by James Lyon
‘There you go again…too much literary criticism,’ teased Bear. ‘Read something worthwhile, like comics.’
As they wound their way down, their flashlights reflected off a pool of still crystal water that covered the steps, blocking further progress. ‘Flooded, damn it!’ the professor cursed loudly.
Steven let out a heavy sigh of relief. No vampires today, he thought. The seals are under water.
‘I wonder where it leads,’ said Tamara.
‘Obviously there’s a fifth level to this fortress,’ said Stojadinovic. ‘And I think there might be another way to get there.’
A different way? Steven felt an uncomfortable sensation in the pit of his stomach. Neither Slatina nor Mrs. Lazarevic had mentioned another entrance.
But Steven followed Stojadinovic as they returned to the top of the stairwell and pulled the wall shut. ‘We don’t want someone else finding this and vandalizing it,’ Stojadinovic said.
They returned to the red Gothic junction chamber and followed Stojadinovic left about a dozen meters down Communication Gallery 500 until they came to a depression in the floor where the earth dropped several inches.
‘Everyone stand back,’ Stojadinovic warned them. ‘This is where the floor dropped out on my group in ‘83. It’s fragile and could collapse at any time.’ As they shone their lights at the spot, the earthen floor turned suddenly to nothingness as gaping darkness spanned the width of the tunnel. Crossing would be difficult, if not impossible.
‘It’s much larger than I remembered,’ Stojadinovic said. ‘Let’s lower the rope and see what’s down there.’ He returned to the junction chamber and tied the rope around an iron barrel-hinge post protruding from the stone door frame, unrolled it until it reached the hole and then tossed it into the darkness. After about six seconds they heard a splash echo back and forth from below.
‘Whatever’s down there, it’s wet,’ Stojadinovic said. ‘I can’t climb down with my back. Who would like to go see what’s down there?’
Steven suddenly found himself volunteering. ‘I’ll go.’ Only he knew the secret of the chamber and he felt responsible for the others. ‘I did this all the time in Utah…rappelling, rock climbing, you know…it’s no big deal.’
‘I’ll go too,’ Bear chimed in. ‘Girls, do you want to come with us?’ Both shook their heads.
‘Are you certain you know how to do this?’ Stojadinovic asked. ‘I don’t want you getting injured down there.’
‘It’s okay,’ Steven answered.
Vesna hugged Steven. ‘Be careful, Stinky,’ she whispered worriedly in his ear. ‘I’ll be up here waiting for you.’
Steven adjusted his backpack tightly around his shoulders, clipped his flashlight to a lanyard around his neck, grasped the rope firmly in both hands and approached the opening head-first, peering slowly over the edge into the darkness below. He shined his light into the hole: ‘It looks like a large room,’ he said. ‘I can’t see much…there’s water at the bottom…it’s at least seven or eight meters down, maybe nine, I think…there’s a bunch of large rocks in the water.’
Rocks? Or were they coffins? The hair on the back of Steven’s neck stood on end. The chamber was breached! Had the eleven escaped? What if the vampires were still inside? Was Slatina’s journal still there? He shined his flashlight around the chamber, uncertain whether to proceed further. His small light illuminated only bits of the murky void, but curiosity and a sense of duty drove him on. ‘Bear, you better stay and protect the ladies,’ Steven said, only half joking.
He swung around and lowered himself feet-first down the rope, his flashlight hanging from his neck. ‘Can you shine your lights down here?’ he called. ‘It’s hard to see.’ The others obliged. Steven slid down the rope into a large, round domed chamber.
He shinnied further, his legs wrapped tightly around the rope, his flashlight shining downward. A drop of water fell and hit his head. He looked up and saw Stojadinovic, Vesna and Bear looking into the hole after him. He stopped and looked directly down. ‘It looks shallow,’ he called up to them.
‘Be careful in the water,’ Stojadinovic called back. ‘It may be muddy or there may be a hole. You don’t want to slip and drown.’
Steven lowered himself until the soles of his boots were just above the surface. The water was perfectly clear and absolutely still, except for small ripples sent out by the rope wiggling serpent-like in the water. Again he inched down the rope until his boots entered the water; then his jeans. He immediately began to shiver.
‘It’s cold,’ he called up. A few more inches and the water reached his crotch, just as his feet touched a solid surface.
‘I’m on the bottom,’ he called. He let loose the rope and unhooked his flashlight from the lanyard. He breathed rapidly, his heart pounding from the adrenalin and cold.
Steven shined his light around the chamber’s dome and walls, which seemed uneven, undulating. It must be the gloom, he thought, as he gazed at the mold-darkened crosses jutting in ragged relief from the red-orange plaster walls, interlaced with splotches of white hedgehog fungus and long, thick mushrooms, their shafts dangling downward from the ceiling like tumescent phalluses.
As Steven waded, his feet stirred up a thin layer of silt from what appeared to be a paved stone floor. Close by a reddish-black cross rose straight from the chamber floor. He could see that mold obscured an inscription of some sort.
Bear splashed down loudly beside Steven, sending waves through the chamber. ‘Damn, its cold!’ he said. Both looked up at the professor. ‘You should see this!’ Bear called up with excitement. ‘It’s amazing’!’
Stojadinovic smiled. ‘What do you see?’
‘Coffins,’ Steven said loudly. ‘Eleven coffins. And a large cross.’
‘Coffins?!’ exclaimed Tamara. ‘We should leave. Bear, come back. Right now! I want to leave!’
‘Don’t panic. We’re okay,’ Bear assured her. ‘We’re just going to look around a little.’
Steven’s heart quickened as he approached the first coffin. Through its partially open lid he saw it was empty, save for the skeletal remains of numerous rodents. As he approached the next coffin he felt a grotesque crunching underfoot as though treading on egg shells. He shined his light in the water and saw dozens of rodent skeletons on the chamber floor.
‘There’re rat bones everywhere.’
‘Yeah, here too,’ Bear called from the next coffin. ‘This is gross.’
After the eighth empty coffin, Steven waded over to examine the large cross, relieved that Mrs. Lazarevic was right and that the vampires had indeed gone.
‘No vampires down here,’ Bear called up to the girls. ‘Just empty coffins and lots of dead rats.’
‘Ooowww, that’s sick,’ Vesna said, her voice echoing off the water.
Steven rubbed at the mold on the cross with his sleeve. ‘There’s an inscription… it’s in Latin,’ he called out. ‘It says… wait… something… something… miseri… Deus… tus… et… ius…Okay, I got it.’ He continued rubbing at the mold. ‘It says O quam misericors est Deus, Justus et Pius.’ Steven didn’t say that it was the motto of the Order of the Dragon.
‘Interesting,’ Stojadinovic said.
Steven walked around the backside of the cross and glanced up. High in the center of the cross-piece he found what he had come for: a small votive statue of St. George. He stood on tiptoes, reached behind the statue and felt a waxy package. Was it Slatina’s journal?
‘Have you found anything?’ Stojadinovic called.
Steven hesitated. ‘Trust no one,’ he told himself, once again repeating Mrs. Lazarevic’s advice. ‘Nothing,’ Steven said.
‘Hey, look at this,’ Bear said from across the chamber. ‘There’s a cross here that looks just like that secret lock.’
‘What kind?’ Stojadinovic called, shining his light towards Bear.
‘Maltese, just like the other one.’
While the two were distracted, Steven quickly removed the
package. The waxed surface was slick and it slipped from his fingers, bounced off his chest and fell. He bobbled and caught it quickly, just before it hit the water’s surface. Making sure no one was looking, he slipped it in his backpack.
‘This water’s freezing’,’ Bear said with a shiver.
‘Bear, come back now!’ shouted Tamara. Her voice was panicky. ‘I’ll warm you up. Hurry!’
‘How about you Stefan?’ Vesna called. ‘Do you need warming up?’
Steven noticed one coffin riding lower in the water than the others, its lid still in place. Was it still occupied? If so, was it a vampire? His stomach churned. ‘Bear, give me a hand,’ he called. Steven pulled the stake from his backpack as he approached the coffin.
‘What the hell is that?’ Bear asked as he waded closer, sending small waves through the water, rocking the coffins. ‘Did you come to kill vampires?’
‘Pull back the lid,’ Steven said brusquely.
‘I’ll give you some light.’ Stojadinovic’s voice echoed down from above. Then he saw the stake in Steven’s hand: ‘What are you holding, Steven?’
‘Just a stick I found.’
Bear wrestled with the lid, trying to get a firm grip on the slick, moldy wood while Steven’s adrenal glands kicked into high. Bear pulled the lid back suddenly with a single powerful movement.
Steven looked into the coffin, doubled over and began retching in the water.
‘Stefan, are you all right?’ Vesna shouted.
‘Bear, what’s going on? Answer me now!’ Tamara’s voice screamed.
Bear looked in the coffin, paled and turned away gasping for air. ‘Lord God, this is sick. This is so...oh God!’ He looked at Steven, who was still doubled over, gagging. ‘What the hell’s going on?’
In the coffin lay a man’s body, stripped naked and white from lack of blood, his throat brutally torn open to expose the jugular vein and vertebrae. His genitals had been torn off and shoved in his mouth and other signs of torture were evident. It was Niedermeier, the bookseller.
Steven’s vomit had discolored the otherwise clear water and portions of lunch floated on the surface. The smell of garlic-scented stomach acid pervaded the chamber. ‘Oh dear Lord, oh dear Lord,’ Steven repeated, breathing rapidly. ‘Tell me this isn’t happening.’
‘What is it?’ shouted Tamara, now hysterical. ‘What’s going on? Climb out of there at once. At once, do you hear me? Come back right now!’
Vesna’s calmer voice also penetrated the chamber: ‘Are you all right Stefan? Do you need help?’
Steven stumbled to the stone cross and held on for support.
Then suddenly there was a splash. Bear and Steven spun around to see the rope slowly coiling downward to the bottom of the pool.
Above them, Steven and Bear saw nothing except the edge of the hole and dim shadows from flashlights playing erratically off the tunnel wall above. They heard Tamara shout hysterically: ‘What are you doing, you creep?’ And then she screamed. ‘You freak, get away from me!’
Vesna too began screaming, but it sounded somehow distant as though she was further away from the hole. ‘Oh my God!! No!! Oh Lord have mercy! Oh, Lord have mercy.’ It was both a scream and a desperate prayer for help. ‘No, No! Oh my God, please help!’ Her voice was hysterical and frantic.
Bear and Steven waded directly under the hole. ‘Professor! Tamara! Vesna!’ they both shouted loudly. They heard only the girls’ panicked screams of terror and stood there, helpless.
Both girls fell silent, and the only sound came from the frantic breathing of Bear and Steven.
Then Stojadinovic appeared at the edge. As he looked down at them he smiled wickedly, his incisors elongated and sharp, blood dribbling down his chin.
‘Ha…ha…ha…very funny,’ Steven said. ‘Did Vesna put you up to this?’
‘Good one, Professor,’ Bear called, picking up the rope. ‘Catch.’ He threw it up, but Stojadinovic made no move to grab it.
Stojadinovic licked his lips, raised his sleeve and wiped the blood from his chin.
‘Professor,’ said Steven. ‘Please, not now.’
‘Tamara, it’s not funny,’ Bear shouted. ‘It’s cold down here and there’s a dead body. Stop fooling around.’
‘Vesna, come on,’ Steven called. ‘Niedermeier’s dead and this place is really starting to scare me.’
Stojadinovic simply stared.
‘Professor,’ shouted Steven angrily. ‘Get us out of here. It’s really not funny anymore.’
‘Oh, my. You are in trouble, aren’t you?’ he taunted.
‘Tamara, Vesna,’ Bear shouted.
There was no answer.
Stojadinovic continued to watch them, nary a word leaving his lips. Then his eyes turned cat-shaped and began to glow red, like fiery coals.
And suddenly Steven understood everything: the professor’s scarf, his night-owl behavior, his aversion to Steven’s garlic stench, his apparent death a few years previously, and why Niedermeier had been convinced someone was feeding information to the DB.
‘Oh, good Lord!’ Steven exclaimed. ‘you’re not really…’
‘Oh, but I most certainly am,’ Stojadinovic chuckled. ‘I apologize for leaving you here, but supper awaits. I’ll return for you later when the garlic is out of your system. You shall make a lovely dessert.’
‘Wha….?’ Steven’s shock was so thorough he couldn’t even get the word out.
But Stojadinovic only grinned down at them, his incisors glistening moistly.
‘Mother of God!’ exclaimed Bear, his jaw open in disbelief. ‘He’s not really…I mean…there aren’t…I mean…what the hell is going on?’ he grabbed Steven. ‘You’ve got a stake. Is this real?’
‘Stop playing with your food,’ a female voice commanded from somewhere above in the tunnel, then laughed in tones that froze the marrow in their bones.
Stojadinovic joined in the laughter. ‘Poor Steven…so naïve…so trusting. I must go now. Supper awaits. Enjoy your stay down there. Bye-bye.’ And then he was gone.
Again the female voice echoed from above as it said something unintelligible to Stojadinovic.
‘But…’ Steven spluttered, his jaw open, paralyzed with the realization that he had just seen a vampire.
‘What the hell is this? Is he a vampire?’ Bear demanded, shaking Steven.
‘How the hell am I supposed to know?’
‘You’re the expert! You’re Mr. Vampire. You know everything. You’re the one who brought us here. What the hell is going on? Answer me! Is he a vampire?’
‘Yeah,’ Steven answered vaguely, as in a trance, staring at the hole above them.
Shaking his head, Bear began mumbling the Lord’s Prayer: ‘Oce nas, koji si na nebesima...’
‘The lock,’ Steven said pointing to the wall and shaking Bear. ‘Maybe we can open it.’
‘Where?’ Bear asked.
‘Over there.’ Steven waded rapidly towards the wall, pushing waves of water with each stride. ‘It’s just like the lock on the top door.’ He waded quickly to the Maltese cross and pressed it as before: top, right, left, bottom, middle, then the two round stones. Nothing happened.
‘Hurry,’ urged Bear. ‘He’s killing them!’
Steven’s hands trembled as he tried the combination again. ‘Nothing!’ Maybe he had it wrong. Top, left, right, bottom, middle. Again nothing.
‘Stojadinovic, you son of a whore, I’ll screw your mother and your father and your whole family in order!’ yelled Bear. ‘Come on Stefan, come on!’ He shook Steven by the shoulders. ‘Remember! You can do it!’
And then Steven remembered Slatina’s instructions. He pressed the combination in the opposite sequence of the top lock: middle, bottom, left, right, top.
There was a small silent pop from behind the wall. Bear grabbed Steven, hugging him tightly. ‘You did it, you did it!’
Without warning the brick wall burst open with tremendous force, propelled by a surge of water that ripped the hidden
door from its hinges and sent a large wave across the room. The wave caught Steven and Bear in its grip, sweeping them under towards the center of the room. Steven held his breath and tried to paddle as best he could, but the stake in one hand and flashlight in another made swimming difficult. The weight of his clothes, backpack and boots dragged him down and the chilled water slowed his muscles. He finally struggled to his feet, gasping for breath. The water was chest height and rising rapidly. He made his way half-swimming, half-bouncing towards the cross in the center of the chamber.
Bear, with no stake or backpack to weigh him down, was already at the cross. Water continued to surge through the doorway. Bear held out a hand and pulled Steven towards him. The water was now almost six feet deep and still rising. Clinging to the cross, they watched the top of the door disappear under water. Soon they were sitting on the crosspiece, then kneeling, then standing.
Several inches below the top of the cross, the water stopped rising. Steven and Bear looked at each other, both breathing heavily and shivering.
Attracted by the noise, Stojadinovic appeared above the hole, the lower part of his face a mask of blood. ‘Oh, my, what have you done? Please don’t drown before I’m ready for dessert,’ he snickered and then disappeared.
‘Stojadinovic, you treacherous son-of-a-bitch,’ Steven yelled loudly. ‘I swear I’m going to kill you with my bare hands!’
‘If you do anything to Vesna or Tamara, so help me God…’ Bear yelled.
The ceiling was at least three meters above them and a coffin bumped into Steven.
‘We can get out,’ Steven said. ‘The water’s stopped rising, so it’s reached equilibrium with the staircase. If we swim through the door we’ll get to the staircase.’
‘Okay,’ Bear grunted. ‘But I’m not sure my flashlight is waterproof like yours.’ Already the bulb seemed dimmer.
Steven placed his stake and backpack on a coffin. They pushed the coffin towards the wall, hanging on its sides for flotation. At the wall, Steven looked at Bear, murmured ‘Good luck,’ took several deep breaths and dove down towards the doorway, his flashlight dim in the silty water, and pulled the bulky pack behind him as he furiously breast-stroked and frog-kicked. His buoyancy pushed him towards the ceiling, which quickly began sloping upward. It was slow going as he pulled the heavy pack through the water. He had swum ten meters and his lungs were about to burst, when his head finally broke the surface of the water and he felt air against his face. He gulped deep breaths of fresh air and paddled furiously towards the steps, where Bear sat, waiting.