The goat chose that moment to let out another of it's frightened bleats. It got to me. Here I was in the basement of what must have been the old abandoned church after the horrific unprovoked attack by the five crazy people that had snuck up on us in the middle of the night. I started shaking and without any control over it a groaning sobbing noise started to sound in my ears. It took me several minutes and panicked cries from Jarmo before I even realised that I was the one making the sound.
My eyes clouded with hot wet tears and they streamed down my cheeks. I only had a moment of instinctual notice to roll over onto my side before I was vomiting. It only made the shaking of my body that much worse. Bringing my knees up to my chest I held myself in a protective ball for a long time. Gradually I was able to hear the sound of Jarmo's voice yelling to me over the steady drumming of my own pulse in my ears. He was asking me if I was okay. He wanted to know what was happening but my voice simply wouldn't come. I wasn't ready to speak yet.
There was the sound of metal striking metal as I brought my hand to my eyes to try to wipe away the tears and bring myself back under control. The worry of Jarmo's voice as he called to me over and over again made me feel guilty for the utter helplessness I was allowing myself to fall victim to. Only when my eyes tried to seek out the source of the clanking metallic noise did I see that I was manacled and chained to the wall behind me. My right wrist sported a thick metal band that was locked shut. I was being held prisoner. What did these freaks want from us?
"Jarmo, it's okay. I'm okay now." My voice faltered, giving away that I had been crying. "I'm chained to the wall. Are either of you free? We need to get out of here!"
There was clear relief in his voice when he answered. "Ashleigh, you need to calm down. We need to keep our heads if we're going to get out of this. Neither of us are free but we'll think of something. Look around you. Is there anything that you could use to free yourself? Anything that you could use to protect yourself?"
For the life of me I could not understand how he was able to keep calm and think so clearly. With the shakes returning to my body again I craned my neck and took in my surroundings, looking for anything at all that could prove useful.
The floor below the stone bench I found myself laying on was bare packed earth. Sitting up and getting to my feet I checked underneath and all around. There was a wrought iron candle holder that I strained to reach, the manacle cutting into my wrist as I stretched to reach for it. My finger tips just barely touched the edge of it. I wasn't sure how useful it would be as it was nearly as tall as I was but it was better than nothing. Struggling and trying to make myself physically longer than I actually was, I finally was able to use my fingernails to get the slightest grip on it and I pulled at it.
It fell to the floor with a mighty clang, which made me jump despite having been the one that had put this action in motion, and having watched it as it fell. The single candle it held extinguished, darkening my surroundings only slightly, and it rolled slowly across the floor. The goat pulled at his tether startled by the sound.
"It's okay Jarmo, I've got one of the long metal candle holders." I thought it best to explain the sound before he could call out to me again. Bending down I set to work trying to gage just how heavy the thing would be, and how useful while I was at it.
A sudden cease to the sound of the candle rolling along the floor startled me into looking up. A shining black leather boot rested on top of it. My eyes scanned higher and were met with the milky white gaze of the one that appeared to be the leader of the crazy group that had attacked and kidnapped us.
"Whatever do you think you are going to do with that?"
I stared up at him. The shaking returning instantly as a cold sweat broke out all over my body. An urge to vomit threatened again despite having nothing left in my system. I tried to ride the wave of nausea utterly unable to speak.
His deep voice boomed out, filling every hidden shadow with it's reverberations. "Please allow me to introduce myself, my dear. I am the son of darkness. I am the tunnel that has no light at it's end. I am your worst nightmares made flesh."
He bowed dramatically, never taking his cataract ridden eyes from my own. A twisted and devious smile that allowed his overly white teeth to shine in the candle light. Those eyes bore into my soul and created a fear inside of me that was so intense that it consumed me completely.
"I am the one known as Lucian."
TO BE CONTINUED
No comments:
Post a Comment