by EJ Valson
Azura pried the door the rest of the way open and crawled inside, not looking back. With a sudden burst of courage, I let go of Charlotte’s hand and followed. We had already come this far, I sure didn’t want to rot in some invisible cave that no one knew about with no tour guide.
I heard some shuffling behind me, followed by the clanking of the metal door, and I knew Charlotte had followed also. Once we were through the door, we were able to stand upright easily, and for the first time since I had woken up in the Jeep, I could see. But just barely.
Above us, I noticed a dim green light. The glow that it put off reminded me of a fluorescent bulb, only not as effective. Down about fifty feet, I could scarcely make out another one. They shed just light enough to see where the ground was.
Azura turned to make sure we were behind her, then trotted off. Charlotte and I struggled to keep up. Azura seemed almost spry, weaving in between the large rocks that were jutting up from beneath us. She ducked effortlessly under giant rock formations hanging from the ceiling as if she had grown up here, and swung around massive boulders as if she were maneuvering on solid ground.
While Charlotte and I labored to keep our footing and see where we were going, Azura leapt about with ease. There was no grunting as she jumped and crawled, she didn’t even seem to look where she was going. Our petite, odd friend simply placed each foot just perfectly enough to get her to her next step. She looked very much like a kid playing in her favorite secret spot.
We walked and tripped over ourselves at barely less than a run for a while until I finally gave in to my body. It had been begging me to slow down since we had crawled through the door. I had stubbed my toe about a hundred times already, and once, I very seriously slammed my shoulder into something that didn’t move.
“Azura,” I called. “Can we please slow down a little?”
She turned around, a youthful glow in her face, and sighed.
“I’m sorry, ladies. Forgive me. We can walk.”
We were allowed to catch our breath momentarily, then began again. After what seemed like an appropriately long pause, I decided to break the silence again.
“Since we have the time, maybe, would you mind telling us about where we are?” I knew it was a long shot, but hoped for the best anyway.
Azura pulled quickly to a halt and faced me. I tried to look like an inquisitive adult who would be able to handle her answer, instead of a kid who was just looking for a good scary story. After a moment, she obviously deemed my expression acceptable and began walking again.
“Very well, then,” she shrugged. “There’s no sense in secrecy now, anyway.”
Nice logic, I thought.
“Technically,” she began – a bit sarcastically, “we are nowhere. This place does not exist.”
Great, if I die, no one would know where to start looking.
“By now, of course, we’re underground. You gathered that much by our slow downward progression and cooling temperatures . . .”
Of course I had gathered that much on my own. In between tripping, running into things, and bumping my head.
“Actually, I’ve only been paying enough attention to my surroundings to avoid falling to my death,” I mused. “I can barely see.” As if on cue, Charlotte ran into something behind us and let out a grunt.
“Ah.” Azura glanced around indifferently. “Well, the lights . . . let’s start there. The lights are an extremely low emission light system that keeps energy usage to a minimum. For obvious reasons.”
“I wouldn’t use words like ‘obvious’, Azura. I think you underestimate my ignorance of the situation.” She chuckled a little, at least I thought it was a chuckle.
“My apologies.” She sighed, and looked annoyed that she was having to explain something so obvious. “Lots of people, government and non, would very easily locate a facility like this if it put out or consumed a large amount of energy.”
The continued silence behind her clearly showed our lack of understanding.
“It would show up on special monitors,” she continued, speaking slower— as if she were explaining something to a couple of toddlers. And although it was dark, I could make out her air quotes around the words “Special monitors.” She was mocking us – at a time like this!
“Like a heat sensor . . . really, girls. Haven’t you ever seen a military movie?”
“No,” we answered in unison.
“Well anyhow, this is the most light available if you don’t want to be picked up on radar.”
What I was interested in was not the mechanics of the place, so I tried to speed up the conversation. I wasn’t really sure how long we had for specifics.
“You said ‘a facility like this’—what sort of facility did you mean?” I asked this carefully, quite terrified of the answer.
Several moments passed before she answered. I was sure she was devising how best to explain the horrible truth to us. I was also sure that at this point I wanted the actual truth. Non-sugar coated for my benefit, no matter how awful it was.
“You could consider it to be a testing facility . . . to be broad.”
The way she said ‘broad’ made my skin crawl. Like she knew first hand real horrors that I literally couldn’t imagine.
“And if I weren’t being broad?” I asked, shuddering.
We stepped under another green light, and it cast just enough light on Azura’s face that I could see the burning in her eyes. She really didn’t want to share any of her secrets with us. But I didn’t feel like it was fair that she was the only one who knew what we were up against.
“If I tell you the reality of this place, I have no doubt that you are in the right frame of mind to accept it. Everyone else, however, I would prefer to remain in blissful ignorance of the situation.”
Charlotte and I nodded in agreement without glancing at each other. Our childlike fascination with Azura Dane was growing with every painful step in this awful cave and I, for one, wanted to know her entire story. Right now. Before I died. Which I was certain would be the outcome of this whole ordeal.
Azura turned her back to us and began walking again.
“This is a testing facility for people like us.” People like you two, I thought.
“Or, rather, it used to be. Many, many years ago, a dreadful young man began developing technology that – in his mind – would be very beneficial. He holed up here where no one could find him, slowly gathering followers, all while staying out of reach of those who opposed him.”
“If he was holed up down here, how did his followers hear about him?” I asked.
“The way drug lords hear about each other, dear. These people have a way of finding each other. After working for a number of years, he eventually met someone who would change his life – and the direction of his mission – forever.”
She paused ahead of us, staring at what I eventually saw to be a fork in our path. When I caught up to her, she was completely still. Her face was so hauntingly pensive that I didn’t dare speak, although I had plenty of questions. Instead, I turned to Charlotte, who just shrugged. We waited silently while Azura thought about which way we should go.
“I’m trying to decide,” she finally said. “Whether to announce that we’re here, or to surprise them.”
Then, without a word, she veered to the right and waved to us.
“Surprise.”
“Azura?” I almost whispered, after we had walked for some time. “Who did he meet?”
“Me.”
FIFTEEN
“I don’t have to have special abilities to guess that you’re both disgusted with me.” Azura sighed a deep, painful sigh. She continued to jump lightly and easily from each rock formation to the next, and her frequent silences told us she was getting lost in memories we couldn’t imagine. “I’m not proud that I helped create this mess we’re in. But I was young, and he was a powerful man who, by the time I met him, had developed very powerful methods of persuasion.”
Azura’s voice was h
ollow, and full of pain from the past. She fell silent for several minutes, and I felt the urge to catch up to her and comfort her, but I didn’t know how. There were obviously real terrors in her life that I wouldn’t know how to sympathize with. Suddenly, my life in suburbia seemed downright easy. I vowed silently that if I made it home, I would never take anything for granted again. Not John, not precious Violet.
“Ssshhh,” Azura hissed at us, though no one had been talking. We had stepped underneath another green light and she waved her arm at us, instructing us to get against the wall. We found an area next to a large formation that would fit all three of us. As we pressed ourselves closely to the wall, we were completely hidden in the darkness.
My heart raced. Was this it? Would we have to defend ourselves here? In this rocky hallway, where I could barely manage to stay standing up?
“Azura.” A low voice, one that reminded me of John’s and made my heart ache, came from the other side of the path. His voice was warm and kind – wholly non-threatening. And I allowed myself to inhale and exhale quietly.
“Azura,” he repeated. “It’s me.”
She didn’t speak. All I heard was a deep sigh from our hiding spot and, with a few well placed steps, Azura bounded effortlessly to the middle of the pathway. Directly under the weak glow of the light.
Out of the darkness emerged a man, small in frame, but clearly well formed and muscular. He was dressed in dark, drab clothing that hung neatly on his tanned skin.
His face was attractive, but his features were hardened. He looked like a soldier, for some reason. It was the way he carried himself I supposed, because there was no evidence that he was one.
“Manny,” Azura sang when he was close enough for her to embrace him, which she did with delight. Her body language changed completely as she threw her arms around him. She looked like a schoolgirl, wholly involved in this moment of recognition of a friend. I was sure she had forgotten for a moment that Charlotte and I were still lurking in the shadows. They eventually stepped away from each other, leaving only their hands intertwined.
“Girls,” she called. “This is Immanuel.” I could see in the meager light that her features were bright. She was as elated as I had ever seen her, and she waved for us to come forward.
Immanuel bowed slightly, which immediately reminded me of Azura. Quite proper. Charlotte and I smiled at each other, and I assumed she was thinking what I was thinking. They were a perfect match.
“Nice to meet you,” Charlotte offered.
“You as well,” he said with another nod. “Please call me Manny.” Then he smiled. My goodness, did he smile. His hard, handsome face softened, revealing crows feet from years of laughing and a perfect dimple on each side. His thick lips pulled back over brilliantly white teeth in a wide grin. He looked as kind as a Sunday school teacher, and strong as a lion.
After introductions, the four of us continued walking. Manny and Azura stayed well ahead of us for the most part, whispering non-stop. They eventually let go of each other’s hands, but continued to stay very near each other. Azura would often put her hand on his shoulder for support, and Manny would offer his hand to her when she stepped off of large rocks – even though I knew she needed no help at all.
They moved swiftly and comfortably together in their surroundings, and were growing increasingly impatient that Charlotte and I were struggling to keep up. They turned around simultaneously several times to check on our progress, only to grunt in disgust and force themselves to wait.
The giant rocks and impossible formations hanging from the ceiling were becoming more frequent. Charlotte, who had been mostly silent up to this point, stayed close to me now and took to commenting on how ridiculous it was that we were “Who knows how deep in some God-forsaken cave, marching to our certain death”. Just the sound of her voice was beginning to have its old appeal to it. Its ability to calm me and make me laugh.
I had been watching my feet so intently that I ran into Azura, who was standing perfectly still in the middle of the path.
“You really should warn us before you just stop like that.” I pulled my ankle out of a painfully jagged crevice and righted myself. “I’m sorry I fell on you.”
“We’re nearly there,” she answered, ignoring my apology.
“Oh,” I murmured, rubbing at my ankle. It was wet and, considering the throbbing, I figured it was bleeding – though it was so dark that I couldn’t see to be certain. Charlotte pulled up behind me and steadied herself on the rock I had just slipped off of by putting her hands on my shoulders.
“From this point on,” Manny said, “they will know you are here.”
“Of course,” Azura agreed. “I expect that Gabriel will allow us to speak first, but to no real avail.” She was speaking to us now. “In a moment, you will see some small panels on the walls of the cave; they are windows.
The eyes and ears of this place will be watching, and they will undoubtedly announce our arrival. The good news is that our path will be easier soon. We will begin traveling on commonly used ground, which has been refined. Until now, we’ve been using a path that only a few of us know about, which is why Manny was waiting for us. How long were you waiting, anyhow?”
“Almost two days. I couldn’t be sure when you would come.”
“Were you able to sneak enough supplies away without being noticed?”
“I had only just run out of food, and rationed my water well.”
“Here.” I hadn’t noticed until now that Azura was wearing a knapsack; that must be what she was rummaging around for after we parked the Jeep. It was khaki colored, pretty worn, and fit neatly under her arm. She pulled out a bottle of water and a package of my Pop-Tarts for each of us. I forgot that she had grabbed them before we left and my stomach growled loudly at the sight of them. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until Azura produced something to eat.
“Eat quickly, please,” she instructed. We each inhaled our snacks and drained our water bottles. After I had finished, I felt like I could have eaten a steak dinner or two as well. Apparently caving was hard work.
“Ready?” Manny chimed energetically.
“Ready as we can be,” I whispered.
“I’ve called on a few other women for help,” Azura assured us. “They should be here soon. Assuming they can follow directions. But let’s see if we can’t take care of things before they arrive, eh?”
She grabbed Manny’s hand and set off through the cave. If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn I saw a twinkle in her eye, as if she were about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. Her confidence soothed me a bit, but the good feeling didn’t last long. It still troubled me that I didn’t know what to expect, and that my stupid, self-righteous decision to come here would result in me never seeing John and Violet again. Nausea crept quickly into every pore as I pictured Violet without me.
Manny and Azura walked and climbed at a leisurely pace, and in complete silence. The terrain became progressively easier, as promised, so Charlotte and I could eventually keep up without trouble.
“Hey,” Charlotte whispered as soon as the path was wide enough for us to walk side by side. “Do you think they’re conserving energy by not talking . . . or just enjoying their last moments together?”
“Dunno,” I shrugged. “I think it’s no fair that we’re no more prepared than we are for whatever’s at the end of this trail.”
“Yeah.”
“I mean—”
“Erin. Look.” Charlotte nodded her head upward. Five feet from the top of the cave, nestled smartly in the dips and bends of the rough wall, was a small rectangle. A one-way window. My mind raced with the horrors that were certain to be on the other side and I broke into a sudden sweat.
