From Night On: Sacred Grounds

Chapters 21-22

Chapter 21:

The Cross Marks the Spot

Mike watched Shei as she inched her way down the stairs. "Are you sure you want to be doing this?" he asked.

"Yeah," she groaned, "it won't get better just sitting around."

"She's fine," Terry interjected as he took one of the flashlights and moved toward the inner stairs. "I'll take the lead and make sure we're not walking into a B rated horror flick. You two can take your time."

Moving downward along the stairs through a hole in the floor only wide enough for his shoulders to fit, Terry had to do some slight squirming to get through the tight opening into the next chamber. The air was thick with humidity and smelled of a mixture of mold and dust. To a slight disappointment, there wasn't any murals or relics in that room, but there were more stairs leading further downward.

Terry felt fairly impressed by the fact that the structure was still intact as he marveled at the smooth stone floors and walls. The floors of the first two rooms were made of large, solid slabs that stretched the entire room. His curiosity almost guided him along to the next chamber without checking in with the others.

"This room is clear," he called back up the stairs. "I'm going to move on to the next floor."

"There's more?" Mike answered in amazement as he peeked down the stairs. "Don't spoil anything. I want to see it for myself."

The next set of stairs were only a little wider, but Terry didn't have to duck or contort to move down them. If it wasn't for the flashlight, he could have easily found himself falling over the edge into the massive chamber. With how steep the steps were and the lack of any hand rail, it proved a challenge to find his way to the bottom.

"You might want to take this one extra slow," he called back. "Scoot down on your butts and stay next to the wall."

"What do you see?" Mike called back, running over to look down into the darkness. Only Terry's flashlight was visible as it danced around with his movement.

"Nothing, right now," Terry answered. "This room is huge!" He stopped to shine the light around, but the walls were so far apart that he couldn't make out anything in the distance. "This is insane! I don't even know how they could have built this place. Would this be the Inca?"

"The Inca were in Peru," Mike answered as he helped Shei down onto the stairs. A wave of nervousness took Shei as she peered down the stairs and she immediately pushed Mike away. "What's wrong?" he asked in shock.

"I'm a little freaked out," she answered, hiding her true feelings. "Could you let me do this on my own? Just give me space." What she didn't say was that she didn't trust Mike. In a sharp, shocking flash, like accidentally backing into the cold wall in a hot shower, she remembered that Lucifer was still inside him and she feared that he might try to push her over the ledge if he had the chance. "I'll be fine," she said. "Just let me do this on my own."

There was a soft chuckle from Mike as he stepped back and handed her his flashlight. "It's okay," he said as his voice changed. "I wouldn't harm a hair on your head," Lucifer's voice came through. "It's not necessary, for now."

The sound of his voice was enough to paralyze her in fear and she didn't want to turn to look back at him. "T-Terry?" she practically whispered. "TERRY!" she yelped.

"What's going on?" Terry called back.

"Could you help me out here?" she asked. "Get me the fuck down!"