Through Hell and Into Heaven

Chapter 5

Israel dug into his back pack and fished out his iPhone. It took him a bit, but he managed to find the flashlight on it and shined the light around the dark tent. The tent was practically littered with old artifacts: pieces of pottery, bones, bits of sandstone with engravings and so on. Taran was visibly shivering and purposefully standing close to the exit. Israel slowly directed the flashlight beam around the tent and began to look carefully around. Tina searched wherever he shone the light. "There's nothing too interesting here," Tina said with disappointment, "just pieces of junk.... Should we even be in here?" Israel shrugged. "No clue, but we are now. Hey.... What's that?" The teenager examined two squares of metal lying on the floor. "These look peculiar...." he began, brushing his hand over them. "It looks like a...." He suddenly began to stomp on the floor, sending sand and dust everywhere. "What are you doing," hissed Taran, "do you want to get us caught?" Israel scratched his head, puzzled. "Sorry.... I thought this was some sort of-" Abruptly, the floor beneath his feet fell open and he plummeted down a square hole.
Israel couldn't see anything as he hit the dusty floor below. He grunted and clutched his foot which had landed awkwardly.

"Izzy!" Tina called down the shaft he had fallen through. "Are you okay?" "Yeah," Israel grumbled, "all I really did was ruin my jeans. Mom's gonna kill me." That is when he noticed that he was in total darkness. He automatically reached for his iPhone, but it was not there. He must have dropped it on his way down. "Taran!" called Israel, "get down here with your phone!" He heard Taran drag his feet in sand above. "It.... But it's so dark!" Taran mumbled. Israel sighed and leaned against a stone wall he had found by feeling around. "That's why you're bringing your phone! Get down here! I can't see a thing!" Taran reluctantly started descending the steps, glowing phone in hand. He fumbled with turning on the flashlight and he scanned the room as Tina hopped down with them. The place was cold and clammy, with cement walls and a single wooden table. Israel caught sight of his phone and grabbed it. Thankfully, it was not damaged Taran shakily flashed the light around the room and immediately said, "F-friends, I think we should l-leave."

Tina ignored Taran's plea and walked toward the single table. "Guys, there's stuff on the table," she whispered. Israel ran over to the table as well and examined what Tina had pointed out. There definitely was stuff on the table. Pieces of rock slabs with notes beside them. "What do the notes say?" Israel asked, "I can't see them clearly." He was about to call Taran over when Tina began to read the notes herself. "For in this tomb," she said, "is held the Fallen." She gave Israel a quizzical glance. "The Fallen?" she repeated nervously. "What do the other notes say?" inquired Israel, grabbing for the note Tina had just read. "I can't stay here any longer," Taran moaned, "I'm leaving!" Tina and Israel decided to follow their friend out of the dank room. They hurriedly rushed up the ladder and slammed the trapdoor shut. "Please, let's not do that ever again!" Taran groaned, "I have the jitters, as you say in America." "Guys, let's get out. Now." Tina hissed. The teenagers quickly exited the tent. The bright sun blinded Israel, but only for a few seconds. They tried to make it seem like they were bored, walking in circles and kicking pebbles. Jim walked over to them and gave them a look of surprise. "What, you bored already?" Israel bit the side of his cheek as he replied, "We really want to see the tomb opened and look inside." That was not a lie. "Good," Jim grinned, "because we're about to do that right now. Jeff's got a drill and we're gonna knock those sealed doors down. Come and watch.... Oh, and don't forget to cover your ears."

Israel blinked. Cover your ears? The group walked over to the unearthed structure. Jeff's men had a large metal drill set in front of the sealed entrance. At Jeff's signal, the workers turned the destructive tool on. The spinning cone on the end bore into the rock, sending pebbles flying in different directions. The sound was so loud and horrid that Israel dug his fingers into his ears, gritting his teeth and wincing. When the drilling had ceased, Israel slowly took his fingers out of his ears. There was a new, giant hole in the wall of the tomb, dust billowing out of it. Jeff smirked and said, "Now that's how you make a door." Israel suddenly felt a tug in his chest. What was that? He felt pulled toward the mysterious tomb. "Can we go into it now?" he asked his stepdad. Jim laughed, "Hold your horses, Israel. Let the trained workers take a look inside first, just to be safe." Israel nodded, but felt little spasms rack his body. Why was he so eerily drawn toward the ancient structure? The men took high-powered flashlights and two shined them into the dense darkness of the tomb. After a few minutes, the workers signaled that it was okay to enter. Jim pulled some handkerchiefs out of his back pocket and handed them to Israel and his friends. "Tie these around your mouths," he said, "and don't touch anything."

Israel nodded and followed Jim inside the tomb. Israel automatically pulled out his phone and turned on its flashlight. The inside of the structure was filled with dust, so thick that even with the handkerchief on, Israel gagged. He pivoted around the room with the light of his iPhone illuminating the walls. Creepy statues of men with swords surrounded him and his stepfather. They all glared at them with permanent scowls on their faces. Israel nearly jumped put of his sneakers. They reminded him of the gargoyles they had at his original school back in America. "Definitely a Persian tomb," Jim remarked, "I can't match that architecture with anything else." Israel nodded numbly. They gradually stepped deeper into the tomb, Jeff directly behind them. Israel felt himself mentally pulled toward the corner of the room. What was over there that he wanted so bad? In the corner stood a sandstone pillar with a golden pot. The pottery glinted in the light of Israel's phone and revealed engravings of strange creatures on it. The teenager laughed quietly at himself. Why in the world would he be drawn to something as lame as this? The pot kind of reminded him of the pot he tried to make in school back in America, but his was sloppy and barely a pot. This one was certainly made by an expert. He felt his chest tug toward the piece of pottery. Not being able to stop himself, he reached out and grabbed it. There was a wooden lid on the top with strange makings. Jim and mom said not to touch anything, he suddenly remembered, but he was already ripping the top open.