Dead Remnants

Chapter 4 (Part One): INTO THE BELLY OF THE MOUNTAIN

The damp air smelled of dirt. Lying on her back, she opened her eyes to a thick darkness and searched the ground around her. Earth. Slabs of stone. Pieces of rotted wood.

As her eyes adjusted, a distant, dim light revealed a tunnel. Silver veins spiderwebbed through the bedrock, and the walls and ceiling were held up by wooden support beams spaced several feet apart. Each divided section was a perfect replica of the one before, like peering into an infinity mirror; a never-ending passage leading to a faint unknown.

She struggled to her feet and began guiding herself along the rock tunnel, her hands feeling past unlit lanterns hanging from spikes driven into every beam. The far light never brightened, never pierced the dark, no matter how hard she tried to get to it. Hours passed. Her feet ached and her palms were raw from the tunnel walls that clawed at her. She turned away from the light, searching for another exit. Only blackness greeted her.

That was when she heard the whispers. Not coming from the light, but from below. They called to her from under the dirt and stones. They said her name. They told her to give up. To join them. How it wouldn't hurt. She wouldn't have to try anymore. Give up. Just let go.

The voices grew louder. She broke into a run toward the light. Chunks of crumbling timber tripped her and she stumbled, falling face-first. Ahead, rusted cart rails protruded like aged fangs from the gullet of a mine shaft. Voices wafted from the opening, taunting her.

Give up.

Let go.

She crawled to the edge of the hole and stared down into the belly of the mountain. Everything remained still until, gradually, charcoal-gray hues formed into inky black masses. As the shapes climbed the walls of the mine shaft, grinning faces emerged. Hollow eye sockets surrounded by shadowy, tangled flesh peered up, and in unison, the Unseen reached, clamping onto her with their skeletal fingers and dragging her into the pit as she screamed.