The Pegassian Order

8. Dark Places

‘What do you mean ‘the dead?'’ Rafi asked, standing opposite her. She looked at him and frowned.

‘You didn't feel their dead bodies down there? When the water was dark?’

Rafi sighed. ‘That was probably seaweed or something. Moss. I don't know.’

‘So,‘no'. You didn't feel anything.’ Elliot concluded as though this was by some fault of Rafi's. He realised why she was so freaked out because firstly, dead people were always bad news, but secondly, she was terrified her sister was among them, if there were dead people in the water, that is.

‘And you don't believe me.’ She realised aloud, before Rafi could conceal his expression she stood up. ‘Rafi, go back.’ She instructed as she reached into her bag. ‘I don't need your help and I sure as hell don't need your judgement.’ She pulled out the hip flask and took a swig. Rafi stared at her.

‘That isn't going to help.’

‘It helps.’ She argued. He shrugged.

‘I can't go back even if I wanted to, because this is a death trap. It isn't designed to let us go back.’

‘Only forward.’ Elliot said suddenly, her eyes lighting up. ‘That is what this is.’ She studied the room around them and stepped into the warmth of the giant shaft of light and basked in it as she peered around the room.

‘What?’ Rafi asked.

‘The worshipers want to show us her struggle, her journey, Rafi. We have to keep moving forward.’

‘So those dead people you think you felt in the water, were what? People who didn't survive the first trial?’ His words sounded more ridiculous in his head than out loud. Out loud, he could clearly connect the dots. It did make sense in a creepy way.

‘You think Chloe went through that?’

Elliot nodded. ‘She was on the swimming team in high school.’ Elliot said as she walked over to one particular patch of stone which was covered in etchings, small black lines conveying snakes and horses. To Elliot it conveyed redemption and darkness.

‘Shit.’ Rafi muttered. Elliot looked at him now. ‘I left Galen and Duke behind. I told them I'd go back for them.’

‘There is no way back.’ Elliot said. She frowned for a moment as she tried to ignore what she thought she saw, the notion of Duke attacking Galen was absurd, she knew that. They had been working together for a while and Duke was helping Galen get closure for his dead daughter.

‘I have to find a way back.’ Rafi said, heading for the water. ‘I can't just leave them to die. Maybe if I can get to the parting in the ground where I fell through I can hit it hard enough to make a sound, to get their attention.’ As he spoke, he saw the sorrowful expression on Elliot's face, his own voice sounded as if it belonged to a stranger. He felt so far away all of a sudden.

By leaving Galen and Duke behind, he had essentially put a nail in their coffin, sentencing them to death by starvation in the underbelly of Athens. That was if, of course, Galen didn't succumb to his injuries first.

‘There is no way back.’ Elliot said. ‘I need to keep moving forward.’

‘What if it was Chloe back there?’ Rafi said.

‘It isn't. Do what you have to do, but I have to keep moving forward. We’re running out of time.’ With that Elliot walked over to the markings on the wall. Rafi stared at her for a moment longer, committing the sight of her to his memory. He had barely made it through the first trial, and if he was going to die trying to save Duke and Galen then he wanted to remember her.

‘Good luck. Be safe.’ He instructed. Elliot looked at him.

‘You too.’

She watched as Rafi dove back into the water and disappeared. After a few moments, the water became still again, and Elliot found herself alone in the catacombs.

Rafi was more tired this time round as he navigated the icy waters. He ordered his limbs to keep thrashing in cyclic motions to propel himself through the dark water. Something brushed against him and he cried out, swallowing a mouthful of water and losing a lungful of air. He shoved it aside, it felt rubbery but like a deadweight.

He remembered Elliot's words about the dead and swam faster through the water, terrified of what he might see in the dark. There were some things in life a person could not unsee. For Rafi the list was short, but he didn't want it to get any longer. He reached a dead end and his muscles began to convulse against his will. He paddled upwards with great difficulty, his arms felt like they were trying to lift concrete with each stroke.

He emerged from the water and found himself trapped in a space no bigger than the size of a brick. He sucked in air as his body shuddered and then he pounded his fists against the stone above him. He could see the line where the ground divided. Galen and Duke were just beyond it.

‘Duke!’ He cried but his voice was strained and muffled by the juggernaut of stone and water surrounding him.

Meanwhile Elliot squeezed her shirt, letting the excess water drip onto the ground. She shuddered as a cool breeze rolled in from the hole up above, she went and stood in the sunlight for a few moments, letting herself warm up and hoping for her clothes to dry some more. The last thing she needed was to catch Pneumonia or something.

Once her clothes were dry, she stepped out of the circle of warm light and glanced at the water. There had been no sign of Rafi but then it had only been thirty minutes. She admired his courage. She would never be able to enter water filled with dead bodies. She just couldn't.

She eyed the chamber intently and scanned the walls, each had various markings and more Doric columns lined the walls here like someone had taken a giant comb and stretched it to fit around the edges of the room, each of its teeth was a pearly column and in between were stone walls. She studied some of the walls until she came across one that looked… different.

She couldn't tell whether it was the fact it was made of a different type of stone, white and chalky in colour and texture, or if it was due to the fact there was a gust of cold air constantly coming from its edges. She lowered herself to the ground and placed a hand on the stone floor until she felt another gush of air.

The wall was a door.

Elliot studied the door then turned her attention to the columns. At the base of the column to her right was a rectangular space, a gap. Was it a weight? She glanced back at the water. How was she supposed to bring water and fill this up?

She looked at her satchel then emptied the contents onto the ground. Shoving a energy bars into her pocket and gulping down some water, she took the empty bag to pool and dipped it into the water. It inflated like a balloon and she ran back to the gap and poured the water in. Nothing happened.

She did this again and again, until finally, the door rumbled a little and a hairline gap appeared along the bottom of the door. It was working. Elliot repeated the journey a dozen more times until the door had rolled open by three feet. That was more than enough for her to slide through. She picked up her hip flask and shoved her belongings back into the soaked satchel and slid beneath the door and arose in a pitch black room.

She patted her satchel for her torch, only to realise she had left it behind. It must have rolled to one side, stopping somewhere out of sight. She glanced back at the door and noticed it was now only two feet off the ground. It was shutting again, there must have been a drainage system draining the hole of water to stop people from being able to go back.

Elliot took a step forward into the dark and listened as the door reeled shut behind her, locking the light out and her in both at once. She smelt something strange in the air, but couldn't place her finger on what it was.

She walked carefully into the chamber. She took out an energy bar and hurled it across the room, hoping to hear it collide against a surface so she could fathom the size of her surroundings. But it didn't hit a wall. She heard it land lower, she heard it hit the ground. Something moved in the dark, the sound of something hard and polished striking stone.

She heard the creature charge toward her, and in the dark she leapt to one side and clipped her elbow against the ground. She curled up and another creature sprinted past. That was when she heard the giant animals neigh and growl. She was in a pitch black room with wild horses.

She was about to be trampled to death.

Scrambling to her feet, Elliot snuck through the darkness, listening for sounds of heavy breathing and hooves. She felt the warmth of a tall horse as it moved past her. She kept as still as possible. Suddenly, something brushed her shoulder, it had the consistency of tied up hair. A horse's tail.

The horse stepped back, bumping into Elliot with such force she fell forward. The horse neighed in alarm, causing the other horses to panic. Several hooves charged in her direction in the black room. She realised now the smell she could detect in the air was hay.

She sprinted in the other direction and as the hooves gained on her she ran to one side and dove with all her might. She crashed into a wall and curled up on the ground. She was dazed by the impact of her skull colliding against stone.

She heard a bang, like a gunshot. It echoed through the chamber and the horses fled in another direction. Wherever they went, it was far from Elliot. Elliot's ears rang and she clasped her hands over her head, groaning in agony.

Two hands slid beneath her shoulders and dragged her across the ground. She tried to lift her head but it was no use. It throbbed so hard that if she even tilted it, a wave of pain engulfed her senses, blinding her.

Who was dragging her deeper into the catacombs? Why were they taking her?

Rafi's shouts seemed to land on deaf ears and soon his body was beginning to grow numb as the water lapped around his neck. His spine ached and his head throbbed. His limbs were sore and he had swallowed so much of the water, he worried he might throw up at any given second.

Just as he was about to succumb to the water, he saw something sharp shove between the parting in the stone above and prise it apart. He had never felt so relieved to see Duke who reached down and pulled him out of the water.

Rafi collapsed onto the ground and shivered. Duke removed his jacket and put it over Rafi. Rafi noticed the ashen look on Duke's face.

‘W-what? What is it?’ He asked as his jaw chattered. Duke didn't speak. He simply looked across from Rafi and over to a limp body, covered by a shirt. It was Galen's shirt. There was blood smeared on it.

‘N-no, what happened?’ Rafi demanded as she scrambled toward Galen's limp body. ‘Y-you shot him?!’ He asked, stunned, confused and distressed.

‘He left me no choice. He started muttering things, threats. The knock on his head effected him—he attacked me.’ Duke said. Rafi noticed Duke was jittery, jumping at every noise.

‘Give me the gun.’ Rafi said. Duke extended his pistol to Rafi and as Rafi reached for it, Duke whipped him across the head. Rafi hit the ground hard, he was out cold. Duke stood over him, clutching the gun.