policehorrorstories statetrooperhorrorstories desertedroadstories drivingthroughthedesert followedhome 🛑 Tags:
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