by Scott Reeves
But what a small amount of light it was. The darkness seemed to devour the light. And the door might as well have been seamless; absolutely no light leaked through. Did that mean the lights strung along the ceiling on the other side of the door had gone out? Was there still a world on the other side of the door? There were no sounds from beyond, no light, no indication that the world still existed.
Even their cell phones had lost contact with the outside world. Neither Mike, Stacy, Paula nor Jason could get a signal on their respective phones; no voice, no Internet... no signal of any kind, not even a weak one. So they had no way of calling for help. For all they could tell, the outside world had vanished.
But of course it hadn’t. The very idea was foolish. But as the hours passed and the hungry darkness and the cold pressed in on them and they hunkered together in the meager bubble of light, the idea grew increasingly less foolish.
They made numerous attempts to open the door, without success. The door wouldn’t budge, even when Mike finally managed to wedge his fingers in between the door and the wall. The seal of blood couldn’t be scuffed away. Nigel had said he could break the seal, if he chose. He chose not to, instead hanging back as far from the door as possible, at the very edge of the light.
They even tried digging around the door, but the clay of the tunnel walls was only a few inches thick. Beneath it, the rock was solid, and they had nothing with which to chip away at it.
Mike’s cell phone died around noon. Stacy’s died half an hour later. Paula’s, at two o’clock. Jason’s was the last to die, just twenty minutes short of four o’clock.
Four o’clock: in their minds, it had come to signify the hour of their salvation. Nigel had assured them that his brother would arrive precisely at four, and they had pinned all their hopes onto that assurance. But Nigel had also assured them that David would not let them out. They could only hope that he was wrong, and that his brother had a sense of decency that Nigel himself apparently lacked.
When four o’clock finally rolled around, as closely as they could judge, all of them, excepting Nigel, began screaming, hoping that David would hear them. Mike and Jason pounded on the door with their fists. Their efforts sent a dull metallic boom echoing into the tunnel behind them. Surely David would be able to hear something on the other side of the door.
But they got no response. The door didn’t open. They fell utterly silent, listening for the faintest of sounds beyond the door, some sign that David was out there. But there was none. Their utter silence was greeted with utter silence.
They continued making noise for the better part of two hours, with no result. David was either out there and ignoring them, or he was just not out there. Nigel assured them that the latter was highly unlikely; David would never miss his shift unless he was dead.
“Either way, we’re all trapped in here,” Nigel said. “I’m sorry, friends, but the seal must never be broken again. Hopefully I reestablished the seal in time to spare the world.”
“Spare it from what, you crazy fucker?” Jason shouted. “This is all in your mind! There’s nothing in here!”
“But something chased us,” Stacy said. “Something stung you, sweetie. Something big.”
“Don’t buy into his insanity!” Jason shouted at her.
Mike cleared his throat. “It’s got to be after six o’clock,” he said. “My flashlight won’t last much longer. We don’t have any food. I think it’s time we started looking for another way out.”
Paula nodded. “There must be one somewhere.”
Stacy and Jason agreed.
Mike took Paula’s flashlight and handed it to Nigel. “Stay here if you want. Or don’t. But you’re not welcome in our group. You’re dead to us. If you follow us, you stay way far behind us. If I catch even the slightest glimmer of your light, I’ll come back and kick your skinny ass.”
Jason grinned triumphantly.
At least he did until Stacy moved to stand by Nigel. “No,” she said. “If you’re voting him off our island,” she was a big Survivor fan, “then you’re voting me off as well. We’re not cruel. Come on, guys.”
Jason glared at her.
“I’m serious,” she said to him. “Don’t test me.”
Mike sighed. “Have it your way.” He held out his hand to Nigel.
Nigel passed the flashlight back to Mike, who in turn handed it back to Paula.
With that decided, there was nowhere to go but down. They started walking.
The going was relatively quick, until they reached the point where the ground sloped downward. Then, they were forced to slow a bit as the steep slope made their footing less certain. As they descended, Mike and Jason carefully scanned the walls for airshafts, something they hadn’t done the first two times they’d been this way. But they saw none. And of course, as before, there were no side passages.
They reached the bottom of the slope and the ground leveled out. They stopped at the point where Stacy had fallen earlier. A dark red spot marked it.
Mike shined his light further up the tunnel. “Terra incognito from here on out,” he said. Anything could be in that pitch-blackness. Not to mention some large beast with a stinger.
“Wow,” Jason quipped, “I wouldn’t have expected a big burly football player such as yourself to know such an erudite phrase.” He’d decided to put his anger with both Nigel and Stacy on hold. The situation was grim, and by now he’d realized that his anger would only increase the tension between them all. It would also damage the chances that his and Stacy’s relationship would survive beyond this mine, if they themselves managed to survive. And if those two reasons weren’t enough to act cheerfully, his outbursts, when he got right down to it, just made him look like a jackass.
“Actually,” Paula said, “the phrase is ‘Terra incognita.’” She patted Mike’s arm. “But close enough, sweetie.”
Mike grinned. He looked to Stacy. “Well, you’re the one that was so gung-ho on finding out what was behind door number three.” He gestured politely into the darkness ahead. “After you, mademoiselle.”
Stacy giggled. “I’m fine with you in the lead, really I am. But thanks for being such a gentleman.” She glanced pointedly at Jason, who smiled tightly and ignored the jibe.
Mike took a deep breath and started forward. The others followed, not wanting to let the only light get away from them.
Jason sighed. “Well, I guess it’s up to me to be the voice of reason, so I’ll say it once again, just so it gets said. Am I the only one who thinks going deeper is a bad idea?” But he went forward despite his words.
“If you’ve got a better idea,” Mike said, “we’re all ears.”
Jason rubbed the large red welt that throbbed in the small of his back, but said nothing.
A short walk through the level tunnel brought them to the top of another downward slope. Mike stopped at the edge and rubbed his jaw. “I don’t know. Do we want to go deeper? I’d say we’re already a good quarter mile or so underground.”
Jason nodded. “That’s about what I’ve calculated. I’m impressed. I didn’t know football players could keep a running total in their small heads.” He grinned to show he was joking. “I say going deeper is a bad idea,” Jason said. “But what other choice do we have?”
Mike turned to Nigel. “Be totally honest with us. Do you know anything about what’s down here that you haven’t told us? The layout of the mine, any other entrances, anything like that?”
Nigel shook his head. “No. I swear by my salvation in Jesus Christ that I’ve told you everything. I’ve never known what we were guarding against. This mine is at least a thousand years old, and no plans exist. There are no other entrances that I’m aware of.”
In a sudden burst of anger, Jason said, “Dammit! Just open the door and let us out!”
“I will not,” Nigel said. “I’m sorry, but I will not.”
Jason turned away, embarrassed that he’d once again lost control despite his determination not to. Also, he wa
s worried that he might attack Nigel and make a bigger ass of himself.
“I’ll fuck you, Nigel,” Stacy said abruptly. “Just like I promised I would, I’ll fuck you right now, right here in front of everybody, if you open the door and let us out.”
Jason whirled around. “Stacy!” he shouted, his determination completely gone.
She cringed from him, but said, “What if it’s our only way out?” she said. “My promise is what got us trapped in here. What if keeping it is the only way to get us out?”
Jason seethed. Her promise? This was the first he’d heard of any promise. The slut. He wanted to yell at her more, but despite himself, he looked at Nigel expectantly, as did the others.
Nigel studied Stacy for a long moment. He looked her up and down, drinking in the wild curves of her body. He licked his lips. His breathing quickened. But slowly he pulled back from her and the lust cleared from his eyes. “I cannot,” he said. “You tempted me once and I failed. I shall not be so weak again.” He drew himself up, regaining his dignity. “No. The seal must not be broken. What’s inside must not get out.”
Mike’s fist slammed into Nigel’s gut. Nigel doubled over and fell to his knees, retching. Mike stalked away down the slope, the light from his flashlight jouncing wildly, and his three friends followed. The sound of Nigel gasping for breath receded into the distance above them.
A few minutes later, the crunching of rock and pebbles behind them told them that Nigel had rejoined them. But none of them bothered to turn around and look at him as they continued down into the darkness.
After several hundred feet they came across an opening in the tunnel wall. It was small, roughly the diameter of an average human body. The edges weren’t even; they were ragged, as if something had simply torn or blasted its way inward through the tunnel wall. Mike shined his light into the dark maw. The interior walls of the opening were likewise ragged, with jagged pieces of rock thrusting from all sides, like stone teeth. This smaller tunnel went neither up nor down; it simply bored sideways, running straight and level for the little distance that the flashlight was able to illumine.
“Any volunteers?” Mike said, looking around at the faces clustered around the opening.
Silence.
“Yeah, me neither,” he chuckled. It would have been a tight fit anyway, and the teeth-like rocks would have shredded skin easily.
“I wonder what made this,” Paula asked. “It’s obviously not natural, but it’s not as well made as this main shaft.”
“What made it?” Jason sneered. “You’re starting to sound like our dear friend Nigel. ‘What’s inside must not get out.’ Come on.”
Mike moved away from the opening. Just as the small circle of light cast by his flashlight withdrew from the opening, Stacy, still peering inward, cried out, “Wait! Wait! I think I saw something move in there!”
Mike leapt back to the opening, shining the light back inside. But there was only jagged rock and the impenetrable darkness.
They all pulled back from the opening. No one said anything. Not even Jason, who rubbed the itching welt on his back. Despite his words, he knew better than any of them that something strange was down here, something dangerous.
They continued downward, a bit more wary now after the reminder of the danger that could be lurking in the darkness beyond their small bubble of light.
Another hundred feet down the slope and they came to an opening in the tunnel ceiling. It was small and square shaped, about half a foot to a side. Fresh air wafted out from it. Obviously an airshaft; not a sinister opening like the one they’d just encountered. It was utterly dark inside the small square. By now it was possible that night had fallen outside and no light would have been visible anyway. Or perhaps they were too deep down for daylight to penetrate. They moved onward, deciding that the airshaft, although inviting due to its connection to the outside world, did not offer a way out.
About a thousand feet beyond that, the tunnel leveled out again. They stopped at the foot of the slope and rested briefly, grateful for the level ground. They were silent as they hunkered down, letting their tense muscles relax a bit. The weight of the earth above them was palpable. The air was thick, stale, and felt utterly dead. Like before, sound didn’t travel far at all, and breathing was noticeably difficult.
Stacy’s stomach growled, loud in the silence. She grinned sheepishly around the circle of her companions. They nodded and smiled weakly: they felt the hunger too. Assuming it was late evening (who could tell without the clocks on their cell phones?), none of them had eaten since the very early morning. And they were tired as well, for the same reason.
Paula rose after a few minutes and wandered to the edge of the light cast by Mike’s flashlight. There was a shallow opening in the tunnel wall. It was blocked by rocky debris. This side tunnel had obviously collapsed, and long ago, judging by the way the debris seemed so solid and almost fused together with age and weight.
“Hey guys,” she called. “Should we try digging out this blockage? Maybe the shaft beyond heads up to the surface.”
They all stood and came over.
Mike tugged at some of the rocks, testing. After a few moments, he shook his head. “These rocks won’t budge. And who knows how far back this debris goes? Maybe the whole tunnel collapsed. If the whole tunnel didn’t collapse, it’s probably too unstable to be safe anyway. I say no dice.”
Jason tested the blockage himself, hoping he could succeed where Mike hadn’t. But it was a ridiculous hope. “I agree,” he admitted grudgingly. He didn’t want to keep going deeper. But this side tunnel was completely unknown. It might head downward too; in which case digging the tunnel out would just be wasted effort.
Mike’s flashlight abruptly went out. No flicker of warning; it just died and plunged them into darkness.
“I guess the batteries just died,” Mike said. The fear was obvious in his voice.
“You think?” Jason said, just a voice in the blackness.
The darkness was absolute, more absolute than they’d ever experienced. Nothing was even the slightest bit visible. No reflection, no weak glow from a distant source. Nothing. They existed in a void of blackness. Their other senses heightened as though in compensation. Distant dripping became audible. Something skittered in the tunnel behind them. A tiny cave dweller, perhaps... or Jason’s stinging monster.
Fabric rustled, hands slapped against clothing. “Crap,” Paula said. “I can’t find my flashlight. I must have dropped it earlier.”
Their breathing was loud in the silence.
“What?” Stacy asked in a quivering voice.
“Just kidding,” Paula said. Light flooded the tunnel, and she grinned around at them. “Trying to lighten the mood.”
Stacy glared at her. “Bitch!” But then she smiled in relief that they had light again.
Paula and Stacy fell against each other, laughing almost hysterically.
Mike and Jason both sighed. They looked both directions, up and down the tunnel, searching for signs of the skittering thing they had heard in the darkness. Nothing.
Nigel, who’d walked a short distance up the tunnel to the edge of the light, called back to them, “Hello, look at this. There’s some sort of room here.”
The four friends rushed over to the Englishman.
He stood in a perfectly square opening in the tunnel wall, man-sized. Obviously a doorway. Paula shined her light inside. Beyond the door was a fairly large room, about twenty feet by twenty feet. The rock walls, floor and ceiling had been cut smooth to an incredible precision.
There was a blackened recess in the wall opposite the door. Inside the recess was what looked to be a huge iron cooking pot.
Along another wall was an ornate hardwood chest. It showed signs of obvious age, the polish faded and almost nonexistent. A rectangular table stood in the center of the room, in better shape than the chest but still obviously quite old. Piles of thread and dust along the bases of all four walls might have been the remains of
tapestries that had once decorated the walls.
Paula, mouth agape, stepped into the room and looked around in wonder. “Oh. My. God.” The archeologist in her was going wild. She dropped to her knees before the chest, examining its lines and the decorations carved into its front. “This is from the end of the Early Middle Ages,” she gasped. “Judging from the scrollwork, I’d say circa 900 AD. This is priceless. Oh God, oh God, oh God what a find!”
Nigel backed away from her and her blasphemous mouth, crossing himself. Without a word, he left the room.
Mike, meanwhile, was investigating the recess in the wall opposite the door. He looked at the pot, then peered upward at the ceiling of the recess. “There’s a chimney here,” he reported. “Looks like this place must have been some sort of kitchen.”
“Great,” Jason said. “Whip us up something to eat while you’re there in the stove. I’m starving.”
“Can we climb up the chimney?” Stacy asked.
“Not unless you can squeeze into a half-foot square tube.” Mike looked over at her.
She shook her head. “Not me. My ass is small, but not that small.”
Jason patted her ass. “That’s okay. It’s a lovely ass. I’d rather see it squeezed into a tight pair of jeans than a dirty old chimney.”
She backed away from him with a disdainful sniff and he turned away to hide a hurt expression. Well, he’d done it to himself, he knew.
Nigel appeared in the doorway. “There is another room just down the tunnel and across the way. Care to take a look?”
“What are you doing? Crawling around in the dark?” Jason muttered.
“Just having a look around,” Nigel responded. “But yes, from this point forward, I am condemned to grope my way forward through darkness.”
“You’re way too serious, Nigel, dear,” Stacy said.