by Michael Dean
We glided through some trees until we reached these giant rocks. In between these rocks was a steel door that was angled a few feet up from being completely flat on the ground. I assumed that this was the entrance to The Caverns of the Forgotten. I had to give them credit, it was very well hidden. Hard to see from up above due to the dense trees and the steel door blended perfectly with the rocks that surrounded it.
I stood in place as Sierra approached a narrow slit on the massive door. It was obviously a peep hole for those keeping watch on visitors from the inside. She banged on the door and shouted into it.
“Murgit, open the door!” Sierra called out to the apparent watchman.
All of a sudden a wacky, high pitched English accented voice called out from behind the chamber entrance. “State your business!”
“It’s Sierra, you blithering fool, let me in before I personally hand you over to Shimmer.” She banged the door one more time.
Suddenly, a bewildered set of red eyes blasted up to the slit, they winced a few times as if adjusting to the light that was coming in from the outside world.
“Ohhhh, I’m sorry, my lady,” a couple sets of clanks and booms sounded and the door opened up. “I wasn’t expecting you…I am honored you are here, my queen.”
“Well, I’m not here for your pleasure, you maggot. I have brought a mighty gift for you to keep watch over until the ball, Murgit.” Sierra reached and pulled me into his view.
“My, my, my…it is the hero!”
In front of me was this short, slumped over, corky, filthy little vampire. I chuckled a little inside because this is what I pictured Scruffy would be like if he was a blood sucker. I have to give Mark some credit though, he was much taller than this guy and didn’t look anything like him. It was just the goofy personality this, Murgit, seemed to have that reminded me of him. I couldn’t help thinking to myself that of all the vampires in Shimmer’s horde, this is the one they chose to stop entities they didn’t want escaping from the caverns? He looked to be of no threat whatsoever.
“Yes, the hero.” Sierra waved her hand to tell me to enter the caverns before her. “Coming to grace his new abode.”
Murgit started to giggle in a high pitched, repeating manner, mixed in with some snorts. “He’s going to fit in nicely here.”
Sierra followed suit behind me as Murgit slammed the door behind us, latching it shut. The sound of the that steel door closing echoed down the dark, candlelit staircase that led down to what I assumed was the chambers below. I reluctantly went down the steps, but Sierra got impatient and gave me a little shove and told me to move it. It wasn’t enough of a push to make me fall or anything, it was just enough to get my attention in order to move faster.
We reached the final step and it leveled off onto a straightaway. Our feet clopped along the narrow cobblestone pathway that took us past several more steel doors with slits on them. They lined up on both sides of the walkway. I tried to look into the slits to see what was inside, but it was so pitch black and we were walking past them fast enough that I couldn’t see in. I knew what they were though, the prison cells that harbored Shimmer’s prisoners. The poor souls couldn’t even get the courtesy of a candle in their cells to give them just a hint of light.
We zigzagged for what felt like miles through the narrow, dimly lit corridors until we hit a straightaway that had no cells to the left or the right. Once we got closer to the end of the cold stone hallway, a huge, two sided set of steel doors began to come into focus. I knew that this was going to be my new permanent home if I didn’t escape somehow. Not to mention this could be my last home.
“Open the Moon Room, Murgit.” Sierra pointed to the doors.
“As you wish, my lady.” Murgit adhered to his queen’s orders and fumbled around with a set of large keys that were dangling from his side.
It took a few minutes for Murgit to get the enormous doors open. First the odd watchman couldn’t find the right key. Then when he did, he dropped it and had to find it all over again. This caused Sierra to scoff and roll her eyes in annoyance. Once he got the key in and turned the creaky latch, he had to slide this huge steel bar back that secured the doors together. It screeched so loud that it actually caused both Sierra and I to wince. I guess that would sound like nails on a chalkboard to a human. Finally he unsecured the door and struggled to open one side and then eventually the other.
“Welcome home, Leo.” Sierra shoved me inside the room as Murgit giggled that high pitched laugh again.
I walked in reluctantly and started to survey my new dwelling. Sierra stood behind me with Murgit as I looked around. It was a large, empty stone room with huge rocks popping in and out of the walls. In the very center of the room was a large rock high-rise of some kind that sat in a circular pool filled with water about ankle deep. Hanging from this rock tower, for lack of a better term, was a pair of wrist shackles secured by long chains that were latched onto the chamber walls behind the tower. Those had to be the largest chain links I’ve ever seen. Right at the highest point of the rock tower was a perfect symmetrical hole in the ceiling where sunlight was allowed to partially illuminate the still darkened room. It was a pretty good sized opening at that. I was wondering about the purpose of the hole and walked deeper into the room to get a better look at it.
“This is why we call it the Moon Room,” Sierra said.
“How come?” I asked as I continued to look up at it.
“It’s s because it’s s the only cavern in here that receives light brought in from the moon…at least when it is angled right enough to shine in here. You’ll see what I mean with tonight’s full moon.” She snickered with Murgit.
“But why do you have it there?”
“It was a natural formation in the rocks, besides, it adds a certain ambiance. Shimmer liked it, and didn’t want to change it,” Sierra added.
I laughed back at her because the first thing I thought of was when they shackled me up to this…set up, I would simply change into shadow when I was left alone and drift out of the hole above into the outside world. Or, I could just break the restraints and fly out the hole. Hell, even if there wasn’t a hole, with a few good punches, I’m sure I could break through the double doors, kill Murgit, and continue on to the path of freedom from the caverns.
“What’s so funny, hero?” Murgit asked.
“Oh…nothing.” I smiled.
“There are leg shackles in the pool, too,” he added.
I looked down and sure enough there were some ankle restraints resting in the pool that were also secured somewhere on walls of the cavern. I grinned and shook my head in astonishment. I couldn’t believe they thought this was going to hold a demon in place. There was no way. They couldn’t be that stupid.
“I guess that’s the nail in my coffin, then.” I laughed.
“Leo seems to have us for fools, my dear Murgit.” Sierra said.
“It’s not that…”
Before I could finish mocking their cell some more, a vicious blow was struck into my back that knocked me face first into the pool, submerging me completely. The moment I hit the water, I realized that this little holding area had some surprises in store. My entire body burned like I was dipped into acid and the strength left my body, rendering me weak in an instant. Sierra jumped into the water with me and in light speed secured the restraints to my ankles. I was so drained and in such excruciating pain from the submersion that I couldn’t lift myself out. No worries about drowning, of course, because I only pretend to breathe.
Sierra pulled me out of the water with one hand and stood me up. Being that I was still wet all over, I could barely stand. She slammed me into the rock tower thing, pulled my arms above my head and secured the wrist restraints. Finally, I mustered up enough strength to speak.
“What’s in this water?” I murmured.
“Glad you asked, baby.” Sierra started kicking up water at me with her feet as she paced through the pool. With each sprinkle, I felt pain with every drop.
>
“You are standing in a pool of water blessed by a high ranking Catholic priest from within the Catholic Church, of course. Leo, my dear…you are in a pool of holy water.” They both began to laugh.
“I admit it burns my feet, but you think ankle high holy water is going to hold me here? Eventually, I’ll dry off everywhere else…then I’m coming after you.”
Sierra waded through the water and got in my face. “Like my sister and I said, not…very…bright.”
With those words she grabbed my shirt and ripped it off, then with a sadistic chuckle, she walked behind the rock tower. I heard the sound of a handle or something being pulled. The water began to bubble at my feet. I could hear something happening within the rocks behind my head and all of a sudden I began to feel sporadic drops of water hitting me on the top of my head, which burned with each hit.
I looked up and saw a wave of rushing water running down the rocks towards me. In seconds, I was covered in an onslaught of water that hurt so much it knocked me to my knees. I finally realized what the purpose of the rock tower was, it was a waterfall.
“You see, that water in the pool gets sucked up the tower, only to be released at the top and back down, just to get sucked back up again. It’s a constant wave of Holy Water…especially built for the likes of you.” The two of them laughed again. Sierra trounced through the water and bent over to me.
“Like I said…our Lord thought of eve-ry-thing…hero.” She placed her hand on my chin and raised my face to hers, kissing me deep and hard. I was so weak and in pain that I couldn’t even reel in the strength to pull away. I was at their mercy. I knew now that there was no way out of this.
“Enjoy your stay,” she said after she broke her kiss. “Murgit, he’s all yours now.” She backed away from me and waved to me with confidence. She knew I was screwed, too.
“With pleasure…my queen.” He bowed to her as she walked by him.
Sierra left the room and Murgit started scampering around the room, giggling as he lit candles on the walls of the room all the way around. There was still plenty of sunshine coming into the chamber through the hole, but I guess he wanted to get things in order for nightfall. When he was finished, he stood in front of the pool and just grinned at me playfully.
“Never had a demon here before.” He chuckled some more.
“Congratulations,” I managed to mumble as I struggled to keep my eyes open. Even my eyelids were exhausted.
He laughed some more and turned towards the steel double doors. Just before he reached them, he yelled back to me, “If you happen to need anything, don’t bother asking…because, you won’t get any.” He laughed uncontrollably as he walked through the doors and shut them. I heard him secure the bar on the other side and I distinctly heard the sound of the latch being locked again. The sound of that latch bounced off the walls like a symphony. It was the final gasp of air in the life of my freedom.
“Have a good niiiiiggght!” Murgit taunted me again from the other side of the doors. I heard him chuckle all the way down the corridor.
Now I was officially alone, no Shade, no Shadow, heck, I’d take a motor mouthed Scruffy at this point. Only the sounds of the waterfall rushing down the rocks and over my body filled the air. This is where I awaited my death. It seems as if Shimmer had won before I ever got the chance to throw a single blow. I was just waiting for him now to bring the Demon Dagger and finish me off.
Chapter 16
WAIT
Minutes seemed like days as I felt the ongoing torment of the holy water blanketing me. When nightfall came, the full moon came into view perfectly in the center of the opening above me. It acted like a spotlight that highlighted me and my agony in the center of that room. I managed to raise my head up enough to view the amazing sight of that moon and the grace of the stars surrounding it in the sky. Now I knew why they called it the Moon Room. It made me realize how much I took my unique abilities that allowed me to explore those very skies and points in space for granted. Now, here I was, with all the powers any human could ever want, barely able to lift my head to the very sky I once owned. It was a cold dose of reality about the current state of things.
Day after day, night after night, my only company was slouched little vampire Murgit, who would periodically come in to check on me. I think his visits were more so he could come in and belittle me, as well as bring me rotted food to eat. He constantly taunted me about giving me rotting food all the time because I couldn’t taste it either way.
Whatever the case may be, I was so lonely, and in constant misery from the water that I actually began to look forward to his nauseating visits, even if he was just coming in for the purpose of humiliation.
I lost track of the days. I knew I had been held captive for at least a month, maybe two. Only Murgit was the constant regular. Neither Molina nor Sierra ever came back to see me. I thought that Shimmer would surely stop in to gloat over outsmarting me within days of my capture, but he never showed either. I knew sooner or later he would make his appearance. It aggravated me that he was so arrogant about the fact that he had me right where he wanted me that he didn’t even have to come to see if I was still here; he just knew I was. It sickened me.
Besides playing the waiting game for Shimmer, on a daily basis I was getting those headaches and the visions of that woman and the girl. It was the same as before, the mother, I say that without any confirmation, it just felt like the mother to me, was clutching her daughter. They both were crying. Every time I tried to approach the pair in my vision, the mother would say, “Please, do what you will, but leave…” and the vision would break.
With each day that passed, I was getting these interruptions over and over again, sometimes three times a day. It was getting to the point where the headache would only be the prelude to the vision but wouldn’t last through the scene like it did before. The insight was also lasting longer and I was able to actually slow it down, rewind it, speed it up, pause it, like it was a DVR in my head or something. The only thing I couldn’t do was conjure up this vision at will. It came and went without warning.
One night, the mother’s plea didn’t trail out and I could make out a few more words in her cry. “Please, do what you will, but leave her out of this…she has nothing to do with this.” Then the vision broke again. This was a new twist. From that point on, when the vision came, it would end after she pleaded those words. This latest break in my conscious, at least gave me something to dwell on, helping to pass the time away. I constantly slowed down and paused the insight every time it would strike in order to gather more clues. But I couldn’t link anything together. Nothing made sense as to how this pertained to me. I realized I may never understand why this was happening.
One night, I was exploring that very vision when I was interrupted and pulled out of it by the sounds of the steel doors of my chamber being unlatched and opened. I figured it was Murgit coming in to mess with me again. But when the doors opened, I was shocked to see the long awaited Shimmer. Murgit wasn’t far behind him though, smirking and breathing with excitement as he shuffled behind the Vampire Lord in excitement.
“See, my Lord, as I promised, he is in good shape…just like you asked.” Murgit bowed his head.
“Yesssss, you have, Murgit…I am very pleased. You shall be rewarded for your efforts.” Shimmer squeezed his still bowing follower on the shoulder.
I raised my head enough to see Shimmer peering at me with the smirk of a used car salesman. He nonchalantly strolled over to me with a swagger that spoke volumes. He was boasting in victory over me with each step he took. When he spoke, it only added to my observations.
“Leo, so great to have you here! I trust you are finding the accommodations…suitable?” He grinned.
My head sunk again, as I lacked the strength to keep it up long enough to look at him. This didn’t stop him from kicking me some more.
“Funny…” He kneeled down to the water in the pool and splashed it around a little before picking some of it u
p in his hand and allowing it to seep out. “Something as harmless as this, the very essence of life on earth, can be a harbinger of death to others…when mixed with the right ingredients.”
He then flicked some of the water at me with his fingers. “You demons are supposedly the toughest things to come out of the underworld. I don’t see it.” He looked at his fingers as he twisted them around in front of his face.
“No doubt your kind is powerful; I mean, you must be, considering you took out Agrelia, queen of the sirens. But how can you be the strongest if something as simple as…special water… can break you down into a pathetic, lower than human scum, weak nobody.” He rose back up to stand.
“I give you the reward of merit for your brazen stand against the council and claiming a victory over one of its members, but you must know getting past me is futile.” He began to pace around the outskirts of the pool.
“I could see Christian having his hands full over something puny like you.” Murgit started to giggle in the background, encouraging his confident leader to go on.
This was an obvious stab at Christian. There was no loyalty in Hell. There’s also no debating the fact that Shimmer was one of the mightiest creatures to ever crawl out of Hell, but a Christian, he was not. This was something that drove me bonkers about vampires. They’re too cocky for their own good. Head to head against a demon, they have no shot. With the exception of Shimmer, they’re a far more inferior species when it comes to the strength department. But when it comes to smarts, they’re probably on the highest of levels. Vamps are probably the kings of Hell when it comes to being cunning. I give them all the props there. But it’s because of those smarts that they often overstep their bounds.
“But you worry me about as much as a cloudy day, Leo.” He grinned as Murgit let out more encouraging laughter.
