Emerged In Darkness

Chapter 12

The smell of rot and death burned her nose. That and the old, rancid smell of feces.

Lucas's game had lead them to a barn, of all places. A barn loaded with more explosive traps. More ways for them to die in his book she supposed. Saran would be glad when they were finally done with Lucas and this place.

"Be careful. There's bombs everywhere and I hear more of those things, whatever they are," Ethan mumbled, looking in front of them.

"Molded? Yeah, I'm not so worried about those things anymore." She grimaced, remembering the whole key ordeal Lucas had made her go through.

If Ethan noticed, he didn't say anything, instead choosing to move forward again. Every so often, he'd blow up the traps and look to see if the molded had heard him. A few would lumber toward them and Saran would dispatch them with a shot to the head. Other than that, it was quiet. Too quiet for Saran's liking.

They were uninterrupted as they searched the upstairs and downstairs. Handgun ammo, shotgun ammo, the green liquid medicine, and orange pills rewarded them in their search. While Ethan decided to go back down the stairs, Saran stayed.

The little room she'd found herself in had a box where they could store their things and as she looked around in it, she found a VCR tape. Written on the white label was Happy Birthday Clancy. A quick look around the room told her there was a TV with a VCR on top. She slid the tape in and began watching.

The first few minutes were of Lucas dragging a man into a room, the same one she'd seen Lucas in earlier. Lucas said something or another and left the man to his own devices.

As the man walked around the room, she took in the details.

A dummy resembling a clown sat at a writing desk, hunched over with a single white candle in its hand, which the man grabbed.

Beyond it, was a bathroom with a dirty toilet. The section to the left of the dummy consisted of a makeshift kitchen with an old worn oven. Next to that was a broken pipe spewing air. Around the corner was a screen of a black and white picture that didn't look like much. A door with a rope tied around the handle and the wall next to it was after.

Then there was a break in the wall. From what it seemed, the door was triggered to release a spray of water every time you walked through it. It kept dousing out the candle in the man's hands. He stopped long enough for Saran to get a good look at the room too.

In front of the doorway was a table with a huge cake on it. It had four candles in the white icing and in the middle sat a card. It said: Happy fucking Birthday. Got a light?

Her face scrunched up in disgust but she said nothing. She managed to catch the back half of Lucas describing what the man was to do, which was put a lit candle on the birthday cake.

She watched as the man made his way back to the bathroom and flushed the dirty toilet. Water the color of feces began to rise steadily until it reached the rim of the porcelain bowl. He cursed and put his hand into the water and pulled a small telescope looking object out. He shook his hand of the dirty water and shoved the telescope into his pocket.

The man walked back into the kitchen and went up to the stove. With a few clicks and a cough and sputter, it came to life.

A few flickering flames licked the air and the man leaned down to relight the candle he had in his hand. After it was aflame again, he walked over to the door with the rope and burned the material. Once it fell away, the door swung open and he walked in. Gray balloons drifted everywhere on the floor. So much so that the man had to pop many of them with the candle in his hands. Finally, there was enough gone that he, and Saran, could see the yellow balloon in the corner. He picked it up and left the room. He passed by a slot where the wall was broken and she could see the value he needed. But it was locked behind a door.