Buried Demon

Chapter 9

The noise continued for a few minutes before everything became quiet. I walked forward, followed by all the others and peaked into the room. The hole I had made had been widened to the size where a man could easily fit in and Seth was no where in sight. I stepped in and there was the sudden sound of chains straining and then breaking.

I peeked into the hole and found that there was a second hole in the floor of the empty space, surprisingly leading to yet another room. Sadly my flashlight was not strong enough to show what lay in the darkness of the bottom room.

Something came barreling at me and I barely had enough time to throw myself backwards out of the way. I looked up and Seth was standing there, holding a man that was all skin and bones bridal style in his arms. The man had white hair just like Seth, was covered in scars and open, unhealed wounds and had pieces of chains hanging from his arms, legs and neck.

Seth walked out of the room, making the workers scramble out of his way as I hurriedly got to my feet and followed him.

"Take a few workers and go investigate the new rooms." I told Charles as I passed him by.

I followed him straight to my tent where he, very gently, placed the man on it and started pulling on the cuffs on his body, breaking then and throwing them into a corner. He was breathing hard and biting his lip, drawing blood that flowed down his chin. He caressed the other man cheek very gently, as if afraid he would break him and tears started rolling down his cheeks.

"Is that him? Your friend?" I whispered.

He jumped a little and flinched before nodding almost inperseptibly. I moved forward slowly and reached a hand out towards his nose to see if he was truly dead but Seth grabbed my wrist painfully hard, stopping me.

"I just want to check on him, I wont hurt him." I said gently.

After a second, he released my hand and nodded again. I moved forward again and placed my finger under his nose. My mouth dropped open and my eyes widened.

"He's alive...?" I breathed, incredulously.

Seth pushed me away with a scowl on his face.

"Of course he is! I told you he was still alive. Didn't you believe me?! If your not gonna help me, then get out!" He shouted.

"Sorry..." I said, shaking myself out of my stupor.

I grabbed my first aid kit but hesitated. Would this be enough to help him? Of course not. There was very little I could do but at least I could clean his wounds. I returned to the bed and took out my peroxide as well as gauze and started cleaning his wounds as gently as possible. As I rubbed at his skin, I noticed that it was much lighter then it had seemed at first, the peroxide cleaning off all the dirt and grime that was on him.

I finished cleaning the wounds as best I could before grabbing a small rag and a bucket and getting water from the water container and going back to the tent. I slowly and gently cleaned the unconscious man, uncovering a milky white skin. He also had tribal tattoos on his arms and chest but his stretched down his stomach as well, over his shoulders and up his neck.

Suddenly, he stirred and took a deep breath. His eyes flew open, darting around the room before landing on us. A terrified look came over his face and he scrambled off the bed, falling to the floor before backing up until his back hit the wall of the tent. He crawled over to to the corner and curled into a ball, sobbing.

We sat there, frozen at the sudden unexpected reaction, until Seth finally spoke up.

"Tyler?" He asked.

The man... Tyler, gave no answer but started rocking himself back and forth. Seth tried to approach him but he screamed.

"NO! Not again, not again..." He started muttering over and over again.

"Your ok Tyler, your safe now." Seth tried to soothe him but it did nothing.

I got up silently and walked out, thinking it best to leave them two alone. I saw the cooler Seth had packed with food in anticipation of this moment sitting right outside the tent. I grabbed it and put it in the tent before closing the flap and leaving them.

I went to find Charles who was still in the newly discovered room with Rachel and three other workers. I climbed down the ladder and looked around. They had brought in six lanterns, two of which where held by Charles and Rachel wile the others where on the ground around the room, lighting up the place. There where broken chains hanging from the ceiling and laying on the ground, all leading to the center of the room where a rather large blood stain could be seen. There was a considerable amount of blood stains on the walls and the ceiling, attesting to all the atrocities that had taken place here. The room smelled like rotten flesh and humidity, making me gag.

"You found anything?" I asked once I arrived next to them on the farther side of the room.

"Yeah, there seems to be something behind this wall. I felt a small draft coming from one of the cracks here." He explained, pointing to a strangely large rock almost the size of a person in the wall.

The workers where chiseling away at crack surrounding the rock in order to break it loose and allow us to remove it.

A few minutes later, the rock was pulled free from the wall and moved to a corner. Rachel and Charles approached their lanterns from the hole only to find that there was a passageway leading farther away.

"After you." Rachel said, looking at me.

I rolled my eyes and pulled out my flashlight before engaging myself into the passage, Rachel and Charles following behind me.