CHAPTER 1
[Recording Start]
Time: 2:32:07 PM
The camera lingers on a young man with a dilapidated trailer and several abandoned industrial equipment behind him. He’s wearing an exploration outfit and an enthusiastic smile lights up his face.
“Hello everyone, welcome to Explorer’s Dream! I’m Ethan Blane.” The boy waves to the camera. “Today we’re diving into the Perkins Coal Mine in Ohio. In 1987, a terrible accident caused the disappearance of twelve miners, whose bodies were never found. Local residents believe this place is haunted, but we’ll be exploring it using science as well...”
His voice trembles with excitement, barely contained. “Okay, meet my team.”
The camera pans, focusing on three individuals busy setting up their equipment.
[Time: 2:35:42 PM]
Inside a battered van, four people appear to be sitting in the seats.
Ethan sits in the front, next to a tall, thin young man with thick glasses. “This is our Theo, the computer genius,” Ethan introduces.
The boy is hunched over a series of devices: infrared cameras, thermal imaging cameras, and electromagnetic field detectors. Various numbers and waves spin on the screen.
“Test...test,” Theo mutters into a small tape recorder. “All the devices are working. Night vision activated, electromagnetic field detector calibrated.”
The back seat is occupied by two women. Giselle, blonde and attentive, is leafing through a large folder.
“This is Giselle, our history expert,” Ethan explains, turning to the camera. “You know this place like the back of your hand.”
The girl looks up, adjusting her glasses. “Perkins was built in the 1920s, and is considered the largest mine in the state. But its history is marked by constant tragedies. The gas explosion in ’43, the collapse in ’61, and the underground fire in ’75.” Giselle pauses for a moment, just long enough to leaf through some documents. “But the worst happened on November 15, 1987. Twelve miners went down for the night shift, and then there was nothing: all control signals stopped at 3:17 in the morning.
The next day, the rescue team arrived and found no one. No bodies, no equipment... not even a drop of blood.
Then the camera pans to the woman next to Giselle. She has short brown hair and is moving around frantically.
“This is Ashley, our safety consultant.”
The young woman frowns. “I still think it’s highly dangerous. The mine has been closed for forty years... the entire structure could collapse at any moment. And besides...” she hesitates, “the locals say there’s something abnormal about that place.”
“Abnormal in what way?” asks Theo, his eyes still glued to his equipment.
“Haunted,” replies Ashley softly. “The rescue team heard noises down there—thumps, voices shouting—but they never figured out where they were coming from. Some of the guys later quit, promising never to go down there again.”
An oppressive silence falls inside the van.
Ethan bursts out laughing. “And that’s why we’re here! If something mysterious is happening, our devices will detect it. This could be the most significant episode in our show’s history!”
Giselle closes her folder. “After ’87, the company decided to shut everything down and seal the entrance with concrete. But...”
“But what?” the IT expert presses her.
“Someone claims to have seen the mine entrance reopen.”
[Time: 6:47:23 PM]
At sunset, the sun paints the desert slope a fiery orange. The van is parked in a clearing, with ruined mining buildings looming in the distance: crumbling concrete structures, rusted conveyor belts, and a half-collapsed water tower.
Ethan leaps out of the pit, beaming toward the camera. “We did it! The Perkins Coal Mine, one of the most haunted places in all of Ohio.”
The camera follows the boy toward a rusty fence. Several faded signs warn: Danger...No Trespassing...Private Property.
“We got special permission...” Ethan pauses, then smiles. “Well, actually, we’re going in secretly...but, hey, it’s for the good of science.”
Theo gets out of the van, carrying boxes full of equipment. “We assume full legal responsibility, right?”
“Absolutely.” Ethan cuts the lock with a pair of bolt cutters. “Welcome to Perkins.”
The fence swings open with a shrill screech. As they enter the property, an unexpected gust of wind opens Giselle’s briefcase, sending papers flying everywhere. “Shit!” the historian exclaims, scrambling to retrieve the scattered documents.
Ashley stands still, peering toward the distant mine entrance. “Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Ethan asks her.
“It’s too quiet. No birds, nothing.”
She’s right. The silence that reigns is eerie, almost menacing, and is broken only by the sigh of the wind cutting through the abandoned structures.
[Time: 7:15:01 PM]
Evening falls. The team sets up camp 50 meters from the main entrance to the quarry. Theo’s equipment begins to emit a faint thumping sound. “The EMF readings are bizarre,” the expert says, frowning at the monitor. “We’re 20% above normal background levels.”
“It could be underground mineral deposits,” suggests Giselle.
“Maybe,” but Theo doesn’t seem entirely convinced.
Ethan gives a final message to the camera. “All right, guys, we’re camping here tonight and heading to the mine at first light. If Perkins has any secrets, we’ll unearth them.”
He then turns off his handheld video camera, but the camera mounted on the van continues recording.
In the shot, the group gathers around a small fire. In the distance, the sealed entrance to the mine appears artificially black in the moonlight like ravenous maws, determined to devour them all.
The wind begins to blow harder, making their tents flap.
[RECORDING PAUSED]
[Time: 7:22:47 PM]
