The Fallen - Ch. 5

Behind the Wall

Their flashlights all turned down the series of steps that were older than any of the ones they had ventured down so far. The walls were no longer concrete but masonry. There was a noticeably eerie vibe about it that wasn’t lost on any of them. Rosie hesitated but was still happy with her decision. She had read early on in the journals that this wall was already here when the bootleggers made their home. It was mentioned once when they were first describing the room. She hadn’t thought about it until Jack started tearing it down like it was Berlin in the 80s. She could only imagine what was down there if it was older than the distillery. She felt like a time traveler getting a once in a lifetime peek at history; real history, not just the stories she read about in school.

Jack thought, (even through his inebriation) that this was going to make one bitchin’ story to tell the others. What did you do over the summer? Oh nothing much, just became the freakin HARDY BOYS!
Prudence was even more buzzed than he and though she was still excited about the adventure, she regretted drinking that much. Had they headed back instead of down it would’ve been okay, but as it was there was no turning back. She certainly wasn’t going to be the one to call ‘chicken’ first. Leave that to the others, she still had her reputation to maintain. If she wussed out, Jack would never let her hear the end of it. She clung to his arm for stability and for the best view, he had the lantern and it offered more light than her own so she stuffed it in her pocket and focused on her steps.

Lee and Ben exchanged nervous glances, as if telepathically agreeing that this was a bad idea. The eerie feeling had settled on them and refused to leave; but they had been in the gang long enough to know that when there was a majority, everyone went. Also the thought of staying in the distillery with no light, alone save for each other, somehow felt worse. They wanted to head back and call it a day, but Jack was determined, Prudence was drunk, and Rosie became the wildcard that neither of them were expecting.

So they all made their way slowly and carefully down, deeper into the earth. None of them paid attention to the fact (nor really had anyway of knowing) that until then they were just below the surface, beneath the very coffee shop they loved; now they really were burying themselves.

“Is it just me, or is it colder?” Ben asked. Rosie was no longer at his side but just behind the drunks. He felt okay being with his hesitant counterpart Lee, but really wished she’d been there.
“Nah- I feel it too.” Rosie said.
“It’s a good thing we brought jackets.” Lee added.
The two up front didn’t notice it; the alcohol kept them nice and toasty.

They kept the chatting to a minimum, everyone’s flashlight stored away; there wasn’t any need for them since the lantern was bright enough. Its glow still couldn’t penetrate very far so to those up front, they were still walking into darkness. Prudence slipped off one of the steps causing everyone to gasp, but Jack was there to keep her from tumbling down.

Even though the staircase seemed to go on and on, they eventually reached the bottom; it lead into a hallway. Jack shone the light around but wasn’t quite sure what he was looking at, Prudence’s vision was a little fuzzy so neither did she. Rosie however was sharp enough to pick it up, so were the others but they weren’t as fascinated by it as she was. They were scared.

There was a series of rectangular cut-outs on either side of the walls, each containing a wooden box that fit into them neatly. The boxes weren’t very long, and to their surprise didn’t look as old as anything they’d seen so far. Jack started to lift one of the lids but was stopped by Rosie putting her hand on it to keep it closed.
“You don’t want to do that…”
“Why not? There might be something cool inside.”
She didn’t know how to say it, but luckily Lee broke the news.
“They’re coffins dude.”

Jack ripped his hand away as if it were on fire. He may have been brave, but there was no way he wanted to disturb the dead; he wasn’t a monster.

“What is this place?” He asked shining the light around to look at the nearly endless hallway.
“It’s a mausoleum.” Rosie said no longer chipper, but still not afraid.
“Why don’t they look old?” Prudence asked, her vision clearing up a bit, still stuck to Jack.
“Maybe they were put here after?” Lee suggested.
“But that doesn’t sound right,” Letting them in on what she read, “the journals stated that the wall was already in place when they moved it. I figured whatever was behind it must be older than that.” She was slightly disappointed, she wanted it to be ancient.
“Maybe there’s another entrance on the other side, someone was able to access this from the other end?” Ben suggested hopefully. Though he didn’t want to continue on, he wanted desperately to be right; it would mean they could get out of this creepy place.
“Let’s check it out…” Jack started walking down the hall, Prudence in tow and the others to follow. He didn’t want to hang around the dead longer than necessary. There’s a common trend among the Crestwooders and that is leave the dead alone. It was a fairly superstitious town.

They walked along, Rosie counted the coffins and was shocked to find twenty-one of them. It would’ve been an even number except the last hole on the left didn’t contain a box, it was a skeleton. A cold chill swept over them to see a rusted blade sticking straight out of its ribcage; its bony hands still wrapped around the handle. Not wanting to focus on the bones she looked back. This is a lot of coffins. She thought they may have been the deceased refugees; who knew how long they had stayed hidden down here, it was possible that they lost members to disease or malnutrition. But they’re so short. She could only hope that they were empty but a dark voice in the back of her mind doubted that. People don’t build a crypt to leave it unused.

The other thing that confused her was the age of the walls, this hadn’t been built as recently as the boxes suggested. Had they been made and utilized at the same time the coffins should have degraded significantly or the walls would look as new as the boxes. The walls however were built in such a way that told her it was older than the 1900s. Crestwood had been around for awhile (even though it always remained a small town) and this place could easily have stretched back as far as 1856 when the town was founded. It may as well have been the oldest place in town. Though unnerved by the coffins, she still took joy in that idea. It was a piece of history she had never even read about. She would’ve gladly been the leader to the group if the two weren’t making a wall in front of her; or if she had the lantern.

At the end of the crypt there was a large wooden door, splintered and pock-marked with decay. Jack tried the handle but it snapped off in his hand. Ben had hoped this could mean they would turn around, but was disappointed when Jack pushed on the door and it swung inwards.

The door opened up to another square room, just as old as the crypt, with two wooden doors on either end. When they shone the light around they all felt another chill. For one, the air was stagnant and carried with it a bitter cold that even the toasty drunks felt. Rosie zipped up her jacket and Lee folded his arms. The other reason for the chill was what the room contained.

The light reveal to them a bunch of toys and stuffed animals; much like the lion that Prudence found earlier covered with filth. They littered the floor in no sensible order. Also like the lion they were much too new to have been something from either of the decades they were used to. They didn’t make toys like that back then. It would’ve been one thing if they were made of wood or even cast iron. These were plush, they carried a cartoony vibe, and had tags, suggesting they had been mass-produced.

Rosie started to piece some things together but was neither ready to share it aloud, nor sure what it meant if she was right. Jack lowered the light and bent down to look at the toys.

“This is weird.”
“This doesn’t feel good dude.” Ben said.
“Yeah, can we get going?” Lee asked, finally okay with being he-who-cried chicken!
Jack wasn’t opposed to the idea, (glad to not be the one to say it, he would tease Lee about it later but for now he was on board) he stood up and held the light back up to fill the room.
“Well I think Ben may have been right…” Rosie started, he looked over at her with a sigh of relief. Finally she's feeling as creeped out as I am.

“There’s probably an exit this way. If the wall had been there, then that means whoever put all this stuff here had to have come from another entrance.”
“So what are you saying Rose?” Prudence asked, her fear doing its best to chase away the buzz. Rosie took a deep breath. “I think we should continue on.”
“Are you nuts? We could totally get lost! Who knows how far this leads!” Lee was all nerves.
“I’m just saying, this is probably the shorter of the routes. Behind us is at least another hour- hour and a half of walking.”
“Yeah…” Ben was on board, if it meant a quicker escape he was all for it.
“I’m down.” Jack said, not wanting to sound scared but certainly beginning to feel it.
“That sounds good.”
It was majority rule by a 4-1 margin. No matter how scared Lee had become, no matter how much he was regretting his idea, he wouldn’t sway them; nor would he walk back alone.

“Well…Door number 1?” Jack swung the light to the left, “Or Door number 2?” to the right.

They all said the number they wanted, but then simultaneously changed it. They were at a standstill again. They thought about shooting for it, but none of them felt comfortable with games. Lee was the only one who didn’t pick so he decided to break the tie for them. “Let’s go this way.” Door number 1. The gang looked at each other but didn’t have a better idea so they would go for it.

To no one’s dismay the door opened up to another brick wall.
“Number 2 it is then.” Jack said once again becoming the leader.
To everyone’s joy the door opened up to another staircase; upwards.

Though when they reached the top their smiles quickly faded.
It wasn’t a choice between three hallways, but six.

⤝  ⛛ ⤞