The Journal of Lieutenant Simon Harbow, 1932 –
January, 12th, 1932. The workmen at last sealed off the west chamber today. Now they begin work on the under-laboratories and we will not see them again. It is a great sacrifice they make, and a terrible burden. I take some comfort in the fact that their crimes have been expunged from the records and their families fairly compensated. I can only pray that their sins are forgiven as well. Lord knows they were not saints, but few souls are more deserving of absolution. May God forgive me of my own.
January 16th, 1932. We can hear them working during the daylight hours. Hammers and axes tolling in unending labor. At night we hear the screams through the vents. I do not attempt to imagine what horrors torment them in the darkness…but there is nothing to be done from here. It is useless to dwell on it, as we have our own duties to attend to. It seems the clerks ordered the wrong hinge bolts for the steel doors and they must be rehung, every one of the damnable things. A ton each! I do not know how such a basic error could be made, but it shall not happen again.
January 24th, 1932: We no longer hear sounds of the men below. Either their work has progressed out of earshot or they have all perished. My own men are succumbing to general despair. Their work is slow and careless. Too many accidents. I suspect some have been intentional. How low must a man be to sacrifice a limb just to leave a place? I must redouble my efforts to improve morale. How I shall do this, I do not know.
Feb 14th, 1932: They chant. They chant from the deep. I do not know what fills me with more dread: that they are still alive, or that they have found purpose.
March 21st, 1932: Their work has resumed. Not my own men, but those we sent below. We can hear them faintly, digging, digging ever deeper. They seem to never rest but to pray in their weird songs. Another voice joins them now, something unlike a man. I shut my ears to it, but it reaches me none-the-less.
April 3rd, 1932: Last night two of my men sealed the topside exit then hanged themselves. We are trapped. We are trapped and things are coming. The men from below make their return. All we can do is wait for them.
A knock at the door startles Eudora. She shuts the journal and turns to find Private Taylor standing in her doorway.
"Yes?"
"You are wanted below."
Part 1:https://steemit.com/horror/@senderos/the-nightmare-song
Part 2: https://steemit.com/horror/@senderos/the-nightmare-song-part-2
Part 3: https://steemit.com/horror/@senderos/the-nightmare-song-part-3
Part 4: https://steemit.com/horror/@senderos/the-nightmare-song-part-4
Part 5: https://steemit.com/horror/@senderos/the-nightmare-song-part-5
Part 6: https://steemit.com/horror/@senderos/the-nightmare-song-part-6
Part 7: https://steemit.com/horror/@senderos/the-nightmare-song-part-7
Part 8: https://steemit.com/horror/@senderos/the-nightmare-song-part-8
Part 9: https://steemit.com/writing/@senderos/the-nightmare-song-part-10
Part 10: https://steemit.com/writing/@senderos/3fmcns-the-nightmare-song-part-10
Part 11: https://steemit.com/writing/@senderos/the-nightmare-song-part-11
Part 12: https://steemit.com/story/@senderos/the-nightmare-song-part-12
Part 13: https://steemit.com/writing/@senderos/the-nightmare-song-part-13