Vampire World (VAMPIRE WORLD #1)

Part 21 A Dangerous Hole

Chapter 20: A Dangerous Hole

Cobwebs blanketed the narrow passageway and I was finding it hard to breathe as I crawled forward. Eerie images of fangs surrounded by triangles were scattered about, which must have stood for something but I had no idea what. A feeling of unease developed. What was I doing in here anyway? I should have been with Brett, not down in some hellhole.

 All the same, I pressed on. Before long the passageway grew larger and the light brighter, allowing me to stand up and breathe easier. At this point, based on past experience, I was almost expecting to find a note. I was not disappointed. A folded sheet of paper was attached to the wall. My eyes ran over the page.

'Janice, I’m proud that you are ready to discover the next secret of your existence. This private train depot you are in is operated by an exclusive and dangerous organization that you know little about, but that will change if you continue to follow my lead. Walk a little further and you’ll come to one of the train cars. I’ve set it up so it will take you to a place you must see. Get into the car, being careful not to make any loud noises or sudden movements. The train will automatically take you to your destination once you press the big red button. This place will be disturbing, but whatever you do, don’t scream or panic. Once you have seen it, get back in the train car and press the red button again. It will take you back to where you started from. After that, escape quickly. Good luck, Janice.'

I pushed on until arriving at an enormous shaft that ran perpendicular to the tunnel I'd just passed through. Sitting on a track was the train car my messenger had written about. It appeared quite futuristic. Capable of holding only one vampire, it had a glass door at the top that allowed me to slid down into a leather seat. The red button was right in front of me. After securing the door above my head I pressed this, at the same time wondering where the heck I was being taken to.

The train set off at an insane speed, rising up and down and twisting from side to side just like I was on a roller coaster ride. Several other tracks leading off in different directions flashed by, giving me the impression that there was a large network of tunnels here.

After a few degrees the car pulled up directly beside a shaft that led into darkness. I quietly climbed out and moved along this. It was pitch black, making me feel like I was in a nightmare. Where was I going? This could be some vile, sick joke that was going to get me killed. I prayed not.

Eventually, a door with a ruddy light flowing out of the bottom materialized ahead. I guessed that this was it. I opened the mysterious door and stepped inside.

If my earlier feelings of being in a nightmare had been just in the mind, what I saw now made it become all too horrifyingly real. Dead vampires with decaying faces much paler than mine were everywhere, standing upright in lines that went back as far as I could see. They were precariously balanced on high rising shelves that seemed to stretch up forever inside this wicked room. The smell was deplorable. There must have been thousands of them.

With a rush of revulsion, I then realized what was holding all these bodies in a vertical position. Long silver stakes had been forced through every one of them, starting from the groin and emerging out through the top of the head.

The room spun madly. Desperately, I searched for the door but was too dazed to find it. I let out a scream. A really loud, I’m-gonna-die kind of scream.

The scream was a bit of a trigger, firing at least a small part of my brain back into action. I somehow pulled myself together sufficiently to locate the door and rush back through the tunnel to the train. Once inside this, my sweaty, quivering hands stabbed at the button.