Ever been to Broken Bell Point

“Ever been to the Broken Bell Point?”

This was the first question out of my friend during our long shift at e-waste sorting centre. I had never heard of that place and looked at him inquiringly while we sorted through the various electronics on the belt, we were working a double shift. He began talking about that place stating it was the scariest place he’d ever been to with his friends and how they felt like there was something there, even during the day, stalking them. He was so into the topic that I found it hard to believe him at the same time no believe, the vivid encounter with something moving through the bushes and how the air would get heavy despite it being a cold day. I was intrigued by this but at the same time did not want to go there on account of it being haunted. After that we continued with our other topics and soon forgot about that trip.

A few days later he asked me if could join him with his friends to check that place out, I laughed and asked why he would go there if it was so scary the first time. He was serious and I could see that, so I looked at him with a worried expression knew he was serious. I asked him again why he was going back there.

“I need to find out what is happening in that place, last time I went the people I was with did not take it seriously so this time I am with a couple of guys who explore such places for online videos or some such. Dunno, I just can’t shake of the feeling that there is something there I need to find.”

I was thinking about turning him down, but he never asked for anything in return when I had requested him to cover for me at work. I agreed but on condition that if something went sideways we would get out of there immediately, he agreed and this time I saw his old smile return. The weekend was a long one, so it wasn’t a real waste for me and I was going to a new place that is supposed to be haunted. On Friday after our shift, I went home and packed up some clothes and whatever I thought I would need for the 3 days and locked up my place, I met Santiago at his place and we sat and waited for the video crew to arrive. We had a few beers and talked about random things until the group arrived, they were comprised of 2 guys and a lady. I was introduced and they asked if we could get on the road because they had no place to sleep for the night. Santiago agreed and let his parents know he was going and locked up after himself.

We hit the road and I was with Santiago in his truck while the others were in theirs, the trip was 4 hours, I spent most of it snoozing. Santiago did not speak much just concentrated on the road, he could handle his booze unlike me who turned in to a sleep deprived zombie. Once at the town we found a small motel to get some rest, for me this was all a haze as I was half asleep. In the morning I woke to find Santiago had already left, I showered and followed to find all of them in a diner that was next to the motel. I had some breakfast and listened to them talk about the place.

Broken Bell point was watcher’s nest that was located on a hill that stood before a valley where the natives lived. Over a hundred years ago there was a raid conducted by a general that saw all the villagers massacred and the land seized for mining. The ground was rich with gold so it made sense the general did not want anyone claiming his land as their own. Apparently, it was later found out that the land was cursed or something and the people mining there would die or disappear, those that died were found without their hearts. That was quite a tale and it has since been a site for ghost hunters to frequent when looking for unexplained noises and disappearances. We then headed out to the place after breakfast.

It was another hours drive to the location and there we waited for the three to gear up and we set out for Broken Bell, I asked leader of the other crew why it was called Broken Bell as that was never touched upon.

“Story goes that that there was a small bell tower set up to let the miners know if there were bandits on their way. One day a sharpshooter from the army actually managed to shoot the bell off the tower and it still rang out enough to let the miners know of their guests. There are stories of people hearing a ringing bell when they approach the place. I guess we will find out when we get there I guess.”

The crew consisted of Jamie, the leader, Aaron, camera, and Nadine. Nadine was the quiet one, her duty was to manage the footage and gear while the other two did the rest. The hike took about 45 minutes till we reached the place, the area was like a semi desert so there were bushes and cactus all around us. The Broken Bell point sat on a massive rock outcrop that rested on top of a hill, behind it were a range of hills and in the middle was a valley that Santiago said was full of abandoned mines. Aaron joked about trying to mine instead of videos if there was still gold out there, Nadine snorted and told him that if he wants to mine then he could go for it only that the price was his heart. We laughed at Aaron for this but I could see everyone was serious, I looked around and could not see anything but Jamie swore he could feel something watching them. I wrote it off as theatrics for the camera, while Santiago was more serious and kept his hand close to the machete he carried.

It was noon when we finally reached the Broken Bell site and I climbed up to the look out while the others walked and talked the place. The view from the top was amazing as I could see clearly for mile around, I was amazed that such a place existed. As I looked about it was warm so it wasn’t very windy but I spied some bushes swaying like something was walking past them near where the rest were and I wondered what could have caused that. Whatever it was stopped a few feet from them and I found myself looking at the valley, it was well lit since it was noon and could see houses carved into the sides of the hills. I wanted to explore that place but was woken from my reverie when I heard a shout coming from the crew, I looked down to see Nadine crouching on the ground with her hands on her head and Jamie trying to help her. I ran down and as I did I saw Santiago running towards the valley with his machete out, Aaron was filming Nadine’s breakdown, when I reached them I asked if there was anything I could do. Jamie pointed to the receding figure of Santiago and told me to follow him, they will join us when Nadine is ok.

I ran to join Santiago, as I ran I saw the bushes move again near me and that was when I felt a force hit me from the side sending me tumbling to the side. I was winded by this and took me a good few minutes to figure out where I was and got up, I heard Jamie calling out for me. I got up and looked at him and Aaron running over with Nadine close by.

“Man, whatever that was hit you pretty hard. You good to walk?”

I nodded and got up, looking over myself for injuries I let them go after Santiago and then hobbled after I saw I suffered no injuries. My right side, where I was hit, felt a little sensitive but felt like I could ignore it. I managed to catch up with Nadine and she told me that she felt like some one had smacked her over her head back at the point and Santiago thought he saw someone at the valley entrance. I was surprised by this and my face said it so, she was having trouble carrying her bag so I took it from her so we could move faster. At the mouth of the valley I found the three standing there looking down, I joined them with Nadine to look at a deep hole that must have been made by the miners. I was deep with holes on the sides where branching mines were made, we stood there looking in awe.

“Last time I came all we saw was a dusty valley, what the hell is this?”

Jamie turned to Santiago and asked what he had seen when he came last, Santiago turned to us and looked confused.

“Look, I know the last time I came I was with like 6 people and we walked down the a little to see those carved houses, we didn’t explore much because we did not have time. This… this hole was not there unless we went to another place man. I think I am loosing my mind.”

Jamie then spoke, it looks like you may have been to another place, this has always been there only that very view videos have been seen. Most of the people I spoke to who explored this place say that if you tried to go down there, you would feel like your strength being sucked out of you.”

As I was listening I began to hear something else in the background, it was like something was walking but the sound was coming from everywhere. I turned to look around and so did everyone else, we were looking in different places and still the source could not be found. This place was getting on my nerves and I was ready to walk but something else caught my eye, looking at the houses on the side of the wall I saw something move in one of the windows. I swore and tried to concentrate on the next window but lost the shadow. I was so lost in finding that shadow that when Nadine placed a hand on my shoulder I jumped, she took a step back in surprise also. I apologised and told her what I saw and she said that she saw something on the other side of the hole, Jamie said he saw something run into one of the mines. We were all getting freaked out and Aaron, who was still recording, said that he saw a man walking at the bottom of the pit. Santiago just disappeared again, I called out to him but there was no answer, Jamie cursed and tried to figure out where he could have gone but there was no trail to follow. In fact how Santiago left without us noticing was a complete mystery, walked back out the valley and started calling out for Santiago but there were no answers. It was then I noticed the sun dipping over the horizon that I finally noticed that it was sunset and we were supposed to be back in out cars by now, how did the time move so fast.

I called out to the others and let them know and I could see the blood drain from Jamie’s face, “this place is bad during the day but at night that is another story. We need to leave now. Santiago knew the rules and if you want to stay then that is up to you. Aaron, Nadine we need to leave now.”

As the began to leave we hear a shout then a scream coming from the point, I looked up to see something squatting at the very edge and I could not make it out but I wanted to run, Santiago or no. Nadine was already running followed by Aaron, Jamie grabbed me by my collar and told me to run. I ran with Jamie right behind me, the figure darted forward towards us and I used that to rush forward faster. Another scream pierced the night and I was running blinding towards the trucks, Jamie was screaming at us no to stop. I did not need a reason and I could see neither did the others.

The scream turned into a roar and the figure behind turned to a small figure to large creature, with every hit on the ground I could hear the thumps. This thing was chasing us, I did not want to be a hero and didn’t care to see how that felt. After like 25 minutes we could see where we parked the trucks and the lights of the observation point were turned on, we were running without care. I didn’t notice the fact the thumps had stopped and creature was no longer chasing us.

I slowed down and tried to get me breath back to normal and I saw Jamie had done the same, the other two were ahead still jogging. Jamie stopped next to me and looked back, we could not longer see the point but he swore that thing was like a child when it started chasing us but grew in size as it ran. I agreed between breaths but asked what it could be, he replied that as guess it could be a skinwalker.

“A skinwalker? I heard about them. But aren’t they supposed to be further down south?”

Jamie stood up straight and turned to the observation point and motioned that we need to move, “skinwalkers can be anywhere, in fact from what I know they are another kind of Wendigo. A sort of vengeful spirit, think of it as a living curse. I wish I could have stopped Santiago from leaving us but honestly that thing could have easily lured him away from us and we would staring at him and now know. That thing over there has a way to play with our minds and wouldn’t know we are dead until it’s right on top of us. Of course there are better explanations as to what it is but honestly I think we need to get away as fast as possible.”

We jogged the rest of the way and at the observation point found a few people who had stopped to check the view, even at this time of the night. We contacted the local police about Santiago and they said that can only investigate during the day as at night they were not allowed to set foot in that place. I took a lift with Jamie and his crew back to the motel to wait for the morning, once at the motel we cleaned up and met again at the diner so I could figure out my next move and ask what the hell just happened to us.

“I really have no clue how we managed to get away, I guess we were lucky but right now I am really scared for Santiago. I hope they find him tomorrow, whatever….”

Before he could finish we saw Santiago’s truck pull in and he stepped out the truck, we all ran to meet him. He looked like he fell down the pit as his clothes were all muddy and town. I started asking what happened but he just held up his hand, “I fell is all, by the time I figured out what happened you guys were already gone. I hear screaming and other noises, so I ran in a different direction. What the fuck was that thing screaming.”

I told him everything and he looked at us like we were out of our minds. He then just said he was going to have a shower and change his clothes, we left him to is and let him know we were in the diner. As we sat at the diner a little more relaxed Jamie began talking about his old adventures and time drowned after that, it was 20 minutes after Santiago had gone to change his clothes that he emerged from the room and got into his truck and just left. I was confused when I saw this and so were the rest, we had no idea what to do next and so I thought maybe he just wanted to be alone and asked them to leave it.

The next morning I awoke to a banging at my door, it was a policeman. He asked me if I had seen Santiago and I mentioned what happened yesterday and he had me confirm that Santiago had left alone in his truck and I did. I asked what happened and that was when I heard the worst thing possible, Santiago’s entire family was slaughtered in their sleep and his truck was found abandoned in a park with blood everywhere inside. I have no idea how that could happen and when I mentioned this to Jamie he froze and told me never to talk to anyone about this. It seemed that the skinwalker had killed Santiago and taken his form, we were lucky because of where we were that night. If we were alone in our rooms or something then we would have suffered the same fate as his family.