As dusk fell upon the forests of Northern Michigan, Doctor Alexander Renguard walked through the collapsing shadows of thickly packed trees. He had parked his car roughly one mile away from the site, as instructed by his anonymous contact. It had only been two years since he had applied for a job within the scientific research and development field of the company Renestal, and already he had been assigned to one of their top priority projects: Sector 8.Renguard had been warned that this was a heavy risk operation, but he assumed that that also granted high pay. He had no idea as to what was in store for him.
The site was illuminated by various fog lights as the road ahead became consumed by night. White tents were set up at the edges of the scorched and withered asphalt. Renguard hadn’t been told exactly what was being observed within Sector 8, but he had been sworn to secrecy about the project. The road he had traveled thus far was not even on the local map. This dreary forest and unloved road had been forgotten by humanity, its secrets left to rot. Whatever was out there, it was never meant to be found.
Renguard approached the first tent on the left, which was guarded by two heavily armed soldiers. They immediately trained their weapons on the young scientist, whose hands were in the air in less than a second. Their uniforms were void of any identification, just heavily armoured black suits. Regret was beginning to fill Renguard’s stomach. This was a serious project, something clearly beyond his comprehension if it needed armed mercenaries defending it.
“You are trespassing on restricted United States soil.” One of the soldiers chanted emotionlessly. “State your business immediately.”
Renguard struggled with his wallet as his hands shook. He pulled out his documents regarding his reassignment to Sector 8, along with his identification. The soldier inspected it, and they both lowered their rifles.
“Clear,” the one on the right confirmed his authorization, not at all impressed, and the two soldiers slid away from the entrance. Renguard cautiously entered the tent, shaken up by his run in with the nameless mercenaries, and found a skinny middle aged man. He appeared to be studying a soil sample, and rose to greet him.
“You must be Alex.” He said cheerfully. “I’m Doctor Oswald, the head researcher of this operation.”Doctor Oswald’s smile appeared warm and sincere, his eyes tired but lively. There was a bit of a bounce to his step, clearly happy about something.  He seemed a little too excited, considering the fact that this site was highly confidential. Oswald reached out for a handshake and Renguard reciprocated, nervous that the man would bite him, or something equally illogical.
“My contact mentioned you, but he didn’t say anything about the project.” Renguard was still quite uncertain about  his new colleague, not sure how to proceed with the oddly happy man. There was a small bit of trust between them, Renguard respecting Oswald’s superiority and charisma. “He told me that you’d answer my questions.”
“I trust that you’ll keep this place a secret. It is very important that the public is unaware of what we’ve found here in Willow Drive.” Renguard nodded in understanding. “This discovery could change our entire understanding of reality.”
“What have you found?” The young scientist was skeptical of this statement.
“For nearly three centuries, there have been “interesting” reports of strange happenings throughout this area. They tend to stick along the ten mile stretch that is Willow Drive, ranging from disappearances of people, to sightings of undefined creatures, and even extra terrestrial space craft. Lots of dense forests receive this kind of stigma, so to most, it just appears to be an urban legend. However, this segment of the research division of Renestal has the specific task of studying areas believed to be hotspots for supernatural and paranormal activities.”
Renguard couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This had to be a joke. He had desired a promotion to the research division ever since he had joined Renestal, and this was what he got? These crackpots were a waste of time and money. He should have just walked away at that exact moment, but some unseen force seemed to keep him in place. Maybe it was curiosity, or maybe it was his pride that made him want to stay.
“This is all a huge joke, right?” Renguard glared at Oswald. “I thought we were studying science, not fairy tales.”
“I know that this all seems crazy,” Oswald sounded honest in his response. “Trust me, I’ve been in your shoes before . . . but this is real. Renestal has been deeply invested in these oddities for decades. Roswell, New Mexico, we were there. Stardust ranch, we were there. Dyatlov Pass, we were there. These hotspots are much more prevalent than you think.”
“But how can you be certain that any of that is real?” Renguard had heard of all these other incidents, even had been a little skeptical of the official reports of documentation, but that didn’t prove anything. Besides, what was so special about a little road that wasn’t even shown on maps? There was nothing hiding out there.
“This place is nothing like the others. We’ve been inside, seen things that are beyond our knowledge. I doubted everything, but saw proof as soon as I went down the road.”
“What do you mean “been inside”?” The belief plastered on Oswald’s face provided a mixture of disturbing and reassuring energy. Perhaps there was something wrong with Willow Drive . . . something impossible to explain.
“Sorry, I got a bit carried away,” The doctor adjusted his glasses. “I’ll explain everything, as long as you’re willing to hear me out.”
“Alright” Renguard thought that he should at least give the man a chance. What was there to lose on his part?
“Good,” He cleared his throat. “Willow Drive is what we refer to as a weak spot. Our science cannot explain how it functions, so we have to speculate. From what we’ve seen and observed, it is clear that the site abides to its own rules of physics and time. I’ll give you an example: Let’s say you're driving down Willow drive and you go over a bridge. After ten minutes you go over another bridge, and after yet another 10 minutes another bridge. Soon you start to notice other strange things. There’s an abandoned billboard that also appears to be repeating. After a while you begin to see things change in slight ways. Perhaps the billboard appears on the other side of the road, or the bridge goes from being metal to wooden. This process is never the same, each loop different in some way. Eventually, you  may come out on the other side of Willow Drive, but sometimes it just keeps going. Time within the anomaly is distorted as well. We have actually sent in a team who was gone for nearly three days, but came out saying it had only been three minutes. This factor of distortion is also never constant.”
“So, what you’re saying is that Willow Drive is its own little bubble of reality that repeats itself but becomes more unstable the further you go?” It was almost so far fetched that it seemed real. No one could have fabricated a story this elaborate. There had to be some kind of truth behind it. “ Do you have any clue as to why this happens?”
“Have you ever heard of the multiverse theory? In which there is an infinite amount of realities? If that is true, then we speculate that the realities overlap one another, and in some areas can even crossover. From this, we believe Willow Drive is a weak spot between different realities that has become so disrupted by merging realities that it has formed a separate realm.”
“How often does this happen?”
“Nearly 50% of the time that someone travels through Willow Drive, they experience some form of altered reality.”
“Show me that this is not all just a big, fat lie.” Renguard wanted to see this thing for himself, before wasting any time on something that obviously couldn’t exist.
“You want to drive into the anomaly?” Oswald was baffled by this request. “Have you even been listening to me? It’s very likely that we will get lost in the rabbit hole of realities.”
“That may be true, but I have yet to see any evidence of anything here being supernatural.” Renguard felt a small bit nervous at the possibility that Oswald was telling the truth, but ignored the feeling. Surely, this place couldn’t hurt him at all. It was just a creepy, old road paved with hysteria. “You show me something supernatural and I’ll believe you, otherwise, I want to be reassigned.”
Oswald appeared to be deep in thought as he contemplated the proposition. This was clearly troublesome to him as beads of sweat emerged from the pores of his forehead. Finally, he decided on an answer. “We’re low on current staff, due to one of our teams losing contact with us. Your help would be greatly appreciated in our research. Based on what we find, this experiment could end up within science textbooks. You really just can’t take my word for what’s going on here?”
“Nope,” Renguard knew that he was putting Oswald in an odd predicament, but didn’t care. He had always been skeptical of supernatural claims, and would need a lot more proof than just some old scientist’s explanation. “Face it, you need me a hell of a lot more than I want you. I’m willing to help you out, all you need to do is show me some proof of the anomaly.”
“Fine.” Oswald’s calculating nature turned from logical to spiteful. “I’ll drive us through, but you’ll regret it. You have no idea of the kinds of things that rest in Willow Drive.”
“Show me something paranormal, and I’ll believe you. Until then, you’re not scaring me.”
“I’m not trying to scare you.” Oswald’s voice trembled with honesty. “I’ve gone through the anomaly four times throughout my career. Just barely made it out the last time, as each expedition went deeper and deeper into the rift. The supernatural is not something to be taken lightly.”
“If that’s true, then why are you willing to go in once again?”
“You’re right, we do need you.” Oswald rubbed his tired eyes, wishing that Renguard would cooperate. “Our team originally consisted of 30 researchers and 60 soldiers. 50 of those 90 people are either lost or dead; it’s hard to recover bodies from the unstable realm. Another 23 of them have quit, sick of the risks associated with this project. Our funding is about to be cut, unless we make a major breakthrough within the next few months. I’ve seen your work, and I think that you’re exactly what we need.”
“Whatever,” Renguard sounded like a spoiled child on the outside, but his innards were riddled with doubt. Perhaps this all could be true. He had no idea what could be out there among the trees. It seemed foolish to abide to such fears of the unknown, but in hindsight, it could have been the one factor that saved his skin. He would have been alive for at least a few more weeks in this position if he listened to that shred of instinct.
They entered Oswald’s truck, parked a little further down the road from the tent. The sounds of scurrying animals and small creaks filled the otherwise empty atmosphere. Renguard could only see a few yards ahead as the truck began to roll down the ancient road. Night had fallen fast, and the doubt was quickly growing into fear. He desperately wanted to turn back, but refused to sacrifice his pride.
“Why don’t you turn on your brights?” Renguard asked the mute Oswald. “We could end up hitting a deer or something.”
“Animals tend to stay away from the anomaly.” Oswald stared down the road without even blinking in the slightest. “They know there’s something wrong with this place.”
“Yeah, but you should still put them on.”
“We’re getting close to the beginning of the looping point.” Oswald seemed to ignore the statement at first. “We don’t want to attract anything that may have come from the other side.”
“Yeah right!” Renguard hit the button on the dash board and the headlights intensified in brightness. “This is just a spooky forest, nothing more.”
“Are you mad?!?” The doctor snapped. “These things are attracted to light!”
“I bet they would be . . .that is if they were real!” Renguard realised that he was starting to get carried away with ridiculing Oswald’s claims.
“Have it your way,” Oswald muttered, defeated.
They continued driving onwards for a few more minutes before approaching a tunnel beneath a set of forgotten railroad tracks. A green street sign littered with rust sat atop its misshapen pole. The white letters read Willow Drive. Oswald slowed to a stop right before entering the long tunnel of shier darkness. “This is the edge of the anomaly, where it begins to repeat and break down. Are you sure you want to go through with this?” He looked immensely terrified by what lie ahead.
“Let’s just get this over with.”
“Okay,” He sounded extremely reluctant, but proceeded anyways. “We’ll have to be as quiet as possible when going through the tunnel. They are also drawn by sound.”
“Sure, whatever.” Renguard sat back as Oswald completely turned out the lights. They drive forward at a snail's pace, the only sound coming from the wind wailing as it went through the tunnel. Renguard felt a great urge to yell out, just to defy Oswald, but something held him back from committing the deed. The fear was becoming stronger. Deep down, he knew that this was a mistake, even though he wouldn’t admit it.
They reached the other side of the tunnel and turned the headlights back on. They remained silent, completely focused on seeing if there was anything out of the ordinary. They passed by a billboard proclaiming some kind of new breakfast cereal. The child on the withering advertisement stared at a bowl of the colorful shapes with intense joy. Awhile after that, they saw an old hunting cabin buried by thick forest on the left side of the road. The wooden boards were badly warped from decades of heavy rain, leaving the shack looking as if it were sinking into the ground. Soon after, the road dipped and ran over a small river. They crossed a small metal and concrete bridge that buckled beneath their weight. Finally, they reached yet another tunnel, extremely similar to the first. Oswald stopped the car and turned to Renguard.
“Does that look familiar?” He asked rhetorically.
“That doesn’t prove anything.” Renguard glared. “There are lots of tunnels out here; I passed through three just to get to the site.”
“What about the sign?” Oswald pointed to the right side of the tunnel. The same green street sign was apparent, with the small difference of the second L in Willow being scratched away.
“It’s probably just marking the end of the road.” Renguard was beginning to feel even more nervous, based on this new information. Sure it could have been a coincidence, but something in the air felt unnatural. Maybe Renguard was just letting the fear get to him . . . or maybe there was more to Oswald’s claims than what appeared at first glance.
“Let’s keep going.” Oswald turned out the lights and crept through the tunnel. “You’ll see the truth soon enough.”
Another ten minutes of driving went by and things were beginning to become strange. Not proof, just odd occurrences. First off, the same billboard stood in the same spot with the same picture of a child, but the cereal under display had changed to a different brand. Next, the hunting cabin was in the same spot, but appeared even more decrepit. The bridge was almost exactly the same as it had been before, besides the river appearing to be a little bit wider. Yet again, they came to the same tunnel. This time, the sign post remained but the sign itself sat in the middle of the road. It was hard to see, but Renguard was certain that it read Willow Drive.
Oswald stopped the truck. “Have I convinced you yet?” He asked.
“I’ll be honest, this is odd . . . but that doesn’t prove your claim. There’s all other kinds of reasonable explanations besides your theory of it being some kind of repeating vortex.”
“You’re skeptical, Alex.” Oswald put his hand on his shoulder. “That’s a good trait to have, seriously. But in this line of work, an insane claim tends to be truth. Let’s go.”
They went through the tunnel once again, Renguard’s stomach tying itself into knots. He was convinced that this place was supernatural. He could deny it all he wanted, but the fear spoke the truth. If only he had listened to Oswald in the first place.
They made it to the billboard again, the original brand of cereal back in place. However, the child’s eyes appeared solid black with miniscule white pupils.The tane skin had become oily green and brown from the exposed wooden beams. His mouth was warped into a hideous smile, and he stared directly at the road.
“Jesus!” Renguard exclaimed.
“Do you see now, Alex?”
“Yes!” Renguard was hyperventilating from the prevalent change of atmosphere. “Let’s get the Hell out of here!”
“Sorry, but there’s no going back.” Oswald spoke somberly
“What do you mean?”
Oswald pointed to the rearview mirror, where Renguard could see the wretched reality. There was absolutely nothing behind them. Not even their brake lights were visible, as there was nothing to refract off of. Only the road in front of them existed.
“How do we get out of here?”
“We’ve got to keep going forward.” Oswald was not at all fazed by the lack of reality behind them. This factor must have been constant throughout all of the rift, another one of its nonsensical rules. “We’re riding our own path, and once we’ve passed it, it no longer exists. There is always a way out. We just need to be vigilant.”
Renguard was in full panic mode. Why hadn’t he listened to his gut instincts to believe Oswald’s claims? He wouldn’t be trapped in this mysterious world if he had just accepted the possibility of the supernatural.
They reached the hunting cabin for the third time to find it engulfed in flames. The walls had collapsed to leave behind just the basic framework. In the center of the shack stood what appeared to be a tall man, no features visible from their distance. He stood completely still, arms stretched out as the fire devoured him. For a split second, Renguard thought he could see the man’s melting eyes, staring back at him with insane joy.
“Drive! Drive!” Renguard screamed as they sped away from the scene. Oswald’s breathing had become erratic, the terror now beginning to reach into him. They continued onwards, not even looking at the bridge as they drove over it, unaware that the body of water beneath them had been replaced with a lazy river of festering corpses.
They made it to the tunnel for the fourth time, horrified by what they had seen. Renguard made out the street sign before Oswald shut off the lights. It read “Too Late. I’m Dead.” The tunnel seemed to stretch longer than it had before. At the end, they could see what almost looked like a candle hanging from something in the middle of the road.
“What the hell is that?” Renguard asked.
“I don’t know.” It was right in front of them now, at the very end of the tunnel. It’s shape appeared that of a human silhouette holding some kind of railway lantern.
“Turn on the lights.” Renguard commanded. As the night become illuminated, the picture became more horrifying than they could have ever thought.
The structure was an effigy made from human remains, the flesh papery as if it had been somehow mummified. Odd webbing bound the statue to the ground, and dangled between its limbs. The lantern appeared fused to the skeletal hand. The main body wore a conductor's hat, concealing some of the strands of stringy hair. The eye sockets were empty, nose just a crevice into the face, and the mouth bent down in agony. Nature could not have constructed this abomination, nor could a human. Something within the anomaly had turned its victims into a trophy.
Renguard ripped the passenger door open and jumped from the truck. He was no longer thinking, just doing. He sprinted back down the hollow corridor of the tunnel, ignoring Oswald’s screams for him to get back into the truck. He didn’t care about the project anymore, he just wanted to get the Hell out of that cursed area of land given the title Willow Drive. He tripped over a large stone and fell to the ground, groaning in pain. He grabbed hold of the lighter in his right pants pocket and pulled it out, trying to get his bearings. Renguard flicked the wheel a few times before getting a steady flame. Before he could even think to get to his feet, he felt a stabbing pain in his upper back as he was yanked up to the roof of the tunnel. Arms were wrapped all around his shocked body, feeling similar to a jumble of oversized insect appendages. His neck was soon snapped by the unseen being, the last thought going through his head being ‘They’re attracted to the light.’