Chapter 6:

Redemption

The Descent


Wheezing.

Blood splattered against my face.

I froze in place, not feeling a thing as I looked over Jackson’s shoulders. He dropped the gun before taking a few steps forward. With widened eyes, he turned to the culprit. Striker took a deep breath as he slowly lowered his pistol. Jackson gasped for air, but blood coughed up when he tried to speak. He reached his hand out before collapsing next to Samuel’s body.

“H—he didn’t give me a choice,” Striker said. His eyes trailed toward me, meeting my nod.

“Even if you asked, he wouldn’t listen,” he replied. I hoped my words would comfort him, but he kept his grim expression. “Hey, we need to find a way out. Eh, how did you get here.”

“I—Don’t know.”

“What do you mean? You didn’t just show up here.”

“I—I don’t know! I swear. I just kept walking until I saw you guys.”

“Fuck!”

The air thickened with uncertainty. With each step I took, it seemed like each point was a point of no return. What the hell was this place? The answer lay with Jackson, dead from his own insanity. What if he said was true? No. That’s just bullshit. I’ve been through hell and back, but the only enemies here were amongst ourselves.

Just what the hell did Abraham have in mind?

“Hey,” Striker interrupted my thoughts. I looked toward him, withholding my annoyance. “Do you feel it?”

A gentle breeze?

We didn’t feel that before.

“A way out,” he exclaimed. His tone was laced with caution as he picked up the flashlight. “Come on! This way!”

I didn’t question it. No, I wanted to make it back out… To see her again. This is it. No more finding my way in the dark. I’m done with all this. Once I leave this place—

We heard another slither when we made our ascent. Like earlier, it stuck to the darkness, away from the dim light. I noticed Striker’s reaction when he looked over his shoulder. The impending doom lingered in his eyes when he let out an exaggerated breath. It wasn’t long before we reached the point where a faint light cast down the cavern.

“We’re almost there!” the young soldier said. His excitability was right for the moment and bad, all at once. “Miller, we’re right there!”

When I looked over my shoulder, I heard a thump ahead of me. My body froze as I returned my attention toward him. Striker lay on the ground unconscious, while Jackson stood above him. Did he knock him out with his bare fists? He picked up the gun, checking to see if it had bullets. A grimace crawled along his face when he threw it to the side.

“One in a chamber,” he said. “I noticed that with my gun too.”

“What?” I questioned. I didn’t see a gun on him either. “So, what now?”

“This is the end of the line for you.”

“I’m sorry, Miller. I really am. I thought killing you in cold blood would’ve been possible, but the longer you keep this shit up. The more reluctant I become.”

“You didn’t have a problem earlier.”

“Because I still have a job to do.”

“And Striker?”

“He’ll be fine. They’ll just rule all this out due to psychotics.”

“We’re drugged?” I questioned. He stopped in his tracks when he stood within arm’s length.

“What? No,” he replied. “This is reality.”

“Like hell.”

He took a few more steps expressionless as his body blocked the light. I wasn’t going to die here, not like this. My arm reflexively swung at him, a punch which he caught. He pulled me forward to the ground. My back slammed against the rocky ground. I gasped for air as I lay, but he didn’t waste any time in trying to stab me. I held off the blade as it inched toward my chest. Amidst the scuffle, I heard the slithering from the darkness. Why hasn’t it shown itself?

My muscles weakened.

Pain overwhelming.

I couldn’t hold him back anymore as the blade pierced my flesh, sliding in slowly to its inevitable destination. What a shitty way for me to go. As I closed my eyes, the unexpected happened. The sounds of broken bones and gushing flesh filled the commotion between us. I opened my eyes, finding the horror before me.

His blood gushed over me while something scaley brushed against my body. I glimpsed my right to see an elongated serpentine body stretch into the darkness. It had only come for one of us. Its jaws continued crushing into his waist as he violently coughed up blood. Then, as quick as it struck, it pulled him back into darkness.

Not once did his eyes ever leave mine.

I scrambled to my feet to get to Striker, who slowly awoke. When he was able to focus, he became visibly aghast by my blood-drenched appearance. The slithering I heard was long gone.

“Where’s Jackson?” he asked.

“Something took him,” I responded. The path ahead was clear as rays of sunlight warmed us. “It’s not much further.”

I offered my hand. He looked reluctant when he saw the blood on my palms. Can’t say I blame him. Nothing made sense. We continued up the path while our surroundings began to rumble.

Why now?

Through all the rumbling, nothing collapsed. I was first to emerge into the thicket, feeling the full warmth of the sunlight. A helicopter engine filled the air while the blades blew gust. I didn’t pay enough attention to my surroundings as I looked over toward Striker. I helped him through, forgetting about the soldiers awaiting us. Striker’s face said it all as he looked past me. Something slammed against the back of my head.

“What the shit,” I growled. I turned over slowly to see Abraham pointing his revolver at me. “What the hell is this about?”

“You weren’t supposed to leave from that,” he replied nonchalantly. He signaled the soldiers behind him to take Striker away before directing his attention to me. “Don’t worry about him.”

“Why?”

“You’re a necessary sacrifice as were the others.”

“No, this isn’t right!” Striker protested. He struggled to break free from the soldiers, but Abraham pistol-whipped him without a second thought.

I swept him off balance as I tried to grapple him to the ground. One of the soldiers took aim but didn’t pull the trigger. Abraham was in control the entire time as I held him in a chokehold. He chuckled through my heavy breathing as though taunting me.

“Not a wise move,” he said. I tightened my hold, hearing him struggle to breathe. “You don’t know what you’re dealing with. This is bigger than us.”

“Tell me what this is about!” I demanded. He didn’t shudder though.

“Well—I am the arbiter, the balance this world among many needs. We must appease the beast that binds our worlds.”

Huh?

“Your silence tells me you understand. Perhaps Jackson got his point across after all.”

“He tried to kill me.”

“He played his part, like everyone else here. Are you really going to endanger the world for your own family?”

“Mother fucker!”

“You’ll condemn them either way. The serpent will devour all because of your selfishness.”

My eyes searched for meaning in his words. My grip loosened, but he didn’t nudge. He understood something I didn’t I let him go as he calmly turned around. I didn’t see any hate in his eyes as he assessed me. No, it was more so of understanding. All my life I’d fill the void within, ignoring the consequences of my actions. Had my wife known what I’d done, how would she look at me? How do I explain to her I’d fuck some nameless prostitute to replace her warmth?

“Intimacy… Is something we crave,” Abraham said. “We’re only human. Darkness dwells within us, waiting to emerge. It is for the light to destroy the evil that prevails within those recesses.”

“Why me?” I questioned. “Why should I die for this country?”

“No, no… It’s not for country. It’s ordained by the will of Ethos.”

I looked at the barrel, accepting my fate. A single shot sent me tumbling into the entrance, which still rumbled. Laid dying I looked toward Abraham, he didn’t have a semblance of regret by his action.

“May you go with Ethos,” he said. He turned away as the cave’s entrance bared its fangs.

My heart raced as I felt the floors lift. What’s going on? A strange animalistic sound filled the humid air while my body began to slide. The entrance slowly closed as it lifted off the ground. What the hell is this? Darkness filled my world once more than my body became weightless in its plummet. My life drained away… But that no longer mattered.

My wife, my child…

Please God, help me!



And there we have it!
The conclusion to this story is as bleak as the spooky season would allow it.
You can read By The Shores of Time, which has similar themes and delves more into cosmic horror inspirations!
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The Descent

The Descent


Erii
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