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There was a hole in the middle of Boatem village.
This wasn't an ordinary hole. If it was, then Grian wouldn't have the slightest interest in it. Not that he had ever been that interested in it, at least not until recently. This hole was deep. So deep that it descended into a darkness that was too dark to even call black. When Grian was a child he had, on more than one occasion, thrown a rock into the hole. Not once had he ever heard it hit the bottom. He started to wonder if the hole was in fact, bottomless, although he kept that thought to himself.
Apparently this hole hadn't always been there, looming ominously. The legend went that those who built this village had built up a tower of boats to claim the land. Then, one day, a huge sinkhole opened up and swallowed up those boats that the village was named after. That wasn't enough to spook those who lived there away, not even when the hole grew and grew and grew.
Now the hole was just a part of life. It was largely ignored, with the exception of young children playing games of chicken near it and the adults yelling at them to be careful. Of course, no one ever built a fence around the hole, despite the obvious safety concerns. And sometimes a person would go missing, but no one ever brought that up either.
Grian found the whole thing unnerving, especially after what had happened to his best friend Scar. There was a giant hole in the middle of their village! But the adults just treated it so normally, like it was no big deal! Well, Grian was practically an adult himself now, which made him think that he should be closer to understanding the hole. But he really didn't understand anything, especially why everyone just let it exist when it was clearly dangerous.
It was night when Grian snuck out of his house. That was pretty normal for a teenager to do, but usually teenagers didn't sneak out to look at a hole. But Grian was a man on a mission. He needed to investigate the hole and not be interrupted by any adults telling him to stay back.
He rubbed his arms as he walked, wishing he had put on a sweater, as there was a slight chill in the air. Recently, Grian's friend Scar had vanished. That was distressing, but none of the adults seemed that concerned. When Grian brought Scar up at school, Mr Cub just shook his head and told Grian not to worry about it. That Scar had just transferred to another school. But Grian was worried. It wasn't like Scar to vanish. He wasn't even answering his phone! Which was beyond weird! Even if he had transferred, he wouldn't start ignoring Grian. Right? Surely he would've at least mentioned that he was leaving at any point as well!
And, most terrifying of all, before Scar vanished, he seemed oddly attracted to the hole.
Day after day, Scar would go up to the hole and look down into the depths. Grian would have to drag him away from it on more than one occasion. The adults never yelled at Scar for standing there. They all looked away, shaking their heads, whispering things under their breath. The last time Scar had gone to the hole, the time before Scar vanished, Grian had yelled at him, “Scar! Why do you keep getting so close to the hole?”
“You don't see it?” Scar kept looking down into the hole, even as Grian pulled on his arm, trying to get him away from it.
“See what?” Grian asked, exasperated.
“It's beautiful.” Scar marveled at the hole, which, from what Grian could see, was simply blacker than black. Scar didn't answer any more questions after that. Grian left him by the edge of the hole when it got dark and he had to get home.
Now those words bothered Grian. What was so beautiful about this hole? What was it that Scar had seen? Had he actually fallen in and everyone was lying about what happened? Grian had to find out. Grian was getting desperate at this point, he had to figure this out.
He approached the hole, careful not to get too close to the edge. The hole was rather wide, the grass around the edge giving way to dirt the closer you got to the gap. Grian looked down into the murky depths.
He couldn't see shit!
There was nothing down there. It was a hole, a very deep hole, but a hole nonetheless. Grian sighed. He wished there was more. He wished there was understanding. He wished that Scar hadn't just vanished. He wanted his best friend back.
But wait a second.
There was something, something swirling down in those dark depths. Grian couldn't quite make it out, but there was definitely something. He got closer to the edge, careful of the crumbling dirt, and crouched down. He couldn't be sure, it might be his eyes playing tricks on him, but he could see something. It was almost like when he stirred creamer into his coffee and the liquid swirled until it was fully mixed. That's the closest thing that Grian could think of that looked like what he was looking at.
Then, from the depths of the hole, Grian heard a sound. Something like a very low whine. A noise that a hole definitely shouldn't be making. Grian scrambled backwards from the hole, his heart racing in his chest. It took him a few seconds to calm down, but once he did, he decided to go back home. He wasn't going to find any answers about Scar here.
But even after Grian was back in his bed, staring at his dark ceiling, he couldn't stop thinking about the Boatem Hole. That night he hardly slept, his mind filled with the swirling depths and that low sound that had emanated from beneath.
The next night, Grian went back to the hole. He had no reason to, he knew he wouldn't find anything there, but it almost felt like it was calling to him. Honestly, he was exhausted, and really should be sleeping, but he couldn't leave the hole alone. All day at school he couldn't pay attention, his thoughts kept wandering back to that swirling mass. He got yelled at by several teachers, which wasn't unusual, but his sister Pearl also seemed to notice that something was going on with him. She had nudged him at lunch, asking him what was wrong, but Grian just gave her a bland answer about missing Scar. It was easier to lie than to even try to explain anything about the Boatem Hole.
Now he was staring into those dark depths again. The hole was still swirling, but this time Grian swore he could see more. There were tiny, shimmering, pinpricks of light. Like someone had thrown glitter into his coffee. It was really faint, so Grian had to really lean over the hole to look. It was enchanting though. Grian couldn't take his eyes away. It was like he was staring into a distant galaxy.
Then, there was another noise. Lower, but less like a whine and more like an actual voice. Grian crouched down again, putting his head over the hole so he could hear better.
“...rian…”
Huh. That sounded like his name. It was drawn out, more like a hiss than actual words, but he heard it. The sound echoed over itself and was quiet, but it sounded oddly familiar. Then he heard it again, much clearer this time. “Grian.”
That voice, it sounded like Scar. Grian was certain that it was him, even if it was a little off. It sounded just like when Scar woke up after a sleepover, his voice husky in the early hours of the morning. Grian carefully replied back, “Scar?”
“Grian…” The voice floated up. “Grian…”
“Are you okay? Scar?” Grian almost felt panicked, had Scar fallen down? Did he get stuck in the hole? Grian had to save him! He looked around frantically, trying to see if there was a rope or something he could throw into the hole to save his friend. “Hold on, I'll save you!”
“Grian…” Was all the voice replied.
Grian stood up, looking around the village. When he couldn't find anything, he went back to his house. He knew his father kept some rope in their back closet. He rushed inside, only to find Pearl standing on the staircase with a glass of water in her hands.
“Now what's all this?” Pearl gave him a mischievous smile, like she was definitely going to get Grian in trouble. “Sneaking out at night?”
“No!” Grian didn't have time for this. Scar was trapped in the hole, Grian had to save him. Maybe Pearl could even help! “Listen, Scar fell into the Boatem Hole. We have to save him!”
“What?” Pearl twisted around so quickly on the staircase that some water sloshed out of the cup. “Scar's back? And he fell?”
“Yeah!” Grian didn't have time to clarify. Scar never left! The adults were lying! But that didn't matter at the moment. “I'll get the rope, let's go save him!”
“Right, let me get my shoes on.” Pearl sprinted down the steps as Grian went to get the rope. He rummaged through the closet, not really caring about noise or the mess he might be leaving. Once he found the rope he raced back to Pearl, who was standing by the door.
“Let's go.” Grian said, pulling the door open and full on sprinted back to the Boatem Hole. Once he arrived, Pearl several steps behind, he called down the hole, “Scar, don't worry, we'll save you.”
“Grian…” The distorted voice replied.
“I'm sending the rope down!” Grian unspooled the rope and started feeding it into the hole. He hoped the rope was long enough.
“Is he really down there?” Pearl stood next to him, still trying to catch her breath.
“Grian…” The hole murmured.
“Yeah! Don't you hear him?” Grian kept hoping he would feel a pull on the rope, that Scar would grab on and they could pull him to safety. Instead it only looked like the rope was being devoured by the darkness.
“I don't hear anything, mate.” Pearl peered into the darkness.
“Grian…” The hole hissed.
“There! There it is again!” Grian shouted, feeling frustrated. This was dire! They had to save Scar! This wasn't the time for questions, this was the time for action.
“Uh. Grian, did you actually see Scar?” Pearl asked, worrying her lip between her teeth.
“No, but I can hear him! I know he's down there!”
Pearl awkwardly pulled at the sleeve of her red hoodie. “Are you pulling a prank on me?”
“I wouldn't joke about this!” Grian shouted, nearly dropping his rope. “I can hear him! I have to save him.”
“Okay. Let's go back home.” Pearl put a hand on Grian's shoulder. “I know you have been a little messed up because Scar left like he did, but he's not in that hole. His family moved away, okay?”
“No! He fell in the hole and everyone is hiding it from me! It's a conspiracy! We have to save him before it's too late.” Grian felt tears pricking his eyes. Why didn't Pearl believe him? Why wasn't she helping?
Then, Grian felt a pull on his rope. He completely ignored what Pearl was saying to him now. See! Scar was down there! Grian went to pull back, but there was another pull, much stronger, that made him lose balance.
Grian was going to fall into the hole. He yelped, dropping the rope as his arms spread out to his sides to help him balance. Pearl harshly grabbed his arm, pulling Grian away from the hole.
“Are you trying to commit suicide!?” Pearl shrieked, probably waking up all of Boatem. She held Grian tightly in her arms. “Please, Grian, it's going to be okay. You don't have to do this!”
“I wasn't!” Why would Grian even do that! “I felt something pull on the rope.”
“So what, you were just going to jump in?” Pearl sounded terrified. “Grian, I'm taking you home. You, you need to talk to mom and dad. And get some help. Anything. Please.”
“I can't go home! I have to save Scar!” Grian felt his frustration rising.
“Look, Grian. Scar's not down there. Even if he did fall down and everyone is lying to us, he would be dead. I think you're just a little sick, okay? So let's go home.” Pearl hadn't let go of Grian, she was clinging to him like she was a child.
… maybe Grian had made the sound up? It really wouldn't make sense for Scar to be down there. It had been over a week since he vanished. “Okay. Let's go home.”
Grian started to walk back with Pearl, but he swore he heard a voice whispering behind him, “Don't leave me…Grian…”
Grian didn't go to school the next day. Pearl had explained what had happened to their parents, although her story was different from what he remembered. She told them that Grian had dropped the rope into the hole and then tried to jump, before Pearl stopped him. They were obviously concerned and told Grian to get some sleep for today and that they would visit the doctor tomorrow.
But Grian couldn't sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about the hole. He should probably be worried about going to the doctors or that his family thought that he had tried to leap into that hole, but that was the furthest thing from his mind. He kept thinking about that swirling galaxy, that voice calling out to him.
Grian had to go back.
That night, Grian snuck out through his window.
He had gone downstairs and he saw Pearl sitting on the couch, even though it was way past her bedtime. She gave him a look somewhere between pity and fear, “Going somewhere?”
“I'm getting a drink of water.” Grian said, his lips pulled into a thin line. What was this about? Why was Pearl acting like this? He needed to go to the Boatem Hole, didn't she understand? Well, it didn't matter. She couldn't stop him.
Grian jumped out from the second story of his house after he got back upstairs with a glass of water he would never drink. He hit the ground with a loud thud and, more worryingly, a cracking sound. Pain erupted from his ankle. It hurt so much! He hissed with pain as he held his ankle in his hand, trying to feel if anything was broken. It didn't feel broken, but it hurt like hell.
Well, it didn't matter. Grian stood up, the pain shooting up his leg as he tried to put weight on his ankle. He ignored the pain as best as he could, he needed to get back to the hole.
He stumbled over towards the hole, unable to put much weight on his injured leg. He was limping, pulling his leg along, trying to not scream from the utter agony. It took far too long, but it didn't seem like Pearl or anyone had followed him.
Once he was at the hole, Grian sat down on the ground. His ankle was swollen, almost to a scary degree, but he ignored that, instead he looked down into the hole. There it was again, that swirling mass. It looked even more beautiful today. He could see the lights of hundreds of different stars, spinning in a galaxy contained entirely in this hole. It was wonderful, it was so beautiful, it looked alive.
“Grian…” The voice called out to him again.
“Scar?” Grian felt tears of relief coming to his eyes. He knew it! Scar really was down there!
“I'm here, Grian…” The voice continued. “Come here…”
“I hurt my leg.” Grian was desperately trying to ignore the pain. It was easier to ignore it when he heard Scar's voice. “I don't think I can climb down.”
“Jump.” The voice commanded. “It's safe, don't worry.”
Grian hadn't been worried anyway. Surely it had to be safe if Scar was down there. He missed Scar so much, but he was right there. Grian could see him again. It would be so easy! He made his decision. It was a very easy one to make.
“I'm coming to join you, Scar.” Grian struggled to his feet. He stood on the edge of the Boatem Hole.
He swore he could hear distant laughter.
And then …
He tipped his body forwards, slipping away into the warm embrace of the unknown, and was devoured by the darkness.