The Paradox of Shadows

“There are two tents here. One is intact, with people inside. The other is torn. There’s no movement. We need to get closer...”

So begins the voice recorded transcript of Doctor Miles Brunner, a paranormal researcher sent to Roydon in Kent to investigate the disappearance of a group of ghost hunters who’d set up camp in the woods there. The area is known for paranormal activity and there have been stories of extra terrestrial visitations. Roydon Hall is rumoured to be home to a satanic cult and there have been several reports of ethereal beings in the area. Doctor Brunner continues:

“I need to gather my thoughts before I go on and to place this transcript into context. I’m with my partner, Jennifer. The investigators who went before are from the same organisation as us: The Forteans, named after Charles Hoy Fort, an American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena. We’re an independent group of amateurs, not financed by government nor private investors. We are hobbyists with an interest in all things unexplained. What we’re hoping to find out now is what happened to our colleagues who were camping in the tents ahead of us. This is not a crime scene and our fellow researchers have not been reported missing. But something’s not right.

“The last time I was here I witnessed something strange myself: what I can only describe as a malevolent force. It was without discernible shape or form and black in colour. But so black – such a deep pitch – that it was as though it absorbed all light around it and none escaped from it. It floated across a field about fifty yards from where I stood and observed it and yet it was in the background, as though it was in front of and behind everything else which I could see at the same time. It was around six feet in height and roughly cylindrical in shape but appeared in only two dimensions. The being – for want of a better word – passed across my field of vision, disrupting everything in its immediate perimeter which took on a blurred appearance. It had no features. It exuded an aura not of anything I’ve ever felt and which can only be described as pure darkness. It was as though I were looking into a void. The being made no attempt to approach or attack me. Its mere presence was enough. I mention it here as when I last spoke to Jason – the lead of the party ahead of us and whose tents we are about to approach – he reported seeing something which he couldn’t describe, other than in the vague terms I just used.

“Jason and the other three in the party have been out here for five days and in that time, they have reported seeing more than one of these “things” on consecutive days; always in daylight, as it is now. The beings drew closer with each encounter until the daily calls from Jason ceased. That was two days ago. We’re here because we haven’t heard from them. We’re approaching the camp site...

“I hardly know how to describe what I’m now seeing. Behind the tent is one of the party: dead; limbs and face contorted, as though in terror. The mud leaves and twigs on the ground appear as though they’ve been kicked away by the party member, as though he were escaping something. His face is pointed toward the branches of a tree above. In the tree is another body: this one had tried to climb away from something.

“I’m turning to the tent. The walls are torn; cut by something. But the walls protrude outwards: these two people cut themselves out of the tent.

“They’re here.

“Two shapes. Right in front of us. I. Can’t. Describe. The. Feeling. They. Are. Coming. Towards. Us...

“And nothing. Nothing happened.

“We’re approaching the second tent. We hear voices inside: one of them is Jason.

“I’ll call his name. Jason? There’s a muffled reply. I’m opening the tent. Jason is inside. He’s beckoning me to hand over the voice recorder. The next voice you hear will be Jason...”

“Hi Miles. You obviously made it through. Not too bad is it?

“For the record, my name is Jason Stanbrook. For the last five days I’ve been here researching something which I still can’t explain. Dark things which come during the day as I’ve observed. They may come at night but you wouldn’t see them for they are pure darkness. With each day that we’ve been here, these things have drawn closer to us. They exude fear, yet are compelling; sort of like looking at a car crash which you know you shouldn’t look at. In the time that we’ve been here we’ve realised that our visions are merely these things manifesting themselves so that we may see them. When not making themselves obvious, they’re all around us. We just don’t notice them.

“They’re that fleeting thing you see out of the corner of your eye; they’re the shadows: your shadow. They don’t recognise conscious and subconscious as we understand it. They visit in dreams as well as whilst we’re awake. We don’t know if they’re ghosts, demons, aliens or something else. All we know is that they’re here. Once they weren’t.

“They are knowledge. Some have tried to flee the knowledge and have perished. In death there are no shadows. Most have accepted it and don’t give the shadows a thought. Did you ever try to run away from your own shadow as a child? You couldn’t. That’s because they’re always here, on the other side.

“You’re on the other side now, with them all around you, all the time. You’re alive as long as there are shadows but you mustn’t try to escape them. You must accept that the evil; the malevolence; the ghosts; the aliens; the beings; call them what you will, are with us.”

(C) Steve Laker 2014