The Anniversary

It was the first time in 15 years that I had forgotten the Anniversary.
The alarm sounded on my phone... February 8th.
'Fuck' I thought.
How could I have let it slip my mind?

I had been under a lot of pressure recently, but still.. No amount of pressure could explain me forgetting February 8th.

It was 6am. I poured some coffee from the pot. It was still warm. What time did I go to sleep last night?

My phone started ringing

Unknown Caller

I knew who it was, of course I knew who it was, it was February 8th, it couldn't be anyone else.

Hello? I said.

There was silence for a time.

Until finally I heard that familiar voice.

It's February 8th

The call disconnected but I didn't need to hear any more.. I knew what I had to do.
I just wished it wasn't me that had to do it.

What is it with my head today? Why can't I shake this hangover?

I headed towards town in my Aston Martin Super Sport Limited Edition.

There were only 8 of this car ever made and I had one. Was it because of inheritance? A Lotto Win? Good ol'fashioned hard work perhaps?

Of course not... The only reason I owned a $9,500,000 car as part of my collection was because of what We found on February 8th 2007.

It still bugs me that nobody else has to go and check on 'it'.

I stopped listening to the news around 8 months ago because I got tired of hearing about everyone else enjoying their wealth without a care in the world.

You see.. I was tied to this Town because I was nominated to be the 'Caretaker'.
But not the rest of them, ohh no..

Elon was flaunting his Electric Cars everywhere whilst Jeff and Bill were having a dick swinging competition on who could build the bigger boat. The more media attention they could get, the better, as far as they were concerned.

When I was told that Elon and Jeff had both shot themselves into Space, a part of me hoped that they would stay there.

Arriving at the 'Place', I suddenly felt sick, dizzy, sweaty. I'm going to throw up I thought.

I managed to correct my breathing and took a moment to compose myself.
I have had panic attacks ever since we found 'it', ever since we did what we did.. Every time that one of us had to do it again.
They are panic attacks, but it's panic bought on by the uncontrollable guilt that we all have to live with.

No time to threat over it now. Let's just get this over and done with. I can be in and out in twenty minutes, and if I'm lucky, I won't have to do anything else until next February.

From the outside, the building looks completely derelict. I parked the car in its usual spot and closed the gates. I had never seen another person anywhere near here in the 15 years but still, you can't be too careful, and the sight of a $10,000,000 Super Car parked outside a derelict factory might raise some suspicion.

As I stepped into the old broken down elevator I entered in the code 20122101.

The elevator jerked into action, but rather than ascending up to either of the buildings two floors, it began its descent.. travelling further and further down into the ground, it felt longer than the previous time before I reached my stop and exited what I had always considered to be a complete death trap.

The corridors had a very Government feel to them.. Like something out of a James Bond Movie or Area 51 in the Movie Independence Day.

There was enough fluorescent lighting to light a small City, and it always struck me how clean everything was... Then again, its probably quite difficult to get an underground facility with no people, dirty.

Right, let's get this done!

When I reached the door I switched on the Monitor to look inside and then activated the finger print and retinal scanners to disarm the lock.

It was already getting dark when I arrived home.

Shaking, I poured a big glass of Single Malt and knocked it straight back..
I poured another.

The Phone Rang

Unknown Caller

What's the problem? The voice said..

I took a moment to try and comprehend the gravity of what I was about to say..

I couldn't

So I just said it..

"It's Gone"