⛌ bluff ⛌

[SHIVERS]

First order of business:
Back up your photos.
You're glad you remembered.

It's a habit you'd fallen into after your clumsy hands had dropped your previous camera into a river;
something you still haven't forgiven yourself for,
and the reason you ALWAYS wear a camera strap now.



You stretch, finding your neck still sore.

probably going to be sore through tomorrow at least

annoying.

You ignore it, walking to your cabin's desk and shuffling into the uncomfortable wooden chair.
It doesn't take long to plug in your laptop and boot it up.

Or, it wouldn't, if your laptop worked better.

The boot sequence takes far too long, as always, and you find yourself bouncing your leg while you wait.



Eventually it loads up, and you retrieve your camera and plug it in.






Your camera's folder only shows two pictures:

One is the shot of the distant mountain you took right outside the front desk building.
The colors are nice, but it's blurry.
Not your best work.

The second picture is one you didn't realize had actually taken.
Apparently, during the awkward encounter with your cabin neighbor, you'd managed to accidentally snap a photo after all.
You can't see them in the photo.
Or the mountain.
Or the cabins.
Or much of anything save for some of your fingers, and your worn-out sneakers standing in the grass.











You rub your temple.



oh well



Frustration stings at you.

It was a long, scenic drive out here, and this is all you had to show for it.
You could've sworn you took at least a Few other pictures outside of a rest stop you'd parked at along the way.
But, no, you must've done the thing you always seem to do, where you simply Think About taking a picture of something, only to forget entirely.

You find it ironic that one of the main reasons you took an interest in photography in the first place was your memory issues.
Which, now only seem to make you Forget to Remember to take pictures so you'll Remember things.

Oh well!
ohhhhhhhhh Well



You find yourself frustrated that you're this frustrated
over something so small.
You'd love to fix this now, add some pictures to the mix so you feel like you actually do something,
but it's dark outside.



You shut your laptop.



Maybe a little bit too hard.

Your frustration switches immediately to concern.



You double-check your withered laptop to make sure it's alright.
It's old, you do need a new one, but you don't want it damaged.

It's all you've got.



After a brief inspection, it looks no more busted than usual.
You close it again and give it a quick pat.
"Sorry, bud."


















You sigh through your nostrils, moving to other matters.



The museum is worth looking into, you think.
It's the most interesting option, considering you have no idea what exactly it'll be like.

Well.
Maybe some idea. Tourist trap.
You're too curious not to give it a shot, anyway.
Tourist traps can be fun, and you've got a free ticket.

Plus, the bar's right next to it.
You can give the museum a quick look-through, and maybe by then you'll have worked up an appetite before the restaurant closes.

You throw your jeans back on, slip on your colorful windbreaker, and head out the door.






















Your footfalls slow as soon as you're outside.



The area is barely lit at all.

If the moon weren't out,
you wouldn't even be able to lock your cabin door.









You find yourself more unnerved than you should be,
thinking far too much about just how isolated you are out here.





Middle of nowhere.





Only a handful of people.




For miles.





You stop thinking and start walking.
You really should think less in general, you think.











Your footfalls sound louder than usual as you make your way around your cabin.

It's near-silent out here,
something you haven't experienced to this degree in a long time.



You reach the road.

Your neck hurts as you turn it side-to-side, double-checking.
Though, you feel like you would hear any car coming from miles away.











You cross the road.














Just as with the other side, almost nothing is lit up over here either.

The bar is instantly noticeable as there are lights on inside, and faint muffled music coming from its doors.
It's a lot bigger than you imagined;
wider than you feel is necessary for how little traffic it must attract.

The sound and light make you feel a little safer, even from outside.
You know you aren't entirely by yourself out here, at least.



A little smile graces your snout.





You reach the other buildings,
all grouped together in a tiny, messily-paved plaza of sorts.

There's a fountain in the center with sides wide enough to sit on;
about the only place out here to sit that you've seen.
It's currently off, bone-dry.

Most of the buildings don't really catch your attention,
and you don't really feel like hanging around in the dark even longer with how eerie it is out here.

Though, you do hear what sound like faint voices inside the pool building.
Two or three people having a conversation accompanied by occasional splashing, as best as you can tell.
You don't want to pry,
you're just relieved to hear more people, even if you're surprised anyone else is out this late.





More confident than before, you approach the museum.

It's worse than you expected.
The building looks more like a two-story, wooden shack than a proper building, with a tin roof on top.
It doesn't even have windows.
It hardly looks like it should be standing up at all.

It's the only building with a light outside the door, though,
even if it's only a yellow light bulb plugged into a socket just over the door. Small flying bugs are twirling around it.

A simple wooden sign on the outer wall labels the building as the oddity museum,
along with promising it's open 'all day, any day!'





You find yourself more curious than ever, unable to wait any longer.

You grab the door's handle and swing it open, stepping--




You gasp as your foot nearly slips.


























Inside the door




is a long, concrete staircase,
only lit by numerous dim light bulbs plugged in along its walls.





It leads down


and down




and down










much farther than you ever would've imagined for a place like this.




Looking down into it makes your balance unsteady.








You can see a light at the bottom.

















what



Your muzzle is hanging open, paw still on the handle as you stare into it.
You don't know what the hell you were expecting.

It wasn't this.













You think about it too long.

What could possess someone to build this.
How they'd even get the money for it, in the middle of nowhere.
What the shack part of this even is if the front door doesn't lead to it.
Why anyone could
Maybe it's a converted underground shelter?
Still, why would it be out Here of all places?
Why would it be so deep?





The fur on the back of your neck bristles.







Yet
at the same time





you want to see.

You have to see, now.




You know you'll never be able to Stop thinking about it tonight
wondering what's down there


unless you go Now.











You listen, for a few more moments, to the sounds of people nearby.

The faint voices in the pool building just nearby.
The muffled music from the bar.






youre okay.

This place is
Weird
very
very very, very weird

but its fine
its an Oddity museum
of course its weird







stop worrying
stop Thinking

i have to know









A deep breath.











You step inside,
allowing the shack door to shut behind you.





You grip the handrail tight

and begin your descent.




















You try to count the steps on the way down.







Before long, you lose count.

















How far down is this?





Three stories?



Five?







The bottom is maybe about


four stories down, total,

maybe.













You're almost to it.



















Your knees are starting to hurt.

You remember how much you hate stairs.



















You dread going back up.

















Your eyes burn as you reach the bottom step.
It's too bright.
You squint, helping them adjust.




When they do, you





try

to process the room.









 

▶ Forget-Me-Not
Nolan Brewer

The room is expansive
or at least, it feels that way.



The floor
the walls
the ceiling

are all bright white, with no visible seams anywhere.
You can't even tell what material they're made out of, they have almost no visible texture to them.

Expansive. Empty.





Speakers up in the corners by the ceiling are playing some kind of music.

It makes you uncomfortable.
You can't articulate why.

You swear you can almost hear a voice in it, sometimes.









There are no lights, you realize.





This room is
lit up in pure, near-blinding white,


with no visible source.

















Maybe





Maybe the



walls and floor and all that are




glowing?














Maybe they-


You don't know.
You don't want to think about it.








In the center of the room stands a pillar - just as white as the rest of the room - that extends from floor to ceiling.

There's text on it.





 

TONIGHT'S EXHIBITS


ODDITIES OF FILM & TELEVISION
← ← ← Ground Floor - Red Hallway

ODDITIES OF WEAPONRY
→ → → Basement - Yellow Stairs

ODDITIES OF COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY
↑   ↑   ↑ Upper Floor - Green Ramp

You glance in each listed direction, spotting:

The red hallway to your left.

The yellow stairs leading down to your right.

And you peer around the pillar, finding the green ramp leading upward.





easy enough


just
pick an exhibit.





















or-

Part of you wants to cut your losses and race back up the stairs to the entrance.



You could come back tomorrow, couldn't you?



Maybe with
someone- anyone else?


Or maybe you could just talk to someone about it?



Maybe you could just drive off and not come back-


You wring a shaky breath out of yourself.







calm down


why is my heart pounding?
im here

i want to know




itll probably feel more normal the longer im here






You assess the situation.