Chapter 1

The veil of slumber lifted. Perry’s eyes opened to opaque black. Not a sliver of light, no outlines or shapes were discerned. Absolute darkness.

Was he wearing a sleeping mask? Perry didn’t normally wear one. When he would wake up in his room, even in the dead of night, he would be able to see something. The light from a nearby streetlamp would pierce between his blackout curtains and give the world shape. And there were always sounds; leaves rustling from the wind, bugs in the bushes outside, or drunks shouting at each other way louder than was neighbourly. All he heard now was the blood moving inside his ear, relaying the beating of his heart. Outside that was an eerie silence.

His memory was foggy and didn’t quickly present an explanation. Where was he? He remembered the green summer leaves rushing past him, with flashes of light hitting his eyes as the sun found space to break through the trees. The sound of a constant hum and people murmuring to each other. He was on a train headed to a graduation event, to end his highschool life with an awkward socializing bang.

He truly couldn’t wait for the opportunity to spend a weekend at a rented out cottage with a few classmates he liked, and a bunch he despised. Perry and some of the other members of the environmental club were taking the train together. So train ... then complete darkness. Maybe he got blackout drunk? Maybe he got so blackout drunk he went blind? Is that a thing that can happen?

He moved his hand to his face, feeling the familiar texture and shape of his nose and mouth. Everything seemed to be in place, and no sleeping mask to be found. He checked his clothing, it felt like it was what he was wearing on the train. His vintage Rush t-shirt and his black dress pants. His belt was fastened. Whatever happened, it was unlikely he intended to sleep here. He felt the bulge in his pocket, perfect. Perry pulled out his cellphone and saw the flashing light indicating a new text message.

Perhaps this text message would illuminate the situation. It already eased his worries by demonstrating he wasn’t blind. The cellphone lit up on command, brightly displaying the date and time. 11:23 am July 7th. Battery 65%. The train ride was yesterday.

He entered his pattern to get to the home screen. Okay, first things first. He checked his clash of clans app to find out if they won the clan war. No Wi-Fi ... Drats! No reception at all. He opened his text messages.

Mom: Have fun at the cottage! Don’t forget to eat your lunch on the train. It’s an egg salad sandwich so it’ll go bad if you wait too long.

Dated yesterday. She sent it during the train ride. No clues there he guessed. Now for the flashlight app. He pushed himself up from the smooth and hard ground so that he in a sitting position then activated the flashlight.

It revealed bodies lying on the grey, concrete-like floor. He swung the phone around to count the bodies, five of them. He recognized one of them immediately. It was his friend Shane. He wore his distinctive purple long sleeve shirt, and had a head of bright red hair, even in this dim light it was obviously him.

Perry crawled to Shane. He was still breathing, still alive, but unconscious. Perry grabbed Shane’s arm and shook it, trying to jostle Shane awake. He stirred immediately, his eyes opening with a lazy squint.

“Hey man. What the fuck is going on?” Perry whisper shouted, his voice cracking in anxiousness. His thoughts had wandered to a memory of watching Deliverance with his father. This situation was starting to creep him out and his imagination was going to some dark places.

“What are you talking about?” Shane responded with an annoyed look on his face. Perry turned off the flashlight, giving his friend the opportunity to take in the void that surrounded them. “Wait, where are we?”

“Shh. Be quiet, there’s 4 other people sleeping here.” At least he hoped they were sleeping. Shane didn’t need to think about that yet though. “That’s what I want to know. I just woke up completely in the dark. What’s the last thing you remember?”

Perry heard the deep inhale and exhale as Shane took a few seconds to respond. “We were on a train headed for that stupid party you forced me to go to.”

“I didn’t force you. I hardly wanted to go.”

“Hardly my ass. More like hard for Priya. You wanted to go as soon as you found out Priya was going.”

“Shut up. Man, we need to deal with what’s going on right now. We’re probably in some hillbilly’s dungeon about to get ass-raped. Like in Deliverance.”

“Never seen it.”

“Like Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction.”

“I haven’t seen that either.”

Perry shook his head for no one to see. “Do you have your knife on you?” Perry knew that Shane the cub scout usually carried a trusty knife. It was a beast of a hunting knife. One would think that Shane was a punk out for no good from the size of that knife, but only if you didn’t know him. The reality was he wouldn’t hurt a soul, a real goody-two-shoes.