Oh, Ombre Rouge - SCP Foundation

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I grew up in Ombre Rouge, Louisiana. While I wasn't a popular kid at school, I had two close friends: Charlie and Edith. We stayed together until we finished high school. Charlie, moved out after that, leaving just two of us.

We discovered a new passion for the otherworldly and supernatural.

Edith and I became some sort of a mystery tag-team, like in those old cartoons.

We speculated online since Ombre Rouge is too… calm. Despite the disappearances of 2005 and some traffic accidents, nothing interesting happened in this small swamp town. At least that's what I thought.

When Edith heard of more disappearances in 2018 we went to investigate. We heard something about a barn but when we got there, we found nothing. Strange. The police hadn't arrived yet. Just in case, I took pictures of the barn. But, somehow, they got deleted from my phone a few days after.

Edith and I were both sure someone was conspiring against us. But who?

The police? No, that wouldn't make sense.

Maybe it's the culprit? Feasible, I guess.

Or maybe some secret organization trying to stop us?

We used one of those corkboards — yes, we really were into it — to summarize all of our evidence. Which, well, wasn't that much. But we were sure we were onto something. We spent a whole afternoon preparing it in my room. When Edith eventually left, a bag was put over my head and I was knocked out.

I woke up in a dimly illuminated room, handcuffed to a table. In front of me, there was a woman in a suit. She told me about the SCP Foundation and its mission to keep humanity safe from anomalies.

My body shaked as I thought they would have tortured me to keep my mouth shut about what we saw. Against all odds, I was wrong. They were interested in me.

They offered me a job.

Me? Working for a shadow organization that deals with the paranormal? I accepted.

There was a catch though. They told me I couldn't contact Edith after I joined them. They would wipe her memory. I objected, I insisted that Edith could work with them too. They refused. According to them, Edith was a liability. "She does not meet our qualifications."

What does that even mean? We have the same education. And I don't think being a part-time bartender is more prestigious than being a secretary. I just couldn't figure out why would they choose me.

I was conflicted. Should I give up Edith for a dream job? I asked them if I could take some time to think about it.

They gave me a day.

Before I could realize it, I was back in my room. The corkboard was gone too. Immediately, I picked up my to call Edith and tell her about what happened but then I realized — What was the point? They would make her forget no matter what.

Perhaps going outside for some fresh air was be best. When I opened the door I saw that it was already nighttime. I checked my phone again.

June 30th. 23:34.

The Foundation had brought me to one of their facilities and back in less than a couple of hours. I was knocked out for most of it so I didn't feel like sleeping.

When I stepped out of my house, I felt something was wrong. And no, it wasn't the humid summer heat.

I looked up and saw something spherical. And UFO perhaps? Or maybe the Foundation? I couldn't tell.

Something dropped from it, all across Ombre Rouge.

Was this the Foundation's response to what I said? I guess I didn't matter since… since…

Since that was the last thing I saw.