Story October inspects the threshold into the antechamber and notices makings on the floor similar to the ones that were at the alter with the zombie that attacked the group further back. There is a small stream of water flowing out of the threshold. He backs up to the groups and says, “There are markings on the floor that can trigger something, like at that last alter.”
“Oh dang,” Steve mutters.
Quickly interjecting, Story says, “But this stream here,” gesturing to the one passing their feet on the cave floor where they are standing, “It comes from the room, someone careful and small could walk on this stream and not set off the floor trigger markings... I think.”
“Do you know the password, from reading or on anything, Story?” asks Paul.
Story sighs and says, “No, I'm afraid not, only the caster knows it.”
Ivory says immediately, “Then it has to be me,” looking serious and with resolve on her face.
“No way babe,” Steve speaks up right away.
Dr. Paul Abernathy says, “I don't like this plan.”
“I'm not so sure I like this idea either, Ivory,” states Story.
“Look, there is a girl in there alive and we need to know what else if anything is in there, I am the best chance of doing it without anything or anyone seeing me... but I need some of that fancy magic night-vision Story, can you do that?” says Ivory with confidence.
Steve turns away and puts his hands on his hips and looks down in protest and defeat but knows there is no point in auguring with her once her mind is made up.
“I can do that and I can do more,” says Story, putting his hand on her shoulder in reassurance, “but you run your ass off and get out of there as fast as you can if there is anything remotely resembling danger. I'm going to give you something else, you'll be able to see anything magic or supernatural... like a zombie made with black-magic.”
A few moments later, Ivory is slowly crossing the threshold while walking carefully in the shallow tiny steam while the group watches, she has no lights, she is seeing in the dark like Story can and she can also see the symbols on the floor glowing and symbols on the walls glowing fainter and a different color. She thinks to herself, “that must be magic... so that's what he sees... this is incredible.”
Once inside, the room bends in a curved, almost right angle as she works her way past stacks of various supply crates and debris and scattered bones of who-knows-what. Then she sees a cage with two people in them, a young woman and a middle-aged man, sitting up and holding on the bars, looking defeated, tired and not alert.
Next to the cages are two corpses, laid out on an alter similar to the one from earlier. On the other side of the cage there is the tiny stream trickling out of the rough rock wall. Near the alter is a table with some bright glowing things on top, they are glowing like the floor trigger markings but much more intense, she carefully works her way over to the table because it's on the way to the cages.
Once over to the table she can see it's built like something from the middle ages, heavy duty too. Now she can see what's making the bright glow that only her special vision can see: it's two small identical swords, a scepter/cane thing, and a book. The swords look wicked and dangerous when she carefully removes it from the scabbard. The scepter/cane looking thing is extravagantly made and looks like something of royalty from a lost age. Next to them is an old book, possibly leather bound with gold corner braces and a metal fastening mechanism with strange symbols and markings covering its surfaces. Ivory grabs them all and places them in her backpack carefully with some of the objects protruding out of the top and she couldn't zip it all the way closed. Ivory carefully approaches the cage and whispers, “Pst, hey guys, can you hear me? I'm here to help.”
Slowly the man looks up, the man is John Hanson the jogger, with dried blood on his shoulder and in his hair. He weakly says, “What? Who? Oh no... they are going to catch you and kill you... you have to hide.”
The young woman stops quietly sobbing and looks up slowly and groggy, it's Adelle Johnson and she says, “You gotta get us out, you gotta help us please..." her voice is nearly hysterical but quiet.
“Shh, I will, I brought help, we know what to do, we're not leaving. I'm going to get them, they are right outside the door,” says Ivory in a whisper.
Adelle pleads in a loud whisper, “No, no, no, please don't leave us.”
Ivory takes her hand through the crude wrought iron bars and says, “I swear, I'm not leaving you here. I'm coming right back, we're getting you out, just hold on a few minutes more, dear.”
Adelle holds her hand tight and says, “You swear?”
“I promise you, I'm not leaving you here to die, we're getting you guys out,” Ivory says in a quiet and calm tone.
Adelle nods and says, “Okay, you promised..." and lets her go.
Ivory traces her pathway out again, being careful not to make too much noise or knock over anything and avoiding any suspicious floor markings that glow with magic. She reaches the group waiting for her. She says, “there are two zombies on an alter and two people alive in a cage inside, we have to save them, I promised them we wouldn't leave them.”
“We won't leave anyone babe and I'm glad you made it out safe,” Steve says, sounding relieved.
“What? You doubted me?” Ivory says to Steve then she says, “But wait, there's more, I found this stuff,” as she opens her backpack and shows the group, then continues, “It was glowing with magic, so I took it all.”
Story says with excitement but quietly still, “This is amazing, this is outstanding, these are all magically imbued with various enchantments, incantations and wards! This is nothing like I've ever seen.”
“Can it kill zombies?” asks Steve as he pulls the short sword from its scabbard.
“Magic verses magic? I believe it certainly can,” as he pulls out the magical book he has a quick Vision and knows it's a sacred tome of spells and senses it's been in the hands of someone else, someone familiar... the Dark Mage, then says, “Oh my god, it's Christmas time,” but purposely leaving out the part about the Dark Mage because the group already has enough to worry about. Then he inspects the scepter/cane and says, “This is beautiful and has protection magic on it, to protect the holder from some magical effects and some other cool stuff I'll wager but I'd have to study it for longer... but we don't have a lot of time.”
“Yeah, whomever put those people in the cages could probably come back anytime, right?” Ivory asks but more as a statement, to encourage Story to snap out of his kid-in-a-candy-store state.
Steve steps up, “Let's do it, are you ready to say a prayer Paul, I'll hold them back for as long as possible but I might need your help, Story,” as he hands Story the other short sword.
“I got your back, man,” replies Story with resolve and hands the scepter/cane to Dr. Paul Abernathy and says, “Take this Paul, it'll help you I believe.”
Steve walks up to the trigger symbol on the floor and says, “Here goes,” as he stomps a foot down, causing it to flash a glowing red.
The group sees a faint purple glow from inside and start to hear noises. They make it about ten feet when they are met with fast moving, zombies with purple glowing eyes. Steve wastes no time and stabs the closest one straight though the chest, it doesn't destroy it but does seem to make it hurt and is pauses for a moment and screeches. Then the creature tries to claw at his face and knocks him back, his sword is still buried in its chest as he loses his grip and stumbles backward.
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“The head, try to take the head off!” yells Story as he slashes at the neck of the second one but he has to keep backing up as it advances and tries to kick it to push it back. The zombie hits his foot, making him lose balance and fall backward and drops his sword. The zombie jumps on top of him and tries to bite his face off but Story manages to put his forearm under its chin and force its head back while grabbing his sword with his other hand.
Finally Story rolls it off of him and is now on top of the zombie and slashes its face clean off, it doesn't destroy it but some of the dark energy leaves its head through the missing rotten face.
Dr Paul Abernathy pulls out his cross with one hand and the scepter in his other hand and says his prayer like before. He says,
“May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
May the rain fall softly upon your fields until we meet again,
And may God hold you in the hollow of his hand,”
while aiming his cross at the zombie that Story is fighting because it's the closest one, then the zombie stops moving and fighting as blackish-purple swirling mist leaves its body.
By this time, Steve pulls the sword out of the first zombie and slams it with his shoulder to knock it back, causing the creature to land prone on the ground. Then Story jumps up and tries to chop it in the neck but takes its arm off because it got in the way.
The zombie jumps up as Steve finally hits it in the neck, taking its head off, it thumps on the ground and rolls a few feet, the body drops to the ground. The purple glow in the eye sockets fade and blackish-purple mist leaves the body.
“Hell yeah!” Steve says.
Story smiles and nods at him and says, “That works.”
“That was outstanding, I can't believe we did it,” states Paul, showing some signs of hope in his voice now, believing they might actually make it out of here alive.
During the fight, Ivory managed to sneak past the fight and is already at the cage, examining the lock and she says to the captives, “I told you we wouldn't leave you guys.”
“Oh thank god,” Adelle says, relieved.
The rest of the group walks over to see the captives, there is a store-bought padlock on the cage door but the cage itself looks ancient and crude, made of wrought iron.
“What are your names? I'm Story October... anyone know how to pick a lock?” says Story.
“I'm John Hanson... where did you guys come from?” he questions in disbelief because he gave up hope of being rescued, then adds “I think the key in on the table.”
“I'm Adelle Johnson,” says Adelle and she continues, “We've been down here in total darkness with all these weird sounds and stuff, then sometimes weird guys come in with a lantern, they come in here to mess around and talking weird at that thingy,” pointing at the alter and continues, “I'm so glad you guys are here, I think we were gonna die or something.”
Story finds the key, when he picks it up he gets a flash of a Vision that Theodore and his minions use captives for human sacrifices. There is a burning house in his Vision and a man and a woman and three children that survived but the man and woman were used as a ritual sacrifice to channel the powerful magical energy. He snaps out of his entranced state, opens the lock, letting them out while Ivory begins to speak.
“You guys were reported as missing. Allow me guys,” Ivory says as she looks at Steve, Paul and Story and then continues, “I'm a journalist and I've been investigating all the strange stuff that's been happening lately, I got some friends of mine to help investigate the tunnels we found under the cemetery. We ended up getting trapped down here so we're looking for a way out... do you guys know any way out of here?”
“Also, who put you in the cage and how many are we dealing with?” Steve questions then adds, “are you guys hungry?” offering them a energy bar and Adelle takes it happily.
Adelle says, “M-my step dad is one of them... I don't understand what's going on. We're starving, the only thing to drink is that little stream that runs next to the cage.”
“Yeah that is all we've had, just water,” John states as Ivory gives him a snack bar, he continues, “There are like eight or nine men I believe, one is really tall and extremely strong..."
“Theodore,” Ivory interjects with anger in her voice and looks at Story and Steve as they nod.
John continues talking, “Um... and there's more... they have these dead looking people with glowing eyes that act as the guards or something.”
“Oh god, and one is Tom, my friend, he... he's dead and does what they say now..." Adelle says while starting to sob.
Story puts his hand on her shoulder, “Adelle, we're going to make it out of here.”
Adelle says, “But what's going on, how can they have dead people walking!? This is the real world, this isn't a movie or something... this is so fucked up..." she starts to sob.
Story looks at Ivory and Paul then back at Adelle and says, “It's magic, some kind of unnatural dark magic... but we're here now, that's not going to happen to you.”
Steve nods and says, “That's right,” as he tastes the water from the stream, then says, “We can refill our bottles here, it's clean enough.”
“What, but... but magic isn't real, right?” says Adelle, looking confused.
John Hanson just stands there listening, not knowing what to think about everything he's seen lately.
Story looks at Ivory, then back at Adelle and says, “Usually magic isn't real... sort of... but it is real here, in this place somehow... but it'll be okay.”
“Okay..." says Adelle while looking up at him with a helpless look on her face.
Then the group fill water bottles with water from the tiny stream.
“We may not have long, guys but there is that light we saw up ahead, should we investigate it?” asks Ivory.
Steve looks unsure at Ivory, then looks at Story, and Paul and asks, “What do you guys think?”
Paul looks at Story and raises an eyebrow.
“Okay okay, yes, we should investigate the light source... it might lead to the way out,” Story says to the group, then adds, “But we need to be careful, there are guys down here somewhere and probably more zombies.”
Steve adds in, “And it's very likely these guys are armed in one form or another... hopefully not with firearms..."
John Hanson asks, “Are the police coming to rescue us, or maybe the National Guard or anyone?”
“Well, about that..." Ivory says, looking at Steve and Story, then turns back to John, “No one knows you are down here and no one knows where we are. You see, us coming down here wasn't exactly officially sanctioned by any authorities or the property owners... so we couldn't really tell anyone, you know? My boss knows I came out to the cemetery but that's all she knows.”
“Damn,” John says quietly.
“We really had know idea what we were getting ourselves into..." Ivory explains.
Steve interjects, “But we're getting out of here, all of us.”
John and Adelle nod, trusting that statement because they have to. It's all they can do to keep from breaking down.
“Okay everyone, we need to move, let's go,” Story says as he turns and starts to leave and everyone follows. When the group reaches the exit to the chamber, they see two lights further down the tunnel and it sounds like two guys talking, they are getting closer.
Adelle says, “Oh my god, it's them, they're coming,” she is quiet but near panic, “Please, please, don't let them put me back in the cage.”
Ivory reassures her by saying, “I promise, we won't, Adelle,” as she holds her hand.
Story and Steve look at each other and Steve says, “What's the plan, man?”
“Everyone back inside,” as Story ushers them in then continues talking, “If they walk past, we let them keep going, if they turn in here, we do whatever it takes to survive,” as he pulls his short sword out of the scabbard.
Steve says, “You got it,” as he pulls out his pistol and chambers a round by pulling the recoil slider back and says, “Everyone, lights out and get down,” as he gestures them all to get down with his hand.
Then they all squat down and turn off their lights as Steve says, “One more thing, can you hook me up with that fancy-pants magical night-vision, Story?”
“I believe that can be arranged,” replies Story.
John whispers to Ivory and Paul that are next to him, “Wait, a magical what?”
Everyone shushes him as Steve and Story watch the two men approach.
Story October whispers his incantation to give Steve magically-enhanced vision and it makes Steve's eyes flash a glowing blue for a moment.
Steve McCoy takes a breath and whispers, “Oh, my, God... this is kick-ass, man,” because he is now seeing in total darkness and better than any night-vision goggles he ever used in the military.