by JM HART
Shaun shone the torch, illuminating the tunnel’s entrance. “Down that way.”
Daniel scanned the area. There was little light. An explosion outside rocked the area and sand and rocks were dislodged from the ceiling, hitting them on the head.
“What the heck is going on up there?” Daniel said.
“Hurry, this way quickly.” Shaun led them down the tunnel the woman had been carried.
They held their arms up, shielding their eyes and heads from the falling sand and rocks, past rows of empty cells. Shaun waved the light back and forth, searching for the woman. In the second last cell, crouched, hiding in the far corner, was the woman. Her face was buried in her arms. Shaun focused the light on her face, but she didn’t move.
“Point it up, Shaun,” Daniel said. He pulled on the bars. The door was sealed with an old chain, a shiny new lock. “Do you know where the keys are?” he said to Kevin and Shaun.
“They took them,” Shaun said.
Daniel looked around for something to bash against the lock. He picked up a rock, holding it above his head.
“Wait! They’ll hear,” Shaun said. “I think I can … I think I can do this. Here, hold this.” He gave Kevin the torch. Shaun pulled out Casey’s pocket knife and used it to start working on the lock.
“Come on, hurry up,” Kevin said.
“Shut up,” Shaun said. A click broke the silence. The woman’s hair had been hacked off, leaving uneven chunks. She lifted her head, and her face was a swollen bloody mess.
Someone was running towards them down the dark tunnel. Shaun, Kevin and Daniel turned to see who was coming. Kevin swung the touch around. It was Jade. Casey was close behind, trying to stop her, grabbing her shoulder. She shook him off.
“Get off me, get off me.”
Daniel caught Jade. “What’s going on?” Daniel said.
“That’s my mom.”
“Jade.” The woman had turned towards them, trying to see through her swollen eyes. “Jade! Jade! Is that you? Jade?”
“Mom!” Jade cried. Shaun finished picking the lock and removed the chain as fast as he could. Jade pushed him out of the way and burst into the cell.
Daniel stepped in, watching them cry in each other’s arms. Her mother’s dirty, bloody hands were running over Jade’s body, hardly believing she was real. Daniel helped them up. “We have to go. Ellen, can you walk?”
“Who are you?” the woman said. “How do you know my name?”
“Don’t be frightened, Ellen. It’s Daniel, Callie’s husband.” “They said she was dead. I am so sorry, it’s my fault.”
“She’s not dead. She’s fine,” Shaun said. “Can you walk?”
“Who’s that?”
“Ellen, I am going to help you up,” Daniel said. ‘Help me, Shaun.” Together they got Ellen to her feet and Daniel put her arm around his neck.
“Guys, how do we get out of here?” Daniel said.
“This way.” Shaun led them back to the grille leading underground.
“No, I mean, home. How do we get home?”
“We can’t leave for home yet. In here,” Shaun said, letting Casey jump into the sewer first, followed by Kevin. “Get in, Jade.” Shaun jumped in after her and Daniel lowered Ellen gently down to the others in the sewer. Father McDonald was at Shaun’s side, helping him ease Ellen into the murky water.
Shaun searched his pockets for his lighter. “Give me your knife?” he said to Casey. “Forget that, I’ve got it.” Shaun ran the flame over the blade and placed his hand on Ellen’s head to hold it still.
“What are you doing?” Ellen asked.
“Relax. Courtesy of my dear old dad, I have had to do this to myself a dozen times.” Quickly, he made a little slit in Ellen’s swollen eyelids and the built-up blood spilt out.
“Thanks, I can see a little better now. How did you find me, Jade?”
“By accident. We’re here for an artefact,” Shaun said. “And we have to get moving.”
Jade wrapped her arms around her mom. “I’m sorry, Mom.”
“We are searching for the Emerald Tablet. What formula do they want?” Sophia said.
“Callie and I stumbled across a protein that allows metastasizing cancerous cells to revert back to healthy cells, as if there was no cancer at all. We found it by accident. We tested the virus with the samples and it too reversed, transforming into healthy cells. We watched the virus battle and we thought it was going to win, but it didn’t, hence the protein’s usefulness as a vaccine for the virus. Somehow, that Russian upstairs, who thinks he is a god, found out within days. I can only presume a government leak. And then I was kidnapped. He set up a lab here for me to replicate the experiment, but I couldn’t make it work. There was a key element I can’t replicate, but he wouldn’t believe me. He wanted the vaccination for his family, and for blackmail purposes. He is greedy and is going to hold what’s left of the world, hostage. He said all those who had worked in my lab at home were killed. I thought Callie was dead. Over the months I gave them what I could to stay alive. They brought in two pints of blood, saying it was Jade’s. At first, I didn’t believe them, but they said they would drain her whole body if I didn’t do what they wanted. The blood was proof of life. I asked them to let me test it. If it was your blood, I would know. I’m sorry they did that to you. They didn’t know how close they had actually come to the missing ingredient. He sold a vial of the experimental vaccine a few days ago for fifty million dollars, but it didn’t work. The buyer’s family died, hence the bombing, I think, and probably the twenty-four hour deadline.” She coughed and choked on the words, wiping blood from her mouth. “He has the Emerald Tablet. He is missing pieces, though, and can only enter the underworld, the world of the dead. He can’t find the missing pieces to activate the door to al-mawet.”
“What does that mean?” Sophia said.
“No death,” Shaun finished for her.
“It’s from the Book of Proverbs,” Ellen said. “The spelling varies within different religious texts, but they all have the same meaning. Mawet means death, al- mawet is ‘no death’.” Ellen held Jade close to her and said, “I am so glad you are safe. I would never have told him what the missing element is, never.” She looked into her daughter’s eyes.
“My blood — that’s the missing element, isn’t it. But how? Is that what you wanted to tell me the day before you were kidnapped?”
“You were listening,” Ellen said.
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
“I hate to break up the family reunion but, seriously, we have to get that tablet. Do you know where he keeps it?” Shaun said.
“I’m with Shaun on this one,” Tim said. “I really want to get out of this hellhole.”
“I think so. It is in his private rooms,” Ellen said.
“Is there a sofa, like a daybed, in the foyer outside four rooms with enormous wooden double doors?”
“Yes, that’s right, but how —” she said. “Never mind, you can tell me later. We should go that way.” She pointed into the darkness of the sewer tunnel.
The canal shook and Sophia fell into the water. Tim helped her up. Jade screamed as more explosions came closer and closer. They ran down the tunnel covering their heads. Daniel supported Ellen and she leant heavily on him. Her ankle was the size of a softball, but she didn’t complain.
7
Destitute: England
It had been two days since they last saw Daniel, Father McDonald and the children. Joe tossed mixed powdered eggs into the pan, while Terry opened a can of breakfast juice. Amy handed Callie the baby’s bottle and sat between Callie and Sally at the kitchen table. Kath stroked the golden retriever’s head; Lucy was guarding the back door, preventing anyone from leaving. They had searched the grounds for two days, until the iron-cloud hung low, covering the sky above them for miles, forcing them to stay indoors. The wind began to howl and the trees were moaning, starting to splinter. The outside shutters clapped against the walls and the gale wailed through the seams of the h
ouse, but she was a solid old girl and was holding her own.
It’s hard trying to attend to basic needs with the wee hen and her pals gone. She must have found a way, Joe thought. The timing was bad, with the young lad taken from them by the she-devil. They had laid Alex in Father McDonald’s room.
Terry, Amy, Callie, Sally and Kath sat around, waiting to be picked off. Joe poured the eggs into the big dish for everyone to share. “Come on, people,” he said, “you must keep up your strength. They are going to be okay. You said, Callie, that Kevin and Tim had done a disappearing act before. Look on the bright side: this time Daniel is with them. We have to be prepared for —”
“Prepared for what?” Callie said. “Prepared to die, is that it? We are all going to die? The last time the dead showed themselves, we were trapped in limbo for over four hours, Joe. They roamed freely for over four hours. The dead will walk the earth and we will fade into nothingness.”
“Come on, Callie,” Amy said.
“Don’t ‘come on Callie’ me. I have lost both my sons and my husband. What do you know about loss?” Joe could see the hurt in Amy’s eyes, telling him she knew only too well about loss.
“You’re right, I don’t know,” Amy said.
Callie’s raised voice frightened baby Molly and she started to cry. Callie jiggled Molly in her arms and said, “I’m sorry, Amy. I am so tired. I miss Alex, I miss Daniel and Kevin.”
The dog scrambled to her feet and howled. Joe heard the outside shutters being ripped off and flying, crashing onto the roof. The windows shook violently. The boards split and pushed from the windows into the living room. It sounded like a jumbo jet was landing. The ceiling cracked above them, collapsing.
“Quickly, into the basement,” Terry said.
Joe, the last one out, pulled the door closed just as the gas stove ignited into flames. He was thrown down the stairs backwards, landing hard on the ground with the wind knocked out of him. He pushed the door off himself, and crawled over to Terry.
“This way,” Terry said, grabbing the torches and pushing Sally and Kath through the hole in the wall. “Come on, Joe.” Terry helped him to his feet and gave him a torch.
Joe didn’t want to be back in the tunnels. He knew what lay ahead: darkness. He didn’t want to be buried alive, but he needed to protect the others and he followed as they all moved deeper and deeper into the tunnels and the sounds of the evil storm faded.
8
Deliverance: Egypt
The smell wasn’t too bad. The sound of dripping water in the sewer tunnels increased, signaling they had arrived at a junction and the main tunnel stopped. Four openings drizzled water into the main chamber.
“Where to now?” Shaun asked.
“I think it’s that tunnel there,” Ellen said, pointing.
“Really?” Tim said. “There’s hardly any room in there.”
“Stop complaining,” Shaun said and climbed into the narrow space. One by one they followed with Daniel coming at the end.
Muffled voices could be heard up ahead. Everyone stopped. Shaun whispered to Casey. “Tell everyone to back up to the last opening and wait there.”
“What?” Jade said.
“Back up, go back,” Casey said.
“Don’t have to tell me twice to vacate this entombing space.” Tim said.
Alone, Shaun pushed his index finger against his nostril and blew the accumulated dirt from his nose. Slithering on his belly, his elbows and forearms became raw and tender. He kept moving closer to the muffled voices up ahead, and saw an air vent. Sound and air filtered between the copper slats. He peered out and looked straight into the head honcho’s private suite, sparkling with gold, silk and other elegant materials. A spectacular room, in the center was a golden stand with an angled tabletop. An old familiar slab of rock was displayed upon it: the Emerald Tablet. It extended over the edges of the stand and exuded a green glow.
Boom! The tunnel around him shook, dislodging dirt over Shaun. He coughed and held his hand tight against his mouth, smothering the sound. He was scared he was going to be buried alive just like Rachel. The man was yelling in Russian and waving his arms around. His eyes were black shadows set deep into their sockets. His skin had yellowed. He looks like a raving lunatic.
“You! In one hour bring me the American woman, and you bring me the girl, the thief, now! This night of judgement I will sit beside the prince of darkness and rule this world.”
Shaun wriggled backwards, to join the others.
“It’s him, your kidnapper,” he said. Ellen moaned. She looked worse than he even had after one of his dad’s drunken rage attacks, but she didn’t complain. “We don’t have much time. He has sent for you, Ellen. The tablet is there, too. It’s on a golden stand. The vent is way too small for us to fit through. We have to get into that room now.”
“K, we have to get my mom out of here. She needs healing.”
“No one is going anywhere till we get that artefact.”
“I can do it,” Kevin said.
“Do what?” Daniel asked.
“Get us into the room.”
“How?”
Jade piped up to say, “He can bend space and time. That’s how. How do you think you got here?”
“I can’t bend time. I don’t understand what it is that I can do. I don’t create it, I think I just connect to it.”
Daniel shook his head. “Connect to what? Forget it, there is no time. I’ll go.”
Sophia whispered, “No, no, you can’t. Shaun has to.”
The bombing had stopped again. Shaun was feeling really strange and edgy. The energy was exasperatingly itchy and he wanted to disappear. The confined space started to intensify everything. He saw Kevin nudge Tim. They were getting on each other’s nerves. There was something in the air in the tunnel affecting them.
“I’ll go with him,” Kevin said.
Jade stood next to Kevin. Controlling her breathing, she grabbed his hand. Their combined energy encapsulated them, they sparkled and lit the tunnel like a swarm of fireflies. Shaun nearly had to shield his eyes. “What the hell?”
Kevin pulled away from Jade’s grip, and the light went out. Kevin looked embarrassed and crawled into the tunnel. Shaun followed closely behind making sure he didn’t cough and blow it. He waited while Kevin peered between the slats and studied the room before signaling to back up. They wormed their way back. Kevin stood and looked at him. “There is a window with drapes in the far corner on the other side of the room. We will enter there. The curtains will conceal us.”
A low hum pulsed in the canal under his feet and up his legs. Shaun thought he could hear the sound of rustling trees. A transparent mercury window appeared. It completely covered the side tunnel entrance he had just wormed out of. Kevin looked at him with raised eyebrows, inviting him to go first.
He climbed through Kevin’s window into the suite. The stale smell of cigar smoke was the first thing to hit him. He instantaneously felt a burning deep in his bowels. He was shocked at his own vulnerability and wanted to piss himself to cool down. The memories came flooding back. He felt weak at the knees: the smell, the nauseating cigars, the alcohol and laughter of that night; the tycoon, the buyer of the tablet victoriously slapping his dad on the back, praising him for the successful delivery. Shaun wanted to jump out from behind the drapes and beat the guy senseless. Kevin put a restraining arm across Shaun’s chest as if he was aware of his urge, and shook his head and mouthed, No! Shaun stepped back and they continued to hide, waiting for their opportunity to snatch the Emerald Tablet.
The enormous doors to the suite were thrown open. A young woman was shoved into the room. She fell on her knees at the edge of a gold and black tapestry. Her veiled head hung low, eyes fixed on the rug beneath her. Her satin, lavender robe barely covered her body. Shaun wanted to grab the tablet and get out. He didn’t know how much longer he could restrain himself. He wanted to kill the man. Clouds of anger burst into his mind; his head was aching, throbbing. A r
emote part of him knew he must wait. His temples felt so tight he was afraid his skull would rupture.
The man turned his back to the tablet and to the young woman. He appeared to glide across the room. He locked the doors and like a lion stalking its prey advanced on her and tore off her veil. Her hands went to her face. She kept her head down, her long wavy, dark hair concealing her features. Her movements somehow felt familiar and Shaun felt a jolt of déjà vu. The man put his hand on the young woman’s chin and lifted her head up for a kiss. She avoided his lips and turned her head in Shaun’s direction. Shaun stepped back in disbelief, holding his breath. He nearly fell into the shimmering waves and back into the tunnel. The man grabbed the young woman by the arm and pulled her roughly to her feet. He slapped her, knocking her down on the bed. The girl screamed and pulled out a knife from behind her. He slapped it away and laughed. She fell to the floor as the knife slid away. The tycoon dragged her up on her feet by the hair. She screamed, slapping at his arms. He pushed her face down onto the bed and seized her hips.
Shaun’s mind and heart raced. It couldn’t be, she looked the same as in his dreams. It couldn’t be. Is this all a dream? Another nightmare. The man stretched out her arms, used her silk belt from around her waist to tie her wrists to the bed. She continued fighting and screaming, as her captor knelt on her to hold her leg still, but she still tried to kick against him. Boom! The building violently rocked and swayed on its foundations. He rose up and roared, yelled with each giant step he took towards the locked doors.
Shaun saw his opportunity and he knew it might be his only chance to save her. He ran out full of rage and jumped for the man’s back. He felt Kevin grapple for his arm just before he went beyond the curtains. Shaun hoped the element of surprise was enough and leapt onto the man’s back, pounding his fist into his neck and head and pushing him into the door. Shaun’s bottled emotions thundered through his fists. The man turned and twisted trying to shake him off and Shaun saw Jade bolt out from behind the curtains. Her bracelet glowed. Shaun would have sworn he saw strange patterns spiraling from the bracelet like a holographic image projected towards the tablet as she grabbed it. Underestimating its weight, she nearly dropped it.
