In The Shadows of the Cavern of Death (Shadows of Death Book 1)

by Angelique Jones

  With wide eyes, I turned and looked at him––he knew. “How do you know about the Cavern of Death?” I whispered, unsure if I wanted the answer, but needed to know.

  “Some Prey spoke of it when we first found them in their delirium, but once they were healed they never mentioned it again. We always thought it was just delusions and dismissed it,” he said, staring at Tristian and I with a strange look. “But it’s true?”

  “Yes, we come from the caverns below, but they aren’t all called the Cavern of Death. The Cavern of Death is where you go during your twenty-first year––” stopping, I looked to Tristian, wondering how much to tell him. After a hard look at the man, he turned and gave me a small nod. “We always believed that the Cavern of Death is where you went to die, but recently we learned that there is much more to it than that,” I said, then stopped, looking at the rapt expressions that surrounded us, and took a deep breath. “We were always told that there was a minimum amount of room, so as our punishment for the uprising, we were forced to death at our twenty-first year. The truth we learned was that there are hundreds of caves below, most filled with hundreds of thousands of our people. Early after we were forced below, the animals died from a disease and could not be regrown, which left the Loyalists with a limited food source.” Closing my eyes, I allowed a shudder to pass through me before opening them and staring right into Johnathon’s. “So they found a new protein source. It was decided that resources were wasted upon us and that we grew useless as we aged. A young workforce to see to their needs was more preferable. After the animals’ death, the Cavern of Death was started and so was a new meat source,” I finished, watching as he realized the truth behind my words. Disbelief followed by disgust then horror crossed his face as he gazed into my eyes.

  “You’re lying, the caverns were emptied hundreds of years ago when the city dwellers came to the surface and built their homes there,” Peter said, gazing at me in disgust. “Do you think making up stories about where you came from will make thing easier for you? We told you that we don’t believe in indentured servitude.”

  “Yes, the caverns were emptied of our government and its Loyalists hundreds of years ago,” I yelled, slamming my hand on the table, “but not the Contributors––we are kept below as slaves and food.”

  Shocked silence filled the room at my declaration. Whatever Peter the historian was about to say was silenced with a slashing gesture from Johnathon. Rising from the table, I left my uneaten food and went to the bedroom, slamming the door behind me, trying to regain control of my emotions. That bastard’s total dismissal of my words brought images of vacant stares, bodies hanging by hooks. Shuddering at the images, I dropped to my knees as the images became my cousins, their accusing stares. I don’t know how long I sat there lost in the horrors of my mind before I felt Tristian’s arms around me picking me up and carrying me to the bed. Not letting go, he laid beside me, pulling me tighter as unshed tears burned behind the lids of my eyes.

  The room was bathed in total darkness when I finally fought free of the past. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, my voice as hoarse as if I had been screaming aloud instead of just in my head.

  Squeezing me tightly, he tucked me more firmly under his chin. “Why, it took everything in me not to beat that superior little shit into the ground.”

  Smiling at the image before the realization of what I had done hit me, I said, “I made this harder for us. They won’t accept us after what I did.”

  “If they won’t accept us for you telling the truth, then we don’t need to be here.” Pulling away to look into my eyes, he said, “It’s a large world out there and this is only a small piece of it. We can go anywhere and make a new home.” He smiled as he pulled me back into his body.

  “Do you think the reason that the others that escaped didn’t tell them about us was because they were afraid of their reaction?”

  “No, I think they didn’t tell them about us because they were cowards,” he growled, anger tightening his body.

  Rubbing my hand in little circles on his chest, I said, “You see how they reacted, how they looked at us. If it was you and you escaped the city wouldn’t you have said nothing, not wanting to jeopardize a future among people who didn’t hurt you? Who accepted you and helped you? Wouldn’t you want to start a new life where no one knew the horrors of what you had done?”

  Releasing me, he rolled to his back, placing his hand over mine, then stopping its movement he stared at the ceiling for long moments before he spoke. “I would have screamed to the heavens the truth of what I knew. I would have told in the hopes that a way could be found to help those still below”––he squeezed my hand to keep me silent––“I found out some things before they left. Johnathon came to me and said that they trade with the city.”

  Letting his words sink in, a horrible thought came to me. “Do you think that they lied and they really know what goes on within the city?”

  “I don’t think that the people at the table lied,” he slowly said, letting me know that he wasn’t sure if someone within this place didn’t know or at least suspect the truth.

  It they knew the truth, they would want us silenced immediately. If they suspected the truth, they would want the same thing “Is it safe for us to stay here or should we try and leave now?”

  Sighing, he said, “For now we stay, at least until we know what’s going on in this place. Tomorrow we’ll start looking for the truth.” Leaning over, he turned off the light next to the bed. “Go to sleep, we’re safe enough for tonight.”

  Closing my eyes, I forced my body to relax into his, even as my mind wouldn’t, rushing through the day’s events. I was usually so cautious with what I said and did. Now in one moment of abandonment I had thrown my years of caution to the wind and spoken out of turn. The freedom of our time above ground took away my natural caution––I just hoped that I would live to regret my mistake.

  Chapter 12

  Breakfast was waiting for us on the table when we got up. Fresh fruits and breads with things to spread upon them. The drinks were just as strange. Keely, one of the servers from the night before, was there and explained what everything was. The thing she called coffee was bitter and I would have avoided it if she didn’t fix it as she did, adding creams and sugars. It tasted pretty good after she was done. After a few moments, I finally got her to sit with us, and she laughed at my amazement as she explained all the different foods and juices.

  I could tell the moment that she got comfortable with us. She started casting us little looks and a blush ran down her cheeks. Taking mercy on her, I said, “You can ask us anything you want.”

  Blushing even harder, she said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be so obvious.”

  Smiling, I patted her hand. “It’s alright, you can ask us anything you’d like. You’ve been very kind to us,” I said, trying to look nonthreatening.

  “It’s just that I heard what you said last night. We were told not to talk about it, but I figured since you were the ones that originally said it that it would be OK,” Keely stuttered, looking down, unable to hold my eye.

  I took a quick look at Tristian before turning back to her. So they were told to keep what we said quiet. “It’s perfectly OK to talk to us about it, they just meant not to talk to anyone else,” I lied, wanting to find out what she knew.

  Seeming relieved at my words, she asked, “I was wondering if what you said was true, are there people really imprisoned below the City to the West?”

  “Yes, there are. They’re trapped there with no one to help them.” I saw in her eyes what she really wanted to ask me. “What I said was true. Everything that I said was true. What I said about the Cavern of Death is true.”

  With wide eyes she looked at me, I could see a struggle in them before a decision shown in them. “We trade with them, the people from the city.”

  “How long have you traded with them?”

  Glancing around like she expected someone to jump out and stop her, she said,
“They came out of the caverns about seven hundred years ago. We stayed away from them because they weren’t friendly to us. They built their city then, about two hundred years ago, and we began to trade with them. Little things at first––grains and fruit, until it has become what it is today. A very large commerce between our cities,” she whispered.

  Her warning was clear. The people profiting from the trades were not going to take kindly to the revelations that our truths could reveal. The sound of the door opening caused us all to jump. Moving away from the table, Keely busied her with her trays while Tristian and I looked down to our plates.

  “I’m glad to see you’re up,” Johnathon said, walking in wearing his uniform. Looking over to Keely, he said, “I’d like to speak with you two privately.” Ducking her head, she murmured an excuse and practically ran out the door. Nodding my hello, I quietly sat as Tristian asked him to join us. Glancing at him through my lashes, I wondered if he heard anything. Was he here to see what we knew? Staring at us, he said, “I’d like to speak to you about last night.”

  “What about last night?” Tristian asked, dropping all pretense.

  Nodding his head, he said, “Good, it’s better if we don’t pretend. I believe what you said last night is true and that’s the problem.” Holding up his hand, he continued. “Our current government is very much intertwined with the city’s. It has, how shall we say, greatly expanded their personal wealth.” Watching our faces, he continued. “It’s exactly what you are thinking.”

  “So what do you want us to do, leave?” I asked, already making a list of what to take in my head.

  Shaking his head, he said, “Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s an option at the moment. Marcus who was at dinner last night is deeply intertwined financially with the city and will be reporting what you said. If you tried to leave now, you would be hunted and disposed of.”

  Closing my eyes in defeat, I knew I had done this. If anything happened to Tristian it would be my fault. “Why are you telling us this? Wouldn’t it just be easier for you to kill us if we didn’t know it was coming?”

  Leaning forward, he said, “Because I have no intention of killing you. In fact I spent all of last night trying to figure out how to keep the two of you alive.”

  Opening my eyes, I looked at him and saw he truly believed what he was saying, but why? Beating me to the question, Tristian warily asked, “Why would you risk your life for ours, if we’re not your people?”

  “I would risk my life for yours because you and Misty are more my people than the government I serve,” he said, seeing our disbelieving looks. “While I am not a historian, I do know our history and the thing I have noticed the most is that it tends to repeat itself. I’m not alone in being unhappy with the current government and its ties to the City to the West. While it’s been many generations since we were forced into the darkness of the caves, our Elders make sure that each generation remembers who put us down there and why it was done. They make sure that we remember that the old government would have rather seen us dead than free. When the representatives from the City to the West come here, they bring their servants and the Elders are quick to remind us that that could easily be us.” Taking a drink from the glass in front of him, he rubbed its side, staring in at the contents before continuing. “In the last hundred years, our government has begun to slowly instituting laws that take the people’s power away and restrict what is taught within the schools. It’s my fear that if something is not done soon it will be as it was before the cleansing. I believe that the City to the West currently controls our officials through their greed and is just waiting for the right moment to strike and seize full control. Their spies are everywhere.”

  Taking a deep breath, I looked to Tristian––this I could understand. I could understand his willingness to help and trust complete strangers if it meant that his people would be free. Reaching out, I clasped Tristian’s hand before turning back to Johnathon. “What do you want us to do?”

  The relief in his eyes was easy to see. “Pack your things, we’re going to leave here and move you to a safer place. They could make you disappear from here and no one will know, but where I’m taking you, if they tried to harm you there would be rioting in the streets. Your best chance at survival is to make friends fast.”

  Great, the one thing I’m not good at. Getting up from the table, I hurried into the other room, grabbing our bags and an extra one that I stuffed full of clothing. It’s probably best if we blend in. It should make it harder for them to find us. Coming out of the bedroom, I met them by the door. Taking his bag, we waited as Johnathon checked the hall before motioning for us to come out. Moving away down the hall, we just made it inside the stairwell when soldiers began exiting the elevator. Quickly we raced down the stairs and out the back exit to Johnathon’s waiting vehicle. Climbing in the back, we hunched down so we wouldn’t be seen.

  It took several hours to reach our destination. I don’t know if that is because it was that far away or because of all the twists and turns we seemed to take. By the time the vehicle stopped, I was stiff from not moving. Getting out, Johnathon came and opened the back door, motioning for us to join him. When we stepped from the vehicle I was surprised to see where we were, not hidden away in some far-off home but in a large village.

  Seeing the look on my face, Johnathon smiled at me. “Not what you expected?” Dumbly, I shook my head. “Come on, there are some people I’d like you to meet.”

  Grabbing my hand, Tristian kept me slightly behind him as he sharply watched our surroundings. Stepping through the doorway of a large building, I blinked to adjust to the dim light. Discreetly placing my hand on the knife that I had hidden at my side, I stepped closer into Tristian’s side as the people in the room turned to stare at us.

  “Johnathon, what are you doing here?” said a rusty voice to our right that belonged to the oldest man I had ever seen. His body was slightly bent, his beard and hair completely white.

  “It’s nice to see you, too, Victor,” Johnathon smirked, going over to shake his hand.

  Completely ignoring the outstretched hand, the old man pulled himself up using a piece of wood as a crutch and hobbled over to me. “Who are you?” he grouched, pulling a smile to my lips. Reaching out my hand, I brought it toward his face, fascinated, wanting to see if his skin was as rough as it looked. Before my finger could touch him, he said, “Hey there girl, what are you doing?” and slapped my hand down.

  Blushing horribly, I stuttered, “I’m sorry, it’s just I have never see anyone as old as you. I’m sorry,” I ducked my head, not knowing what else to say.

  Off behind him, a voice called out. “Now I know you’re getting old, Victor, slapping that pretty young girl’s hand away. You come over here darling, you can touch anything you want.” The voice quipped, causing the whole room to break out in laughter.

  “You go letting pretty young girls touch you, Jackson, and Maureen is gonna be chasing you around the house with her frying pan,” Victor snorted, causing another round of laughter.

  “Now girl, you come sit with me, I’ll be protecting you from those dirty old men.” Peeking up through my lashes, I saw Johnathon smiling, motioning with his head for me to follow Victor. Turning to Tristian, I saw a small smile on his face and his hand went to my back, pushing me forward. Slowly following, I listened as he muttered, “As if those old dogs would know what to do with a young thing like her. Young enough to be their granddaughter she is. They’ll be lucky if I don’t make a round and be talking to their wives.” He continued to mutter like this all the way to his seat. Dropping down to his chair with a groan, he waved his stick at the chair next to him. “Come on girl, sit down. You better not be expecting for me to stand and hold it out for you. If that’s what you’re waiting for, best look to those two boys.”

  Wide-eyed, I moved quickly to the seat and sat down, earning a smile from the crusty old man. Squinting at me, he said, “Now girl, best you explain yourself.” Staring at him, n
ot knowing what to say, he shook his head at my silence. “Why did you try and poke me in the face?”

  Shaking my head, I said, “No, no, I wasn’t trying to poke you, I just wanted to see what your skin felt like. I’ve never seen someone as old as you and I wanted to know if it felt the same as mine.” I fretted, my words tumbling out, horrified that he would think that I would try to hurt him.

  Blinking at me, he looked at me like I was some strange creature. “What do you mean you’ve never seen someone as old as me?”

  Pushing my hair behind my ear, I said, “The oldest person I’ve ever seen was in their forties, I’ve never seen someone as old as you before.” I was embarrassed, as everyone seemed to be hanging on our every word.

  If it was possible he looked at me even more strangely. Luckily, before Victor could ask me anything else, Johnathon spoke up. “She’s telling the truth, Victor. Where she comes from, most people are put to death in their twenty-first year.”

  Total silence met with his announcement as every eye stared at me in shock. For long minutes not a sound was heard until Victor asked, “Where do you come from, girl?”

  “We,” I began, looking to Tristian, “come from the caverns below the city.”

  “We all came from the caverns at one point, child. Are you saying you live in the Stone City in the caverns? But that can’t be right, they don’t put people to death for turning twenty-one,” he said worriedly, looking to Johnathon like he was afraid that they did.

  “No, we come from the caverns ruled by the City to the West. We’ve been kept as their slaves since the great cleansing. Until we escaped, we thought that the land above the ground was destroyed and could no longer sustain life,” I quickly said, wanting to calm him, but my words only seemed to make him more upset.

  “I told you that those bastards were hiding something,” he yelled, waving his stick at Johnathon, “but I never thought it be something as bad as this.”