There were signs in the forest, urging him to turn around, as the place was property of the US Government and a dumping ground for dangerous chemicals and radioactive material. All of which were lies, but convincing for anyone who ventured off into the woods. But seeing how old the signs were from years of decay and neglect. No one was making sure that people were not trespassing in the area. There wasn’t a point to protect a forgotten memory when it was easier to pretend it was never there to begin with. Who cared if someone did stumble upon it?
It didn’t take long for Neshoba to find the old, abandoned town. Left to rot away after it had served its purpose. Surprisingly, it was larger than he had thought. It had a commercial area with posters advertising Coca-Cola, Treet, gum, and even movies like Stagecoach or the latest comic of Superman in the late 30s. There was a poster of two kids, one white and one black, holding hands and smiling. It was trapped in an old world that forgot about it, and for the better.
Green overtook the town, spirals of veins snaked around every crevice and patched any gap it found. Like nature was doing its best to keep every building up and alive and standing, even if it hadn’t seen a single soul for almost a century. The road was torn apart and cracked open to reveal earth and root. Now dominated by ants and termites, who scavenged the dead town. Cleaning anything that littered its empty streets.
Most buildings were covered in ancient dried blood, bullet holes, or scorch marks. Some establishments were long gone, burnt down to a husk. All while his hair beads blared violently to the point of deafening. The town carried a scar it couldn’t let go, a tragedy that took place, and it refused to put it to rest. The souls witnessed something, and they demanded that Neshoba see it. But he must not allow himself to do it. Though his hair beads tell him that a soul was willing to show him the events of the past, the beads letting out a painful screech is a strong indication that the visions would paralyse him with the history of the entire event. Neshoba realised he had walked into a Dead Space.
Those sorts of places were not uncommon. A Dead Space typically formed after a tragic event where a mass murder or a strong sense of betrayal contributed to the slaughter of countless people. Often, the souls would linger around the area for thousands of years, desperate to tell their story so people would know of the evil that had transpired. Though souls make up the majority of a Dead Space, it is, in fact, a spiritual entity. The spirit isn’t complex, more or less acting as a conduit to ensure the souls stay in one place and to help them relay the information about the tragedy that could be understood. They vary in size and can turn up anywhere. A common pest the Order had to deal with on a routine basis.
Dead Spaces are a harmless spiritual phenomenon and are easy to destroy. A silenced sphere could be placed to destroy the wall the spirit put up, or even using magic in the immediate facility could eliminate a large majority of the souls, which in turn can destroy the spirit as it had nothing left to speak of the evil it witnessed. Another method of eliminating it would be ensuring the information about the tragedy is widespread and known by everyone. To the spirit, all were welcome in its domain, even anyone responsible for the horror they had committed upon others.
Neshoba kept walking through town, piecing together a rough idea of the events that had happened. From the blood splatters and where the shootings took place. He figured that the entire town had been slaughtered because they were unfortunate to know the existence of Jackson Abernu. It was clear that Jackson had taken part in the community in some way besides living like a hermit or some kind of prisoner. Though there were no bodies or anything that suggested human remains were left behind, Neshoba concluded that MODOC must’ve placed the bodies in a designated ditch and burned them to ash. The perfect way to conceal a mass murder without anyone knowing what had happened.
But what caught his eye was that the hospital was built directly in the middle of Appleseed, where a town hall should be. While the town slowly decayed, the hospital remained strong, untouched by the anvils of time. Unmarked by bullet or flame, its paint unfaded and remaining. Around it, vegetation refused to grow near it or even touch the hospital grounds, as if it were a sacred site. Trees lean away from the hospital, as if it carried some kind of sickness.
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He knew that kind of building. A haunted complex, similar to Dead Space but potentially more dangerous. A Haunting. Unlike a Dead Space, where it manages the souls, A Haunting is a powerful spirit that can manipulate the space and reality of the building it has control over. Like Dead Spaces, A Haunting is easy to neutralise and only requires similar tools and methods to destroy a Dead Space. However, A Haunting would have a few more caveats before it can be banished from reality. Most importantly, it is potentially hostile to everything. For one, you would need to find its Core to properly destroy it, and that would be if you survive inside its labyrinth. Any other method would only force the spirit to go into hibernation. But a fact remained, no one was killed by a Dead Space, but people were slain by A Haunting.
However, that wasn’t a surprising thing to Neshoba. A Dead Space and A Haunting cannot occupy the same space. If one appeared in the same area, the two spiritual entities would fight each other until one dominated the area and took every soul that once latched onto the other spirit in question. Though it would lead to two spirits competing, it wasn’t unheard of for two opposing spiritual entities to occupy the same space. But for that to happen, it would mean that the event that took place in the town of Appleseed startled the two spirits and became passive with one another, or that the souls the two spirits had under their control were enough to sustain both of them. Either answer is possible, but Neshoba didn’t want to figure out which was true.
Taking off his hair beads, Neshoba walked inside the hospital. Wanting to see what sort of answers were inside. He wanted to search for a document about Jackson and his family, and where they lived. Then he would allow himself to leave as soon as possible. However, instead of walking into an empty room, he found himself in the reception area with a nurse sitting at the front desk. Unbothered by Neshoba’s presence.
He made his way to the woman, his back straight to not show fear to the spirit that controlled the hospital. Taking part in whatever play the spirit is putting on and being on its good side.
‘Excuse me,’ he said after clearing his throat to get her attention. ‘Can I ask for your help?’
She looked up to smile at Neshoba. ‘Hello, sir, how may I help you?’
‘I…’ Neshoba paused, trying to think of an excuse to get himself into the hospital. ‘I am feeling a bit unwell. I’m wondering if I can see a doctor to see what’s wrong.’
The nurse looked through her notes before responding to Neshoba. ‘I think I know who you might be looking for. Doctor Abernu should be down the hall. He should be free for you to see.’
Neshoba frowned, catching on that the spirit understood why he was there. He wanted the truth, and the place was willing to provide it. All he had to do was follow along and witness what the spirit needed to show him.
He went to the hallway, and when he opened the door, besides seeing a clean hospital, the hallway was as rotten and decayed as the rest of the town. Neshoba turned around, but besides looking into the reception, the hallway duplicated itself and continued endlessly to the other end. Repeating the same room layout, the same flaking paint and faded world. No matter what, he had to walk.
The actual risk of A Haunting is to be trapped in its perfect maze. With no escape and without any other choice, Neshoba walked down the hallway to find out what the hospital wanted to show him.
