Page 27 of Immersed
Focus. This is just a game. Find the objective.
The wooden structure marking the mine entrance loomed ahead, its timbers silver in the moonlight. Levi approached cautiously, testing each step before committing his weight. No killer lurking in the shadows. Not yet.
He knelt beside the ore cart where he’d been pinned, scanning the ground. Jasper’s revolver was gone, but something else caught his eye—a metallic glint beneath decades of dirt and debris. He brushed away layers of dust to reveal an old-fashioned flashlight, surprisingly heavy in his palm.
Worth a try.
He twisted the cap, not expecting anything from the ancient device. To his shock, a weak yellow beam sputtered to life, illuminating the entrance to the mine shaft. The light flickered but held steady.
Sixty-year-old mining equipment works perfectly. My laptop crashes if I open too many browser tabs.
The beam revealed boards nailed across the mine entrance, weathered but intact. A scrap of paper fluttered in the breeze, wedged in the gap. Levi worked it free, holding it to the light.
A newspaper fragment, yellowed with age. The headline partially visible: “RIVERBEND MINING DISASTER CLAIMS TWELVE.” Below, smaller text: “...town abandoned following third fatal accident in...”
The date was torn away, but the town name burned into Levi’s consciousness.
Riverbend. That’s it. That’s the objective.
His mind raced, fitting pieces together. Ethan always said horror games have like three plot templates. Find the abandoned town, find answers, and maybe find a way out.
Levi pulled out the compass, orienting himself. The terrain sloped downward to the east. Rivers always flowed downhill, and towns were built on rivers. Simple logic.
Follow the slope. Find the river. Find Riverbend.
He began picking his way downhill, flashlight beam bobbing before him. Every crack of a twig under his feet sounded like a gunshotin the silence. Every shadow held the potential of those mismatched eyes watching, waiting.
The forest grew denser as he descended, forcing him to duck beneath low-hanging branches. Something scurried through the underbrush to his right. Levi froze, breath caught in his throat, flashlight beam darting wildly toward the sound.
Just a raccoon, waddling away with indignant huffs.
Even the local wildlife thinks I’m suspicious.
He pressed on, glancing over his shoulder. The feeling of being watched prickled between his shoulder blades. Was that a footstep behind him? A branch breaking? The stranger could be anywhere, studying him, learning his patterns.
A new sound emerged—running water. Levi quickened his pace, following the sound until trees gave way to a rocky bank. A river gleamed in the moonlight, its surface rippling with silver.
He knelt at the edge, cupping his hands to drink. The water was shockingly cold, numbing his fingers and teeth, but sweeter than anything he tasted in days. He splashed his face, washing away sweat and fear.
When he looked up, wiping water from his eyes, he saw the shapes of buildings silhouetted against the night horizon.
Riverbend.
A wave of triumph surged through him. He found it—the next objective, the next level. Pushing himself to his feet, Levi started downstream, following the river’s path toward the distant lights.
I’m learning how to play. I can beat this game.
But as twigs snapped somewhere in the darkness behind him, Levi couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t the only one getting better at playing.
Levi straightened from the riverbank, wiping water droplets from his chin. As he turned toward the distant lights of Riverbend, his body collided with something solid that hadn’t been there seconds before.
“Found you,” a soft voice said.
Levi stumbled backward, heart seizing in his chest. The stranger stood before him, his perfect features splattered with fresh blood. Moonlight caught the crimson streaks across his cheekbones, his throat, his hands. In his right hand, he clutched an axe, its blade dripping steadily onto the rocky shore.
The stranger’s chest heaved with exertion, his eyes wild.
“You weren’t at camp,” the stranger said, voice unnervingly calm despite his disheveled appearance. “I looked for you. I waited.” His head tilted, studying Levi with that familiar, terrible intensity. “The others didn’t know where you’d gone.”
