The Number 8

by Joel Arcanjo

  “Explain…”

  “They never sit closer than six rows apart, they’re never caught in the same group of people and like I said, the weirdest thing is that they never look at each other.”

  Asmir dipped his hand inside his pocket and pulled out the crinkled piece of paper.

  “Take a look at this,” Asmir said, handing it over to Dante.

  Dante read the four words and began to say something but Asmir pre-empted him.

  “On the bus, by the middle rows. No idea who it’s from or who it’s meant for.”

  “Think it could be the two passengers?”

  “Could be, long-lost brothers maybe.”

  They continued to discuss all kinds of outlandish theories as to why they weren’t talking. Spies. Alien drones that had been planted on earth to monitor mankind. It all came out. Dante didn’t know what he had noticed but there was definitely something off about their dynamic. It wasn’t even that they actively disliked each other. It was like they didn’t want to be seen together. It didn’t sit right with him. Something was definitely wrong.

  Chapter 12

  There was a nervous tension permeating the bus. They had no idea what they were in for. Some were peering out of their windows looking for signs that they were nearly there. Others were silent and motionless. But it was clear that all were excited. They had no idea that Black Water Rafting was a combination of abseiling, freezing water and huge eels slithering through the blackness below them. Dante did, so he was just plain excited, but also restless, checking his watch every five seconds. This made Asmir a little uncomfortable. Asmir had continually tried to get Dante to tell him more about what they were about to go through, but Dante had refused. He didn’t want to build it up only for it to disappoint. After all, Dante had never actually done it before, but he had done several virtual tours. So he knew what to expect and he didn’t mind building it up in his own mind.

  A couple of minutes rolled by and things began to change. People began to see the signs. The caves were 1km away now and the bus began to audibly awaken. Eyes lit up and smiles appeared. Even Viktor was grinning and boasting about how he was “a pro black water rafter.” Dante was sure he had no idea what it was.

  How foolish you’re going to look half an hour from now.

  It was that that brought a grin to Dante’s face. He couldn’t wait to see Viktor floundering in the ice-cold, jet-black water.

  As Dante could have predicted, Viktor had pushed his way to the front of the queue when the bus finally came to a stop. He was hollering and chanting on his own. This made both Dante and Asmir fall over themselves laughing, because it seemed Viktor was the only one who hadn’t realized that this stop was not for the caves, but for the wetsuits. He was quickly put in his place when Mel said over the loudspeaker, “All the girls please exit first and line up outside the blue building over there to collect your wetsuits. Oh and Viktor…please sit down.”

  The whole bus roared with laughter as a dejected Viktor slunk his way back to his seat. A great moment. For the rest of them of course, not for Viktor, who would think twice before making a beeline for the door early again.

  Five minutes later all the passengers were back in the bus with their wetsuits on their laps. Dante had taken about ten seconds to pick out his wetsuit. His body type was decisively medium. Height-wise, weight-wise and even his build could only really be described as medium. He was fit and quite toned, but not shredded and definitely not skinny. Asmir on the other hand wasn’t really anything. He had abnormally wide shoulders for someone of 5’11, yet his hips were those more frequently seen on a runway model. With his freakishly large hands and feet, he could’ve made an excellent swimmer.

  It was getting warm now. As the driver started up the engine there were shouts for the air conditioning to be turned on. He obliged. With a clunk and a high-pitched whirring, the AC started up and the bus became more bearable. They pulled slowly out of their last pit-stop and began their very short trip to the caves. As they were leaving, Dante saw Asmir turn towards the light blue building and snap a shot of it with his camera.

  “Why’d you do that?” Dante asked, as there seemed to be nothing special about the setting at all.

  “Sometimes what you think will make a shitty shot proves to be anything but. Check it.”

  He swiveled the screen towards Dante so he could see his work and sure enough, it was a beautiful picture. The glare of the sun on the window had sent a strange ethereal haze cascading over the light blue building. It was just a little bit magical. Asmir really was talented. But not wanting to give him a big head, Dante just grunted, “It’s OK.”

  Asmir seemed to see right through this and began to show others around him. He had always had a big head, but at least now he could be arrogant about something he was actually good at. He tried to explain to the helpless passengers why the light fell that way or how the lens he was using affected the shot. No one shut him down straight away. They were all very polite about listening to his boring rant, simply because in all other aspects of his life he was so incredibly interesting. Of course, for those that were knowledgeable on the subject of photography, the conversation would have been riveting. But it just so happened that none of those people had booked a tour on bus number 8. One by one he bored the back of the bus to death. They patiently nodded until he finished or simply feigned a headache. Unsurprisingly few actually needed to feign it. But they didn’t have to put up with it for long because less than ten minutes later, they had arrived at the caves.

  Ben bellowed from the front, “I hope you all like eels, because they’re huge down there!”

  Chapter 13

  Most of them hadn’t realized that before they abseiled down into the caves they would of course have to practice, or risk plummeting into the icy waters below. Dante knew this. While the rest of them were stood around waiting for instruction, Dante had dragged Asmir over to the area where they were meant to be. He would’ve told the others too, but he wanted to be in the first group and, preferably, the first to abseil into the darkness.

  Two instructors were waiting for them as they rounded the corner into the sloping training area. One was wearing a harness and prepping himself for a demonstration. The other was older and stony-faced. He was clearly the guy in charge.

  He spoke first. “Where’s the rest of ya’ then?”

  “I’m sure they’ll work it out soon. What you see here is the smart people on the bus,” Asmir replied.

  “There’s only two of ya’.”

  “Exactly,” Asmir said proudly. Admittedly he had set that up quite well.

  Moments later, the other passengers appeared. But when they saw what was waiting for them they quickly forgot about all of that and fell silent. Some out of fear, others out of excitement. The practice area was on an incline with the passengers at the bottom and the two instructors at the top. The younger one was connecting his harness to a rope that extended from their position to the observers. Each end was held to the floor by a system of carabiniers.

  “OK, listen up. Jimmy here is gonna show you how to work the equipment. It’s pretty simple really. We’ve only ever had two accidents. Unfortunate really, nice kids, just didn’t listen.”

  “What do you mean by accident? Did they die?” Carl shouted from the back.

  “I just told you there was an accident. Isn’t that enough for you? You wanna know the gory details? You wanna know that one girl broke her back and never walked again? Or maybe that the other guy fell 40ft and hit his head so hard that he was in a coma for four months? Yeah, you could say they survived. I wouldn’t.”

  That was the last thing he said before walking off to one side and letting the young guy take over. All the eyes followed him trying to detect a hint of deception or even hoping that he would turn to them and say “I’m just kidding.” But he was unreadable and clearly it wasn’t a joke to him. There was an uneasy feeling in the air now. Even Dante could not quite believe what he had heard. Two seriously
injured and he just admitted to his customers that they could also be in danger. Not a great strategy.

  Dante and Asmir were there first so the younger guy brought them up. Dante had been abseiling before and easily completed the training in under two minutes. Asmir was naturally well co-ordinated so for him the training was also easy. Lean back, feed the rope through the carabinier and repeat. Dante was on alert after the older man’s admission, so he carried on until he felt completely comfortable with the action. It took no more than five minutes. After he was released from his harness he felt better. He had the action down pat. But he was still thinking about the two poor souls who had come to see the glowworms and left in an ambulance. The likelihood was that it was someone who was on a similar trip to him. Here from other countries trying to see New Zealand for the first time. The accident would’ve ruined their trip and as the older guy had said, ruined their lives too. Dante wanted to know more, the details of what had happened in each case and what specifically to avoid doing down there, so he edged closer to the older guy. By now he was entirely uninterested with what was happening in front of him. He was clearly there just to oversee the progress of his apprentice. He was glancing at his watch, then at his phone, then back at his watch. A pointless action as every phone has a built-in clock these days. So if he was open to a conversation, this was as good a time as any. But he had to get the opener right.

  “So, is that your son out there?” Dante asked.

  The guy’s face lit up. “Yeah, that’s my boy. You see a resemblance?”

  “Yeah, sure. That’s why I ask.”

  “Ah, well most people say that he looks like his mother, but I’ve always thought he has my eyes.”

  In truth they didn’t look remotely similar. The older guy had a strong build, a permanent frown and a buzz cut, while the younger guy was slim with a medium length combover and was clearly dazzling the girls in the group with his smile. They couldn’t be more different. Dante didn’t even agree with the guy about their eyes. In fact, their eyes were not even the same color, but he indulged him.

  “Will you pass all this down to your son one day?” Dante asked.

  “That’s the plan. It was my idea to get him out here working, but he’s grown into it,” the guy paused, “slowly.” He turned and looked at Dante for a reaction so he laughed at what he was sure was meant to be a joke. He had loosened the guy up now, so it was time to get to what he came for.

  “So, that story you told about the two injured people, what on earth happened to them?”

  Smiling, the guy leant in a little and whispered, “Can you keep a secret?”

  “Sure…”

  “That was a lie. There’s never been any injuries here, not even rope burn. You know why?”

  “Why?”

  “That story. It scares the living crap out of all of you and makes you actually pay attention to what we say. There’s no greater motivator than risk of injury or death.”

  Dante was surprised by this guy. He was a manipulator as well as currently being the manipulated. “You do realize that’s sadistic, right? To make kids believe that they are genuinely in danger.”

  “No, it’s genius. And you’ve got it all wrong. You are in danger. You’re abseiling into a pitch-black cave after being trained for just a few minutes. Don’t be foolish, that’s dangerous for the most experienced abseiler. There’s always risk, kid. I’m just trying to make sure that at the very least, you and your bus pay attention.”

  He was right. Spinning a story like that would make them sit up and take notice. Dante took his attention off the old guy and glanced back at his fellow passengers. Every single one of them had looks of intense concentration etched on their faces. Brows furrowed, lips pursed and some were even rehearsing the movements carefully. It was clear that the fake story ploy was working as planned. Dante didn’t agree with his methods, but he couldn’t argue with the results.

  The old guy carried on, “Like I said, don’t tell your friends over there. It kinda defeats the point of the story, you know?”

  Dante felt like disobeying him for a spilt second. After all, he felt they deserved to know that they had been lied to. But he thought better of it. He didn’t know these people yet. He didn’t owe them anything. And after all, he was doing them all a favor in the long run by not telling them.

  “I won’t,” Dante finally said. He started to walk away, but realized that the old guy had some information that he wanted. He turned back towards him.

  “Does this job ever get old for you?”

  The old man looked at him and took a moment to ponder his answer. Dante thought he saw the cogs turning. He had probably contemplated that question many times, but it was possible that he hadn’t actually ever verbalized it.

  “This,” he said pointing at his son who was currently teaching the third wave of passengers, “gets old real fast. But that,” he said pivoting towards the entrance of the caves just meters away, “will never get old. Down there is a world that very few get to see. You should feel privileged kid. I do, every day.”

  “Is this all you have ever wanted to do?” Dante asked.

  The old guy snorted loudly as if the question was ridiculous. “Of course not! Who grows up wanting to be…” he paused, gesticulating around him dramatically, “this!”

  “Then what happened? How did you end up here?”

  “There’s a long story behind that, kid. But the short version is that I was just like you. I came here to visit the caves and never left.”

  “That’s incredible. So one visit and you were transfixed by it to the point that you wanted to be around it everything single day?” Dante asked.

  The look that the old guy gave him was strange. Like Dante had grown another head. “Of course not, kid! I stayed for a girl.”

  “Oh…” Not what Dante was expecting at all.

  “Yeah, met her here in the caves. She fell out of her ring and I helped her out. It sounds quite romantic actually. It really wasn’t at the time. She was coughing and spluttering and I was spilling out of a wetsuit that was a size too small. But you know what, I married that woman.”

  “So it was quite romantic then?”

  “I guess so…” he smiled.

  “But that doesn’t explain why you stayed here.”

  “Well, this was her place, you know. She loved it here. I never really understood until…afterwards.”

  Dante interrupted, “After what?”

  A look of immense sadness came over the man. He let his head slip forward and stared at the ground for a while. Dante didn’t want to interrupt again so he just let the silence play out. “Errr… She passed about three years ago. And before you feel sorry for me and offer me your condolences, don’t. She was an incredible woman and the love of my life but when I tell people this they look at me like you are right now.”

  Dante kept silent and looked away so he would feel more comfortable.

  “We scattered her ashes down there, that’s what she would have wanted. And you know, it was only after she passed that I truly began to see the magic of the caves. I took over the tours after that.”

  “Doesn’t it remind you of her every day?”

  “Of course. That’s the point. Don’t you get it? I want to be reminded of her every day. She was the greatest part of me, kid. She loved this place, it was where she was most alive and I never got that. But I do now. There is something about this place. It’s magical. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.” He paused for a second to reflect. “I know that I won’t do anything else.”

  “What’s so amazing about it?”

  “I’m not even going to try and answer that for you, kid. Each person that goes in experiences something very different. Go in and see it for yourself. Now, leave me alone, I need to make sure my son isn’t screwing up.”

  Dante got his message loud and clear. He edged back towards Asmir who was now busy chatting to a group of clearly disinterested girls. Clearly he wasn’t getting that vibe
though. Instead Dante turned to the training area and watched on as the last group completed their training.

  Ten minutes later it was all over and they were being summoned.

  Here we go, Dante thought.

  Chapter 14

  Dante was uncomfortably swinging in his harness above the entrance to the caves. The younger guy was urging him not to look down. But as often happens, he did exactly what he was told not to. Below him was a seemingly endless mass of black. His logical brain was telling him that there was solid ground down there somewhere, but at that moment he was not thinking logically. He was not thinking at all. His body was doing all the talking. His fight or flight response was kicking in. His heart rate was out of control and he was sweating profusely. The younger guy could see this and was trying to calm him down. It was not working.

  “Look, you want someone else to go…”

  “No!” Dante interrupted. He knew what the guy was going to say. “I can handle it. Just give me a second.”

  Reluctantly, he obliged. Dante felt like an idiot hanging there trying to get his body to obey him while most of the bus stood around watching. He took five deep breaths and slowly repeated the motions that he had done so many times before. It was not the thought of abseiling that scared him but the unending darkness he had just seen below. But against his body’s wishes he descended slowly until the darkness below was all around him. He expected his eyes to adjust but it seemed to take an age for them to do so. Slowly, he began to make out the faint outline of a small patch of flat ground. Then a figure emerged from the blackness. It was the older guy. He was looking uninterested and tapping his foot impatiently. If he had had a watch on, he would have been glancing at it. But Dante was just feet from him now and his presence seemed entirely unnecessary. That was until he realized that the landing platform wasn’t directly beneath him. He got to eye level with the old guy and started feeling for the ground. His legs were flailing around and he soon found out why. The old guy grabbed the rope and pulled him over. Finally, he felt solid ground. His body understood he was safe now and his breathing deepened.