Cassidy raised her hand up to her eyes, illuminating it with the bluish emanation. “What the... What the hell is happening with me?”
“Does it... feel like anything?” asked Gideon.
“No. I didn't even know until you told me. I can't see the light unless,” she said, waving her hand up and down in front of her face.
“Is anything else glowing?” asked Gideon.
“You'd know better than me,” replied Cassidy as she checked herself over.
Jebediah walked up to Cassidy and removed his goggles. He moved his hands toward her head. “Do you mind?” he asked.
“Knock yourself out,” replied Cassidy.
Jebediah pushed up and down on Cassidy's eye lids and examined the two, glowing spheres. “Move your eyes around,” he said. Cassidy obliged and moved her eyes. “The light appears to have no specific source. It is emanating seemingly from the whole of the vitreous humor.”
“Vitreous humor?” asked Cassidy incredulously. “You said that just to prove to us that you knew the word.”
“It's not an uncommon word,” replied Jebediah, annoyed.
“It is too an uncommon word,” said Cassidy, indignant.
“Stop moving, for the love of God,” said Jebediah. “I'm trying to look at your vitreous humor.”
Cassidy said nothing for a moment. “How's my hyaloid canal looking? Common or uncommon?” She smirked at Jebediah.
“Is that actually a part of the eye?” asked Gideon.
“I'm giving you a look,” said Jebediah to Cassidy in an almost fatherly way.
“Oh, I know,” she replied. “I can see you thanks to my glowing vitreous humor.”
With that jab, Jebediah backed away. “I can see nothing of use. As best as I can tell, your eye seems normal. It's just glowing.”
“This all, I think, gives significant weight to what the old men back in New Orleans said,” said Gideon. “You've been touched by the waters. Somehow... I mean... Do you remember any of this? Maybe when you were young?”
“No,” replied Cassidy. “Nothing. I've never been here. Not even close. However I came to be bound to this thing, it didn't happen here.”
“Maybe your family?” asked Gideon.
“You're digging for answers in soil that I've already gone through, trust me.”
Jebediah sighed as he put his goggles back on. “I feel as though we are heading toward... something. As though we are in a story and all of the events are piling up on the path to the climax.”
“Let's hope that the climax doesn't involve me simply bursting into flames,” added Cassidy.
“Not likely,” replied Jebediah. “But something about you is very important. Very important indeed.”
---
Cassidy's feet fell heavily onto the rocks and pebbles, remnants from long ago mining activity. “My lack of sleep is catching up to me,” she said.
“Same here,” said Gideon.
“Do you wish to rest?” asked Jebediah.
“No. I'm just complaining,” said Cassidy. “Walking through a dark cave for an hour is bound to do that.”
“We're making fantastic progress, though, you have to admit,” said Gideon. “They've done a good job of clearing out this cave.”
“Hold up,” said Cassidy, stopping. “Do you two see that?” she asked, pointing ahead.
“Yes,” said Jebediah. “The glow, you mean?” Cassidy nodded. They walked forward and to the edge of a small ledge. Looking down, they beheld a large, underwater lake, glowing a faint blue in the dark between lights.
“Good lord,” said Gideon.
“Well, this is unexpected,” added Cassidy. The three walked up to the shore line of the lake, the water glowing more intensely as Cassidy approached. She knelt down and ran her hand through the water, watching it glow and sparkle.
“It appears to run right up to the walls,” said Jebediah, the red circles of his goggles floating above his ominously lit frame. “That leaves open the question of how we are supposed to get across.”
“We could climb up onto the tracks,” said Gideon.
“That opens us up to too much potential trouble,” said Jebediah. “I would be very hesitant to risk that.”
“And besides,” added Cassidy, standing and shaking the water from her hand. “There's no cable running along the tracks, and burning fuel in a cave is a pretty bad idea, meaning that those tracks are probably electrified. We would undoubtedly cook ourselves crispy if we touched them. Maybe we could swim across.”
“Also a bad idea,” said Jebediah. “That water is going to be the temperature of the ground, meaning in the fifties. We would die quickly at that temperature, and I cannot see the other edge of the lake. Again, I would not want to risk that.”
“How did the miners get across, then?” asked Gideon.
“Well they sure as hell didn’t swing across,” replied Cassidy.
At that moment, in the distance, the unmistakeable light of a train car coming at them from deep in the cave. As it came over the lake, a powerful glow emanating from the water followed it, along with ripples in the water as though it had been disturbed by some invisible force. “Good god, what was that carrying?” asked Gideon.
“Or who?” added Cassidy, steely and suspicious as she watched the car disappear far into the cave.
“It doesn't much matter,” said Jebediah. “The light of its coming has brought us our salvation,” he said as he pointed to the lake shore on the other side of the raised tracks. Sitting in the pulverized rock was a group of small boats and oars, waiting to be used.
“Salvation, indeed,” said Cassidy.
---
Cassidy and Gideon pulled the boat up onto the other side of the lake as Jebediah stood, looking ahead. Cassidy walked up behind him, and then Gideon. They stood, staring at the ominous glow of something big around the corner of the cave.
“Our destination, I presume,” said Jebediah.
They walked ever forward, their feet shuffling through the deep gravel, dirt, and pebbles in some spots, their red goggles moving through the dark, as they rounded the bed. Towering above them was the entrance to the circular chamber. The rail lines ran in to the left side of the passage, and out from the right. Beneath the rails was a small warehouse-like structure, dark and without activity.
“That small building looks safe,” said Cassidy.
“Agreed,” replied Jebediah. “Let's hurry. It's only going to get more well-lit from here. We will need cover.”
The trio made there way under the rails, the sound of work getting increasingly loud and omnipresent as they finally made it to the warehouse. The door was slightly open as they pushed in. The building was filled with dusty, old mine equipment, seemingly abandoned. Cassidy rubbed her fingers along a simple, wooden table and felt the dust. “They have been down here a while, haven't they? They have abandoned buildings and everything. I wonder where the restaurants are.”
Before anyone could respond, they paused nervously as the sound of men running about above them on metal platforms filled the room. They crept slowly and quietly through the dark building, going from small dusty room to small dusty room. A train car rolled overhead as they went left, under the primary walkways above and into the giant horseshoe complex that ran around the cave. As they left the building, they came out onto an aged, iron grate walkway and a forest of support girders with some ladders extending down. One of the ladders was up against the wall of the cave. Cassidy pointed to it and whispered to Jebediah and Gideon.
“The activity all seems to be on the inside of the circle,” she said. “We can come up behind them.”
“I don't mean to be a spoil sport,” said Gideon quietly. “But look at all this? Do you honestly think that going into there is a good idea? What will we do once we get up there? Arrest them?”
“I want Anna,” replied Cassidy. “That's all I want. We get her, get out, and then send down the army if you all want to. But Anna first.”
Gideon s
ighed and then looked at Jebediah. “We're in it,” Jebediah said.
“Alright,” said Gideon, shrugging. “But let it be known; I was the voice of reason, here.”
The trio inched toward the ladder, beams of light piercing down through cracks in the grating, the clatter of workers and equipment echoing about. Upon reaching the ladder, Cassidy drew her gun and looked up.
“Holster that,” Jebediah said quietly.
“What?” replied Cassidy. “Are you out of your mind?
“If you take it out, you're liable to use it. That is a last resort. When you truly need it, draw it. Not before. And even then, don't draw it. Our only protection right now is our invisibility.”
Cassidy grunted and holstered her gun. She then looked up again before removing her goggles, revealing brightly-glowing eyes.
“Good god,” said Gideon.
“Your eyes are even brighter than before,” said Jebediah. “You're going to have to keep your goggles on.”
“I can't see shit if they aren't activated,” protested Cassidy.
“It's better than this,” said Jebediah. “You would be spotted a mile away.”
“God damn... what the hell is going on with me,” she grumbled, putting the goggles back on. She then turned and climbed slowly up the ladder.
As she stepped up, Jebediah grabbed her leg to stop her. She looked down. “Be careful. Don't be foolish,” he said.
“Look who you're talking to,” she replied with a smile. Jebediah was not amused.
A poof of red hair, followed by Cassidy's glowing goggles just peaked over the edge of the grated flooring. The area was shadowed and deep in an alley between structures. The only light came through a messy window leading into an office. After looking around, Cassidy climbed up and crouched next to the the top of the ladder. Jebediah and then Gideon repeated the moves. Cassidy pointed out toward the edge of the alley and the other two nodded. Slowly, and low to the ground, they moved. Reaching the outside, they saw that they were at the end of another long hallway, looking up into the ceiling of the cave. Cassidy noticed another ladder across the way leading up to the next level of structures and she moved toward it, with Gideon and Jebediah following. Just as she reached the ladder, men started down the hallway. Cassidy leapt quietly up the ladder while Gideon and Jebediah went back down the dark alley to the first ladder. Cassidy peered over the edge at the two men, who stopped by the doorway to an office and commenced chatting about some other man. She looked down the alley, seeing the outlines of Gideon and Jebediah in her red goggles. Jebediah waved for her to continue. Cassidy nodded and backed away from the edge of the walkway.
---
Anna sat on the floor by the entrance to her lab. She rested her arms on her knees and her head in her arms. She looked up, startled by the sound of the lab door slamming open. Coming out were men in large, rubber suits, carrying large metal buckets, two men to a bucket. As the stream of men came out, one man stumbled, spilling the contents of the bucket, mere water, all over the floor.
“God dammit!” yelled one of the men, a muscular man with incredibly impressive facial hair. “Everyone back away! Shit! Fuck! You goddamned idiot!” Anna watched the edge of the water as it neared her. “Girl!” the man cried. Before he could continue, a large cloth dropped on the floor in front of her, stopping the water's progress. Anna glanced up to see Mister Falkenrath suddenly standing there. As the edge of the water neared him, it began to glow brightly.
“Mister Falkenrath. Good catch,” said the head man. He then turned to one of his associates who had already set down his bucket. “Go get the fabrics,” he said. “This water is pure, so make sure to get the red ones.” His associate nodded and ran back into the lab. Anna watched with keen interest.
Anna looked back to Mister Falkenrath to see his hand held down, open. She glanced at it for a moment before reaching out and taking it. Falkenrath lifted her to her feet and then, delicately grasping her sides, lifted her slender body over the water. He then walked over to the door to the outside, opened it, and motioned for Anna to leave. She did so without question. Falkenrath followed and then closed the door behind him just as Hoffman walked up from another part of the structure.
“An accident?” Hoffman asked. Falkenrath nodded. “I knew this would happen. I warned you all not to rush these things.” Falkenrath didn't respond. “Fine then. Any failure is on you.” Anna watched as the men, clad in their thick, rubber suits, took their buckets of water out the door, across the walkway, and simply dumped them off the edge, down onto the rocks below. She then looked up at the mysterious tree in the center of the cave, the large stalactite one-hundred feet above it. Spotlights lit the tree ominously as the faint twinkle of trickling water pierced the fierce shadows.
---
Cassidy pressed her body up against the edge of the wall, looking around the corner. Seeing that it was clear, she walked down the alleyway, looking into windows. Reaching the end of the alley, she stepped out onto the main walkway just in time to be interrupted by someone coming around the corner. She ducked into a room and shut the door. She turned to find a man, sitting at a table, staring at her. One eye was closed, the other only half-open, a large bottle of whiskey in his hand, sitting on the table. He looked uneasily at her, as though he were about to vomit. Cassidy stared back for a moment before simply waving him away. “Shh,” she said. “Just go back to sleep. It will be fine.” The man nodded and collapsed back onto the table.
---
Gideon and Jebediah climbed slowly up the ladder. They peered over the edge, lifted themselves up onto the walkway, and looked about. Jebediah leaned into Gideon. “We need to check every room,” he said. “You take the outside, I'll take the inside.” Gideon nodded. Jebediah then headed out toward the cave center while Gideon started walking slowly down the alley that abutted the cave wall. At every window, both looked in. Jebediah looked into one room and saw a large locker area, filled with uniforms and suits. He gasped slightly and smiled. He quickly removed his coat and walked into the room. He tossed his coat and goggles onto the ground and donned a leather work suit, applying a large, protective mask with wide glass window over the eyes. He then stepped out and walked calmly down the walkway.
---
Cassidy crept out of the alleyway and to the walkway by the raised rail line. Large stacks of crates and piles of supplies hastily tossed into boxes provided her some cover as she looked out into the cave. The powerful lights from the surrounding complex cast much of the cave in good lighting, but stalagmites on the floor of the cave leading up toward the lit, central tree provided shadow. Cassidy tilted her head as she stared at the tree, the faint glimmer of flowing water at its base. She then looked to her left, and further up toward the central spire opposite the cave entrance. She then looked back at the tree. She stared at it for a moment longer before moving quickly to the edge of the walkway, looking both ways, then shuffling down to a ladder tube going down to the cave floor. She climbed down, moving more quickly when she overheard a group of people clomp by on the walkway. She stomped down onto the grated walkway overlayed on the cave floor. Startled by the noise, she briefly stepped back into the shadow underneath the walkway, before activating her goggles again, the two red circles appearing in the darkness.
---
Gideon crept down the walkway, dim light from windows illuminating his path. He stepped quietly on the metal grating as the sounds of work and talking echoed from all over. He quickly pressed himself up against a wall as he heard voices through a window.
“Every last one,” said one, gruff male voice.
“Ugh,” replied another, equally gruff man. “Gives me the willies something fierce. I'm worried that they could go off at any time and bury us all down here. Dynamite ain't exactly friendly, you know.” With that, the sound of a door slamming shut ended Gideon's eavesdropping. He then pushed away from the wall and recommenced creeping down the walkway.
He reached the cave wall, cables and pipes running u
p and down, anchored into the stone. As he passed a large tube running up the cave wall and into the ceiling, he saw the shadows of a large group of men coming around the corner ahead of him, their loud talking getting nearer. Gideon turned and moved quickly back from where he came only to be faced with another impending group of men. “Shit,” Gideon whispered. He vacillated back and forth, trying to decide which path to attempt. He pressed himself against a rectangular indentation in the large tube. He looked around, frantically trying to take in all his options. He backed into a large, black button, causing a door in the tube to open, behind it a grate. Gideon spent only a moment analyzing the situation before grabbing the gate and opening it, stepping into the small room, then closing the gate. He looked about for a moment, pressing a large black button just as the two groups of men were coming into view. The door closed and Gideon sighed in relief.
He was surprised and disoriented as the tube jerked, clanked, and began to ascend. He looked about, half-panicked, as the elevator moved upward.
---
Cassidy stepped in the shadows from stalagmite to stalagmite. She heard the sounds of men in heavy boots and rubber suits clomping on the metal grate walkways around her. She pressed herself against a rock as she heard two men on the other side.
“Is denim safe,” asked one in a thick, southern drawl.
“No,” replied the other with a quick New York accent. “It's cotton. It'll eat right through it. Rubber. Only oil-treated rubber.”
Cassidy paused, the two red discs floating in the darkness. The men clomped off and she walked around the rock, slowly making her way toward the tree, the lights of the complex twinkling behind it.
---
The doors to the elevator opened. Gideon's head slowly peaked out and around the corner. He looked both ways before cautiously stepping out. He turned around in place a few times, surprised to find himself in an opulent lobby. He looked back at the elevator, then looked to the door leading out into the sunny Houston street.
Cassidy St. Claire and The Fountain of Youth Parts I, II, & III Page 70