The Plague Doctor's Growth

Tunnel Trouble

The Doctor would pause at the basement stairs, now being unsure. "Cartyr.. where in the living hell are you taking me?" He'd whisper, calmly walking down the stairs to some degree, stopping when he heard footsteps. The stone was cold to the touch as he pressed his arm against one of the walls. Staring down into the darkness with his already limited vision made him panic inside. "C..Cartyr?' '~Come on Doc...~'
Eri would pause on the second to last step. Startled that he saw something move in the shadows, his first instinct was to run, because he was already injured, but he thought that it could be Cartyr just coming back for him. He softly whispered, "C-Cartyr..?"
Looking up, Rae groaned and shielded their eyes. It was clear they weren't expecting the sudden change in lighting. Once their eyes adjusted, they asked gorggily, "Doc? What- You're... In just shorts..." They quickly averted their gaze and said hastily, "S-sorry! I didn't see your face! They covered their eyes and reached into their pocket, holding it out as they said, "H-here. This'll cover the bottom half." When they pulled the mask out of their pocket, something else fell to the ground.
Eri paused, he then sighed, "Rae, it's fine.. I just.. Did.. did you see Cartyr down here..?" He asked quietly, almost afraid to raise his voice. "I heard him come down here.." Keeping their gaze averted, Rae replied, "Uh, nobody's been done here but me, sir. I woulda heard him if he came down for some alcohol." They stomped the ground a couple times, probably indicating that they would have heard his footsteps from below.
Eri, seeming kind of shaken, "Then.. who did I hear..?" He'd say softly, turning his gaze down the hallway, being unable to see passed Rae, really, being visually impaired. "You don't.. Do you think... My voices..?" Eri heard footsteps and stopped speaking, freezing up a bit.
0Please don't tell me you hear them too.." Listening for a few moments, Rae pursed their lips. They shook their head, "No. I don't-" They were abruplty cut short, seeing something out of the corner of their eye. When they turned, they saw nothing.
They seemed confused for a moment, gaze lingering where they thought they had seen a figure. Shaking their head, they looked back to Eri and smiled, "It's late and its dark down here. Besides, today's been rough so your nerves are probably more worked up than usual." Despite their tone, they seemed visibly anxious. They kept shifting their weight back and forth and glancing to their sides. Or they would make a subtle movement like a twitch if the finger as if they were feeling or hearing something unusual.
With a very hushed voice, Eri grabs Rae's arm and just calmly begins to speed walk up the stairs. "Nope. I'm moving your room upstairs, like tomorrow because that's awful." He said in a matter of factly kind of tone as they made it up out of the basement and back onto the main floor. "Now.. Calmly. What did you see down there? Because I am legally blind." Rae frowned and got a bit defensive as they replied, "I didn't see anything!" They rubbed their arm, feeling a bit weird...
Eri sighed softly, "Sorry.. I just.. I don't know what's real anymore.." Eri gaze was turned away, he then turned his head slowly to look up and down the halls for a moment. ".. I wish I knew ..where Cartyr went.." He paused for a moment, having almost a flashback of sorts. "When I was in the process of dying.. he opened a wall.. maybe I was hallucinating but.." He looked around, confused.
Rae felt a little bad now seeing Eri's reaction. They sighed, running a hand through their hair and mumbling,*"Okay... Maybe I saw something... But it's probably just my imagination acting up. Miss Ar'Chivald always said so..." They rubbed the back of their neck, looking off to the side quietly.
Upon hearing this, he seemed to gaze over at Rae before humming. He looked towards the kitchen area and began to walk towards it. "All I remember is the kitchen.. a wall opening... and then getting shocked, which I do not recommend." Eri would try to lighten the mood.
Quietly following, Rae mumbled, "Well, Cartyr built the house. So he coulda added a secret room." They grazed their hand across the walls quietly, occasionally knocking as if to see if the wall was fake or not. It seemed they had experience finding false walls and secret rooms. Bit of an odd detail.
Eri would slowly walk to the cubby wall, and gently knock against it with his hand. Pausing, looking to Rae to see if it was different. Stepping back a bit, his eyes sweeping the wall for a moment. "I think it was.. over here." Without hesitation, Rae pulled out their ballisong and stabbed it into the wall.
"Y-you didn't have to fcking stab the cunt." Eri, in a suddenly thick British accent. "You coulda just focking found the damned secret lever or whatever-" Eri paused, gazing at the wall for a moment, regaining his senses. "Anyway.. If you take your knife out and feel a draft.. that means there must be something there..." Rae stared at Eri and said quietly, "That's... What I was gonna do..."
Eri shrugged, and  hummed softly, he then played around with the cubbies for a minute, trying to reenact what Cartyr did. Moving the cubby just a smidge and the wall opened. He would pause, thinking he was hallucinating. "I... I- don't know..." Quickly taking their knife, Rae stepped back and blinked while watching. The Doctor would slowly step towards it, and pull on the wall, trying to get it to open wider. He'd back up for a moment, staring in disbelief for a second before muttering something about, "This is why you have licensed people build your house... I can't believe this..."
Rae was just kinda quietly watching, not quite knowing how to react. After all, they had somewhat thought there would be nothing. The fake removed wall led to a metal tunnel. This metal tunnel would be most accurately described as a tube slide. Able to bring anything, or anyone down to a different, dark level of the house. He'd hesitate, looking at Rae with a blank expression. He'd try to remain calm, trying to give a reasonable explanation as to why Cartyr would have installed fucking tunnels, but found none.
Maybe they were secret exits in case Eri ever locked Cartyr up, or if Eri himself, became a danger and Cartyr could lock him up in a hole and throw away the key. His mind was flying a million ideas a minute. His eyes just staring blankly at the now open wall. He begun to get paranoia creep over him. Was Cartyr spying on them in some way? Watching them while they slept or stayed in their rooms?
Rather than contemplating the existence of such a secret, Rae casually stepped forward and slid down the tunnel with their hands in their pockets. They didn't at all seem bothered. Eri hesitated, and then slowly stepped towards it, sliding down the tunnel aswell, careful not to get his bandages caught on anything as he went down. His eyes struggling to adjust to the low light.
As they slid down, they were politely brought to a small area with various more tunnels. A place where these  multiple tunnels led to different points and were all labeled. Reaching the bottom, Rae bounced a little bit as they steps forward. Glancing around, they didn't seem to be very put off by the low light. But, they still pulled out a lighter just in case for Eri.
Eri landed pretty hard, stumbling a bit. Making a soft grunt as they stood fully for a moment. "...Ow." He's mutter as he gazed through the lowlight. Pausing, he then watched the lighter for a moment before gazing about at the other tunnels. "What the f-" Utter disbelief in his voice.
There weren't an excessive amount of tunnels. The ones that were labeled had stated where they went. Those ones were: The Dark Forest, The Big Porch, Dining Room, Dark Hallway, Back halls, The Basement, and the Laboratory. Which, no one had a laboratory in this house to anyone's knowledge. Reading the labels, Rae furrowed their eyebrows together before noting, "We don't have a lab."
Eri paused, reading the labels,* ".. Not that I kno- That's where he must've taken me." He said, hesitating as he stepped towards the tunnel, he heard a voice and stopped like a deer in headlights, 'ERI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING DOWN HERE!' It echoed up the tunnel to them, but Eri was the only one that could hear it. His eyes were wide, and he stepped away from the tunnel.
Glancing at Eri, Rae spoke softly, "Hey, its okay. Here, I'll go first." Rae walked forward, roaming the tunnel and checking to see if Eri was following. He'd hesitate, but also didn't want to get left behind. He slowly walked after Rae, his steps feet careful, and he looked like he might just take off at any sudden move or noise. His breathing was fast and slightly panicked. Rae kept a slow pace, checking on Eri every now and again. They didn't seem nearly as panicked. But that was mostly because they were mostly staring at their feet as they walked. Every now and again, they would flick their gaze towards something or make a subtle movement.
The tunnel eventually led into a large room. Searching for a light, they flipped it on. The sudden shift caused them to sheild their eyes and mutter a curse under their breath. Eri blinked a few times as the light blinded them for a moment before they adjusted. He stared out at the room, smelling that similar metallic smell, and the smell of cleaning supplies for washing blood and other things away. Recognizing the scent a bit too well. He'd turn his gaze towards the huge Tesla Coil. He hesitated, "That's what.. hit me.. with electricity..." He said slowly, looking around the large room worriedly. "H-He made this entire place.."
Rae stated bluntly, "Impressive considering he fell asleep in the bathroom once." 'Stop trying to play it cool. Cartyr hid this from both of you. He's dangerous. Its not safe here. Run run run-' 'You need to stay calm for Eri. This isn't about you. Shut up.' The voices became a chattering, bickering mess until they were just white noise. Rae ignored them to the best of their ability, just seeming slightly conflicted and unsure in their movements.
The Tesla coil stood menacingly, it wasn't powered up but it sparked just slightly from the roof. Other than the Tesla was a small table station below it, where the lightning was shot into. He'd pause softly, whispering, unsure and kinda terrified of what Cartyr was capable of, "We.. we shouldn't be down here." He said softly, looking about the room from where he was. He was in no shape to fend off anything to protect Rae and Rae wasn't in the right mental state for that. "Rae.. we should leave..." He stated softly, glancing towards the entrance occassionally. Rae was quietly staring at the table, seeming to not hear Eri at first. They then shook their head, snapping out of it before mumbling, "Yeah... Sure..." They turned back, leading Eri back down the hall. While they walked, Rae seemed a little out of it at the moment however.
Eri stumbled after Rae, grasping at his side for a moment with a groan. "Might've pull something.. I'm okay." He said softly, hushed, trailing after Rae carefully. Before the could leave fully, they passed by a door in the tunnel, hidden by shadows but could be seen by Rae's lighter.
Rae paused, gazing at the door. They wondered if it had been there before. Walking up to it, they grazed their fingers across the surfece before trailing down to the doorknob. They turned it, seeing if the door would open. Eri was just being paranoid, but he could've sworn he heard footsteps. His eyes sweeping up and down the hall as they stood behind Rae. "Wh.. What are you doing..?" He whispered, worriedly.
The door was indeed unlocked. However, the room was freezing. Most accurately below 8° Fahrenheit. Rae didn't seem to hear Eri, quietly turning the knob and slowly opening the door. They shuddered, the cold having been more than they anticipated. The lighter went out, Rae cursing and trying to get it to light again. Once it was lit, they held it up in the room to see what was inside.
Once it lit, and Rae entered the room, it immediately flicked off again as across the room, in the very back, was a cage that lit up, almost 30-40 feet away from them. Red lasers all around as a figure stood in the cage. Would just be frozen in place, trying to decide if they should enter the room or not. Grabbing Rae's arm, "I don't think we... should go in... there." He said slowly, trying to get Rae to listen to him.
The action caused Rae to flinch slightly and gasp, nearly dropping the lighter. They caught it, gripping it tight as they mumbled, "But what if it's important..." 'Its dangerous. Run. Hide. Listen to Doc. 'You need to figure out what it is. What is Cartyr hiding. Don't be a coward.'
A voice spoke out to them, it sounded dark, dry, it quite almost sounding as the physical embodiment of literal rust, spoke out, and tried to get there attention. It echoed throughout the room, it's face being unable to have been seen as shadows covered it entirely. "Hello there...."
Eri startled a bit, gazing towards the shadowy figure in the light cage. He was stepping back slowly, his voice was soft, and he whispered to Rae, "W.. we need to leave.." He was still holding Rae's arm, trying to back up with them. ".. we don't know.. who that is... If Cartyr finds us down here-" He began, rambling for a moment. Rae seemed intrigued by the figure. They called out, "Hello? Who are you?"
"Greetings, my name is Dolus. or... Pronounced Dolos in your English language... At your service, Rae. Come closer, I want to get a better look at you both... I haven't seen anyone physically in years.... " Eri paused, keeping a hand tight around Rae's arm, even with his weak physique currently, he gazed at where Dolus was. Gazing carefully, he shook his head. Backing up, trying to take Rae with him. "N..no, we're good.." 'Run, Eri... RUN..RUN. RUN. RUN.' 'Cartyr.. is close..?' 'There's a... monster.. in the mirror.. look at..'
The Doctor let go of Rae's head and fell backwards against a wall, grabbing his head with both hands. His eyes shut tightly. 'RUN, ERI.' 'ERI.. LISTEN TO US.'  Eri tried to stand up, get up. He must've torn one of his wound's stitching open, as the bandage was slowly turning a shade of red.
Rae's attention was broken away from the stranger, snapping to Eri as they felt panic rise. They quickly crouched down in front of Eri as they said, "C-come on, lets go. Sorry for holding us up." They noticed Eri's bleeding side and made a face of concern. Slinging one of Eri's arms over their shoulder, they helped him up and walked him out of the room. Closing the door behind them, they helped him through the transport halls.
After they left, Cartyr learned in from hiding in the shadows of the room. "That's... concerning...." Dolos spoke up to Cartyr. "I warned you that they would find this place Cartyr.... You didn't even listen, rather angered at more words... No way to treat a friend of yours... Cartyr..." Cartyr whipped his attention to Dolos. "YOU! YOU ARE NO FRIEND! Silence before I tighten that cage and zap you again." Cartyr huffed, turning everything off and making his way out finally.