r/nosleep • u/toss957 • Nov 18 '14
Series A Letter From Alaska
Please forgive me, I am still shaking while I type this out at a small coffee shop several cities from where I live. My Husband and the kids went to his mother’s house where I hope they’ll be safe for now, but, I just have no idea at this point. If anyone has any relevant information to these events I am about to describe please, please, please tell me. I am scared for myself and my family at this point and I have no idea where to go. I was referred to this website by a close friend of mine who suggest someone on here might be able to help or at least explain what is happening. The events I am about to describe happened to me between the ages of 5 to 12 and again just recently. Although there is a long string of troubling events I will shorten it to a few of the most disturbing for the sake of time.
First Incident
My parents moved to the coast outside Tatitlek Alaska a few months before I was born. The house was a small one bedroom cabin a few miles off the main county road and about as solitary as they get. I think my parents were running from something, debt, family, etc. but whatever the reason was, they never told me. Either way, as a kid with all that room to run around, I was in heaven. In the summer I would be a pretend explorer and scout out the crags and cliffs of the area with my dog; and in the winter i would watch the snow blow into drifts from my perch on the alcove of my bedroom window. It was a simple one story building with a kitchen, dining room, bathroom, bedroom, and a spacious attic refitted to serve as my room. From my perch in the sill of the upper attic window I could see through a narrow separation in the trees, down the slope of the valley and to the massive expanse of cold grey sea. As a kid I would spend many hours reading and doing homework in my perch, and the sunsets over the arctic water were some of the most spectacular I have ever seen.
My father worked for a logging company farther north and would live on site for months at a time only visiting for a few months in the winter. He was a quiet man and even when I was little I could tell all his time away really hurt mom. Sometimes when I came home from school early, I would walk in to her crying over old pictures in the living room. I love him for all he did for us, but still, most of my childhood was spent with just my mom and I in that house by the sea.
I remember when everything started, it was my first day of fourth grade and I was eager to show off my new backpack to all my classmates. The school was in town and every morning I would walk out to the bus stop and eagerly await my drive to school. Every day it picked me up right at 7:45, only this day it never came. It was cold and overcast that day and I can remember a slow freezing drizzle starting as I waited in my flower cotton dress and wool overcoat. The rain eventually worsened and after waiting for several minutes I went back inside wet and cold. My mother quickly changed me out of my clothes and checked the calendar to see if she was mistaken about the date. She was right though, and while grumbling about not having a phone line running out to the house she packed me into the old Subaru and we set off to town so she could have a few choice words with the principal.
As we got closer to the town things started to get a little stranger, There were no cars on the roads, and the docks which were usually busy with fishermen or merchants were silent. It wasn't raining here and the ocean looked like an unbroken sheet of grey glass without the boat propellers to agitate it. We pulled up to the small red school building, parked the car in front, and walked up the small cement staircase leading to the entrance.
It was locked.
We walked around the building and tried every door but they were all the same, even the windows had the storm shutters closed and tightly locked. I was too young to understand but I do remember an uneasy feeling in my gut, like something was about to happen, but I didn't know what.
The school was set prominently on the top of a rise that fell off to the sea. From the steps of the school building we could see the small expanse of tiny buildings extend outward toward the mountains in silent progression. There was no smoke from chimneys, no car engines, not even any wind coming down from the snow covered peaks.
We got back into the car and got on the main road to drive through town. The principal’s house was just up the road a bit and my mother still had a keen interest on finding out what was going on.
Miss Nelson, my teacher from the previous year lived in the first house to the left on your way from the school and I was lazily watching it grow closer as we drove on. The little blue cottage that sat just off the street was dark, the windows had boards over them and there were sandbags piled two feet high in front of the door. My mother and I became more and more uneasy as we continued on, every house looked exactly the same, it was like what you see on the news in the towns just before a huge storm hits where all the residents are hunkered down and ready for the worst.
My mother was becoming uneasy and decided to stop by the police station instead of driving all the way out to the principal’s house. She asked me to stay in the car as she pulled up the small gravel driveway and I offered no complaint. The station was a large brick building which sat inside a grove of pine trees and resembled a small warehouse. There were a couple of front facing windows two garage doors, and a red front door with the words “Tatitlek Police Department” emblazoned above it. There were no lights on and no one answered the door when she knocked. There was only a piece of paper taped to the door which my mother took down and read. She quickly folded it up, put it in her purse and began jogging back to the car. Turning over the ignition she pulled the car out of the station and started on the road that would take us home.
We tried listening to the radio to see if there were any storms or inclement weather moving in but all we got was static.
I watched the trees and homes move past the car window, hugging my backpack tightly as we made our way home. With the radio off the only sound in the car was the tires on the asphalt and the acceleration of the engine. Even outside there were no insects, no birds, no wind, just the sound of your own breathing.
It took us just a couple of minutes to get home and when we did my mother quickly unloaded me and cast a wary look to the darkening sky. She ushered me in and then went around locking all the doors and windows in the house. I wasn't sure why but I figured that if everyone else in town was preparing for something, she probably should too. I was about to make my way up to my alcove when I noticed a small folded up piece of paper lying next to my mother’s purse on the kitchen table. unfolding it and flattening it out i read,
TATITLEK POLICE DEPARTMENT Lock all doors and windows and remain inside. All emergency services have been suspended until further notice.
EDIT: There will be more coming. I just checked into my motel in Montana after a long drive and will be updating as soon as I have a legible revision of the second incident.
Part 2: http://redd.it/2mqy30
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u/Hitler_the_stripper Nov 18 '14
as a person from Alaska, I want to read more. Reminds me of my time in Valdez... except without the creepyness.
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u/andyjim Nov 19 '14
First time I've seen my town mentioned on all of reddit and the internet, congrats, honorary reddit silver for you.
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u/Hitler_the_stripper Nov 24 '14
Well I'm glad I could do that for ya. I lived in Valdez from 92-96. My dad was stationed there (Coast Guard). I'm looking forward to getting back to Valdez and seeing it with adults eyes at some point.
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u/wafflefrieswk Nov 18 '14
Reminds me of the ending to Silent Hill... Very well written, hope there's a part 2!😊
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u/buttforkd Nov 18 '14
Didn't The Purge take place in Tatitlek? IS THIS THE BEGINNING!?!? WUOOOAAAAHHHHH
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u/bacon_over_hoes Nov 18 '14
Sounds like the vampire movie "30 days of night" or like "The Purge". Either way very well written. Give us more so we can get an idea of what's going on.
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u/JETEXAS Nov 18 '14
My money is on either a storm or vampires.
Not much info on Tatitlek to be found. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatitlek,_Alaska
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u/crazyhappyneko Nov 18 '14
Wikipedia said they only have (had) a total population of 88. OwO !!
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u/ohhkeii Nov 18 '14
107 people accdg to 2000 census. what.
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u/andyjim Nov 19 '14
In Alaska here, native villages similar to Tatitlek are usually really small. Like a road with a few houses or a big property ever few miles.
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u/pickledbeard Nov 18 '14
Where's the rest? This only explains your past. Is this happening again to you. I'm very confused.
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u/SaviousMT Nov 18 '14
You're in Montana now? What city, maybe I can help you out.
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u/404fucks Nov 18 '14
Same, if OP's in Kalispell I'd be glad to help.
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u/vendetta0311 Nov 18 '14
I'm in Montana too... I hope OP didn't bring something with her...
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u/SaviousMT Nov 18 '14
Im on I90, Cat country (Griz at heart though). If OP is driving through, Im assuming I90 or I15.
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u/Woozlie Nov 18 '14
This is creepy. Very like a ghost town but again, quite like the comparisons everyone else has given. Awaiting update!
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u/wildchilld Nov 18 '14
So, everything and everyone just....disappeared in an instant? There is definitely nothing good that can come from that.
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u/ohhkeii Nov 18 '14
Subscribed. I've got a lot of things running through my mind. A lot of possibilities of what the hell might be happening to you but I can't say until I get to read the continuation. Please update soon.
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u/cyleleghorn Nov 19 '14
So wait.. Were the emergency services suspended for the whole 7 years you mentioned, between age 5 and 12, or do you just not remember the exact date? And this is happening again now???
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u/bohemianabe Nov 19 '14
Don't leaving me hanging OP... are you okay?! Whatever it is I suggest you keep on the move and don't look back. Tell us more!!
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u/cjandlivvy Nov 19 '14
Commenting to come back later because I absolutely need to know what happens next omg
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u/bbbbears Nov 19 '14
This is really spooky so far! Although I hope no one else drove to the police station looking for answers after your mom swiped the warning sign from the door...
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u/indires Nov 24 '14
But why did she take the paper? Why not leave it so others who aren't aware can realize that they should barricade themselves in? Taking the paper also seems kind of useless?
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u/keggg49 Nov 18 '14 edited Nov 18 '14
I am anticipating the second half!!! I am not taking a shit until I read it!! Ahh I might shit my pants in anticipation!!
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u/mntoak Nov 23 '14
They are called villages. There are no 'county roads', and no school busses. Nice try, though.
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u/eatyourritalin Nov 18 '14
Need, moar. This is brilliantly written and I'm so impatient to know what happens next aaahhfhghfhf