Honey Moons

The wallpaper was discolored

My name is Jack and I've always been an adrenaline junky . Ever since my teenage years I've always gotten into trouble trying to feed my desire for adventure. I have gotten my fair share of broken bones, bumps and scrapes but in the end it always seemed worth it, especially the day I met the woman who I was going to share the rest of my life with, Elizabeth. I had signed up for a helicopter tour with a bunch of strangers, her included. When we got to the appropriate height , around 40,000 feet, everyone who wanted to skydive was welcome to try it. Just as we approached the safe jumping height everyone backed out and decided not to jump, except Elizabeth and I . We both jumped and after we landed safely , spent the rest of the day together, talking about all our crazy adventures. I'm not surprised I fell in love with her, I mean, not only did she love danger and adventure, but she was freaking gorgeous. As if it was meant to be we got married only a year after dating , and it was the best day of my life. Handwriting party invitations beyond count, feeding each other cake and setting off on our life together. We had been planning our honey moon for months prior to the wedding and decided we wanted to get a good scare, and signed up for a private "haunted tour" of Chernobyl, Ukraine , at the site of the nuclear disaster of 1986. The tour was scheduled to take all day, and started very early in the morning. We arranged to meet the tour guide near an abandoned entrance to the ghost town bordering the decrepit plant. Where the "scare factor" would be much higher according to what the guide told us. Doing as he said we met him at the gate at 5:00 in the morning when the forest was eerily quiet and carpeted with a complimentary thick fog. The guide was a tall, slender man, soft spoken as he talked. His voice was smooth and consistent as if he were a lawyer trying to rouse us. After discussing all formals (getting acquainted) he withdrew a breath and adjusted the tone in his voice. "Well! Shall we get started?" His previously expressionless face was now written with excitement as he whipped around facing the faded trail into town. "And we're off !" As we went off we were careful to closely follow the path the guide was taking to be sure we didn't get lost, the countless acres of irradiated land surrounding the reactor seemed to be almost identical. We entered the town closest to the plant that was still safe. Everything seemed to be still, as if it was just frozen there, never to be disturbed. We were nearing the heart of the ghost town, glass littered the ground along the path adding a distinct sound to each step filling the otherwise silent town. There was a rather large, sinister looking building that had caught my eye as we walked and I stopped the tour guide to ask if we could check it out. It was long and windowless, probably some sort of workplace and had dead trees lined up uniformly out front. Walking closer to the building and came across some unsettling obscurities. The leafless trees that stood outside, from them hung countless gasmasks. It was no surprise, the area was littered with hundreds of them, but now that I was closer I could see that each of them was cut on the same side rendering them useless, hung in a pattern with care, as if each and every one was planned and placed precisely. There was runny spray painted words along the side of the gray building, obscure things, things people who were deeply troubled would say. There was what appeared to be a message written on the wall saying "forgive me for our misdemeanors" with random scribbles and crossed out words and went on to say "we kill to feel alive". The tour guide walked up behind me "What this old building? There's nothing interesting in there , you're wasting your time..." He had a sinister grin on his face but it quickly turned emotionless as he realized i was looking at him. He was about to say something else when I cut him off "it's just, I wanna check it out is all..." He couldn't resist, whether he liked it or not, I was going in that building. I glanced back as I walked through the front door to see him, in the back of the group , behind my wife. He was smiling. The way his mood changed so quickly was, for lack of a better word, unsettling . He had his hand in his pocket, bobbing along with group ... I tried to think nothing of it but I decided I would keep an eye on him. We went to a large room off the right hand of the hallway. Glass made a high pitched crackle underfoot along with the slow decrepit floorboards. The wallpaper was discolored and peeling, overhead the old busted lightbulbs dangled out of their sockets by thick bronze and black colored wire. I walked toward the sturdy still-standing windows that seemed practically untouched other than some scuffed paint and dust. "Oh!" Exclaimed my wife, breaking the silence . "This would make for an awesome picture! " she shuffled around for her phone until she realized it was gone . "Dammit, I must've dropped it on the way in"- the guide stepped in " I could go look with her real quick, you can stay right there for the picture" I couldn't tell really, his face as he presented his suggestion, it was faint , or maybe not there at all ... But I swear I saw him smile the faintest of smiles. I didn't want him to be alone with her, he gave me a bad feeling whenever he looked at me . I kept thinking . What was I so worried about? I signed up for this,a scare tour, I was overreacting . Even if I wasn't and he was planning something Elizabeth could handle her self if she had to . I second guessed myself and let them go .I looked out the window as they stepped out. I saw a pure white hare hopping out from some tall grass toward the woods. It was looking up at a branch above it, and from that branch hung a "lucky" rabbit's foot. It was a peculiar sight. The slowly spinning suspended knickknack was captivating the hare below . So much so it didn't notice the snake that had slivered up behind it . With one strike to the neck the snake was firmly attached to the poor animal and wrapped it's elongated body around it's prey. The rabbits foot above stopped its slow rotation as it hung and sat suspended lifelessly above. I guess it wasn't so lucky after all . I was awoken from my trance that nature had put on me by a bloodcurdling, deafening plea for help . I immediately recognized it as Elizabeth and turned for the door. One last time, I'm not sure why, I looked out the window . The previously struggling rabbit now , with the occasional twitch, relaxed and was seized by death . I rushed out of the gray room, into the hallway where the air was thinner . So many scenarios ran through my head as I ran up to the front door of the building , and, without hesitation , when I reached the door I pushed it open with all my might . It was hardly a moment after I left the building that I saw a large object being swung at me. That was the last thing I saw before I blacked out.

I woke up in a small dimly lit room. I hadn't tried moving but I could already tell I was tied down with some sort of restraints. My head was throbbing from whatever was used to hit me over the head. The pain, however, was easy to ignore. I was too busy worrying where my wife was, and why she was yelling . I needed to find a way to free myself , so I looked around the room. There was a small table ahead, with an array of surgical tools spread out strategically. I had familiarized myself with some of the tools, as I've gotten injured countless times. There was a scalpel as well as a surgeon knife, bone clamp and bone saw. Above the table was shelves lined with various unmentionables... Teeth submerged in a strange dense liquid along with severed body parts small enough to fit with them . These tools weren't used for good and thinking about them would be of no help. I continued looking around .
I looked to the right , there was a wall full of pictures, people I've never seen before . They all looked happy , families and couples, all of them were put up on this wall...what for? I was thinking what they could all possibly have in common, when, all the way at the end of the wall, I saw another picture. It was hard to see, the buzzing, flickering light above me didn't provide much help. I could just barely make it out as I leaned forward as far as possible and squinted my eyes. My jaw dropped. It was my wedding picture. I finally realized what these people had in common, what WE had in common. These pictures got here somehow , it must've been that all these people before me, signed up for this tour. I began to tremble but I was calmed when a familiar but muffled voice called out. "Your shirt, in the picture. Your shirt is missing a button" The man walked over to the wall of photos, removed mine, and held it up to my face. His hand was perfectly steady, even though the broken watch on his wrist caused a cut he was trying to hide. "Nothing? Fine I was just making conversation" he said as he turned around and walked to the table with the surgical supplies. "And your watch is broken..." I said under my breath " I know someone with a watch just like it." Without a doubt , that was the same watch the guide had been wearing, and, that familiar voice, muffled now by the gasmask he was wearing, belonged to the guide as well. He reached into his left pocket, the same as when we entered the gray building and pulled out my wife's phone, placing it on the table In front of him. " Where is my wife" I insisted. He was silent but all at once he exhaled and began tapping on the table with a ring on his finger. "There's no use hiding it then " he sighed turning around " I was really hoping we could have a quality conversation before getting down to business. I love talking, like in the movies, it's eye opening and..." He paused and changed his previously gentle tone to a more daunting whisper " enlightening" . You can tell so much about a man by the way he talks" I rebutted "Yeah I'm getting a pretty good idea of who you are." He walked over to the photo wall and hung my picture back up. Without looking at me he said firmly, quietly "You have no idea who I am...but don't worry, you'll learn soon enough" he picked up a pair of pliers from the table, they were stained red with blood and showed signs of obvious wear.

Survival is key
Regardless of what he was to do to me I needed to stay alive
He is the snake , but I refuse to be the rabbit