The girls stopped too. It was almost half a second later that the additional footsteps ceased. “Did you hear that?” Levi whispered. They panicked as they pointed their phone’s lights around aimlessly. They could not illuminate nearly as much of the tunnel as they wanted. The darkness was overwhelming. Kitty stopped waving her phone around when her beam locked on to the face of an animal.
For the three of them, it was like peeking through a keyhole. They squinted at the blurry head. It was…a deer?
No!
Its head was far too high—at eye level. Its horse-shaped head snarled with a mouthful of wet silvery teeth. They were blades. The snout resembled a crocodile’s. It had two monstrous horns sprouting from its brow. It was as if a lizard, gazelle, and shark bore a humanoid offspring.
Kitty screamed as they ran.
They swore they just saw the devil.
But the creature was fast. It tackled Kitty, pinning her to the ground with little effort. Levi wasted no time readying his sword from its sheath. He thrusted it through the creature. As he did, he noticed something odd. It wore clothes. He miscalculated the creature’s distance and only put a small hole in its arm. Wounded, the creature gnarled and retreated. It released Kitty and backed away, further and further until it was completely immersed in the darkness.
Whatever it was, Levi knew it was truly a human. It could only be one of his brothers or sisters. It was the same person the Lancasters caught on their security cameras. It was the same creature—the masked Lancaster—that murdered Zara!
CHAPTER 10
LOSERS WEEPERS
The three of them wasted no time running away. They did not want to chance whoever it was changing its mind and catching up to them. Levi pulled Helena by the wrist as they darted down the corridor. They constantly tripped over pipes and climbed over crates as they stumbled away.
Finally, they made it through a second doored-off corridor. They twisted it shut. Levi pushed crate after crate of canned goods in front of the door. All three of them slumped in front of it, sitting with their legs sprawled out with their backs pressed against the boxes. They were safe. For now.
“It was…,” Levi had to catch his breath. “It was Leviathan,” he panted. He replayed the image in his head of the horrible crocodile face and demonic horns.
Kitty was fully ready to accept that it was real. She saw the dripping fangs up close. She could have sworn it was moments away from tearing her to shreds and devouring her. As luck would have it, she only suffered a few minor scratches. They did not want to stay in this underground passageway longer than they had to. So, they pressed forward.
They continued trekking down the series of corridors. Kitty did not get a good look at her attacker. It was far too dark. She pictured the faces of the other eight Lancasters it could be at this point. None of them seemed like the type to don the mask. “Which of your siblings do you think that was?” asked Kitty, paranoid with every step she took. “Pearl, Cynthia, and Helena were in the bedroom with me the first time Leviathan was spotted on the security camera. Obviously, it couldn’t have been Zara. And we know it can’t be Allister…” she reminded him.
It seemed too soon for her to bring that up, but they needed to cross names off their list. Allister would have made the most sense. His hotheaded attitude and hostility towards anyone other than himself made him the prime suspect in Zara’s killing. If any of the Lancasters had the personality for murder in the first degree, it would undeniably have been Allister.
However, he was gone.
Suspect number one’s only crime was attempted murder by sword in the library. Who else could have donned the cloak and Leviathan mask? Levi pondered.
Hiroshi would be the next suspect.
Maybe.
It was true that he was a mountain of a man, around the size of the cloaked mystery killer they just encountered, but it did not feel like Hiroshi. Cloak or not, the shadowy man or woman did not seem to have the exact body type. Plus, Hiroshi was normally one of the most positive and free-spirited of the family. Levi did not have a solid answer.
“Maybe Blake…” he muttered, thinking of his second oldest brother.
“The chess master?” Kitty pondered aloud.
Surely, he could exploit Zara’s death, and goad the others into killing one another. Blake could use each member as a pawn, manipulating all involved in this trial the same way he manipulated the board in chess tournaments. He was cold, calculated, and conniving when he had to be. Levi could imagine Blake detaching himself emotionally from any situation, even murdering a family member under extreme circumstances, all to further his own agenda. He was the first to come forward and appear to accept the Leviathan Trial and all of the atrocious consequences and conditions that would go along with it.
The three felt as though they had been wandering through a winding maze for nearly half an hour. Sometimes they felt a drop in elevation. They were venturing deeper below the mansion. Other times, the path rose, and they prayed they would get a breath of fresh air again. In the back of Levi’s mind, he was terrified that they would run into a dead end. He wondered if these dark passageways would end up being their tomb if their phone’s batteries died. Before they could go any further, they heard a man’s voice echoing down the corridor. All three of them froze in their tracks. ‘Surely, it could not be Leviathan again?’ Levi prayed. It would have to be someone else, since they sealed the masked killer on the other end of the only known doorway in the bunker.
There was a silhouette of a man that approached them. It was an absolute black shadow that just barely stood out in the darkness around them. It grew larger and larger. Helena was the first to shine her phone’s flash on it. Levi and Kitty followed suit. The man held his hands up in front of his face to block the blinding light. The chubby cheeks and wider than average girth revealed his identity—the chef of the family.
Troy.
Kitty remembered the last time she unknowingly stumbled across him. He nearly stabbed her to death by accident. Now that the Lancasters were accepting of violence and murder, who knew what Troy was capable of? Levi unsheathed his sword, extending it in a warning stance. His heart bounced around in his chest. Ever since Allister’s death, Levi knew he had it in him to fight any one of his siblings if he had to. Obviously, it still felt downright rotten. But it was necessary. Helena and Kitty needed to live.
“Truce!” Troy shouted, turning away. He whimpered and dropped to his knees, shaking. “Truce!” He cried, spittle dripping from his chunky lips as he closed his eyes, accepting of his death he knew was soon to come.
Levi was hesitant. He wanted to be merciful but did not want to be stupid. Compassion in this trial was a weakness. Unfortunately, compassion was natural for Levi. He lowered his sword when he sensed Troy was no threat. “I’m not going to kill you, brother,” he promised.
Despite having been the one that asked for the truce, the act of kindness made no sense in Troy’s mind. They would have to kill each other at some point. If they did not, they would both be dead. Levi was just delaying the inevitable.
When Troy was done shaking in his custom fitted boots, he clarified what exactly he was doing in this underground cellar. He offered the others some of his stash of bottled water. They needed it. It was hot down there. Luckily, there were plenty of supplies to go around.
“This is the passageway my key unlocked,” Troy explained. Apparently, he came from a completely different secret hatch. Troy descended from a trapdoor that originated from the kitchen pantry. He had been camping down here for half a day. Since he lost his phone, he had no idea how much time had actually transpired above. There was no sunlight and no indication of the time of day.
He had simply been crawling around on all fours, running his fingers across anything that felt familiar. The shape of water bottles. The smooth cylinder cans of tuna and beans. He felt as blind as a mole. However, all things considered, he felt he was adapting to the darkness as best as he could.
“So, you’re just going to live down here forever?” asked Kitty sarcastically. She crouched, wrapping her arms around her legs as she pitied Troy.
“Better than going up there.” Troy pointed upward to the high dirt ceiling. “It’s going to be a bloodbath soon. I can feel it.” He described the scene in detail. Pearl threatened to bring out her shotgun that she used for her professional skeet shooting. It was her final attempt to restore order. Somehow, Troy did not see that going well. Apparently, Hiroshi had raised a hand against her, daring Pearl to keep threatening him. It was only a matter of time before they would kill each other. “There’s no way we can survive what’s coming…,” breathed Troy. “Pearl and Hiroshi are competitors. Their skills could easily get someone killed. And Allister’s a loose cannon as it is.”
The three stared at him, wondering how to break the news. Troy was underground when it happened and unable to hear the eulogy broadcasted throughout their home. Their brother, Allister, was dead. They spared the gruesome details of how he was crushed and juiced between the automatic bookcases in the library.
“Levi totally held his own against Allister,” Kitty explained. There was belief of survival in her voice—admiration for Levi’s bravery too. He was a champion in her mind, her last hope that she could miraculously get out alive. “He can survive any encounter with the other Lancasters as well.”
Troy’s jaw dropped. His disbelief turned into fascination as he sat in awe of Levi’s perseverance. “You killed the Blade Runner?” Troy gasped, calling Allister by their father’s appointed nickname. Kitty clarified that Levi did not deal the killing blow himself, but he absolutely saved the day, courageously protecting Helena and herself from certain doom. Troy eyed the sword clutched between Levi’s fingers and realized it must be true. Olympian or not, Levi claimed his prize over his defeated adversary.
A long sharp whistle blew from Troy’s lips that faded to silence. “Intense, little bro. I’m sorry you were in that situation. This may sound cold…,” he prepared them. “But between you two, I’m glad you’re the one that came out alive.”
More and more, the family was becoming desensitized by their primal instincts of survival by any means necessary. They were becoming detached from the comfortable lives they had known—forced to adapt quickly, or else become prey. Each time a loved one passed away, the survivors became more numb to the ideals of warmth and compassion that they once held so dearly. That was the biggest obstacle for the Leviathan Trial.
Troy insisted on making dinner for everyone. At this point, it was more like breakfast. It was nowhere near the lavish feasts they were used to. The esteemed future master chef of the family had little to no ingredients to work with. Lumpy oatmeal and baked beans from a can. Levi wanted Helena to stay safe, so he insisted that she only eat the beans and opened the can himself. He trusted Troy enough, but wanted zero room left for error.
“Helena.” Levi grabbed his little sister’s attention as she made shadow puppets with their light sources. She was focused on shaping her hands into an opossum and made it hop up and down as she casted a massive shadow against the dirt wall. “I know this food may not be what we’re used to, but you’ll need to eat to keep your strength up. Okay?”
Helena responded with a silent thumbs up.
“If anything happens to me, I want you to stick with Kitty, okay?” Levi explained, signaling over to her with his head. “She can take care of you.” In his mind, he knew Kitty would be the only person in Lancaster Manor that was not compromised by the trial. She was not chipped, nor did the house care if she lived or died. The others, however, had the possibility of snapping and turning on each other—turning on Helena. Levi shook the unpleasant thought out of his head. “If we get separated, hide. And stay hidden. This is not a game. You need to stay hidden,” he emphasized. Helena’s mouth showed no expression beneath her black facemask, but her wide eyes seemed saddened. They were only so because Levi seemed saddened, and she was matching him. “And then, only when the coast is clear, you can come out from hiding and find me,” he whispered. “We can meet in the greenhouse. Do you remember where it is?” Helena nodded, understanding his instructions, but confused on its significance. “Good. Remember. Greenhouse.” He hugged his little sister and helped her get situated as he prepared her can of beans. Kitty’s heart nearly melted as she eavesdropped on Levi’s contingency plan. If the situation was not as treacherous as it was, his brotherly love would have been adorable.
The rest of them started on their instant oatmeal, adding water and stirring it with their fingers. It was clumpy, sticky, and flavorless, but they took whatever nourishment they could get. While they ate, Kitty listened as the brothers swapped stories from their childhood. It was warming. It strengthened their attachment to humanity as they remembered some of the good times when they were young, pure, and naïve to the world around them.
Kitty laughed at one that Troy told about the time they got in the most trouble with their father. The two were around ten and eleven. One day, their tutor was stuck on the phone, so they skipped out of their Spanish lesson. They tiptoed down the winding staircase and snuck outside for the rest of the afternoon. They were obsessed with a recent cowboy movie they had seen in theaters and wanted to reenact one of the chase scenes. Troy hoisted Levi atop the large Leviathan statue in the front yard so he could pretend to ride it like a horse. The spikes running along its winding back rode into Levi’s crotch more than he thought it would. He put too much pressure on himself as he pulled his brother up onto Leviathan’s back with him. Before Troy could get situated, Levi let him go too early.
Troy had slipped off.
From his point of view, it all happened in slow motion. Troy had rammed his forearm against one of the massive talons of the stone beast as he fell from the twenty-foot drop.
His arm was shattered and bleeding. Levi distinctly remembered panicking, thinking his brother was surely about to die. He climbed back down from the dragon. He shimmied across the body, making his way down the monstrous muscular leg, and using the intricately detailed scales as foot holders. He dragged his groaning brother across the driveway, all the way back inside their home and called for an ambulance.
Father Benedict was furious.
The emergency was in the news the next day. Tabloids called Benedict Lancaster an unfit parent who was not present in his children’s lives. He scolded the two and forced Troy and Levi to scrub each and every toilet and bathroom floor in their house. It was a lot of space to cover.
“Dad said that if we didn’t appreciate our tutoring sessions as a Lancaster, he’d show us what it was like to be part of the help.” They all cracked up. Troy remembered just how daunting it was to crawl on all fours, wearing a cast while scrubbing the tiled floors until they sparkled. The only response Father Benedict gave was that Troy should have thought of that before he acted out. “But the thing I remember most, was that Levi felt so guilty about the whole accident that he cleaned most of the bathrooms for me.” Troy was in awe when he reminisced. His eyes looked up and he smiled as he nodded. “Yeah, you looked out for me back then!” Kitty was touched when she heard of Levi’s kindness. “It still took us about three hours each Saturday for a month, but eventually we had those toilets so clean you could eat off of them!” Troy chuckled. They all bellowed in laughter as they took a big spoonful of oatmeal.
Somehow, the food did not seem so bland anymore.
The group took advantage of this safe space. They ate their fill and rested on the dirt. They used sacks of rice as pillows. The batteries on their phones would all soon be dead. They were at about eight percent until empty. Regardless, they set one of their phones as an alarm to wake them in three hours. Time was still short.
While the others rested, Levi kept watch. He did not want to risk Leviathan catching them off guard and killing them in their sleep. He read his father’s autobiography for a while as he sat, casting the light of his phone’s screen on the pages. He learned all about his father’s
past. He was most curious about his enemies. For the longest time, he trusted his father. He did not want to rule out the possibility of an outsider trying to harm the Lancasters. Shannon Thatcher was still the most prominent name that reappeared. Apparently, she made countless public claims that she was Benedict’s secret lover.
But she was a hooker.
The idea of a prestigious billionaire roughing it out in the slums, paying a low-class prostitute for pleasure was a scandal and a half. Shannon added insult to injury by claiming she rejected his hush money. There was even gossip of his father pressuring geneticists with bribes to lie about the results a paternity test between him and some unwanted baby boy.
Little baby Dante.
Of course, Benedict denied all those claims. ‘Lies,’ Benedict had wrote. ‘Status and power are everything. I would never compromise it by laying with that harlot! I’ll be dead before I claim any responsibility for that baby and its mother!’
When the group awoke from the most unsatisfying nap of their lives, they followed Troy. He acted as a guide throughout the many corridors of the bunker. It almost resembled a mineshaft. Levi stored a few cans of beans and packs of dried prunes in his backpack. There was no telling if they would have another opportunity for food in the future. They hiked a short distance until they made it to a metal ladder. They assumed it was near the center of the mansion. It was not where Troy came from.
“Where do you think this one leads?” Levi asked. He rubbed his chin, trying to reimagine the layout of their home from a bird’s eye view. Or in this case, a mole’s eye view.
“No clue,” admitted Troy. “Your guess is as good as mine. You think it’s the entrance hall?”
Levi paused and pondered it. “No,” he concluded. “It would be a lot more south than this.”
Helena tugged on Levi’s sleeve and grabbed his attention. She started making exaggerated gestures. They all crouched as they heard her out. It was a dramatic game of charades. Helena pretended to hold an imaginary ball in her hands.
The Leviathan Trial Page 9
