InsaneJournal

Recon, part 2
Logan forgot how much sewers smelled.

Then again, the collection of rat carcasses just to the left of the access ladder didn’t help matters. The former Watcher nearly lost his dinner when he set foot in the sewer, managing to only gag before grabbing a cloth from the small bag he toted his research supplies in and placing it over his mouth and nose.

Glancing at the pile of furry bodies, Logan counted eight rats. Mouths agape, some with eyes wide open. He found it odd to see that many rat carcasses so close; it was almost as if they’d been lured to that spot and killed, or they died elsewhere and someone or something placed them in that spot.

Either scenario was plausible. Logan paid it little mind, though, deciding for the moment to examine the rest of his surroundings. The camera had a light that put his flashlight to shame, so he used that instead. Dual purpose – not only could Logan use it to see where he was going, but should he see something of interest, a quick press of the button would give him several different shots.

In that vein, the former Watcher returned his attention to the rats. He clicked the camera twice, the sound of the rapid clicking reverberating in the dank sewer. Definitely a lot louder than in the wind open spaces on that rooftop.

A squeak from behind made Logan jump, and he turned on his feet to see another rat scamper off into the darkness. The former Watcher closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, taking a few moments to let his heart return to its rightful place between his lungs. Sudden noises in the dark sewer were not Logan’s friend, especially considering how on-edge he was of late.

And didn’t he swear the next time he came to the access tunnel, he’d bring supernatural help?

Yeah, about that …

The hole leading down to the freight tunnel was exactly where Logan remembered it being, and he approached it with cautious steps. The ground was slippery, particularly around the access point, and the former Watcher didn’t like the thought of slipping down into the hole and falling the roughly 40 feet into the metal tracks below.

That was a fucked-up spine just waiting to happen.

The sewer was practically a sauna, especially compared to the February chill on the surface, but Logan didn’t remove his coat even as a bed of sweat ran down his brow. He wasn’t planning to be down here too much longer, so he could stand being a little hot for a few more minutes.

Ignoring another squeak off in the distance, the former Watcher dropped onto his left knee and peered into the access hole. Using the light from the camera as his guide, Logan saw much of the same things he saw the first time around: the tracks, a few old crates and boxes leaning against the sides of the tunnel.

Again, Logan snapped photos from several different hours, because the lighting was improved this time around. The photos from his first trip to the freight tunnel were too dark, and it was hard to see much of anything. Having this batch would probably help even more, even though it appeared nothing had changed.

A flash of good news in what was otherwise a dreary situation.

Pointing the camera – and its light – to his right to peer as far down the tunnel as he could, Logan frowned. Was there something lying on the track about 20 feet down the line? Returning his gaze to the view finder and zooming in the lens as far as it would go, the former Watcher chewed on his lower lip. He still couldn’t tell what the thing on the tracks was, but he did manage to snap several shots of it.

Good thing, too, because an instant following Logan snapping those shots, whatever was on the tracks disappeared. Logan lowered his camera, eyebrows cocked and mouth agape. Breathing through his mouth, Logan was no longer bothered by the sewer’s stench, but the mystery of what that was vexed him.

If it weren’t such a drop, and if Logan hadn’t been by himself, he might’ve gone down into the access tunnel to find out what that was. But Logan was only human, and he probably couldn’t defend himself against some freak if he needed to – so he was content to just return to the surface, go back home and load these photos to his laptop.

Before ascending the ladder, though, Logan thumbed through the images he’d just collected. There were seven photos with the unidentified thing on the tracks, followed by three shots of nothing. No in-between, nothing capturing the thing in motion. Logan swallowed back a feeling of dread, turning off the camera before slinging it over his right shoulder again and climbing the ladder.

The sudden chill felt good after how hot the sewer had been. The former Watcher heaved a sigh of relief at having managed another trip below without injury or incident. He’d take another look at the thing on the tracks once he got back home, as the program on his laptop zoomed in a lot further on pictures than the camera itself.

Logan rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn. Sleep had been hard to come by the last three nights, mostly because of the display that greeted him. The photographs were one thing, but the violation of his apartment and the threat against those currently in his life were especially upsetting.

He did need to sleep, though. But only after uploading these pictures.