The Dark Car Park

Introduction

On our recent trip to Whitby Fiona got lost descending from Whitby Abbey (a former haunt of Dracula), she was perturbed by the steps on the estate block which might have led to a dark car park. Matt and Craig, our hosts told us about wanderings in some Whitby estates where if you are "not one of them" you are subjected to baleful glares from the locals. To these scenarios, I have added some elements of a Cristopher Fowler short story about a driver in an underground car park.

Down In The Dark

It was getting dark and I had left Whitby Abbey, I almost felt that Dracula was still there somewhere in the many shadows in the ruins, but I was wary of descending the 199 steps in the fading light as the sea fret was also coming in and many of the steps were quite slippery ( I had fallen on them twice before, once fracturing a bone in my foot) so I decided to take a path to the west and descend to the river Esk through one of the estates.

The path came to an end, well seemed to disappear into a muddy field, and the only way down to Esk seemed to be via the steps and the top of the five-story block of flats, but I wasn't sure if that was private property, but it was getting dark and had had the torch on my mobile phone, although there was no signal here.

I entered the top stairway and saw at least two shadowy faces looking at me through windows as I started to descend the stairs. I heard some shouts above me when I was down to what I thought was the third level.

As I went down it seemed that the stair corridor was getting narrower, maybe it was just my claustrophobia but it seemed to be getting darker, but I was nearly at the bottom so I would soon be on my way back to my lodgings.

I got to the bottom and was in a large dark area, which may have been a car park, but there were no cars, and no immediately apparent egress to the road next to the Esk that I was expecting.

There were sounds I could here and black, almost smoky shapes that seemed fused to the wall. I decided it would be prudent to go back up the stairs, but then realized I could not see where I had come from. I was sure I had come down through the back left-hand corner but there was no door or opening there.

I brushed against one of the shapes on the wall, and it stuck to me but I pulled away leaving a bit of one of my denim jacket sleeves.

I switched on the recorder on my phone and started narrating what was happening:

Recording Found On An Abandoned Mobile Phone

"Ours"

I heard voices

"It's Another For Us"

"Who is this?"

"We Are Our Master's Subjects And Sunstenance, As You Soon Will Be, No More Sunlight For You, You Are Ours"

Although it was dark, and my phone torch was dying, I was getting the impression that the room was smaller, as though the walls were closing in on me, like when I was coming down the stairwell.

Then something touched my back and my feet were stuck in something on the floor. I then felt stinging and burning needles enter my flesh, I was becoming part of the room, of the wall.

I saw a dark figure enter the room, then fangs were bared...........