In The Depths: A Novel (DeSai Trilogy) Vampire legends

by RWK Clark

  They no sooner reached their companions when Pat began to signal to his left with his hand. The other three looked in that direction to see the mouth of an underwater cave. Tim tapped his wrist, letting Pat know that time was ticking quickly, and Pat responded by motioning that he just wanted to take a quick peek at the site. All four proceeded to the opening in the side of the cliff.

  They swam into it cautiously, and the first thing they all took note of was its vast size; it seemed to go on forever. It was getting darker, and there was no end in sight. They all stopped and treaded water, looking at each other. Candy shook her head to say they needed to hit the surface.

  When the four were back in the boat with Rodrigo they began to take off their gear. As soon as communication was possible Tim spoke.

  “How cool was that?” His eyes were lit up like a kid in a candy store.

  Pat nodded passionately. “I know, right? I want to go back tomorrow. What do you two think?” He looked at both girls expectantly.

  Candy responded, “I’m game. We’ll bring some more supplies so we can explore it deeper. You know, better flashlights and the like.”

  “I’m excited, too. It’s going to be a blast!” Abby chimed in.

  Rodrigo fired up the vessel as the group told him what they had discovered, and they invited him to join them. He responded with much less enthusiasm than they anticipated for a seasoned Scuba guide. “I will bring you, but I will remain in the boat again. I have not been feeling myself.” He sped up the motor and took off like a shot, turning away from the young divers and focusing on the water. Tim and Candy looked at each other, both of them raising their eyebrows; his behavior seemed a bit odd to them. Shifty, even.

  They were back at the hotel by five, and after showering and dressing they met up in the lobby to decide their next move. “Let’s cab it to La Ceiba and find another restaurant. I’m ready to enjoy a night out and tour a bit.” Tim Howell smiled and continued. “Maybe see some sites that are above sea level, you know?”

  Chapter 5

  The city proved to be colorful and exciting, with a very energetic night life. The group started by taking in the sites they could, then around eight decided to pick a restaurant and have some supper.

  They settled on a recommendation of one of the locals, the Golden Space, and while it proved a bit spendy, it was well worth it. The food was magnificent, and the drinks were just what they needed to relax and enjoy the evening together in the new city.

  Regardless of their fun, they all were thinking about the cave. While none of them voiced the nagging thoughts, they were there nonetheless, strangely so.

  At one point Abby even grew frustrated with herself because thoughts of tomorrow’s dive continued to distract her from the conversation at hand. All of them were plagued by them, and by eleven they were hopping in another cab and heading back to their hotel and to their beds.

  ∞

  Restful sleep evaded all of them. Each tossed and turned, dozing for brief periods of time. They all knew how important a good night’s sleep would be to a successful dive, so they continued to try to get some shut eye. Pat couldn’t seem to shake the spotty memories of the dream he had the night before, and none of them could put the cave out of their minds. It seemed to beckon to them all.

  Candy finally fell into a fitful sleep around two in the morning, the soft snores Tim was putting out seeming to lull her off. From the moment she began to truly sleep, she began to dream, and there was nothing settling about the visions going on in her mind.

  She was underwater, Scuba diving in full gear. Her friends were with her, but they swam a good distance ahead of her, as though she were not even there. She struggled to catch them, but no matter how fast she swam she could not close the gap between them. Why weren’t they paying attention?

  The water was dark and murky, and as she observed this, she took note of an even deeper darkness up ahead. It was the mouth of the cave in the side of the cliff. Oh, yes! They were going to explore it today! She felt her own excitement, and with it she felt a discomforting dread. She continued to swim forward, trying her best to catch up to the others.

  They entered the cave, and though none of them had flashlights her vision was clear in the murky water. Once she was in the cave she looked behind her; the entrance was gone. There was nothing but solid rock. Her mind could not wrap around it, and her dread deepened, but she pushed it away and continued on.

  The darkness deepened, but it did not affect her ability to see in the slightest. The water she swam in was getting red, a deep shade of crimson. She wanted to turn around and leave; the others were not even paying her any mind. She turned and began to swim back in the direction she came from, but there was no entrance to be found. She continued to swim along the rock wall of the cave, back and forth. Nothing! Panic rose up in her throat, and she looked down at her air gauge. Only three minutes of air left! She looked frantically around for her friends, but she was alone in the blood red ocean, in the darkness, in the cave with no way out.

  She woke to Tim shaking her. “Candy! Wake up! You’re dreaming!” She was kicking and flailing her arms violently, still trying to swim. As she gained consciousness she took a deep gasp of air into her lungs. She had been holding her breath.

  “Oh! Oh, my, Tim! I had a terrible nightmare!” She began to cry immediately and uncontrollably. He held her and let the sobs run their course, comforting her and rocking her back and forth. Once the bout passed she pried herself from his embrace and went into the bathroom, looking at the clock as she went; it was six-thirty in the morning.

  Once in the bathroom Candy looked in the mirror at her reflection. She looked haggard, even worn. What the heck was that dream, anyway? She turned the tap on and waited for the water to warm before cupping some into her hands and splashing it onto her face. As she brushed her teeth the dream finally began to fade, but as she emerged from the bathroom to dress she remembered that they would be exploring the cave they found the day before, and tingle of dread filled her stomach and ran up her back and neck.

  This is foolishness, she thought to herself. How many Scuba explorations had she and her friends been on together? She had never been one to balk at the unknown; if anything she faced these things with gusto and a sense of vendetta. Now she found herself balking at the fact that they would enter that dark space. She pushed the silly thoughts from her mind and smiled at Tim, who sat cross-legged on the bed looking at her expectantly.

  “Are you okay?” The look on his face expressed deep concern, as did the tone of his voice. “You were really freaking out, and in your sleep, too. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

  She smiled as she pulled a pair of jeans on. “I’m fine. Just a freaky dream is all it was. You’ve had nightmares, you know what I mean.”

  He nodded in return and rose to dress as well. “Wanna go down for coffee since we’re up? Then we can start to get our things together for today’s dive. I’m excited about it! Wonder how deep that cave goes, anyway. It looked to me like it has a lot of potential, I tell ya!”

  “Sure, sounds good,” Candy replied. “Actually, that’s what my dream was about…”

  He turned his attention to her as he buttoned up his shirt. “What, the cave?”

  “Yeah. The cave. We were all on the dive, and we were swimming into it, and… and… well, I guess I lost you guys and couldn’t find my way out. I was running out of air and couldn’t breathe.” She didn’t look at him as she explained. She was afraid her eyes would give away her deep apprehension.

  Tim walked up behind her and put his arms around her. “You know I would never let you out of my sight down there, don’t you?”

  Candy nodded and turned to him, wrapping her arms around him and returning his embrace. “Yeah. I know.” She smiled and looked into his eyes. “Now let’s go get that coffee.”

  ∞

  The two ate while in the café, and they sat and talked about whatever came to mind, chatting idly, their words havin
g no real substance. By eight-thirty they decided to go track down their sidekicks, who hadn’t made an appearance as of yet.

  The two would need to grab a bite, and both Tim and Candy wanted to make sure they had some of the extra supplies they would need to swim deeper into the cave. They were going to meet up with Rodrigo at eleven-thirty, so now was the time to get things moving.

  ∞

  Rodrigo was packing their boat with the equipment needed for the dive. “So, you want go back to the same spot as yesterday?” “You going into cave?”

  Pat was already in the boat. “Yep! Have you changed your mind? Are you going to join us?”

  “No, no, no,” Rodrigo replied. “I wait up here for you, but I will get you closer to cliff side. You have things you need to explore longer? I get you anything before we leave?”

  All four of them shook their heads in response, with only Abby giving him a ‘no’. Soon enough they were all in the boat, full air tanks and gear ready to go. There was a tangible sense of emotion in the air. For Tim and Abby it was excitement which emanated from them. For both Candy and Pat it was something more sinister.

  They arrived at their spot much faster than the day before, or so it seemed to the crew, and in no time the four of them were in the depths, swimming toward the cave. It had come into view almost immediately once they were in the water; Rodrigo had done an outstanding job of getting them back where they were before, almost as if he knew exactly where to go to get them closer to the cave. Tim was grateful to have him as their guide; he seemed to be one of the best they had ever had, if not the most strange and distant.

  The group entered the cave, being sure to stay together. They had brought plenty of lights, each bearing their own bright source. Once again Candy had her trusty camera in hand, and they had plenty of air which would allow them to explore to their hearts’ content.

  As they swam into the darkness the cave seemed to get narrow in some places, threatening to end, but it always seemed to change its mind and get wider before continuing on. There were no plants, and there was no sea life worthy of photographing, so they continued on. About fifteen minutes in Tim slowed; the cave did indeed appear to end just up ahead. He turned to the others to find out what they wanted to do, and that was when his eye caught another narrow entrance. No, the cave would not end here. He nodded at them and they all made their way toward it with him in the lead.

  This was a much narrower passage, and as he entered with the others in the water behind him he took immediate notice of the air pocket above. He turned slightly and held his hand out for them to slow down and wait. He needed to check this out, and there was not enough room for all of them to proceed together.

  He entered the mouth of the outlet and swam upward toward what appeared to be surface water. He broke it, and immediately he was overwhelmed with what he saw. It was far more than an air pocket; this was a massive underground cave.

  Tim shined his light around and tried to take in its magnitude. Finally, after processing their find, he went under and returned to his group, who treaded water waiting for him. He signaled to them that they would proceed, but single-file. That was all he revealed, and the others simply nodded in reply, ready to go.

  He swam on, and once again broke the surface of the water leading to the cave. He placed his flashlight on its floor and hoisted himself up and out of the water, turning his attention to the five-foot by three-foot water hole he had just emerged from. Soon, Candy’s head broke the water as well, and he reached out to take her hand and pull her to the floor of the cave.

  Within minutes Pat and Abby joined them, and they were able to take their mouthpieces out and communicate. The air in the cave was fresh and cold, and it was not only breathable, it was invigorating. For a long moment no one could even speak. They were all in awe at their find. Finally, Pat spoke, and put everyone’s thoughts into words perfectly.

  “My Gosh.”

  The cave was so incredibly massive that it was overwhelming. Its walls climbed so high that their meager lights, which had seemed so powerful and sufficient up to this point, couldn’t even illuminate any kind of ceiling overhead. Dampness clung to them until it was literally dripping, and it formed a small stream which seemed to flow around the base of the walls, running into the hole which they had emerged from. The rock walls of the cave were dark gray in color, and their texture was like any cave on Earth.

  “Funny, but for all the wetness it doesn’t smell damp in here. It smells more like a wet animal,” said Abby, and the other three inhaled the cave’s scent deeply at her prompting.

  “You’re right,” replied Tim. “It smells kind of like a wet dog. I think this is the inside of that cliff, though. I doubt very highly there are any dogs in here.”

  Candy spoke up then. “Maybe there is another entrance.” She shined her light at the others, one at a time. They all looked at each other, a mixture of confusion and wonder in their eyes.

  “Let’s look around,” said Pat. He stood up awkwardly under the burden of his wet suit, and the others did the same. “I really think we should all stick together, though. Who knows how big this place really is. If it is as big as the cliff itself it could go on forever.”

  They began to walk, shining all four lights in front of them as they went. They were quiet, each listening for any sound that could be heard, but aside from their own footsteps, the cave was completely still. Their breathing seemed to scream out to them in their quiet surroundings.

  Just as Pat had suggested, the cave went on and on, and it wasn’t long before he spoke again. “Maybe we should stop for a minute.” His voice had a slight tremor, and it was enough to capture the attention of the others right away.

  “Are you okay, dude?” asked Tim.

  Pat nodded. “Yeah, I just don’t think we should go any further until we know. I mean, until we have a better plan that consists of more than just going forth blindly, you know?”

  Candy’s attention was completely captured. Forgotten was the dream that had woke her the night before, suffocating and screaming in her sleep. “I think we should camp here.”

  “We don’t have the gear to camp here, Candy.” Tim’s voice sounded as though he thought his girlfriend had gone off the deep end. “I mean, it’s a great idea and all, but once we dive and reach this place we will need to get our suits off and warm up; it’s cold and wet in here. We have no bedding, no food. What are you thinking?”

  She shook her head vigorously. “No, no. I don’t mean tonight. We have another few days here, and we are scheduled to dive again tomorrow. We go back, gather some sufficient supplies. We pack them so they don’t get wet, and we dive and spend the night. That would give us a chance to really check this place out, and we would be back in plenty of time for our bodies to adjust from the dive before our flight home.”

  They were all silent as they considered her idea. “Well, I guess the four of us really wouldn’t need much for a single night here, and each of us could tote our own gear on the dive,” said Abby. “To be honest, I would love to see some more of this place. Who knows if anyone even knows it’s here? We could discover some amazing things, and Candy could get some cool shots.”

  Without anyone giving confirmation they all knew it was settled. Finally Tim spoke. “Well, if that’s the plan we should get back to Rodrigo and get our crap together. To be honest, I can barely wait.”

  They made their way back to the hole and got themselves ready for the dive and the swim back to the outside world. In no time at all they were breaking the surface of the water, the sun hitting their faces and making them all squint against its violent attack on their eyes. The boat was about twenty yards away, and they made their way toward it, eager to board and get back to the hotel.

  Once they were all back on the boat Rodrigo went through his obligatory questioning in regard to their dive. “Did you go into the cave? I began to worry you run out of air, you all gone so long.”

  Pat, who could barely contain himself, le
t the excited words fall out of his mouth. “Rodrigo, you wouldn’t even believe it! Not only did we swim into the cave, but it led up into the cliff side. We were actually able to get out of the water, and we discovered another cave, a huge cave!”

  Was Candy imagining things, or did Rodrigo’s eyes flicker suspiciously away from Pat’s face when he heard about the cave in the cliff? She pushed her paranoia out of her mind and carried on where Pat left off.

  “Rodrigo, do you know about the cave in the cliff?”

  Rodrigo was putting gear into some compartments in the boat, and he answered her without looking at her. “No, no. I live here since I was born. You find something new down there.” For someone who believed that, he wasn’t very excited.

  Abby continued. “We are going to camp in there when we return on our dive tomorrow.”

  That caught the guide’s attention, and his head turned sharply towards Abby. “Stay? In the cave you find?”

  “Yes, Rodrigo, stay. When we come out tomorrow we are going to spend the night in the cave. We will pay for the time you stay, or you can head back and we will cover the cost for you to fetch us in the morning. Is there a problem?” Obviously Tim had picked up on the guide’s apprehension and strange behavior as well. He didn’t take his eyes off Rodrigo’s face as he spoke to him.

  The guide began to rapidly shake his head. “No, no problem. I bring you back if you wish. I cannot stay overnight. I have wife, you know? But I will retrieve you at whatever time you say the next morning. No problem.” With that he walked to the helm, started the boat, and took off from the spot like a shot.

  Obviously he wanted to get home to that wife of his fast.

  Chapter 6

  1796 Honduras

  The freezing water hit him like shards of glass. Any other man would have died instantly, but not Cyril DeSai. Not only did the impact not faze him, the water’s temperature went virtually unfelt also. He smiled as he began to swim deeper and deeper into the water which rolled at the base of the cliff from which he had leapt.