Buried Demon

Chapter 3

"Ok guys, get him out of here." I said once we had managed to remove the glass case from the stone.

They started carrying him out when one of the four guys carrying the man tripped, causing the guy beside him to fall as well. They dropped the case and it shattered, sending green liquid and glass flying all over the place.

"God danm it you guys! Your breaking everything you touch today!" I shouted.

I approached the body that lay face first on the ground. I noticed for the first time that it was perfectly preserved, as if this man was just sleeping and was gonna wake up any second now.

I gently flipped him onto his back with my gloved hands and studied him more closely. His skin was slightly tanned and he looked to be about 6 feet 3 inches tall. He could not have been much older then 25 years old when he died.

He had black tribal tattoos that covered both his arms and his chest, stopping right before his stomach. He had short straight white hair that was currently plastered to his head due to the liquid that was still in it. The only thing he was wearing was a small loincloth wrapped around his waist that barely covered anything.

I poked his shoulder to make sure I was really seeing this and not just hallucinating and sure enough I wasn't. His skin was cold but didn't look dry like mummified skin would.

Suddenly, the body on the floor jerked and started squirming, making chocking noises as the man fought against the chains.

I jerked away form him and took a few steps back, looking on in pure shock.

"Is... Is he choking?" Rachel asked from beside me, snapping me out of my daze.

"Give me your knife!" I shouted, and she handed it over without question.

I approached slowly, unsure of what this man may do if he somehow managed to slip out of the chains.

"I don't know if you understand what I'm saying but I'm gonna cut the stitches off, but you need to stop moving." I tried, getting on my knees beside him.

At first, a thought I was gonna have to ask the workers to restrain him but as soon as I placed my hand on his shoulder he froze. I took the opportunity and quickly cut the rope tying his lips together, being careful not to cut him.

I pushed him onto his side and he started coughing up green liquid. It spilled out of his mouth and formed a small pool under his head until his breathing evened out and all that was left was a small dribble of liquid out of the corner of his mouth.

I expected him to start thrashing again but he didn't. In fact, he had gone completely limp against me. He must have passed out. Or maybe this time he was dead?

I quickly pressed my fingers to the side of his neck and to my surprise, was able to find a strong pulse.

I lay him back down on his back gently and stared at him for a while.

"How the hell is he still alive?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know, but that green stuff might have something to do with it. We should collect a sample for later analysis. " I said and Rachel handed me a little test tube she always carried around with her just in case, and scraped some off of the man's body.

"I don't like this. Why would they lock him away in here so far below ground? For crying out loud we had to dig one hundred feet underground just to find this place." She said.

"Who cares why they put him here? The people back then were weird. They probably only put him here because he stole bread from a hier ranking member of society." Charles said.

"Guys, bring him to my tent. And don't fucking drop him this time." I commanded.

They hesitantly picked up the unconscious man and carried him out. They tied a rope around him and workers outside the hole hoisted him up while one followed on the ladder to make sure the man didn't hit the side of the hole.

Once he was safely out, we all followed out and to my tent.

"You can't be serious. Your gonna keep him in your tent with you? What if he wakes up and decides he wants to kill you?" Rachel asked.

"Rachel, did you see the chains on the guy? There is no way he can get out of them alone." I said.

"Plus, I have to get those stitches out of his eyes and I have the material in my tent.

"Ok but be careful anyway. Here take this." She said, handing me a small tazer she kept at her belt.

"Thank you Rachel." I answered with a small smile.

I entered my tent as the workers left with Rachel and Charles, they were all probably going back to their own tents for the night.

I looked at the man on my bed and decided to get it over with. I grabbed my first aid kit and brought it over to the bed. I knelt beside him and touched his eyelids softly to make sure that he still had eyes and let out a breath I had not noticed I was holding when I discovered that he did.

I opened the first aid kit and pulled out a pair of small scissors with a pointed tip. I was about to start cutting the stitches on his eyes when I noticed that the rope that formed the stitches on his mouth was still hanging from his lower lip. I gently pulled the individual pieces out and threw them in the trash.

I carefully cut the stitches on his eyes, pulling the pieces of rope out as I went.

I sat back on my heals when I finished and looked over his body, deciding that he needed some new clothes. I grabbed my biggest pair of shorts and managed to work them up his legs and under the chains with much struggle.

I looked back up at his face and he was staring at me intently. As soon as my green eyes met his grey ones a gasp escaped my lips and I stumbled back, surprised by both the color of his eyes and the intensity of his gaze.

"Blake." He said in a deep rumbly voice that made my blood run cold.

*****
Pic of Rachel