They continued to go down.
Even with the flashlight, it did little to aid them. It made Taryn all the more grateful that Rachael wasn’t here. She’d be freaking out at such a dark, enclosed place. Even though the pain along her shoulders and neck groaned in protest, Taryn didn’t stop her descent. She’d cope with the dull aches and spikes of sudden pain that went up and down her spine.
Deeper and deeper into the well, they went, careful to watch their footing. Before finally, after what felt like they would never reach the bottom of this never-ending well, Taryn paused to point her flashlight downwards, again for what felt like the fifteenth time and saw the bottom. Which she informed Robert.
“Fucking finally…” he gave an exasperated sigh. “Don’t these people know anything about an elevator? Or at least some stairs? Who uses ladders anymore?”
Taryn scoffed at his remark. That was one way to try and ease up the tension after being quiet for so long. “Just be thankful it’s not a rope.”
“Oh god, no, anything but a damn rope. Remember how badly I sucked climbing it in high school? Never again.” then he added. “You were good, though; you say you can’t do much because of your asthma, but you’re still pretty athletic.”
“You can thank my family for that,” she said nothing further, and he didn’t ask.
When she reached the bottom, she took a few steps back and glanced up with her flashlight to help Robert down the rest of the way. He jumped down the last two steps. And begins to move his fingers and wrists to get regular blood flow back. “That wasn’t too bad. What about you Taryn? How’s your neck?” He then looked to Taryn expecting an answer but saw that she was now moving the light along the ground. “What’s wrong?”
“Fuyuko said that this well was once used to throw criminals down here.”
Robert frowned. “Yeah, and?”
“Then where are the bones?” he stilled; a look of realization slowly came to his face as she shined the light along the dirt ground. “There should be traces, even if it’s been a long time ago. There would still be signs, evidence of what was once here. But there’s nothing.”
“Couldn’t the bones have disintegrated into dust by now? It’s been a long time, right?”
“Even if that were true, there would still be some traces. And look.” She shined her light toward a spot on the ground. “It’s nothing but dirt. Meaning that those who were dropped down the well didn’t die here.”
“Weren’t they already dead?”
“I believe that some were, but I doubt all of them had died before being shoved down the well. When climbing down, I noticed scratches in the stones from people’s nails clawing at the rock. Those who didn’t die right away from the fall might have tried to climb back up, but since the only way out was sealed, they either climbed back down to look for another way out or gave up and hoped that the fall a second time would kill them instantly. If it didn’t, they would have died a slow and agonizing death.”
He cringed. “Ugh, that’s a horrible way to go. I’d never want to die like that.” He looked around. “Guess I should take back what I said…” he muttered.
Even if it is just an assumption about what might have happened, it doesn’t tell us why there aren’t any remnants of human remains. Taryn’s eyes remained on the ground as they narrowed slightly. I do not like the signs of this…
Taryn turned the light to another direction along the ground, noting another set of footprints. Footprints that led further into the singular tunnel ahead of them. Walking to the start of it, she paused, looking at the tunnel’s structure. It didn’t look like it would collapse.
And from the looks of it, it stretched a long way down, not even allowing the light to reflect. She didn’t even have to glance around to know that this was the only way to go since there were no connecting tunnels right at the start.
It made things easier, but Taryn found herself unable to relax. Tension lined her aching shoulders, spine and healing neck as she kept her breathing slow and even.
This place wasn’t a mine, it had none of the indicators of it, she had to keep telling herself that. What’s more, the tunnels were not carved out with tools and implements, it looked as though they were made this way naturally.
This must have been one of the lava tubes that Toya mentioned, thinking that alone brought her a little bit of ease with the cold air within this place. Something like that of a mine she always disliked, no matter how innocuous it was. There was just something about them that caused her worry, and while she was worried about what was down here, the place itself didn’t make her feel concerned.
Some would find it strange, but not all traumas could make sense.
As she continued to look down the dark expanse, she felt a cool air as if drawing her in.
With the temperature difference, it was much cooler underground; even with her sweater, she could still feel the constant damp chill that clung to the air. It hadn’t been the first time she had gone into dark indiscernible places. Yet, it reminded her of other times when she felt the presence of not being wanted. The hospital is one that came quickly to mind.
There was no one else here, yet the feeling of being watched by unseen eyes lingered. Inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth, Taryn took her first steps into the tunnel with no intention of stopping with Robert trailing close behind.
Walking with only the sound of their footsteps accompanying them through the silence, Taryn soon noticed the passageway becoming more expansive, and with it, something that brought both of them to pause.
A stone Tori Gate stood before them.
“What’s that doing down here?” Robert asked.
She had no clue, from the notes that June had left in her car, it sufficed to say that this had something to do with some type of ritual done by the original villagers before the fire.
It looked to have been carved from a singular rock as there were no gaps in the stone. What’s more, it too looked to be well maintained. It even had the twined grass rope hanging above, with carvings in the stone and mantras of belief, luck, good fortune and the like near the feet that went up to Taryn’s waist.
There was one that made her pause; however, it wasn’t like the others.
On the left pillar, this one was more in lines of something hastily done than precise movements of someone hastily scratching into the rock forming kanji which read:
Sacrifice. Blood. Trapped. Ritual. Run.
“What’s wrong?” Robert asked as he knelt beside her before his eyes fell to what she was looking at. “Think it was from someone who went missing?”
“Probably…” she said as she stood. Her gaze rested on it one more time before tearing her eyes away and began to head further down the tunnel. Past the large stone gate and deeper into the endless darkness.
Robert followed after her, keeping a slow pace as he kept his gaze on her back. How many times had she been in situations like this? He wondered. How many close calls or how many people tried to harm and or kill her? A feeling of dread began to build in the pit of his stomach. He did know anything about her.
“You told me once before that she doesn’t talk much about herself, that she was hiding something. Do you ever think there’s a reason for that? Try waiting for a response next time, she might tell you.” Stephanie’s words came to the forefront of his mind. Causing him to look at Taryn’s back again; Robert wasn’t even sure if he could bring this up now.
Before he even had the chance to say anything, Taryn stopped walking and silently turned off the flashlight.
He remained quiet; it wasn’t like she’d do something without reason. Looking ahead, he quickly saw why. There was another light in the distance as his eye adjusted to the darkness, one that cast an orange glow. A feeling of tension rose in him, stretching along his spine, neck and shoulders. That sensation eased slightly when he felt Taryn rest a hand on his shoulder. Even in the dark, he felt like she was looking at him.
She grasped his hand with her left, leading them towards the light, moving silently as possible. Robert noticed how Taryn seemed to deliberately change her steps to walk without any sound. Still, he couldn’t even imagine what it would have been like if she had gone alone like she originally planned. Robert couldn’t help but wonder if she was always this calm and level-headed in horrible situations.
He paused in that thought, no, she wasn’t. Roy’s death and finding the dead girl’s body at their school showed that she wasn’t always calm when dealing with horrible events.
Perhaps it was experiencing such things that led her to be this way. But even that seemed wrong. Robert had lost someone too, albeit differently, yet it did not change much in the way he viewed things. He could only give a show of bravado to mask his fears and worries. On the other hand, Taryn held a sense of maturity, as though she was lifetimes older than her actual age. As if she had been through something like this before. He had seen something like it before, sparsely, when they were younger. Here, however, it was on full display with her attitude to the situation that they were in.
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Part of him envied that about her.
When they finally got closer to the orange glow of the light, and with the slow pace they took, it gave him time for his eyes to adjust in the dark as Taryn let go of his hand.
For a moment, he noticed Taryn glancing at him in the orange light from a torch along the tunnel wall. In that split second, it looked as though her blue eyes seemed to glow in the torchlight. The contrast of her light blue eyes and the dark blue ring that surrounded them made them stand out all the more, the sudden light must have made him see things. Human eyes couldn’t glow.
“Are you okay?” she asked in a low voice, probably to keep her voice from travelling in the tunnels.
“Ah, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. You?”
“Same as you, I’m okay, for the most part.” She said as her gaze merely glanced to the dirt floor, which his eyes followed. There were several footprints, but not many. Crouching down, she looked at them more closely. “It’s only one set of footprints. The same ones that had gone down the tunnel. Looks like there was a debate on which way to go.”
“The journalist, right? Should we keep following them?”
Taryn remained where she was and looked to where they had gone. For the tunnel now split into two, both ways were well lit by torches. Looking at the other tunnel, it looked to descend further into the ground with no way of knowing where it would lead.
“It’d be for the best if we did. Don’t want to get lost.” Yet she didn’t move.
“What’s up?”
“It’s strange. If this place hasn’t been used for however long, why are the torches lit?”
Robert shrugged, not knowing either. “Maybe the woman who came before us? I mean, it might be possible right?”
“If she was looking for information, she didn’t want to be spotted. Doing that just seems like an intentional way of getting discovered. Don’t you think?”
He fell silent; Taryn had a point. If this woman who came before they did and tried to sneak about, using torches to light her way, be it connivant, wasn’t a good idea if she didn’t want to be seen by others. He eyed the torches with slight suspicion. Why were they lit then?
“Think it might be a trap?” he asked.
“It’s almost always a trap.” She told him. “In the things I’ve seen, I’ve just learned to instantly expect it to be one.”
Robert frowned; just what had she seen that would make her think that? Maybe something from her overprotective uncle? Then again, with her family, it could very well have been anything.
They followed the footprints that led through the tunnel and came across a single wooden door. It was built relatively sturdy through the rock and dirt of the underground. It almost reminded Taryn of the door that she had gone through when escaping the doll. Upon finding that it was unlocked, and with an extreme amount of caution, they found a room lined with kimonos. Some were on stands, some hung up against the wall while others were neatly folded. All of various sizes, styles and makes. It was indiscernible just how many there were in this room alone, added that there was no dust covering them.
This was something that the two kept coming across while heading through the tunnel, room after room of things. Be it for clothing, storage for furniture and even farm tools. Not all doors opened, but the ones that did would be searched for clues in case of finding anything left by June or something similar from another victim.
But they couldn’t find anything to indicate that.
Nothing showed signs out of the ordinary that they could tell. Well, as ordinary as this place could be. That was until they reached a room that had more in the way of modern appliances and clothing from the West. This brought Taryn to pause before heading to a small corner of the place where items and clothing were left neatly packed. It looked like everything else, and it made Robert confused why she suddenly came to this one spot when in the other rooms was almost a passing glance.
Robert noticed this. “What is it?”
“These uniforms are from World War Two.” She said softly.
“That’s not surprising, almost every country got involved in that.”
“Yes, but these aren’t Japanese.” She held up the uniform jacket in question. It belonged to a field officer during the war. “See the collar of the uniform? It’s different in design in how officers are given in rank. The Japanese mainly consisted of red, yellow and star patches. Depending on the combination depends on a person’s rank. The Germans used not only different designs but colours as well in their patches to determine rank. Not to mention this.” She indicated the swastika emblem being held by an eagle with its wings outstretched. “The Japanese didn’t have these.”
“How do you know all of that?”
She continued to look at the coat. “My grandfather was once a spy for the Canadians and the British during World War Two. So, I know a thing or two in regards to what the Germans wore during that time.”
He frowned. “I thought your grandfather flew fighter planes during the war?”
“That’s on my Mom’s side. My Dad’s side is a completely different story.” she went to put the coat back where she found it only for something to fall from a pocket that had a hole. Going to pick it up, she realized what it was and what initially drew her over to that spot.
It was an Erkennungsmarke. It is also known as an EK for short, the German equivalent to Identification Discs that the Canadians had.
It was similar to that of her brother’s ID Disc, only this had the name mirrored on the part that was to be snapped off if the body was found. But it was the name that was on it that caused her to become almost uncomfortably still.
O. KIEFER.
Otto Kiefer.
This belonged to one of the officers who had gone missing, as described in June’s notes. What’s more, she could feel something along the lines of apprehension and wonder coming from it. She picked it up, and when she had, Taryn could catch glimpses of things through Otto’s eyes.
Of arriving at the mansion during the dead of winter. Heavy snowfall, German soldiers with stern expressions and Japanese villagers with looks of worry huddled together as the Germans made their way through the village toward the mansion. Of him sketching the estate in particular, before changing to another place entirely and seeing what looked to be Otto painting something else on a rather large canvas at night as a candle burned nearby. She wasn’t sure what the painting was; there were also voices but they were muffled and too soft to know what was being said. Perhaps if she concentrated…
“Taryn?” she felt Robert’s hand rest lightly on her arm, breaking her concentration from what she was seeing. “You doing okay?”
“Just a bit tired, I think...” she said softly.
He looked at her with concern. “Do you want to take a minute to rest then?”
“No, it’s fine.” She changed the topic away from her by showing him what she found. “But I think I know what these rooms are for. Remember, all the cars we came across? Those cars probably brought a lot of things with them.”
He instantly understood what she meant by it. “So, who’s ever been doing this, brought it all of this down here to hide it?”
“That’s the guess of it.” She told him as she placed the Erkennungsmarke back into its rightful spot. “Well, I suppose it’s more of fact than a guess. All those rooms we came across before had clothes from different times, objects, furniture even.”
Robert muttered a curse under his breath. “This is bad; do we keep going then? Or should we head back?”
“I don’t think this is what Yoko meant in her note of what she wanted me to see. There has to be something more than just clothes and furniture.” She said as she headed out of the room. “I think we’re almost at the end of this. It looks like the tunnel will open soon.”
“It better not be a dead body we come across…” he muttered.
“It might,” she answered him truthfully, even though it wasn’t directed toward her. “We might find many, or perhaps nothing at all.”
“Please don’t say that.” He asked with a faint bit of dread in his voice.
“Would you rather I tell a lie than the truth?” she asked him as he joined her.
His shoulders slumped as he released a sigh. “No, no, you make a fair point. But I’m still keeping my hopes up.”
“No one said you couldn’t,” Taryn told him as they continued, with it being the last room they could enter, for many of the rest were locked, they walked the rest of the tunnel to a large opening. A circular area of the tunnel, making it much larger than the tunnel they came from. It had only two ways to go. The set of footprints had gone into the one on the far right, continuing the straight line connecting the two tunnels. Then came right back and went into the other. Meaning a possible dead end, the footprints that went into the other tunnel were further apart, and the one who left them had run. But from what? There was nothing there that followed.
That slow feeling of tension began to rise again along her spine as she looked down the dark tunnel. No torches were lit in that particular way. She could faintly see what looked to be a light in the distance. Her eyes narrowed. It didn’t look like it moved, not receding or growing in size. Breathing slowly to calm her nerves, she headed down the tunnel. Pushing past the nagging feeling that there was something horrible at the end.
A feeling she always got when it involved those who died.
The closer they reached the light source, she paused and smelled the air, a smell she was all too familiar with, that wasn’t a good sign of things to come. She remained quiet on the matter, not wishing to crush Robert’s fleeting hopes at that moment, for he didn’t seem to notice. The two now stood before two stone lanterns, with red paper that brought an almost crimson glow when reaching the light.
These two lanterns were on either side of a large imposing wooden door.
“Well, that’s not ominous,” Robert stated, and Taryn merely responded by giving him the side eye. “What? It is. I mean, don’t you think it screams, “Do not enter, evil guy hideout!” or something like it?”
She went to test the door; the way she was pushing it usually would cause more problems for her neck and shoulders, so she opted to use her back and push with her legs. While Robert used his arms on the other side of the double door. They pushed and pushed before finally getting it to open with a long low groan. The moment they had even a crack open, the smell she caught before became all the more potent.
The smell alone was the strongest indicator.
When they opened the door all the way, the sight of it became clear to the two of them. People died here. Many people, too many to count.
The room was covered in blood. Mainly coming from some type of stone altar in the center of it all as the room was lit with still-burning red candles being the only light source.
The place looked like a medieval torcher chamber with an array of tools and chains along the walls that were hammered in with metal stakes. All of which they could see from atop stone steps that would lead them down to the bloody carnage.
Whoever made this place, did so with the intent of the supposed victim seeing this before being put through whatever the one intending to do harm wished.
And seeing the tools would be less than pleasant.
“Jesus…” Robert muttered as he covered his mouth and nose with his right hand while Taryn silently descended the carved stone steps. The room was circular, with only one way in and out, a table at the far end lined with tools. Getting a closer look revealed that they had not been touched for some time, perhaps a few months; while the shackles were simply been left to rot in decay as it looked as though they had not seen use in a very long time with the amount of rust. Was this how they made sure people wouldn’t run away? Or did that change in recent years with the advancement in medicine?
She recalled the message that had been left on the stone Torii gate. Ropes. Looking around showed that there was nothing like that in this room. The tunnel did continue after this, so maybe there would be something that kept people from running, like a prison or something similar to one.
Her gaze then fell back to the many tools left in some type of order, the stench of blood and gore coming strongly from it. Yet it wasn’t long before she felt the pull of something. Something she couldn’t ignore.
From the stone slab itself. So much so that she couldn’t tear her eyes away from it as she began to walk around and stand in one particular spot as if drawn to it. The amount of blood was immense, the smell was overwhelming. Even still, she couldn’t pull away as her hand began to reach towards it, unable to stop as though stuck in a trance.
“What the hell were they even doing? You think they were torturing people?” Robert asked as he looked around the strange room. “Good the smell, I don’t think it’s ever going to leave my nose. And this was what that lady wanted you to see? Shit. I was going to ask if it was so important, then why not include it in that note. But now… god. I don’t think I’d even believe it. And we’re right here.”
He stopped short when he heard a heavy thud; he turned to see that Taryn was now lying on the dirt-covered ground near the bloodstained altar. “Taryn?” he said, sounding unsure. She didn’t respond. Didn’t even move. The colour slowly began to drain from his face as he rushed to her side, turned her body over to see that her eyes were open as her head lolled to the side.
He leaned in close; she wasn’t breathing. At first, he thought it might have been due to her asthma from the shock of this creepy place, but that line of thinking changed when he placed a hand to her throat, and everything inside him turned to dread.
Her heart wasn’t beating.