‘How old do you reckon this tunnel is?’
‘Hard to say, but my bet is that this building was built over the top of it to conceal it once upon a time. It could be hundreds of years old, but the ladder looks fairly new.’
They both raise their eyes to meet the other’s. They don’t need to speak another word to understand, but the prospect of what they might find down in the dark is one that’s overriding any apprehension or fear they may have.
After Graham’s inspected the ladder, convinced it’s strong enough to support their weight, he manoeuvres himself into position, turning his back to the hole. Stephen watches as his head disappears and waits several seconds before peering down after him.
The darkness has already swallowed Graham whole.
Stephen attempts to dislodge a lump in his throat by swallowing, but his mouth is like sandpaper. None of his bodily functions seem to be working the way they’re supposed to. His lungs, for one thing, appear to have forgotten how to inhaleoxygen. Either that, or all the oxygen has been sucked from the room.
‘All good down there, Graham?’ he calls out, unable to stand the silence for another second.
‘Just about,’ comes the reply. Gosh, it sounds as if Graham is miles away already.
Stephen glances over at the dog. ‘Fancy swapping places?’ Barney whines in response. ‘Didn’t think so. Well … here goes nothing.’
Stephen sucks in a rattly breath and holds it as he positions his body over the ladder, facing it, the way Graham had done. As he descends, his brain does its best to force him to return to the light, to the surface where it’s safe, telling him all sorts of horrible lies.
There could be bugs the size of dogs down here.
If you fall, you’ll die.
What if the trapdoor blows shut? You'll be trapped down here forever.
Down here in the darkness is where the demons live …
‘Stop it,’ he growls to himself.
‘What was that, Stephen?’ comes a voice from below.
‘Nothing, Graham.’
Stephen continues down the ladder, pushing his inner demons to one side, ensuring he always keeps three points of contact. Halfway down, his right knee clicks and threatens tobuckle. He slips, grasping the sides of the ladder in time. His palms are sweaty as he clings to the metal bars for dear life.
If you fall now, you’ll probably only break your legs.
He closes his eyes and counts to ten, then continues. And there he was, thinking he’d conquered his fear of the dark.
Stephen touches solid ground a few moments later, landing next to Graham who has switched on his phone torch. He scans the small area around them, hardly enough space to do a full turn on the spot without bumping into each other.
A dark tunnel leads off to the east.
Graham’s phone torch grows dimmer, then dies completely. The darkness that follows is so thick that Stephen almost chokes on it as he scrambles around in his pocket for his own phone, which he’d pocketed to allow him to climb down the ladder.
‘How much battery do you have left?’ asks Graham.
Stephen checks. ‘Not enough.’
‘Then let’s move fast.’
Stephen turns and directs the beam of light into the darkness ahead. Despite their need to be hasty, he is forced to keep his pace slow, because the earthy, damp tunnel is so dark, cramped and low that he’s at risk of injuring himself. The tunnel twists and turns, making it seem much further than it probably is. Luckily, there doesn’t appear to be any different choices in direction to take, so Stephen continues onwards,safe in the knowledge that his old friend is close behind him rather than any lingering demons.
After several minutes, he stops in his tracks.
‘Something the matter?’ asks Graham.
‘I’m not sure … I thought I heard something.’
