Chapter 1
815words
Time: 14:32:07
Camera focuses on a young man against a backdrop of rusted trailers and abandoned industrial equipment. He's decked out in outdoor exploration gear, an eager grin lighting up his face.
"Hey everyone, welcome to Extreme Explorers! I'm Jake Morrison." He waves at the camera. "Today we're diving into the Blackwood coal mine in West Virginia. Back in '87, a major accident left 12 miners missing—bodies never found. Locals swear this place is haunted, but we're going to check it out with some actual science..."
His voice quivers with barely contained excitement.
"Alright, let me introduce my crew."
The camera pans to reveal three people sorting through equipment.
[Time: 14:35:42]
Vehicle recording begins. Inside a beat-up van, four people are crammed into the seats. Jake sits up front beside a tall, lanky guy with thick glasses.
"This is Mac, our tech wizard," Jake says.
Mac hunches over an array of gadgets: night vision cameras, thermal imagers, and EMF detectors. Numbers and waveforms dance across his screen.
"Testing, testing..." Mac mutters into a small recorder. "All devices operational. Night vision activated, EMF detector calibrated."
Two women occupy the back seat. Emma, blonde and focused, flips through a thick folder.
"Emma's our historian," Jake tells the camera. "She knows this place inside and out."
Emma glances up and adjusts her glasses. "Blackwood was built in the '20s—largest mine in the region. But man, its history is just one tragedy after another. Gas explosion in '43, cave-in in '61, and that underground fire in '75."
She flips through her papers. "The worst happened November 15, 1987. Twelve miners went down for night shift, then boom—all monitoring signals went dead at 3:17 AM. Rescue team showed up the next day and found zilch. No bodies, no equipment, not even a drop of blood."
The camera shifts to the woman beside Emma. She has short brown hair and fidgets nervously.
"This is Sarah, our safety consultant," Jake says.
Sarah frowns. "I still think this is crazy dangerous. That mine's been sealed for nearly 40 years—the whole structure could come down any second. And..." she hesitates, "locals say there's something off about that place."
"What kind of 'off'?" Mac asks, eyes still glued to his equipment.
"Haunted," Sarah says quietly. "Rescue team heard sounds down there—knocking, voices calling out—but couldn't find where they were coming from. Several guys quit afterward, swore they'd never set foot near that place again."
A heavy silence fills the van.
Jake bursts out laughing. "That's exactly why we're here! If there's anything supernatural going on, our gear will catch it. This could be the biggest episode in our show's history!"
Emma closes her folder. "After '87, the company shut everything down and sealed the entrance with concrete. But..."
"But what?" Mac finally looks up.
"The locals say it can't be contained. Every few years, someone reports seeing the mine entrance open again."
[Time: 18:47:23]
The setting sun paints the desolate hillside in fiery orange. Their van sits in a clearing, with abandoned mining structures looming in the distance—crumbling concrete buildings, rusted conveyor belts, and a toppled water tower.
Jake leaps from the van, beaming at the camera. "We made it! Blackwood Coal Mine, one of the most haunted spots in all of West Virginia."
The camera follows him toward a rusted fence. Faded signs warn: "Danger," "No Entry," "Private Property."
"We got special permission..." Jake pauses, then grins. "Well, actually we're breaking in. But hey, it's for science!"
Mac climbs out, lugging equipment boxes. "We're assuming all legal responsibility, right?"
"Absolutely." Jake snips the lock with bolt cutters. "Welcome to Blackwood."
The fence swings open with a harsh creak. As they step onto the property, a sudden gust tears Emma's folder open, sending papers flying everywhere.
"Damn it!" She scrambles after the scattered documents.
Sarah remains frozen, staring at the distant mine entrance. "Do you feel that?"
"Feel what?" Jake asks.
"It's too quiet. No birds, nothing."
She's right. The silence is unnerving, broken only by wind moaning through abandoned structures.
[Time: 19:15:01]
Dusk settles in. The team has pitched camp about 50 meters from the main mine entrance. Mac's equipment starts emitting soft ticking noises.
"EMF readings are weird," he frowns at his screen. "20% above normal background levels."
"Maybe it's mineral deposits underground?" Emma suggests.
"Maybe." Mac doesn't sound convinced.
Jake makes a final address to the camera: "Alright folks, we're camping here tonight and heading into the mine at first light. If Blackwood's hiding any secrets, we're gonna drag them into the light."
He switches off his handheld camera, but the vehicle's mounted camera continues recording.
In frame, the four huddle around a small campfire. In the distance, the sealed mine entrance looks unnaturally dark under the moonlight—like a hungry mouth waiting to swallow them whole.
The wind picks up, making their tents snap and flutter.
[Recording paused]
[Time: 19:22:47]
