Squeezing himself around the jagged edge of the drum Gabe pressed his back against the rough wall and pointed his beam towards the floor.
‘What is it?’
‘Claudia, I need you.’
Looking at the narrow gap between the drum and wall there was no way Gabe could squeeze his frame between them.
‘Nahem,’ he added ‘you too.’
In a matter of seconds, the eager faces of the two women peeked down at him as they clambered to join Yebot.
‘What is it?’
‘Down there, looks like there’s an old bit of laddering on the side,’ Gabe directed his torch as he spoke.
Sure enough, the overturned drum had a series of rungs leading down into the floor. How it had been placed had was done to protect wandering visitors from the precarious hole leading down into the ground.
Undisturbed cobwebs zigzagged between the metal and brickwork. Stretching out his arm Gabe broke as many of the cobwebs was he could.
‘Great,’ Claudia shivered as a large spider scurried away from Gabe’s destruction of its home. ‘I hate spiders.’
‘Really?’ Gabe scoffed. ‘You’re stood next to a six-inch talking half-skeleton, and you tell me spiders make you scared!’
Claudia had missed the playfulness of her father. Hearing his banter brought a smile to her face, and she answered him with an amused look.
‘Where do they go once they get down there Yebot?’
‘I sense its presence far beneath the floor, between us and it a narrow little door.’ Yebot paused. ‘How far in the depths I cannot say, the rotting head sees not the day.’
‘Get that ladies? It’s somewhere down there!’
Nahem looked to Claudia and offered her an odd comforting smile.
‘I’ll go first, Nahem declared and spun herself around on the metal.
Dangling her legs down Gabe guided her toes onto the first rung and made sure she was secure. Nahem tested the next rung and then allowed herself to squeeze between the drum and wall until all Gabe could see was the beam of her torch far below.
‘Be careful baby,’ Gabe offered as he secured Claudia’s foot onto the first step.
‘I’ll be fine dad, Nahem will be there, and it’s not like it’s my first adventure is it.’
Gabe reached across and held his hand against Claudia’s face.
‘We don’t know her,’ he whispered. ‘I know it feels right, but everything I’ve learned from Archy tells me we need to only trust each other in this.’
‘You’re becoming isolated dad,’ Claudia disarmed him with a wry smile. ‘Let’s get on with this and tomorrow we can discuss this in more detail.’
Gabe watched as Claudia disappeared beneath the floor.
‘I love you, dad,’ were the last words he heard echoing up towards him.
***
Nahem reached the bottom of the deep hole and looked up towards where she had come. The narrow gap was fifty feet above her as she looked up she saw Claudia take her first steps downwards.
The stair rungs on the drummer were soon replaced with an anchored ladder attached to a rough concrete wall stretching down to the ground. All around the dark was enveloping around her and dampness hung in the air, she could almost taste the salt from the ocean.
‘You’re almost down,’ she said as Claudia neared her. ‘Another few steps and you’ll be at the bottom.’
‘Is it safe?’ Claudia’s voice quivered a little with nerves.
‘As safe as it can be,’ Nahem laughed. ‘But yes, so far it’s safe.’
Finding her footing, Claudia looked around and was surprised to see herself stood in a vast open cavern. The wall they had climbed down was a support wall for the fort above and constructed of reinforced concrete.
There were far more remnants of the impressive military construction this far beneath the ground. Whereas they had reclaimed the upper sections of the old fort and reconstructed it, the cavern remained untouched. Rusted pipes were attached in winding paths along the walls and floor.
‘Where’s the door then?’ Claudia quizzed as she looked around.
Nahem was quiet as she looked around, her mind racing with possibilities. The room, while open and expansive, felt tight and claustrophobic with the pipework and machinery.
‘You start there, and I’ll go over here,’ Nahem instructed and pointed out towards the far side of the cavern. ‘Just watch your footing, I expect there are even more tunnels and drops around us.’
They searched around the edge of the room in silence. As they made it around and moved nearer to one another, they felt frustrated and lost.
‘You know my dad doesn’t want to trust you right?’
‘I don’t blame him,’ Nahem answered as she stepped over a rusted pipe at waist height. ‘After all that, your family have experienced on this journey why should he trust anyone.’
‘But you’re here to help.’ It was more a statement than a question.
‘Everyone will help others if it works towards their own goal.’
‘I saw you talking on the ferry to dad,’ Claudia stopped searching and turned to look across at Nahem. ‘Whatever you were talking about there was something in your face that told me you’re not here to hurt us.’
‘Common purpose my dear.’ Nahem felt exposed as the young woman stared across at her.
‘I don’t think it’s that simple.’ Claudia declared and stepped across to Nahem. ‘You may think you’re here for your own reasons, but I’ve seen the way you look at Archy and my dad. You believe in them.’
Nahem was grateful for the sudden sound that silenced Claudia. Her footfalls had been the sound of shoes on damp earth and moss until an echo of metal boomed around them.
‘Wait.’ Nahem raised her hand.
Panning her torch down to the ground she stepped to Claudia and scuffed her foot across the floor. At first, the mud piled at the side of her boot until it met resistance. Tapping her foot down the same metallic sound echoed beneath them.
‘Looks like we may have found our door.’
It filled both women with a sense of excitement and dread.
26
The Severed Head
Claudia and Nahem pulled aside the layer of moss which sat like a carpet on the cave floor. As they shifted the damp earth, the exterior of a metal door was recognisable. Flush to the floor there were no clear handles or hinges as the pair of them looked closer.
Claudia noted a small imprinting on the bottom of the door and rubbed at the metal plate with her finger. A series of embossed letters and numbers appeared as she scrubbed at the metal.
‘Wait, this might help.’
Removing her phone from her pocket, she pressed the power button, and the screen blinked to life. Dismayed, she found a deep crack stretching from top to bottom on the screen of the phone. Much to Claudia’s relief the touchscreen still worked, and she swiped to unlock it.
‘Read those out will you?’ She asked and stepped back to give Nahem access to the ID plate.
Reading out the string of letters and numbers Claudia tapped them into the screen. Slowly, hampered by their depth beneath the surface, the internet searched for a result.
‘Damn!’ Claudia declared, her voice filled with annoyance. ‘Are you sure there isn’t another letter at the end?’
‘Why?’ Nahem asked as she scrubbed harder at the plate.
‘This says there are two models for that number.’ Claudia skim-read the page. ‘The number you’ve given me is the sealed one, if there was a Q at the end, then there is a hidden locking mechanism.’
Desperate to find the extra letter Nahem scrubbed her fingers hard against the abrasive metal.
‘Wait a second, yes, here.’ Nahem had moved along the door a little and found a recognisable extra letter.
‘Ace! Now let me load this and see what it tells us.’
Someone had designed the door as an emergency hatch, accessible only from inside the fort. In place as an extreme counter
measure and fallback plan. Few details were known about its construction. Referring to the internet article, Claudia read the instructions aloud.
Following her words to the letter Nahem located all the concealed switches and buttons. Pressing, twisting and pulling in the correct sequence both waited with bated breath.
‘What now?’
‘It’s on a timer.’ Claudia answered. ‘Thirty seconds and it should unlock unless you cancel it.’
‘What man designed this infernal thing?’
They stood and waited for what felt like an eternity. At the allotted time as both their patience were almost expired, the door clicked and sank an inch down into the floor.
‘We should be able to slide it to the side now.’ Claudia hissed and dropped to her knees to help Nahem.
Try as they might the door would not move. Peering closer at the curious design Nahem noticed that one corner had not sunk as far as the others.
‘Wait, move back a second.’
Perching on the damp floor, Nahem kicked down on the raised corner of the door once, twice and on the third it dropped into position.
With the door now positioned it slid aside with ease. There was no resistance and whatever mechanism had been designed to move the door worked as it should. Pulling it open and securing it in place the pair of them peered down into the expanse beyond now knowing what to expect.
‘You’ve got to be kidding!’ Claudia declared as she saw another ladder descending. ‘How much further?’
‘Archy was rather non-committal when he was telling us where he buried it.’
‘Part of me wants to think he can’t remember, another part warns me he didn’t want to put us off.’
‘I’ll go down.’ Nahem declared, not allowing Claudia to dwell on the reasons for Archy’s obscurity about the Nivag’s remains.
‘You don’t have to.’ Claudia said, placing her hand on Nahem’s for a moment to stop her.
‘Just wait here. Hopefully, I won’t be long.’
Watching Nahem descend the ladder Claudia felt alone.
Surrounded by the decaying machinery, she realised how odd her life had become. In the last two years, she had gone from the happy family-girl, student and normal teenager to this. Now she was dirt-covered, breaking into a zoo while waiting for someone to deliver her a severed head.
‘How can any of this be normal?’ She sighed to herself as she pondered her position.
Part of her enjoyed this way of life. Albeit her mother’s death and disappearance of her brother overshadowed her adventures but here, here she felt she had a purpose. In the last few weeks, she had also seen a change in Gabe. She saw the long-forgotten shine in his eye, and she had even noted the strange air between Nahem and her father.
Before she could think anymore Nahem’s voice pulled her back.
‘Claudia, quick.’
Turning back to the open hatch she saw Nahem’s head creep past the level of the floor drenched in sweat.
‘Give me a hand, it’s heavy.’
Running to help Claudia grabbed Nahem’s arm and hoisted her up through the hatch. They both fell to the floor.
‘Grab the rope.’ Nahem panted as she tugged at a soaked piece of rope wrapped around her body.
Gripping the rope Claudia pulled and Nahem shuffled backwards on the floor. Whatever was attached to the rope was heavy. Between them, they made slow progress until a solid metal box pulled over the lip of the hatch.
‘Thank you.’ Nahem huffed as she laid down, the cold moss welcoming against her back.
‘What is it?’ Claudia enquired as she moved over to the box.
‘Well, I’m hoping it’s what we came for.’
‘I take it there wasn’t anything else down there that it could have been?’
Nahem threw a look that told Claudia she was asking the wrong questions.
‘Look on the side.’
Deciding against pressing any further Claudia moved around the box and soon located what Nahem was eluding to. Etched in neat letters on one side of the solid box were the initials A.B.S. It was the same script that had been embossed on the front cover of Archy’s journal.
‘Just a hunch that was the right one!’ Nahem quipped as she unhooked the soaked rope from around her waist.
‘Do we open it now?’ Claudia asked as she admired the craftsmanship of the rivet and sheet steel construction.
‘Well you can think again if I’m carrying that all the way back up there unless I bloody have to.’ Nahem chuckled and joined Claudia at the box.
The only thing securing the lid in place were two latches on each of the four sides. With an air of caution they opened them and prepared to lift the solid lid from its position.
‘Are you ready for this?’
‘Nope, not in the slightest.’
Taking the weight of the solid steel panel, they lifted it between them and slid it off. As the metal clattered to the floor, landing inches from the edge of the open hatch, they both leant over to peer into the box.
Inside the box sat a sizeable hessian sack, tied in place by the cord around the neck. The bag resembled something a sailor would take aboard a ship except this was khaki green. Nahem reached down and fumbled with the double knotted cord. Loosening the knot, she opened the bag wider and pulled it down.
Her hand touched something substantial and moist. Che recoiled her hand and chose instead to look into the open sack.
‘Impossible.’ Nahem gasped and staggered away.
Awash with an insatiable curiosity Claudia inched herself closer to the box and peered into the sack.
The head of the Nivag came into view as her head torch illuminated the contents of the bag. Its tattered skin was damp but intact on the mottled bone. Somehow the head rested skin-side upwards, and Claudia could only just make out a little of the exposed skull on the other sides of its face.
She moved her hand across in front of her and reached into the sack. Pressing her fingers against the tattered skin, it surprised her how warm and wet it still felt. Heart racing, she was glad the decapitated head made no movement in reaction to her touch.
‘What now?’ She asked, desperate to roll the head over and see the skinless bone.
Something lost Claudia in a memory for a moment. The first, and last time, she had ever seen a Nivag was when Viktor had summoned them from the same hole the Magdon had clambered from. They had been filled with hate and venom, their venomous glares fixed on Claudia and her family.
Now, however, a lifeless severed head, there was a lot she wanted to see up close.
‘Enough of that for now,’ Nahem interrupted. ‘There will be time for that when we get back up to your father.’
‘I just wanted...’ Claudia snapped, but Nahem secured the lip of the sack back in place.
‘Later.’ Nahem declared and slid the tied cord around her shoulder. ‘Come, they’ll be waiting.’
With reluctance Claudia followed behind Nahem as they stalked back across the concrete wall and ladder. With the sack dangling so close to her as they climbed up Claudia felt an almost insatiable desire to see the Nivag’s head again.
It was a feeling she could not explain, and it relieved part of her when they returned to the upturned drum and the expectant stares from Yebot and her father.
‘Have you got it?’ Gabe snapped as they climbed up.
‘Yes.’
With that answer, all eyes turned to the sack around Nahem’s shoulder.
27
Connection Made
Nahem kept the bag around her shoulder as they tiptoed through the zoo and back towards the entrance. Passing by the side of the tiger enclosure, all of them were caught by surprise as a stalking tiger attacked the fence.
In the night's silence, the rattling cage and intimidating growl rooted them all to the spot.
‘What does it want?’ Claudia hissed as she looked wide-eyed at the fearsome beast.
The tiger glared at the huddled group. Gripping the fencing of
the cage in its mouth they all watched as the metal strained within the tiger’s powerful jaw.
‘I don’t suppose you think it can get out do you?’ Nahem whispered as she felt the tiger’s eyes boring into her.
The metal fencing creaked but held fast.
‘Get moving, back out towards the entrance, one at a time.’ Gabe instructed as he stared at the tiger.
The creature’s attention on them was piercing and intense, there was something primal about the burning eyes in the darkness. Gabe felt unnerved by the predator but one by one he encouraged Claudia, followed by Nahem to make their way towards the entrance.
‘Nahem wait.’ Gabe growled as she stepped away.
‘What is it?’ She bit, her eyes wide with fear.
‘It’s you.’ Gabe whispered. ‘It’s watching you.’
As Nahem turned around, she saw that the tiger had all but dismissed Gabe. Exactly as he said, the shimmering eyes were transfixed on her. Drifting from side-to-side the tiger did not let up on its intent gaze.
‘Why is it doing that?’ She muttered under her breath.
Gabe looked at Nahem for a moment, taking in her appearance and what the tiger had smelt or sensed in her. Even in the pale moonlight, Gabe could not deny her soft skin looked soft and alluring.
He scorned himself, feeling the tendrils of guilt at looking at Nahem that way. Brushing the thought aside he dropped his attention and noted the bag on her shoulder.
‘Pass it.’
As Gabe held out his hand, there was a strange reluctance for Nahem to relinquish the bag. Catching her eye Gabe offered her a questioning glare until she eventually pulled the bag from her shoulder.
‘That’s what I thought.’ Gabe nodded as he took the bag from Nahem.
The tiger, behind the now flimsy looking fencing, followed the khaki sack. The cat’s attention never left the bag as they passed it from Nahem to Gabe. Holding it out Gabe encouraged Nahem move across the front of the tiger’s cage.
As Gabe moved away from the edge of the enclosure, the tiger snarled. A deep rumble in its throat grew and grew until, as Gabe reached the open picnic area, the tiger let out a fearsome roar.
From The Dark Page 17