“Can you hear that?” Lauren asked.

On instinct, Tyler closed his eyes, while letting his jaw hang loose. There was nothing out of the ordinary. The wind was blowing, some birds were chirping, as water trickled playfully into the pool.

“Nothing…wait…running water?” Tyler said.

“Correct,” Lauren replied before turning to face the fountain.

In infrared light, the fountain and the water pouring through the spurts were clear as day. That’s one hell of a trick! Was this some sort of illusion? Or were they peering through a window to the past?

They arrived at the foot of a stagnant pond contained by a stone embankment. The remnants of a statue in the middle confirmed it had once been an imposing fountain. However, water no longer poured from the rust-stained spouts, and a thick layer of algae covered the pond’s surface.

The sight of all that stagnant water took him back to his early training, and all that time spent ploughing through swamps. The smell and sound of buzzing mosquitoes awakened memories that he thought suppressed long ago. Those bloodsuckers were relentless.

Upon reaching the halfway point, there was a massive tree trunk lying on the road ahead. Tyler hesitated for a moment, and smiled.

“You got the insurance on these trucks?” Tyler asked. “Right?”

“Yeah… Why?” Kyle asked, confused.

“No reason,” Tyler said before burying the accelerator.

In response to an imminent crash, Kyle grabbed onto the oh-shit handle. However, it was all for naught, they drove straight through the felled tree and appeared on the other side intact.

“Whoa!” Kyle said before asking, “How did you know that would happen?”

“Well, there was no stump on either side,” Tyler said.

They reached an impasse before reaching the hotel. Dead ahead there was a heavily corroded wrought-iron fence. While it had seen better days, the chain and oversized padlock that secured the gate gleamed in the light. Why would anyone put a fresh lock on a rusty gate?

Tyler went to the back of the truck for a zip-saw. With a saw in hand, Lauren tapped him on the shoulder. She pointed at the gate, and he realised the padlock was gone.

“When did that happen?” Tyler asked.

“Dunno,” Lauren said.

To prove a hunch, Lauren pushed against the gates, and they swung open effortlessly…

“Shall we head up?” Lauren asked.

The men looked up at the ruined hotel, and then to the road that led to the cell tower. After that, they suspected it would be a rough ride. It was a good thing they left the van at home.

“Sure,” they replied before getting back into their truck.

“This should be fun!” Kyle exclaimed as the engine roared to life.

“Oh yeah,” Tyler confirmed.

If that were true, why were his instincts urging him to turn back?

“Freaky,” Kyle said.

Kyle took a shot of the ruins. After which he confirmed they had full bars, enough for media to be copied over the cloud in seconds.

“Here we are standing at the edge of a ghost town. Our destination for today? The Grand,” Kyle narrated while typing out the words on his phone. He then took a selfie with the town’s ruins in the background and pressed ‘Send.’ That teaser would surely pique the interest of their fans.

From a bridge that crossed an azure river, they had a clear view of the ridgeline. Behind the cliff, there were majestic snow-capped mountains, visible even at the height of summer.

“Can you see anything?” Tyler asked Lauren.

“It’s uncanny,” Lauren replied.

The tech turned the camera’s viewfinder towards them to get a better view. Both Tyler and Kyle made out the walls, windows, and a structure. All of it untouched by time, but once she flicked the switch on the camera, the hotel was back to a state of ruin.

“Freaky,” Kyle said.

The place had surrendered to nature long ago. There were trees growing out through the roofs. Some buildings  had collapsed onto themselves, leaving behind mounds of rot and decay. Brick structures fared better, at least on the outside. Although a quick glance through a window revealed the floors had either collapsed onto one another or rotted away. 

Given the state of the town, a good night’s sleep at this town’s hotel was unlikely; since all that remained was a rusted out sign. Without their GPS, they might not have found this place.

“I must have driven by dozens of times and never noticed,” Lauren said while others nodded in agreement.

As they entered the valley, Tyler noticed a woman standing on the side of the road. The truck was packed with equipment and tools, so they could not stop for her. Besides, Tyler figured that Laurent, who was driving in the rear vehicle, would lose it on them if they picked her up. Unless her heart were to grow three sizes.

His eyes locked onto her. That bronze skin and black hair meant that she was indigenous. However, what she wore was unexpected. She had on a flowing white dress that was totally inappropriate for travelling the back-country on foot. I’m not even sure she has a bra on…

“Odd,” Tyler whispered.

“Did you say something?” Kyle asked.

The question distracted him long enough for the woman to vanish. That development was downright creepy, but Tyler dismissed it as being brought on by an overactive imagination.

“Oh nothing,” Tyler said in reply. “I’m just thinking out loud.”

There was something peculiar about all those records being lost or destroyed. He needed to confirm if Kyle had grasped the key elements of the situation before moving on. Still, Tyler kept quiet hoping their host would come through.

“Lauren found a slew of missing person’s posters stemming from the Twenties on—” Kyle said in a flash of insight.

Kyle paused as their four-by-four drove into a tunnel. This was one of his quirks; every time they drove under an overhanging structure. Loads of fun at a drive through.

“There are more missing persons’ reports here than anywhere else in the country during this time. When you factor in the First Nations legends about this valley being cursed, it paints a grim picture,” Kyle added when clear.