Elysian House: Silver Bullet (2)

Chapter 3: The Tunnels

We were in a car, on the way to the tunnels. Adelene was driving, of course. I was in the back seat with Viola. But she wasn't looking at me. She was turned away from me, staring out the window, arms crossed, in a way that screamed "stay away from me". So I did. Though I felt bad and wanted to reach out to her, I couldn't really bring myself to do it.

But it didn't matter because the ride didn't last long. We ended up parking just on the outskirts of town and Adelene got out, so naturally we followed her. She walked us to a large drop off and when we looked down, we saw it. Train tracks. Leading into a very dark, very scary -- and very abandoned -- looking tunnel.

"That's the entrance?" I asked, pointing at it nervously. I can already see Viola reaching into her jacket pocket for her flashlight.

"Not really the entrance," she said, "but it's how we get there."

I swallowed nervously.

So we made our way down and began to walk along the railroad tracks. The closer we get to the darkness, the more I wanted to reach out to Viola, because I can feel her anxiety in my own chest. Her heart rate was sky rocketing and it was troubling me a bit. Not only because she's so scared, but because I'm a Vampire and blood is kind of attractive to me.

But right now, all I can think is: My mate is scared. I have to comfort her.

So just before we're consumed in darkness, I stopped and turned to Viola. "You don't have to do this."

She sighed, clearly trying to pose as calm, cool and collected. But I could see she was anything but that. "It's fine, Riley. I told you."

"Yeah, but... it's the dark and I..."

"Don't worry about me," she said it so stiffly, keeping her expression neutral. I couldn't help but be angry at myself for making her shut down on me because of my dumb ass comment. "I'm not a kid anymore. I'll be fine."

Then, she walked in, with no more discussion on the matter and I walked in after her.

We immediately flicked on our flashlights and began walking on.

Adelene lead the way with ease, not even bothering with a light. Though, Vampires are naturally good with darkness. So I guess I really didn't need mine on either, but I wanted to help comfort Viola, so I kept it on.

The only sound I could hear was the sound of our footsteps scraping against the gravel on the ground. Well, that's what a human might say. But being a Vampire means you kind of had pretty strong hearing. And I heard the way Viola was gasping for air as if she was running a marathon. And I could hear the sound her heart was making as it was beating. Which bothered me.

Adelene eventually stopped and aimed her light.

A small human-sized hole was embedded into the cement in the wall. She looked back at us, though didn't remove her light from the spot. "This is it. Are you sure you wish to continue?"

I looked over at Viola, questionably. I think we both wondered if Viola was going to be able to handle this. But she held out her chin and spoke, "I'm fine. Let's go."

Adelene nodded stiffly once, and then dropped down to her knees and began to crawl through. I looked back at Viola. "You can go on in first." I wanted her in the middle. That way Adelene would be up front and I'd be in the back and she wouldn't need to worry too much about the dark creeping in on her.

Luckily, she didn't fight me either, she just got down on one knee and slipped in through the small hole. I joined in after I saw her light vanish.

The hole wasn't just like a plain hole in the wall. It took some wiggling to be able to get down. It was also highly claustrophobic in here. The dark didn't bug me so much as the tight spaces did.