The Fallen - Ch. 6

The Labyrinth

It was turning out to be less of a sewer system as was a maze. There was no way for them to reach a consensus on this one, they had to choose wisely.

“Um...guys? What do we do?” It didn’t matter who said it, they all thought it.
“Well we have to think about this...one of these or hopefully more than that, should lead up.”
Jack was nervous but he still was the leader, they were looking to him, even Prudence.

He turned to the right, if it was clockwise it’d be door number 6; three o’clock on the face. Something in his gut told him that that was the direction that would lead back, maybe even meet up with one of the hallways they didn’t pick earlier; back when they were still excited to explore. He started to realize that turning back was no longer an option, they hadn’t paid enough attention to the routes they were picking, it would be just as confusing as it already was.
“I...I think...this way.”

Nobody had a better plan so they just looked at him expectantly. With a deep breath he started down the long dark hallway. When they reached the end he suddenly panicked as it looked like a dead end, but that cleared when it was merely a left turn. His inebriation was being replaced by anxiety. They followed the tunnel and it made another series of turns, he lost his internal compass as they went back and forth.

“How big is this place?” Prudence asked, feeling the same as Jack.
“Seriously, I’d swear we’re reaching Ravenwood at this point.” Ben replied.

They kept following the path and began to get excited when it lead out into another room. However once again they were quickly disappointed; it lead them back to the choice of six paths. They ended up at the tunnel just next to the one they had taken.



“WHAT was the freaking point of that??” Jack yelled angrily. “Why would they build this place?!”
“It just means we have to try again.” They looked at the opposite side, door number 1.
“I don’t think so man, if this place is symmetrical we’d wind up at the same place.” Ben sighed.

They chose the path directly next to the one they came out of, still hoping that it would lead them back to the regular sewer system. They were walking for about five minutes, still twisting and turning more than any of them would’ve liked. What they came to was not the same room of six; it was a series of stairs...down.
“NOPE...no way. I’m not going deeper into this pit.” Ben cried.
“I agree.” The other four.

They turned back around and returned to the room. Seeming to continue their pattern, or at least not stray from it and wind up making the same decisions again and again- they took the path directly next to the one they came out of. No one dare said it, because at this point it’d be useless but they were all cursing themselves for listening to Lee; even Lee.

Another series of twists and turns kept them nervous. Though they eventually came up to another aged wooden door. “This looks promising…” Jack said as he pulled the handle. It was stuck. He tried harder and nearly fell on his ass as the handle came off again. This time the door swung towards them, they couldn’t just push it open.

“God DAMNIT!” He threw the broken handle down. “Here.” He gave the lantern to Prudence.
“You...piece...of...shit!” With each pause he violently kicked the door in its center. It seemed to crack with each blow so he switched to pounding it with his shoulder. Pain was ringing through his body but his determination was enough to dull the feeling. After a few more attempts he managed to bust a hole through it. The group was about to follow when they heard him swear again.
“What? What is it?” Rosie called through the hole that he stepped back out of.
“Another damn brick wall!”
“Are you freaking kidding me?!” Prudence cried.
“God what I wouldn’t give to still have that sledge.” He kicked himself for not thinking to bring it.
“UGH.” Ben groaned in utter frustration. He wished he had stayed topside, indulged his girlfriend’s hesitancy and let the group go on without them. Rosie wished she had chickened out.
“Well...no choice but to head back...again.”

Following the winding tunnel at a much faster rate they arrived in the room. They hated it and everything it stood for, which by then, seemed to be to irritate the hell out of them.

Prudence chimed in, wishing to give them hope as well as to believe it herself. “Well there is some good news…” Nobody bothered to ask, “this means there’s only two options left.”
“If it’s like the first one, spitting us out back here- I vote we head back the way we came.” Ben threw a hand up. Jack said hesitantly, “I don’t think we’ll have a choice if that happens.” He shuttered at the thought of returning to the crypt. He headed down the hallway that fit their counter-clockwise pattern. Feeling as though they were heading farther from the direction they came in at; though at this point there was no real way of telling, everything began to look the same.

It would seem that their luck wasn’t nearly out when they found this hallway shorter, and void of any twists and turns; though it certainly didn’t feel like a win when they came to another set of stairs leading deeper. Again they were in agreement that going lower was the opposite of progress. With a deep sigh they headed back. There was one path left before they could give up the hope of a quick escape and forfeit to the long trek back the way they came. Though Ben and Lee both wanted to just stick with that, they figured they had no other choice but to indulge this plan. Lee figured it would end the same way as each other path had and they would get to turn around anyway.

“Five down, one to go.” Jack said with a sigh. They hadn’t realized it but they were in their sixth hour of the journey; they had realized however what a toll that was taking on them. It was anyone’s guess why they hadn’t broken out into fights.

This tunnel was like the others in the fact that it was long, it winded around a series of aggravating curves and ended in another wooden door of considerable age. This path was unique from the others though in that between them and the door was a hole in the ground spanning the width of the hallway and deep enough that even their flashlight couldn’t pierce its depths.

“I swear if I could go back in time I’d slap the shit out of the person who built this place.” Prudence yelled.
“I’d stab the bastard.” Jack added.
“Yes...death. It’s the only way to prevent this labyrinth from being built.” She heartily agreed.
“Well what now?” Rosie asked.
“Yeah, can we go back?” Lee hoped.
“No...not just yet, I want to see this through.” Jack was fiercely determined to escape now.
“How?”
He handed the lantern and his own flashlight to Prudence. “Hold this.”
“Jack…” He looked at the door with anger in his eyes, she asked again. “Jack...what are you gonna do?”
“I’m gonna find out what’s on the other side of that door.”
“You’re going to jump it?” Lee was shocked.
“It’s not that far.”
“But it is deep.” Ben added.
“Which is why I won’t fall.”
“But what if it’s another brick wall?” Rosie asked.
“Or more stairs downwards?” Prudence was worried.
He turned back to them, “Then I’ll come back and we head back the way we came ASAFP.”

They hugged the wall, giving him room to get a running start. Taking a few deep breathes he hauled ass towards his goal, his only hope was that he didn’t lose footing before the leap. You’ll break your legs! Prudence’s earlier warning rang loud in his memory. He stepped short of the gap and flew through the air, clearing it with room to spare. Whew...that wasn’t too hard.“Throw me my flashlight!”

Prudence shifted hands and tossed it to him, he fumbled it- nearly dropping down the hole. He stuffed it in his jacket. He caught his breath and turned to the door. He closed his eyes as he tried the handle. It ripped off like the others, it was much too old to have put up a fight. He swore loudly, his words echoing far behind them and probably even filled the six hallways. In a fury he began kicking the door with all his might, when it started to crack he resumed his shoulder smashing technique. Before long he burst through it again, falling shoulder first onto the dirty stone floor in a shower of splinters. He could’ve sworn he took some to the face but couldn’t care; he was through. He flipped his flashlight on, it flickered again. So help me god if you- it came back on.

The others watched him disappear through the door, the light not able to show them anything. They all held their breath waiting to be disappointed, only if that meant that they could finally be on their way. It wasn’t long before he reappeared, and though the light was weak- he had a smile.

“You guys, I think this is the way!”
“How do you know?” The nervous consensus.
“There’s stairs leading upwards!”

They all let out their breath, full of relief. Which was quickly followed by the realization that they’d all have to make that leap. Jack realized this and promptly got the group in order.

“Okay, here’s the plan. Throw your flashlights over so they don’t fall when you jump. Then go one at a time. I promise you it’s not as far as it feels. Just get enough speed and make sure to jump hard. There’s no harm in overshooting it...just don’t-” His voice fell flat, he didn’t even want to think about it. “Just make sure you give it your all.”

They took comfort in his leadership. They knew that he always gotten them out of sticky jams and had a sense of direction that the others lacked. Even Prudence couldn’t deny that he was handling this better than any of them would’ve- however she would not be the first out of the gate this time. She had nothing to prove here, she was not excited about the unknown, she wanted to put off leaping with both feet as long as humanly possible.

One by one they tossed their torches over, he caught them and set them up in a line against the wall. The group looked at each other nervously and silently decided on the order. Lee was going to go first, Ben would take next and Rosie would follow. Prudence stayed by the edge holding the lantern high so the hole could be illuminated.

Lee backed up to get his running start, pumping himself up as he hopped, “Okay, you can do this. Just a little gap, nothing you haven’t done before.” Just don’t miss. He ran, leapt, and cleared it.

Ben started to walk to the same spot, to give himself the same pep talk. But Rosie held onto his his jacket. She whispered, “Babe I’m scared.” He looked at her regretfully, “I am too honey.” Then realized this wouldn’t ease her mind, “Don’t worry though, I’ll be on the other side and I’ll catch you.” Tears were fighting their way out but she tried to be strong. “Promise?” He kissed her forehead, “Promise.” She released him and he got ready. With all his might, he too cleared the gap with room to spare.

Rosie looked at Prudence uneasily, she was used to being last, she was used to having time to gear herself up. But if you don’t then you’ll be stuck on this side. Just breath Rose. Ben called out to her reassuringly, “It’s not that bad babe, it’s smaller than it looks.” With that she felt a wave of courage flow through her, she wanted to close her eyes- to wait until it was over but she knew how stupid that would be. Instead she focused hard on her jumping point and ran. She too cleared it with room to spare, but landing in his arms calmed her down immensely.

“Okay Prude. Throw the lantern over.” She didn’t want to let go of the light, but realized it would only throw her off balance if she didn’t. She stepped back from the ledge, not wanting to lose her footing in the toss. She swung her arm back and forth to prepare. It was heavier than the flashlights, much heavier. Taking a deep breath she chucked it. The hallway was filled with light, casting shadows every which way as it tumbled through the air, but when it turned far enough over, the light was extinguished plunging them into total darkness. The lantern was fumbled out of Jack’s hand. It filled the hallway with the sound of shattering glass as it hit the ledge, then a series of clanks and scrapes as the metal fell down into the chasm.

“DAMNIT PRUDE!”
“I’M SORRY! I’M SORRY!”
“It wasn’t that hard! Why didn’t you-” He stopped short and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Prudence started to cry. “I’m sor-hor-horry.”“That was the best light we had.”
“I meant to- I tried to-”
“Jesus f’ing christ…” He muttered.
“It’s done. There’s no point in bickering about it!” Ben shouted, just wanting to leave soon.
Jack took a moment to think, everyone was surrounded in darkness. It was the feeling they all shared: alone, cold, without vision of anything but the very spot in which they stood.
“Alright...Everyone get your flashlight.”

They all fumbled to the wall, there was nothing to see until Rosie was able to get hers on and show the others where theirs were. After a few moments the room was clear again, though not like it had been; cones of light shot this way and that instead of a steady glow. Every now and then one swung over Prudence, shaking, crying.
“Alright guys, we need to fill up as much of that gap with light as we can. Give her something to see.”
“I...I...I can’t do it!” She sobbed.
“LISTEN TO ME!” He barked. “You CAN, and you WILL.”
“But..I..I..I couldn’t...eve...eve...even…”
“That doesn’t matter anymore, you can do this. I KNOW you can.”
“I can’t!” She sobbed.
Jack took a deep breath, “Listen to me, baby, please. We’re going to make it out of here. We’re going to soon I promise. You just need to have faith in yourself and jump.” He tried to give her the most caring face he could but it was useless, they were just a bunch of spotlights from her perspective. “C’mon, just get a good head start….I’ll be here to catch you.”
She sniffled but felt marginally better hearing that. She was such a mess and all she wanted (besides leaving) was to be held. “Okay.” She said meekly before turning around to get room.
She couldn’t even acknowledge on the flood of doubt and fear in her mind, she just needed to focus on the gap that was highlighted as best they could. Giving herself her own pep talk she took off running. Her eyes were hazy with tears but she leapt where she wanted to. Like the others made it past the drop point and indeed landed in his arms.


She once again burst into tears upon impact. He pet her hair lovingly, as she cried into his chest. “Shhh...it’s okay. I got you. You made it. Everything’s going to be okay.” There was a very comforting bliss in that moment for her and she calmed down considerably; though before pulling away she leaned up and kissed him with the passion that only comes from nearly dying. He didn’t refuse, he felt the same and in truth, needed it himself. This adventure had turned into a nightmare; he didn’t want to do it without her.

“Um…I know this is a moment, and I’m not denying that it’s a needed one, but we should really get going.” Rosie said, not wanting to anger either of them, but not wanting to stay any longer.

They all swung their lights to the hole in the door. Jack handed Prudence her light back and grabbed his own; it had been messing up so much he didn’t want it to go out while she jumped. With Ben taking point and Rosie’s hand in his, they each stepped through the hole and were thankful to see the stairs.

It was like the others, the ones that they took to get down; made of concrete with a metal railing and a slope to its right. There was no hole at the bottom but Jack had already firmly agreed not to go sliding- not that they’d be heading down hill anytime soon. The air began to warm up as the ascended, this made them feel as though they were doing good.

It lead them to another fork in the road, but nobody bickered about which direction they wanted to go in, they just trusted Jack’s senses and when he walked down the path on the right with Prudence in hand, they followed. Lee was heartbroken to see them together again but would deal with those emotions when his brain wasn’t filled with fear; he simply didn’t have the room for both. The hallway began winding again and even had branches off to either side, but Jack pressed on, feeling his way towards freedom. They had walked for close to five minutes, but the area looked more like the sewers they had come into; and it was much warmer now. Like the last leg of a marathon they were almost there.
It was a short way down the hall did that feeling drop. Not because they were lost, nor because there was a barrier, or even another fork to decide upon. It was when their lights fell on two figures standing in the middle of the path. Two small figures; merely children. A big eyed girl in a filthy yellow dress with equally messy hair and a boy with no shirt holding her hand; neither wearing shoes- nor taking their eyes off the group.

⤝  ⛛ ⤞