CHAPTER 2 – THE GATE

The second level was everything the upper one was not. Whereas the former had been tamed by men, its walls cut straight or covered in pale masonry, nature had had the upper hand in the galleries below. The stone seemed to have been, and to remain to this day, untamed and untamable. The tunnel squirmed between the ragged rock walls, looking more like a crevice than a way dug by human hands. We had to pass sideways more often than not, rough corners of limestone grazing our cheeks and marking our clothes in white dust. I was slowly becoming excited by this exploration in the entrails of the earth, like travellers through an unmapped, wild realm. 

The tight bowel broadened unexpectedly, a spacious chamber opening on our left. On its closest wall, a candle holder of wrought iron invited the weary cataphile to turn off the harsh white light of the lamp and rest in the comforting glow of candles. We spread gratefully on the stone bench that ran along the walls, putting our feet up on the makeshift table in the middle with a contented sigh. Axel produced candles from the depths of his backpack, and I noticed, only then, the battered chandelier that hung from the ceiling above the table. 

‘Whoa, that looks pretty!’, Lilianne exclaimed when the candles were lit, and started snapping pictures as soon as Axel sat out of the frame. Although I supposed, annoyed, that the photos were meant for the social media, I had to admit she was right. The warm, subdued light softened the darkness beyond, and rounded the edges of the rough stones under a veil of mellow shadows. We sat silently for a moment, enjoying the break in our cocoon of stone. A lulling quietude surrounded us; no sounds reached us, besides the gentle crackling of the candles. I had never known such peace, and I realised I no longer felt oppressed by the mass of earth and the weight of the city above our heads. Closing my eyes, I basked in this newfound sensation of safety, the wall comfortingly solid against my back, its chillness soothing the disquiet that had nagged at me since I had set foot on the first rung. 

At the edge of my perception, a tremor vibrated deeply in the stone, resonating in my ribcage. I sat up at once, startled from my tranquility, and listened. Across the table, the girls stared at me, tensed by my sudden reaction. 

Through the silence that followed, a low rumbling sound growled in the distance and rushed towards us, reverberating through the earth as it came.

 The chandelier shook wildly, throwing panicked lights on the walls. Under their violent dance, the chamber itself seemed to shake and crumble. The thunder rolled over us, deafeningly, covering my instinctive yelp, and was gone as quickly as it came. Dust fell gently from the ceiling as we stared wide-eyed at each other. Even Axel looked startled, but after a brief moment, a grin spread slowly on his face. 

‘The subway’, he managed to say, laughter bubbling up in his voice. ‘You should've seen your faces!’ 

It took us a few moments to understand before relief washed over us. A new explosion of laughter spread through the chamber and the gallery, powered by the adrenaline rush. After a long while, breathless, we managed to regain some control over ourselves and calm down. Still grinning, our mood light and cheery, we took out the sandwiches and drinks, balancing bottles and cups on the uneven table, preparing our stay.

Lilianne huddled closer to Michelle, offering to share her food, something human cracking up her Barbie façade in the way she looked at her friend. David caught me staring, and his ambiguous smile made my cheeks flare. I busied myself with the thermos bottle and the small coffee cups that were needed for divination, feeling I was burning under his gaze. His arm slid around me.

‘Tell me, what’s my fortune tonight?’, he whispered in my ear, making me shiver. I swallowed hard and plucked up the courage to whisper, my voice hoarse: 

‘An encounter at dusk with a handsome stranger.’ I felt silly as I spoke the words – a banal sentence in the repertoire of every fortune-teller, but even this platitude was a bold move for me. I took a breath to steady my fluttering heart, then, trying to hide my unease, I asked brightly: ‘Is everyone ready to find out what your fortune is?’. They nodded, and I passed the cups around.‘Take a sip, then turn it three times in front of your heart, and think of what you want to know.’

We drank ceremoniously, and David was the first one to offer his cup, leaning close to me. I focused on the vague memories of my grandmother trying to teach me to read the grounds. Bottom half represents the past, right… 

‘I see… I see…’ In truth, I could barely discern the shapes in the cup, with his breath tickling my neck and setting my blood on fire.  ‘Now, what’s this line... right here, see? Where it meets this other one? It means your path will soon cross the one of your betrothed and…’ 

You mustn’t read the signs separately, my grandmother had said, but rather listen to what your gut tells you when looking at the whole landscape of lines.

 I moved the cup a little farther from my eyes so I could see the whole picture, and my gut shouted its message. Ice crawled through my blood and up my spine. 

‘What?’, David pressed me, trying to sound nonchalant, with little success. 

I stared into the cup as my hands got colder and colder. 

The lines in the coffee grounds curled like monstrous talons, reaching out to me. My vision blurred, wiping out the image. 

It couldn’t be.

I had never really seen anything. It had always looked like mud. The lines merged, and I blinked, feeling dizzy. There was no claw. With a relieved sigh, I opened my mouth to speak, and I saw something else. The knife. 

My marrow froze, sending ice along my nerves. My hands shook. And… 

‘Is this a flag?’, I stammered, my voice faltering. 

David squinted in the cup, over my shoulder. I tried to wave away the unbearable sense of emergency that took over me. ‘You, umm, will start a long journey…’. 

Tonight, my instinct insisted. Look, that shape is almost like a coffin. 

Don't be stupid. It looks like a smudge. You’re imagining things. 

‘...and, uh, meet people…’

The flag. Warn him. Something vile is coming.

‘Be careful’, I finished with some difficulty, my throat dry.

‘Right’. He leaned back, sounding disappointed. The cup was trembling in my hands. 

‘Here, take mine’, Lilianne offered. She closed her eyes for a moment, her lips moving as if in prayer, then held her cup out to me. She leaned back against the wall, curling a long strand of blonde hair around her finger, her eyes darting incessantly towards Michelle. I prayed, too, for nothing else but the ordinary long travels and encounters to show in the grounds, before I lowered my eyes. 

It only took a glimpse to see the signs again. The flag, the knife,  the claw. 

The cup fell and shattered on the ground, as I rushed and snatched Michelle’s, then sat back down heavily, the hard stone thumping into my back. 

‘What is it?’Axel asked, with worry tainting his voice. I looked up from the grounds, my eyes blurry, hearing his voice as if from afar through the deafening whistle in my ears. David leaned and cupped my face in his hands. I blinked, unable to see him clearly.

‘Ru?...’ 

Without a word, I held out my hand, and Axel placed his cup into it. David crouched on the ground in front of me, and his hands cradled mine to stop them from shaking.

‘What did you see, Ru? What’s wrong?’

I couldn’t read my cup, of course. I lowered my gaze. Danger and journey and loss were all there; however, it felt different. The top of the cup told me about destinations reached, and hope, and light. 

I looked up, staring at each of them as they leaned worriedly towards me, their eyes trying to pierce through my wall of silence and see the reason for it. Michelle watched me attentively, like a doctor analyzing uncommon symptoms. Even Lilianne seemed disturbed by the general mood, and kept glancing back at forth between her brother and me, her doll eyes wide. 

I tried to speak, to say a reassuring lie about low blood sugar, but I couldn’t get my lips to move. Above and around them, the shadows flickered and squirmed, stretching out like tentacles, probing along the walls. I froze; my chest tightened, catching my breath in a knot of ice and pain. My heart started pumping wildly, like fists beating on the walls of a cell, and I gasped for air. 

‘She’s weird’, I thought I heard Lilianne whisper. 

Michelle replied, ‘She’s having an anxiety attack. Move away, boys.’ She kneeled in the tight space between the table and the bench, and took my hand. ‘Rusanda, I need you to sit here with me, and I'll take you in my arms. It will help, I promise. Do you agree?’

Fighting for breath, fear engulfing me like the darkness of the underground that lurked closer and closer, I felt I was losing all control. The walls were spinning, the shadows crept and slithered, reaching out like claws from behind the feeble light of the candles. I nodded weakly.

‘Axel, help her down, please,’ Michelle said in the same calm voice.

He lifted me carefully, and I curled up against him, seeking comfort in his familiar scent, protesting when he put me down on the floor. I tried to remain upright, but couldn’t muster the strength, and buckled. Michelle’s arms were around me immediately, and she settled me against her chest, holding me tight. 

‘We need to steady your breathing’, she said steadily, ‘and it will go away. This won’t last long, okay? You need to breathe with me.’ 

I felt her inhale deeply behind me, then exhaled slowly. 

‘Try to settle your breathing in rhythm with mine. You’ll be alright in a few.’

She kept holding me against her, speaking soothingly between breaths, and I tried to force my body to slow down. My heart still thrashed and thumped against my ribs, and my chest clenched in panic. 

‘Find something to focus on. A candle, a rock, anything. Now look at it. Don’t look at anything else. Look at it. Breathe in.’ 

She inhaled, and I followed, staring at the pebbles between my feet. 

‘Breathe out. Breathe in…’

Gradually, reluctantly, my lungs opened to air, my pulse slowed down, my body tuning itself to hers, instinctively. 

‘In… out’, she kept whispering. 

There was the trace of a fossil in one of the largest pebbles, which the light showed and hid as it flickered. I kept my eyes fixed on it, waiting for that split second when I could see it clearly; focused on its conical shape and the spirals that ran along it, set in stone.

Then there were no more ominous shadows; no more darkness. Only the candlelight, and, now and then, a glimpse of a shellfish, long gone. 

‘There you go’, Michelle said, loosening her hold. Her voice startled me awake, and I realized she was right: the panic was gone, and I could breathe normally. I stood up hesitantly. David jumped to his feet, ready to support me should my knees buckle, and helped me sit back on the bench. 

‘I’m sorry for being such trouble’, I muttered, rubbing my temples. 

‘Don’t apologize. It can happen to everyone’, Michelle said, patting my shoulder. 

‘I was lucky you were here. Thank you.’

‘Don’t mention it. After all, it’s part of my job.’

She smiled warmly, lighting up the chamber, then went back to her place. An awed Lilianne fawned over her, whispering compliments, and Michelle looked down, seeming discreetly pleased.

‘Let’s get some food into you’, Axel took the reins once again, shoving a sandwich in my hands, now that there was something practical he could do.

We ate, making small talk, and avoiding the subject of the divination. David and Axel went on about the catacombs, sharing pieces of information with the girls: how to read a consolidation plaque, how to tell apart an investigation gallery from a mining one, what was the difference between arm pillars and upturned ones. I leant against David, listening distractedly and focusing on my sandwich in an attempt to keep away the thoughts of the omens I’d seen.

‘Are you feeling better?’, Axel asked when we were done. ‘I meant to show you some ossuaries, will you be okay?’ 

‘Yeah, yeah, sure. Don’t worry, I'll be fine’, I lied, not wanting to ruin everyone’s fun once more. 

‘Alright then.’ He slapped his knees and stood. ‘Let’s pack everything up and get going.’

We squeezed back through the tunnel, rubbing against the limestone which embraced us from both sides. When it finally broadened, Axel started to show us examples of what he’d been saying back in the chandelier chamber. I let my fingers run along the right-hand wall while he talked, caressing the marks of the pickaxes, and feeling the different textures of the layers: the smooth, dusty limestone, the velvety argyle, the rough, gritty bed of marl and gravel. The strata of beige, ivory, ochre, and pale yellow accompanied us, waving up and down like the heartbeat line of the earth. Here and there, the colours were separated by a layer of fossils encased in white stone, a reminiscence of the ancient times when the ocean covered Paris. 

‘Are you sure it’s this way?’, David asked skeptically as we passed an intersection. ‘I’m pretty sure the stairs are on the left, and we’re going to a cul-de-sac.’

‘We shall see’, Axel replied evasively, and I knew he was preparing to surprise David with some secret related to their cataphile life. 

The air became progressively chillier, and the slight wind rose again, caressing my cheeks with glacial fingers. In front of me, Lilianne shivered. I zipped up my jacket, and tightened the scarf around my throat. 

‘Why is it so cold here?’, I asked, rubbing my hands together for warmth. 

‘Well, for one, your feet are still wet’, David teased. 

‘Probably the cemetery’s shafts’, Axel completed briefly. ‘By the way, I opened one of the hatches nearby for later.’

David’s eyebrows went up. ‘Whoa! Which one?’, he asked, quickening his step to fall in line with Axel. They walked close together, their heads bent on the map, and chatted eagerly in low voices. 

‘Ah, boys when they’re excited’, Michelle laughed. 

‘To be honest, I’ve rarely seen my brother like that. Usually it’s like he’s made of stone’, Liliane mused. 

‘Really? He seems pretty enthusiastic to me’, her friend wondered.

You don’t know much about him, then, I thought, rolling my eyes out of Lilianne’s sight. But then, I couldn’t say I knew my sisters very well, either. Plunging into memories, I hid in the shelter of my own mind, better off by myself than as part of the conversation. Especially as it meant talking to Lilianne, whom I perceived as someone I didn’t particularly want in my entourage. 

As David had predicted, we arrived in a cul-de-sac, and he grinned triumphantly. It was a short-lived grin, however: Axel moved aside a few boulders with surprising ease, and a hole appeared in the wall. 

‘After you, ladies’, he said, with an inviting gesture. Without hesitation, Michelle took off her backpack, pushed it in, then wriggled through. As usual, Lilianne followed close on her heels. 

‘How did you even move these so effortlessly?’, I asked Axel, awed but confused. 

‘Try for yourself’, he said with a wink. 

‘Are you kidding? I don’t have your strength.’

‘Come on, Ru, humour me.’

I raised a suspicious eyebrow. ‘Okay…’

I bent over, bracing myself to lift the heavy-looking boulder, and almost fell on my back with a surprised yelp. 

‘Painted polystyrene’, Axel laughed.

David punched him lightly. ‘Ha, of course it is. You do want to keep your secrets from everyone else.'

‘Alright, Ru, your turn.’

I squinted skeptically in the narrow tunnel; sharp rock edges seemed to guard it jealously. My light briefly revealed the soles of Lilianne’s wellingtons, which squirmed quickly out of sight. 

‘Uh, you never mentioned crawling in ratholes.’ 

‘We call it a cathole, actually, if that is any help.’ 

‘Is it supposed to make it cuter, or?…’  

He shrugged. 

‘Look, I’ll go first, you’ll see it’s just fine’, David said. ‘It’s just a hole, there’s nothing to be afraid of, except maybe some bruises and scratches.’

‘And also getting stuck, having another panic attack in there, etcetera’, I added. ‘I’m not comfortable with this idea. And I’m pretty sure I'm not strong enough to crawl.’

David pushed his backpack inside, passed his head through the opening, and before disappearing, he said over his shoulder, ‘Just follow me, Ru.’ 

I wanted to. I wished I were braver, that my first instinct weren’t to flee. I wanted to be someone else, and imagined him with another girl, one who’d climb in every shaft and crawl through every hole. A fearless girl who he would prefer. I bit my lip, already trembling and ready to cry because of something I had imagined. I hated being like this. 

‘Come on, Ru, get in’, Axel insisted, leaning against the wall, and crossing his arms to contain his impatience. 

‘I’m… I’m afraid.’ 

‘You said you wanted to face it. Fight it. There you are’, he said, tilting his head towards the bowel of rock. ‘Now it’s the time. And I promise you, there is no danger whatsoever.’ 

‘But… isn’t there another way around?’, I pleaded, already feeling my knees become weak. 

‘It would be a half an hour detour, or more. They are waiting for us. In you go. And do not tell me you are claustrophobic, because I know you are not.’

I let out a deep sigh in an attempt to ease the pressure that had started to crush my chest again. He was right. It was time I stopped being afraid of everything. 

Following the others’ example, I crouched and passed my head through, keeping an eye out for any treacherous rock edges. It didn’t prevent my right shoulder from scraping against the entrance, though. The pain startled me, and my knee hit the stone. I cursed through clenched teeth. So that’s how it’s going to be.

I flattened myself the best I could and started crawling slowly. One painful metre after another, I pushed my backpack before me, then pulled myself forward, all the while trying to keep my weight off my hurting knee. The cathole wound and weaved through the stone, angling upwards. My bag kept slipping back towards me; as my arms grew more and more tired, cramps pulling at the muscles in my back and shoulders, it became increasingly difficult to continue pushing it forward. 

The crevice went on and on, climbing endlessly. I crawled on sore elbows and knees, feeling the tiniest pebble dig into my skin, scraping the walls that enclosed me tight, hitting myself more and more often on the edges of the unwelcoming stone. Time seemed to flow like a thick treacle; it was slowed down, just like myself, by the earth that imprisoned us both.

I went on, my mind emptying more with each movement, turning inwards and focusing solely on the sensations: the burning in my muscles, my forearms skinned with each new movement, the pain that shot through my knee each time it bent. The silence, so heavy that my ears rang. One elbow, then the other, forever. 

Suddenly, my backpack fell outside, and the others’ lights shone in my eyes. A frozen gale hit me in the face. I grimaced, squinting through teary eyes, and wiggled out of the accursed hole. Tiredness spread like lead through my limbs, and I was tempted to remain sprawled on the floor. I might have, if it hadn’t been for the wind that lashed my cheeks. 

A little farther, sitting on a mound of soft-looking, pale earth, Michelle and Lilianne huddled close for warmth.

‘This is unusual’, David muttered, pulling me to him and rubbing my back. ‘Sometimes it can get a little breezy, but never like this. Why do you think that is?’, he addressed Axel, as soon as his head emerged. 

The latter grunted, shifting his shoulders to get through the opening which was, unsurprisingly, too narrow for his frame. ‘I dug this damned cathole, you would think I would have thought of making it larger.’

Axel finally managed to pull himself out, patted his clothes free of dust, and looked around perplexed.

‘I can confirm this is definitely not normal. A shaft must be open somewhere, but they are all supposed to be welded shut. And the one I opened for tonight is not visible, unless you know where to look for it.’

His brow creased as he scrutinized the gallery as far as his lamp could reach. 

‘Maybe it’s the gate of Saint Andrew’s night’, David tried for a joke. A lightning of ice travelled down my spine when I heard him. The claw, the coffin, and the flag. A warning. 

No. No. Don’t be stupid. It’s a story, a superstitious folks’ tale. It’s the twenty-first century, for hell’s sake. Get a grip. 

David shrugged. ‘Let’s get moving, maybe we’ll see what it is on the way.’

Axel only nodded, still frowning. The confident attitude of a landlord had vanished; instead, he walked almost obliquely, his shoulders tense, glancing warily around him like an animal on the prowl. The concern he was trying to hide made us all uneasy: we tiptoed behind him, walking close together to have a meagre shelter from the wind. 

‘What’s this?’, Lilianne yelped ahead. 

‘Bones, little sister’, Axel replied reassuringly, and stopped. ‘Two-centuries-old bones.’

‘It’s horrible.’ Her voice trembled with disgust. 

‘Is this where I was supposed to be creeped out?’, Michelle asked, amused. ‘Because I’m not.’ 

Axel pointed at a low cavity in the stone, opening on our right. ‘Have a look at the bottom, up in the shaft.’ 

I sheltered myself from the gale while Michelle crawled on all floors on the uneven, jagged floor. I took a closer look at the cavity, and stepped back involuntarily. The ground was covered in bones, most of them broken, their serrated edges threatening. A thick, almost compact layer of coppery dirt filled every interstice; I assumed, with a queasy shiver, that its origins lay in the older skeletons, ground down to dust by time. 

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

‘What’s in the shaft?’, I whispered to David, still staring at the decaying remains that filled half of the cavity. 

‘More bones. It was one of those used to discharge the bodies. There was a chain that ran along the well, that they shook when the bones got stuck. But it didn’t work in this one: it’s still half filled with them. That’s why it’s called the Well of Bones.’

‘Um…’, Michelle called from underneath the shaft.

I crouched and shone my light on the slope of broken femurs, her shape barely visible. She was lying on her side, craning her neck to see upwards.

‘Say what again?’

Axel bent down to see under the low ceiling, and she beckoned him over. ‘I don’t think this is what I was supposed to see…’ 

‘What do you mean?’

‘Just come and take a look by yourself’, Michelle said impatiently. 

He grunted at the prospect of crawling again, but he did, and sprawled by her side. 

‘Well? What’s wrong?’, Lilianne inquired. She kneeled hesitantly, and peered from behind the corner. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Yeah, it’s not us. It’s… this.’

‘And “this” is…?’, I asked, growing irritated with their vague answers, which my imagination turned into reasons to worry. I swatted away the nagging thoughts of the darkness behind me, the old bones, the omens. It’s Saint Andrew’s night, they insisted. When the gates open, and evil roams. 

No. Enough. 

I should’ve listened. I wish I had. 

Instead, I crawled towards them on all fours, trying to touch the floor as little as possible. My sore hands and knees protested each time they touched the hard, sharp bones. The repetitive pain kept my mind off the more unpleasant thoughts, however; for example, the fact that we were in the middle of a mass grave, under a cemetery, at night. I finally reached Axel and Michelle, who were still staring up, transfixed, and twisted uncomfortably to see in the well. The empty well, except for the deep shadows that lurked far away, towards the surface. The wind engulfed in it, rushing down with the force of a blizzard. 

‘It is… open’, Axel whispered incredulously. 

And then the rumble came again. 

▁▁▁

I have to stop writing as adrenaline surges through me again at the memory, leaving me shaky. Axel is still asleep, and warm sunlight is playing in his blond hair. I’ve typed the night away, and haven’t seen the morning arrive. 

 I look at the lump of muddy clothes that have been laying in front of the door since we came back. I can't bring myself to go near them yet, and see... 

No. 

I turn my back on the door and start writing again. I dive back into the darkness, back with them, to swim in the flickering lights, the overwhelming noise... 

▁▁▁

We were thrown from wall to wall, bumping painfully into each other. The mass of bones shifted like an angry sea underneath us, poking and stabbing with each wave. Dust rained from the pale ceiling, so thick we couldn’t breathe, and the wind carried it away and spread it in the tunnel, its deafening rush muffling the screams.

‘Out! Get to the tunnel!’, Axel yelled repeatedly, trying to make himself heard through the noise. 

Turning back was far from easy; the cloud of dust blocked the view, and nothing appeared to be where it should. The earth jostled us among the bones. Had I hit a wall? The ceiling? There was no way to tell. A rock or an elbow crushed into my stomach, and I gagged on the overwhelming nausea that took over me.

‘This way!’

I followed Axel’s voice through the blinding storm, paying no more heed to the blows I took with each shake. I felt a sleeve rip at some point; bones stabbed me mercilessly at every movement. It didn’t matter; my only thought was to get out. 

When my head stopped bumping and scrapping against the ceiling, I knew we had reached the tunnel. Standing on the moving ground was near impossible; I remained on my knees, and all I could do was to fumble through the heavy fog, hoping to find a wall, or a friend. I touched something warm and soft, and a small hand clasped mine. I crawled to find Lilianne, curled up on herself against the stone. 

‘Where’s David?’, I shouted through the uproar of the earthquake, huddling close to her.

‘I don’t know!’, she yelled back, her voice high-pitched with fear. ‘Where’s Michelle? Where’s my brother?’ 

‘Somewhere behind me, I think.’ 

A new tremor threw us one against another. My head hit the wall, and white light seared my eyes with the shock. A grunt of pain came from her.

‘Are… are you okay?’

‘I think I am’, I managed to whisper, rubbing my head. ‘You?’

‘My knee hurts’, her voice quivered, on the edge of tears. ‘What’s happening?’ 

‘An earthquake, most likely.’

Where were the others? I scanned the surroundings, trying to see through the thick, flowing dust, but we were alone in the storm.

My heart started thumping, panic rising. Not now, I told myself firmly, trying to regain control. I remembered Michelle’s technique, and started breathing deeply, closing my eyes, focusing on the feel of Lilianne’s hand clasped tight around mine. She seemed to be even more afraid than I was, and it reminded me what it was like to be an older sibling. The protectiveness I felt towards her, then, made me understand Axel. He wasn’t there; it was my role to step up, and do something. Cold determination replaced the panic, and reason took the reins.

‘I’ll go back and look for them’, I said, hugging her before leaving. 

‘No, don’t go!’, she pleaded, wrapping her arms around me. ‘Don’t leave me alone! Please!’ 

‘Just stay right here’, I said gently. ‘I’ll follow the wall so I can find you when I come back with them.’ 

If I find them. 

She shook her head violently, her wide eyes red with tears. 

‘Lili’, I insisted, using the same diminutive as Axel with the hope that it would make her view me in the same protective role. As far as I was concerned, she had become a little sister the moment I felt she needed me more than I needed her. With a pang of sadness, I thought of my non-existent relationship with my own siblings, for which I had longed my whole life. ‘Lili, we need to be together, all of us, to get out of here. This place isn’t that big – only the gallery and the cavity with the well. I won’t be long.’

‘Then they can find us, can’t they?’ 

‘What if one of them is hurt?’, I said, as kindly as I could, so she wouldn’t panic even more. ‘Look, things seem to calm down a little, I’m sure I’ll be back in no time. And everything will be better when we have Axel with us.’

Lilianne nodded quietly, hugging her knees. 

I crawled back under the low hanging stone ceiling, searching through the dust that thinned by the now decreasing wind. 

‘Axel? Michelle?’, I called out. 

‘Over here!’, came his voice, echoing strangely. I followed it, and found myself under the shaft. Axel was sitting with his back on the wall, holding a pale Michelle against him. 

‘She hit her head against the stone’, he said worriedly. ‘I could barely keep her from fainting until now.’ 

Her head rolled on his shoulder with a weak moan. Axel patted her cheek.‘Michelle, stay with me. Don’t close your eyes.’ Then, to me: ‘We have to get out of here immediately, and take her to a hospital. Where is David?’

I shrugged, my throat tight. ‘I only found Lilianne, and she doesn’t know either.’ 

Axel clenched his teeth, biting back a curse.‘Help me get her out, first of all, and then we shall see.’ 

I nodded, and kneeled by her side, passing her arm around my neck, while Axel did the same. 

‘This will be fun’, I muttered, trying to move on my knees and one hand, supporting her with the other. She did her best to crawl along and not be a dead weight. We made slow progress; at least, with the respite the earth offered, we were able to see clearer. Lilianne must have been keeping watch, because she noticed us first, and rushed towards us. However, the instant her right knee touched the floor of broken bones, she cried out and jerked her leg back. 

‘Lili?! What happened?!’

‘I don’t know, it just hurts a lot’, she whimpered, sitting and holding her knee. 

We dragged Michelle to the wall, took off her backpack, and propped her up. The chilly draught invigorated her a little, and she managed to open her eyes. Axel looked around for his backpack; it had been thrown in the dead-end of the gallery. He rummaged through it, and produced a bottle of water. 

‘Make her drink’, he instructed his sister, throwing her the bottle. She supported her friend’s head with her left hand, and poured the water gently. 

‘Keep an eye on them, Ru’, he whispered to me, ‘I am going to look for David. And try to remain calm. I am counting on you.’

‘Don't worry, I’ve got a grip on my nerves for now.’ I hugged him briefly, and added: ‘Good luck.’

He nodded, and disappeared down the tunnel. 

I turned to the girls. Michelle seemed to come back to her senses, but her cheeks were still ashen. 

‘How are you feeling?’ 

‘A little dizzy’, she muttered, patting her head, and grimaced in pain. ‘I’m lucky to have my bonnet, and this thick hair’, she joked weakly, ‘or else I’d be in worse shape.’

Looking down, she noticed Lilianne’s bloodied jeans, and tried to sit up. ‘Hey, let me have a look at that.’ 

‘No way’, I intervened, ‘you’re doing no better than her. I’ll handle it.’ 

‘I’m a soon-to-be doctor’, she tried to protest, but winced and had to lean back against the wall. ‘Alright, you win. There’s a first aid kit in my bag. Clean the wound with the serum first. You can move your leg, right?’, she asked Lilianne. 

‘It hurts like hell, but yes.’ 

‘Good. It means your knee isn’t broken.’

I washed the cut, now thankful that her jeans had been torn beforehand. I had to admit it was practical. The right side of her knee was swollen, but the wound remained superficial. 

‘Let me palpate that, see if everything’s in place’, Michelle insisted.

Lilianne moved a little closer, putting her leg in her friend’s lap, and bit her lip at her touch. 

‘I’m afraid it’s sprained’, came the diagnosis. ‘It looks like a mild one, though’, she added reassuringly. ‘Give me the kit.’

She took off her dirty rubber gloves and carefully put on a pair of surgical ones, before tearing the wrapper off a piece of gauze and placing it gently on the wound. 

‘Bandage, please’, she asked, without looking up. I found a roll and handed it to her. Michelle wrapped it several times around the knee in a complex, criss-crossed pattern. 

‘Is it too tight? Can you bend your leg?’ 

‘No, it’s good’, Lilianne answered, then tried to move. ‘I can, but it feels like I’m stabbed when I do.’

Michelle nodded sympathetically.  ‘I have nothing more than aspirin, but it can ease the pain for a while.’ 

‘Yes, please.’ 

I packed everything away, then sat, waiting. Silence was sneaking slowly on us, once again at home, and settled down all around. White spirals of dust swirled tentatively at lamp’s length, and a dry, irritating smell, something between smoke and burnt sugar, caught my throat. I inhaled it unwillingly, and coughed. 

‘This isn’t dust’, I managed to croak after a while. Progressively, the air thickened, and soon enough we were all doubled up coughing. 

‘I wish we could get out of here and never come back’, I heard Lilianne’s hoarse voice near me, muffled by the dense smoke. I couldn’t even see her; I shuffled closer, following the wall, until the silhouettes of the two girls appeared like Chinese shadows through the screen of fog.

A whistle came from the distance, as startling as a bird’s alarm call. Lilianne’s head jerked up, and a grin spread on her face. Placing two fingers between her lips, she responded with another whistle, a long, repeated tremolo, then bent her head to listen. The answer came, yet another different trill, bouncing off the walls; and she leaned back once more with a sigh of relief.

‘Axel is coming, and he’s found David.’

The pressure in my chest vanished. We’d soon be outside, in open space, the space I knew and which held no vague and cryptic threats. Outside, where the air was clear and the night held at bay. Hearing the familiar voices approach, albeit slowly, put a grin on my face – until I was able to perceive the angry tones they held, like menacing growls barely contained. 

‘I am going to end the bastard, wherever he is.’

Axel. 

A muffled response came from David, talking rapidly, almost pleading. 

‘We’re here!’, Lilianne called out, and the voices cut off abruptly. Axel materialised through the smoke, and sat down heavily next to his sister, his face clouded like a winter storm, his jaw set. 

‘What happened? What's wrong?’ 

‘Some idiot lit a smoke bomb down the tunnel’, David sighed, plopping down by my side and leaning against the wall tiredly. ‘I saw his shape and followed him, but he disappeared at the Carrefour des Morts.’ 

The ominous name made me shiver again. Was there no end to it?

I was eager to get out, find the shelter of my flat, and sleep myself into forgetfulness. Eager to wake up to a new day, and never hear about divination, danger, and dead bones again. I craved my boring, normal life, which right now seemed to belong to a distant past and an even more distant future. 

‘...in a damned earthquake’, Axel swore, startling me back to reality. I stared at him in surprise; I’d never heard him curse, not even after some of the worst protests, when he’d come back bruised and smelling of teargas. With his head bent over Lilianne’s swollen knee, he examined the bandage while Michelle filled him in on what had happened since he’d left. Axel’s expression darkened even more. 

‘As if an earthquake wasn’t enough, now you’ll have to walk with a sprain through a damned fumigen! What pick-headed, thoughtless twat would do something like this?’, he exploded. ‘Putting people in danger?! I can’t… Aargh!’ 

For a moment, I was afraid he was going to punch the wall in rage. Lilianne put a hand on his cheek and forced him to look into her eyes, then rested her forehead on his. Axel clenched his jaw, resisting. Caressing his face soothingly, she started whispering something in a foreign language – their mother tongue, I assumed. Word after word, slowly, Axel’s shoulders dropped, his fists opened, as if Lilianne unwound the tense muscles one by one. 

‘Take us out, brother’, she murmured, and he nodded tiredly. 

‘It will be a ten minutes walk from here – that is, if you two feel able to climb the shaft. Otherwise…’

David looked at him inquisitively, frowning in thought. ‘The only exit I see that's not through a shaft is…’ 

‘Yes, I know’, Axel cut him off. ‘But we do not have that many options.’

Michelle and Lilianne exchanged glances. ‘I’m sure that if I go slowly, I can keep the weight off my knee. Don’t worry about me’, his sister said placatingly.

‘Me too. And I trust you to make sure I get up there safely’, Michelle added with an encouraging smile. ‘But I’ll go straight to the hospital when we’re out.’

We stumbled through the smoke, probing the hidden ground with the foot before every step we took. Axel supported his sister, while David and I kept an eye on Michelle. Our progress was slow; we were lucky the gallery led straight to the Carrefour, and I placed all my hopes on Axel’s knowledge to find his way after that. Our lamps could barely outline the vague shapes of the siblings. Our footsteps barely made any noise. The atmosphere was surreal, like dream-walking through clouds. Even time seemed to have left us, as we dragged on and on between the white walls. 

The smoke cleared abruptly. I stared at an incurved wall, stained with pale clay and dark spots of moisture. The tunnel circled around it, scattered with slabs of stone, troubled puddles, and the abandoned remains of beer bottles and sandwich wrappers. A weathered skeleton graffiti guarded the nearest wall. 

‘This is it. The Carrefour des Morts’, Axel said wearily. Lilianne let go of his arm and leaned against the stone to give her right leg some rest. ‘I have a mind to go ahead and check before the rest of you come, in case some other surprise is waiting for us.’

‘Or someone, isn’t it? Don’t frown at me, I know that expression of yours’, David said. ‘I don’t think you should go alone.’ 

‘Look at the water’, Axel snapped. ‘He has come through here, and you know it. So what do you suggest? To come with me and leave the girls alone here, maybe? Would that be a better idea?’

‘I really think I should get to a hospital soon. So we could save some time if we all come, and stay a few meters behind you, just in case’, Michelle offered in a tired whisper, rubbing her temples with her eyes closed. ‘David can stay with us.’

‘Alright, fine’, Axel gave in, but there was tension in his voice. He moved forward, staying close to the outer wall of the gallery, his body angled to keep his back protected and his sight clear. We walked carefully in his steps, instinctively making as little noise as possible. I tried to keep an eye both on the treacherous ground and the tunnel itself, and realised I was more tense than a coiled spring. 

Axel stopped, raising a finger to his lips, and beckoned David over. 

‘There should be a gallery here’, he whispered. ‘Do you have the plan at hand?’ 

David fished it out of a pocket, and their heads bent over it. I tiptoed behind them, and inspected the wall – old limestone, slimy from the moisture, spattered with worn-out graffiti half-covered with mud. It went on uninterrupted, curving away into the darkness as far as I could see. Maybe the gallery Axel was looking for was simply farther away? But then, wasn't he supposed to know this labyrinth better than most? Maybe something was wrong. An insistent chill tickled the nape of my neck. I rubbed my knotted stomach uncomfortably, trying to keep the disquieting thoughts at bay. 

Turning away from Axel, David took my arm and led me back to the others. 

‘It’s best if we go back a few steps and wait for Axel to check this place out. Something's off’, he explained, and herded us firmly back to the gallery we had come from. 

 ‘I’ll stay with you’, he added, before anyone could protest. ‘You two should rest a little, and I’m the only one besides Axel to know the way out of here. So we stick together and let him do his thing.’

‘But, David…’, I began. 

‘You’re safe here with me’, he interrupted. 

‘Yes, but is Axel safe on his own?’

He hesitated for a heartbeat before saying no. 

‘I’m going back to him, then.’

‘Rusanda! You’re no…’

‘I’m no heavy weight, I know, and maybe I’m not a fighter either. But I have two Docs full of mud and I’ll be damned if I let another friend get hurt.’

He grabbed my arm. 

‘David, let me g…’

...and covered my mouth with his. Lightning struck me and ran through my spine, leaving me unsteady. 

Everything vanished. No more time, no more space, only electricity. My hands found his face and explored blindly, as if to learn it by heart. There was no one else, nothing else. Just him, his warmth, the shelter of his body, eyes locked with his, diving into their crepuscular depths. He was the first to pull away, and I whimpered in protest. 

He knew that it wouldn’t make me stay, however. ‘Come back to me’, he whispered.

‘Nothing will stop me’, I declared firmly, filled with renewed force. David nodded and, for once, his smile carried a clear message. 

I caught up with Axel and called him softly, hoping the sound of my voice would not attract the attention of anyone else. He stopped and waited for me to catch up. 

‘There is something amiss’, he whispered, without taking his eyes off the gallery. ‘The Carrefour is a roundabout, with six tunnels leaving from here and two that have been walled up. Now, look around and tell me what you see.’

We walked together slowly, circling the massive centre, scrutinizing the outer wall. The stone went on, evenly worn out and tainted with clay, without a single opening. Not even a crevice, or the slightest crack, blemished its façade. 

‘Uh… Nothing?’

Axel nodded, his shoulders tense. ‘As much as I'd like to understand what is happening here, I think we should go back to the others and get out. We will make the detour through the cathole, and leave through the same access we came in’, he said, glancing around warily. 

Just when I was about to nod, I noticed something, and gasped. 

‘Axel, this graffiti... it was to the right of the gallery where we left them.’ I looked in all directions wildly, searching for the tunnel, dread rising in my chest; but there was nothing but the same wall, going round and round. 

Axel cursed. Without a word, we set off quickly. I paid no mind to the boulders we tripped on or the water that slipped into my shoes. I didn't care about the gravel in my socks, or the mud that rolled around my feet like tugging tentacles. Nothing could slow me down. We circled the Carrefour again and came face to face with the painted skeleton. 

‘Shit.’ 

We broke into a run, round and round again, stumbling and slipping, steadying ourselves on the slimy walls at the last moment without stopping. A dark figure rose in front of us abruptly. I braked, and my foot hit a boulder, sending me sprawling into the mud  with a sharp cry of surprise. 

I scrambled on my back and hoisted myself up on my elbows.

A fresh gap ruptured the inner wall, spilling broken stone and decaying bones on the floor. 

The silhouette was standing in front of the breach, facing David, Lilianne, and Michelle. It was tall enough to hunch under the ceiling; its shadow filled the corridor and spread, slithering, across the walls.

A tidal wave of primal fear rushed through my veins, and my limbs went numb. 

Axel advanced unsteadily through the mud and stood in front of me. He clenched his fists. ‘Hey!’

The figure barely turned, and waved a dismissive hand. The gale gathered around it, swirling madly, and cannoned into Axel. He slammed against the wall, and slid motionlessly to the ground. 

A scream rose in my throat, but was quickly stifled as ice crept suddenly from the stone and into my flesh. Frozen tentacles probed around my neck, and tightened. I gagged, strangled, unable to move, yell, or breathe. All I could do was roll my eyes wildly, struggling to see my friends. 

The shadows squirmed along the ceiling, reaching down like talons towards David, who tried to shelter the girls with his body. I battled against the unseen bindings, every thought vanished except survival. My chest spasmed for air. 

Through blurring eyes, I saw the darkness around the stranger rise like a cobra’s cowl. 

David moved to block the hit, but wasn’t fast enough. The figure hit him in the stomach, and he buckled, falling on his knees. The gloom surrounded him. 

I tried to yell, but the ties around my neck stiffened against my efforts. I fell back, head spinning and vision darkening. Blood thumped frantically in my ears like drums of war. Unable to blink or look away, I stared at the scene in horror. The girls were flattened against the wall, vainly trying to shelter themselves from the shadows that edged towards them from all sides, closing in on the globe of meagre light. 

All I could do was watch. My entire attention shifted away from the pain in my lungs and the numbness in my limbs. Each of my senses sharpened, amplifying everything: the trickling of sweat along my brow, the foul odor of decay borne by the infernal gale. The rasp of a sole against the stone. 

The figure coiled to strike. 

Its shadow writhed, impatient.

Lilianne leaned on her good leg, steadying her stance, and stood her ground.  

They moved simultaneously. 

Dark arms moved in a blurr, aiming for her neck. 

The wind hissed.

She crouched and sprang, barrelling headfirst into the stranger’s chest. 

They hit the wall together; someone exhaled sharply at the impact. The attacker staggered, its hands around her neck, and pulled her to the ground as it tumbled down. 

Michelle cried out.

They grappled together in the mud, the darkness boiling around them. I stared, transfixed, recording the scene automatically, as if all of me had become a single, unblinking eye.

In the weakening light of our lamps, the struggle was reduced to threshing shadows and rare glimpses of blonde hair or a pale patch of skin. 

On the edge of my vision, Axel stirred, and tried to stand. I couldn’t see David. 

I stared, petrified.

There was a piercing scream of excruciating pain. Michelle threw herself into the wrestle. I heard more than saw her be crushed against the wall.

The stranger stood. 

Its shadow spread, filling the space wall to wall, dimming the lights. 

Our lamps flickered wildly, and died. 

… 

…

… 

Heartbeats, thumping wildly. Rocks, falling. A shrill, continuous ringing. The deep rumble of the crumbling earth, resonating in my chest. Sounds came to me as if muffled through layers of cotton. 

‘David! David!’ 

It was my own voice. 

I kept yelling. 

White light seared my eyes. The gale slapped me in the face. 

‘Ru? Ru, are you alright?’ 

I batted at the hand. 

‘David!’ 

‘Ru, it's me, it's Axel. Listen to me.’

I tried to get on my feet and slipped. Arms grabbed me firmly. 

‘We have to get out of here.’ 

My ears kept on ringing, ringing. 

‘David!’ 

Axel hauled me up and passed my arm over his shoulder. I moved as if in a dream. My throat was hoarse from screaming. 

‘David’, I whispered, dragging my feet along the now empty gallery. Axel was silent while carrying me to the exit. He propped me against the cold stone of the shaft, and tapped my cheeks.

‘Rusanda, look at me’, he said urgently, taking my face in both hands and forcing me to lock eyes with him. 

‘We have to go up. You have to climb. There is no other way.’ 

I stared at him blankly, then away into the darkness. They were gone. 

‘Rusanda, climb, come on!’ 

I heard the words, but they didn’t reach me. It wasn’t important. They were gone; David was gone.

With a grunt, Axel turned me to face the ladder. I let him do it. He buckled a strap around both of us, put my hands on the rusty steps and started climbing. Instinctively, I gripped each rung as he placed my hands onto it, put one leg in front of the other, securely held by his body. 

We made it out. 

But they are gone.

Questions for the readers