The Devil Spawn

Chapter 4

When I wake up, everything is black. I can't remember where I am. All I know is that my whole body hurts, and I can't feel my left ankle. I sit up and I remember the creature. I shudder as I remember what you would call the creature's face. (unclear)

My eyes slowly adjust to the dim light in the hole. I look around me, searching for a way out. The walls are made of soil with roots sticking out of it. I try to climb up the wall, but the soil crumbles underneath my fingers. I back up to the opposite wall, about 5 feet away. I take a couple running steps, and jump up onto the wall. I grab a root and pull myself up. As I reach for another root, my hand slips off and I fall back to the ground adding another bruise to my head when I land on a rock. I groan and sit up. I pick up the rock that I had fallen on and examine it. Even in the dim lighting, I can make out a spiral shaped etching on the rock's surface. That might be important I think.

I drop the rock and stand up to renew my efforts to find away out of this hole. I run my hand along the wall, feeling for a lump or indentation that might open up a passageway. As I'm feeling the wall, I get a weird feeling that someone is watching me. I whirl around and the creature is there, leaning against the wall, smiling a creepy smile. "It's not going to work, dearie." It says. "H-how? How did you get down here?" I ask, backing up. "Well, if I tell you, it wouldn't be a secret anymore, would it?" the creature answers. He pulls a club from thin air, and before I can process what's happening, he clubs me on the head and I pass out.

I'm jerked awake by the sound of a heavy pan crashing to the floor. I open my eyes and they are greeted by a sight I didn't expect. I am sitting in a chair in a kitchen! My eyes have a hard time adjusting to the brightness of the room after being in the dark hole. A big woman wearing an old fashioned chef's outfit bustles over to me holding a bowl of soup. She shoves the soup into my hands. "Okay?" I say, but the woman has already left.

I look at the soup. It doesn't look like it's poisoned. The only thing odd about it is that there is a spiral made out of foam resting on the surface of the broth. I scoop all the foam out with my spoon and dump it onto a napkin. I lift the bowl to my nose and inhale the scent of the soup. I can't smell even a hint of bitterness or sourness underneath the mouthwatering scent of the broth. I shrug my shoulders and lift a second spoon to my mouth.

The soup is the best thing I have ever eaten! I drop the spoon onto the floor and raise the bowl to my mouth. I finish the soup in half a minute. As soon as I finish the bowl the woman appears again with another bowl of soup. I drink slower this time to savor the taste. I can taste a hint of lemon, some basil, carrots, peas, flavorful chicken, and a delicious chicken broth. After I finish my second bowl of soup, I am so contented, full, and tired, that I fall asleep. I feel a pair of soft, big hands catch me before I hit the ground.

I wake up in the hole again, but this time, there are some lights hung on the wall so the hole is a lot brighter. I start pacing back and forth. I trip over a rock jutting out of the ground. Stupid rock!!! I think as I pick up the rock to fling it across the room. As I grasp the rock, I feel grooves running along the bottom of the rock. I flip it over and see a circle etched into the surface of the stone. I look at the little pit where the rock had been. Next to that there was the rock with the spiral etching on it. I kneel to the ground and place the rock back exactly as it was before. Next to that stone was another stone. It had an etching of a triangle on it. I pick up the rock next to the triangle rock. This one has an etching of a square on it. The next one has a star, and the next one has a diamond. There are six rocks with etchings on them.

I lay all six rocks out in front of me. I stare at them. Spiral, circle, triangle, square, star, diamond. Spiral, circle, triangle, square, star, diamond. I think over and over again, trying to make some sense out of it. I rack my brain for clues and I remember the spiral-shaped foam on the soup. "Aha! Maybe it's some kind of sequence! Maybe if I put it into the right order, a passageway out of here will appear!" I burst out.

Okay, so I think spiral is first. I place the rock with the spiral etched onto it at the beginning of the line of stones.