Demon's Well

by E. R. Mason

  Skyla positioned herself in a chair with hot tea by her side. She pulled out a book from a shelf nearby. Jax rose and went to her. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. Without speaking he retired to his stateroom.

  Morning was too busy a time to worry. The fact that time had not kidnapped them during sleep seemed to buoy the group’s spirits. They scurried around, eating and drinking breakfast on their feet as they readied. Sunglasses and hats were passed out to conceal identities. Remy’s hat was a brim. He seemed to approve and began wearing it immediately. Jax’s Barma outback suited him, as well.

  Once on the road, the mood changed to one of uneasy anticipation. Remy returned to his usual talkative self. “So who’s going down in that hole first?”

  “I am,” replied Jax quickly so that Skyla had no chance to protest.

  “But, I’ll be right behind you,” she said.

  “Which gladly puts me at the top to stand guard,” said Remy.

  “I’ll be happy to know you’re up there,” said Jax.

  “Yeah, but just what do I do if something goes wrong?”

  “Nothing will go wrong,” insisted Skyla.

  “Yeah, right,” replied Remy. “Have you really thought this through? Are you certain moving a thousand miles away isn’t a better plan, then?”

  “Please do let me know if you think of anything better than what we’re doing, Remy. I’d be the happiest one here,” answered Skyla.

  “What if you guys get down there and you do find a body? Will you report it?”

  Skyla glanced back at Remy. “Anyone we send to Demon House will go through the same thing we are, so we can’t send anyone there.”

  “Are you going right up the drive when we get there? I mean if nobody’s there?”

  “Yes, it’s a lot of gear to unload. Then I’ll park out of sight alongside the barn.”

  “We could drop a camera down there first,” said Remy.

  “It would take dropping lights first and we’d need to control the camera angles. It’s too much. There’s a ladder there. Other people have gone down. We can’t waste time,” said Skyla.

  The debate was quickly forgotten as Demon House came into view in the distance. Skyla slowed as they approached, and they searched for other visitors. There did not appear to be any. She pulled up to the side entrance and shut the engine off. Everyone sat quietly as though it was time to change the plan.

  “You guys grab the gear. I’ll go unlock.”

  Skyla held the side door for her baggage handlers to enter, then headed back to park the car. As she passed Jax, she deliberately brushed against his arm. Jax stopped and watched her move the car to the blind side of the barn.

  On the porch, surrounded by duffle bags of gear, Remy began fidgeting in his laptop bag. “What do I do if you guys don’t come back up for some reason?”

  “She’s brought some walkie-talkies this time. We’ll be in touch with you the whole time.”

  “What if I lose contact?”

  “I’ll yell up through the hole?”

  “Oh, yeah. Okay.”

  “What if . . .”

  Skyla entered and interrupted. “Remy please, there are enough ‘What ifs’ to last all day. You’re a smart dude. Just play it by ear. I have complete confidence in you.”

  “Really? After all that crap I put on you?”

  Skyla smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “Let’s go guys. Time is wasting.”

  In the main dining room, they strapped on their climbing gear and set Remy up. Jax studied Skyla out of the corner of his eye. For the first time she did not appear to be quite so sure of herself, though she hid it fairly well.

  Remy plunked down in his seat at the long dining room table. “So if anyone shows up, I gather up my stuff and hide out in the kitchen utility room with the door closed. If it sounds like they’re coming my way, I head down into the basement and hold out down there until a troll gets me.”

  Jax nodded. “You’ve got it. And if you lose contact with us, you come down and call down into the well. Worst case, you don’t hear us down there, you try to hold out at least twenty-four hours to see if we show up. If that doesn’t pan out, you’ll be on your own. You’ll have to decide what to do.”

  “And if we suddenly get beamed out of here and separated, we meet up at the old Leigh Library off Broadway West at noon. If nobody shows, we keep checking there until they do.”

  Jax tried to sound sympathetic. “Maybe we’ll find what we need down there. Maybe we can fix this mess.”

  Remy nodded. “Man . . . we’d better.”

  Skyla looked on impatiently. Jax patted Remy on the shoulder and they headed for the kitchen and basement stairwell. At the bottom of the steps, Jax switched on his light and unclipped the walkie-talkie Skyla had given him. It was only then he noticed there was a picture of Donald Duck on it. With a shrug, he keyed the mic. “Okay, can you hear us alright, Rem?”

  “Loud and clear, Donald,” replied Remy.

  Jax ignored the joke and continued on with Skyla close behind.

  “So you’re sure you know how to repel, Sky?”

  “Yes. I did it once at a camp. And where did you learn about climbing?”

  “Starting when I was about 10, we used to sneak down to the shore and climb the cliffs there. Most of it was free climbing too until one of the kids fathers found out. He happened to be a real climber. So instead of wailing us, he gave us lessons figuring we’d just sneak around and do it anyway.”

  As they entered the work room Skyla stopped. “Did we leave the well room door ajar when we left?”

  Jax paused and looked. “Yeah, I think so. We must have, ‘cause it’s open now.”

  They pushed the old wooden door fully open and beamed their lights around. Nothing had changed. Inside, they unpacked lanterns and set them up around the well. With one foot up on the low brick wall, Jax leaned over and held his light down into the well. Twenty to 30 feet below the luminous green eddy continued to sparkle and swirl. “How about if I go below the fog and if it looks okay I call you down the rest of the way?”

  Skyla sounded uncertain. “Okay. . .”

  Jax tried not to look surprised she had agreed. Was it possible she knew more of what was down there than she was letting on? He continued setting up and continued to wonder.

  There were plenty of solid places to anchor the lines. Four drop lines would be plenty. It was possible the old wooden ladder went all the way down, making the lines just for safety. When the ropes were in place and tested, they fastened their harness and checked the links. Then, without waiting, Jax stepped over the edge to the ladder and positioned himself to let down. Skyla looked on with intense interest.

  The first wooden rung took his weight with no problem. The next two seemed solid, as well. Jax climbed all the way down until he was just above the swirling cloud then stopped and looked up at Skyla.

  “The ladder’s good. Wait there until I check the rest of it,” he yelled.

  Skyla scoffed and swung one leg over the side, found her footing, and began stepping down, pausing to straighten her lines. When she was just above him she stopped and held close to the ladder. “How about if I wait here, while you check the rest?”

  “Have it your way,” replied Jax and he realized he was enjoying having a little bit of the upper hand for once. He gazed down at the eddy of fog and started down.

  Knee deep into the haze, the unseen portion of the ladder still felt solid. It seemed amazing how completely the haze concealed his lower legs. Jax shrugged it off and carefully resumed his descent, one step at a time. When he was chest high in the fog he looked up at Skyla. “Don’t come down until I call you on the walkie-talkie. Let me be sure before you get where you can’t see. Okay?”

  Skyla nodded reluctantly.

  Jax eased down into the green swirl. There was moisture sticking to him and the air was much cooler. The musty smell grew stronger. He gave a last nod to Skyla and ducked into the cloud.

&nb
sp; All movement was now by feel. The view was a complete whiteout. He could barely see his wet hands gripping the ladder. The wooden rungs were now moist and slippery. Careful to keep the three-point rule, he held close to the ladder.

  Two more steps down but the fog did not dissipate. Still climbing blind, he dared another step. The ladder began to feel less solid. Jax tested his safety line then felt for the next step.

  There was no next step. Still completely engulfed by the fog, the ladder ended here. Jax crouched down as far as he could and dangled one foot. There was no ground, only empty air. Standing firm, he hooked one arm over a rung and reached down and unhooked his walkie-talkie. “Sky, you read me?”

  “Loud and clear,” replied Remy.

  Skyla cut in. “Yes, I hear you.”

  “The ladder doesn’t go all the way down. I’m still in the fog. I’m going to have to repel. You should stay there until I find out what’s below.”

  “Just a minute or two more, then you’d better come up. Okay?” Skyla’s voice sound more uncertain than ever.

  Jax shrugged it off. He drew up his lines, rechecked his harness, and pushed off the ladder. For a moment, he was swinging and turning in the blindness of fog. The ladder and rock wall came back into view. He lowered down in jerks until he could see the ladder’s end. It had been broken off. A moment later the rock wall disappeared, replaced by a blackness beyond the thinning fog. Jax braced himself and pointed his headlamp down. Distant formations below began to take shape through the wet haze. Jax suddenly realized his heart was racing. A deep breath helped slow it.

  He continued down, pausing again to look around. This was a cavern. The well had opened to a large rock chamber. It was big. The walls were beyond the reach of his headlamp. A moment later his shoes touched a damp, slippery rock floor. He stood but hung onto his line then grabbed his walkie-talkie. “It’s a large cavern. The fog clears about twenty feet below the end of the ladder and then you’re in a big chamber. Another twenty feet after that and you’re on the ground.”

  “I’m coming down,” was Skyla’s only response.

  “Be careful! Be careful about switching off of the ladder, okay? You can get disorientated real easy. Skyla? Did you hear that?” Jax looked upward, hoping a falling body would not come crashing down upon him. He tried to scan around the cave, but worry forced him to keep looking up. The ropes kept pulling and twisting around. Ten minutes passed before he saw Skyla’s boots appear overhead. She lowered herself awkwardly until he caught her legs. He steered her down beside him. Her breathing was rapid.

  Remy’s voice came over the radios. “So you guys are okay down there, right?”

  Jax raised his radio. “We’re good, Rem. We’re just about to start looking around.”

  “Hate to be a cynic boys and girls, but it sounds like a dead end scary place to me.”

  “Stand by, Rem.”

  Skyla had already drawn her flashlight and was aiming it around the cave. Jagged, wet dark walls surrounded them. Jax undid his line and unclipped his own light. He took a few steps and began searching.

  After ten minutes of exploring, he found his way back to Skyla. “Rem may be right. All I’m seeing down here is rock. This place used to be flooded with fresh water that fed the well. It’s been dry for a long time.”

  “Let’s bring the lanterns out of our packs and set them up. We need better light.”

  With lanterns set up around the chamber it became a maze of jagged rocks and stalagmites with beds of gravel here and there. There were places where cave-ins had piled up against the walls and in culverts. The uneven floor meant climbing was required just to move around. After twenty minutes, Jax began to shake his head. The place was a dead-end. He hoisted himself over to where Skyla was standing. “There’s nothing here,” he said sympathetically.

  “There can’t be nothing here. There has to be something. We’ve looked everywhere else.”

  “Exactly what are we looking for?”

  “It should be a big piece of crystal or something artificial.”

  “There’s nothing, Sky.”

  “Let’s search again. I’ll go left, you go right. We’ll meet at the other end.”

  “I wouldn’t want to be here during a severe storm. The place might fill with water again. And you see those stones piled up against the wall around this place? That’s cave-ins from the ceiling. It’s hard to say how stable this place is. You haven’t found signs of anything, have you?”

  Skyla had to pause to contain her anger. “Just a shiny rock over there. It’s different. I’m having trouble getting over to it. Those big boulders are impossible to climb and they’re too close together to squeeze through.”

  “Come on. I’ll help you. We can find a way around to the left. I’ll hoist you over.”

  Near a jagged wall, they found a climber’s path to the gravel area where Skyla had seen the shiny rock. It took only a few minutes for Jax to spot it. He knelt and brushed away the loose black dirt from around it, but abruptly yelped and jumped back.

  “I don’t believe it,” said Jax when he had regained his composure.

  Skyla seemed afraid to approach the spot. “What? What did you find?”

  “It’s a skull,” said Jax. “And I think there’s a body attached.”

  Skyla came up alongside and stood leaning against him. They both stared down at the ivory object partially protruding from the dirt.

  “Are you certain?” asked Skyla.

  Jax stuck one foot out and pushed the object with his heel. The side of the skull complete with separated jaw came into view.

  “Who can it be?” asked Skyla.

  “No way to know, but I’ll bet that ladder broke and he was trapped down here and died,” replied Jax. “Look, there’s even some of his clothing left. That’s a sleeve further down and there’s something just beyond that. Wait a minute . . .”

  Jax stooped beside the buried body and pushed more dirt away. “It’s a book of some kind. A notebook or something.” As carefully as possible, he wrestled the object out from the dirt and stood. “Maybe this will tell us something.”

  Skyla grimaced but held out her hand. She took the book from Jax and very carefully wiped the cover so it could be opened. The first pages captivated her. “It’s a journal,” she said excitedly. “He was keeping track of something. There’s some map diagrams. This will tell us what he was doing down here. We should go up and go through this right away.”

  Jax helped her back to the rope hang and began hooking up. “You know, we tell Remy about this we’ll never live it down. All his talk about bodies.”

  “Let’s get going,” said Skyla.

  “You first,” replied Jax as he held out the line. “You really think there’s something in that book that will help?”

  Skyla bent over and fit her boot into the karabiner loop. “The secrets we need are in that book. Bet on it.”

  “We are betting on it,” replied Jax.

  Chapter 7

  “What if we find a body down there, I said! Oh, you’re just overreacting, Rem. There’s no bodies down there. You’re just being paranoid, Remy! Anyone remember that conversation? Not so funny now, is it?” Remy shuffled nervously in place as he spoke.

  Skyla and Jax set their bags and backpacks on the dining room floor and peeled off their climbing gear. Jax tried to sound reassuring. “Easy, Buddy. It’s not a murder or anything. It’s been there a very long time.”

  “Could have been a murder! Could have been! You don’t know! You’re saying it’s a skeleton, right? This place is all messed up. And there are other people in this house. I saw one while you were gone.”

  Skyla stopped unbuckling and looked intrigued. “You saw someone?”

  “Wow, no wonder he was so wound up,” said Jax under his breath.

  “A little girl in a plaid dress walked right by that door over there. Stopped and smiled at me, too!”

  “Did you speak to her?” asked Skyla.

  “I said he
llo but she ran off so I went over there and looked up and down the hall and there was no one there. It was just like in The Shining!”

  Skyla finished taking off her gear and looked over at Jax. “Boy, this isn’t going to make my next suggestion any easier.”

  “Maybe you dozed off and dreamed her, Rem,” suggested Jax.

  “No way, bro. Plaid dress. Black shoes with one strap. White blouse. Real as can be. You saw that cop in here. Same thing.”

  “Remy, no matter what, we need to keep focused. We’ve got to do what we came here to do. We found a journal down there. It probably has answers for us.” said Skyla.

  Remy sat down and folded his arms.

  “What was that next suggestion you needed to make?” asked Jax.

  Skyla chose her words carefully. “We’re going to spend time going through this journal. If we find what we’re looking for in it, we’re going to need to go back down the well. So there’s no sense in driving all the way back to the boat.”

  “Uh-oh. I see where this is going.”

  Remy stiffened in his stance. “What? What now? You come up here and tell me there’s a skeleton down there. I tell you I saw a ghost. And now you’re about to suggest we spend the night here? Are you are both insane?”

  “There’s no such thing as ghosts, Remy,” said Skyla. “You already know that.”

  “Where would we sleep? On the floor?”

  “I have three sleeping bags in the trunk of the car,” answered Skyla.

  “Oh . . . my . . . God! She had this planned! Are you buying into this, Jax?”

  “I also have a ton of sandwiches and other food out there.”

  “You have food in the trunk?”

  Skyla knelt and withdrew the dirty journal from her backpack. She carefully placed it on the dining room table. Jax pulled a chair up beside her. They stared at the dirt-covered, disintegrating cover.

  “If you’ll give me the keys, I’ll just run out to the car and get that stuff,” said Remy.

  “What? Oh, okay. They’re in my backpack there.”

  “But we’re not through talking about this,” said Remy as he searched the backpack.