story Chapter 2

[Butchern]

It was not difficult to convince the confused and near-catatonic townies to disperse. Some went into the little farm house near the stone. Others began the long walk back up the road with the investigators. They parted ways when the investigators reached the hardware store in town.

Breaking into the hardware store was not difficult, and they quickly found everything in the store they needed to accomplish the task of climbing down into the hole. They also found a sufficient concoction of explosives in the store--for stump removal and the like. Coupard had enough knowledge to safely "operate" the explosives when the time came.

By the time the investigators had geared-up and returned to the hole, the moon had disappeared from the sky, and the horizon was beginning to lighten ever-so-slightly.

[matt_s]

With care, Coupard prepared the explosive mixture far from any source of heat and cautioned the others to avoid smoking or similar anywhere near it. Explosives were very easy to make, the challenge only being the question of when they happened to go up which was something he would really prefer not to leave to chance.

Then, Coupard gradually lowered the crude bag of bait on the rope to see if anything would bite or emerge out of the darkness.

Something foul has taken the fallen congregants, and I rather loathe surprises these days. Let us see if there are any takers. If not, then we can carefully extend and secure the ladder, using the knotted rope as a backup. The revolver should come too - be careful to avoid any mishaps though. Maria - could you stay at the surface, and help us get out if need arises, and in the worst event where we fail to return, do your duty with those explosives?

[Butchern]

The bait bag did not lure any predators out of the hole. Whatever was done there, it was not meat that it was interested in. At least not at the moment.

Maria agreed to stay up top and mind the rope. She handed Coupard the revolver and wished him luck.

The climb down was muddy and aggravating, but Coupard made it down without too much fuss. The mud at the bottom of the hole was thick and soggy, but passable. Giant furrows in the mud led away into the hole, presumably made by the dragging of the singers who plunged down to a terrible fate.

The hole in the side of the tunnel was big enough for Coupard to walk into if he stooped down just a little. The tunnel was pitch black, as he expected, and the smell that came out of it was damp and rotten.

[Sir Lazeabout]

Malcolm climbs down after Coupard, staying a few steps behind him. His heart pounds painfully hard in his chest as he makes his way through the slimy tunnel...

[matt_s]

I reckon this'll tell the tale, fair or foul it may be, said Coupard as he turned on the flashlight and gazed down the tunnel. A glance about the tunnel entrance first, to see if there were any signs of what rended the furrows in the Earth or anything beyond marks of excavation, and then it was time to press on.

Muttering about the general misery of the situation, he held revolver in one hand and light in the other, and awkwardly made his way forwards. Pausing every few moments to catch his racing breath and listen and look for movement beyond, it was slow going. But nevertheless, he went.

[Butchern]

The tunnel did not appear to be man-made. There were no tool marks or claw marks, but the tunnel was uniform in both its size and in the curve of the roof. It was highly unlikely that it was formed naturally.

At the mouth of the tunnel, the air smelled of rotting meat. The investigators could feel faint gusts of air on their faces. It was almost rhythmic in nature.

Just inside the mouth of the tunnel, Coupard's flashlight fell on the corpse of one of the creatures. It was dead and rotten, and instead of claws, it had miniature human-like hands. Couplard could see them distinctly in the light of his flashlight.

The tunnel led deeper underground, sloping slowly downward into the darkness. The air smelled more and more rotten and the investigators passed several more corpses of the creatures, malformed, rotted, and torn apart. They were sickening in their unnaturalness. A few had multiple heads, some the wrong number of wings.

After about thirty yards of so the tunnel floor dropped away into a vertical shaft about ten feet across that descended further than Coupard's flashlight would reach. The tunnel continued on, on the other side of the drop, but if the investigators wanted to continue their exploration, they would have to either try to descend the shaft or find some way to cross it to the other side of the tunnel.

[matt_s]

How deep was the shaft before them, Coupard wondered? First he tossed a small rock wrested from the side of the horizontal tunnel into the deeps, waiting for a sound but knowing that if the ground was earthen, the impact could easily be inaudible. A next idea was to tinder a small flame from clothe and paper and then drop the small burning bundle into the depths below. If the fall and air currents did not extinguish it, perhaps they would glean a sense of how deep the shaft went and maybe even what awaited them at the bottom.

A second look with the flashlight attempted to illuminate (Coupard chuckled briefly at his inner monologue) the tunnel that extended horizontally as well.

My same reasoning as for the first descent holds here as well - if we are to proceed further, our route back better be as easy as we can make. Let us check if we have spare ladders to span the gap or descend into the depths, or even some raw lumber or planks to form a crude span over which we could make safe passage.

Edited May 1, 2023 by matt_s (see edit history)

[Sir Lazeabout]

Malcolm nods weakly.

"Yes..." he mumbles. "We might as well be... sensible about this..."

[Butchern]

The investigators knew that there was sufficient scrap lumber in the barn to make a bridge across the hole. It would make their passing both possible and reasonably safe, so long as they were careful. It would take time to get the lumber lowered down to them, and it was getting lighter outside by the minute.

[matt_s]

Barn seemed like a sound idea. Sunup would mean trouble, but trouble with the mundane authorities was something they could hopefully handle. One way or another.

It's across or down, I reckon. I'd rather go across than chance having to make the traversal up and down without a ladder in time of need. If time must be spent, so it shall be. Perhaps we could stake two lengths of rope alongside the crude span to steady us somewhat in making the crossing?

[Butchern]

Coupard and Malcolm took the time to fetch some scrap wood and rig up something of a safety rope to help them get across the pit. None of this would not do if they had to come running across the make-shift bridge on their way out, but as they went slowly, one carefully placed foot after another, it felt sturdy enough.

The caves lead deeper underground. The air smells more and more rotten, and after a few minutes the investigators came upon a bulge in the tunnel, a room of sorts. In this room a half-dozen of the creatures hung from the ceiling like bats. They had human fingers on the ends of their spindly bird legs, and those fingers were sunk into the soft mud to suspend them from the ceiling while they slept.

The floor of the little room was littered with discarded corpses of malformed creatures. One of the corpses that sat near the entrance had come open as though it had been mashed by something, the rotten flesh had slid apart like butter. The rib cage was made of human fingers bones.

[matt_s]

In a hushed whisper, Coupard remarks, We could shoot one of them, and the gunshot ought to drive the rest of them off. But that would alert everything here to our presence. I say we try to slink by them unnoticed, on hands and stomach if we have to.

 

But we are closer, ever closer, to the heart of the matter. May we find revelation before madness in our journey here.

[Butchern]

As the investigators contemplated their next move (which was, likely, crawling through the mud and filth to avoid detection), they noticed some air on their faces, coming from more deeply into the cave. The "breeze" came in short stinking bursts. It was hot and damp, and it came in unison with the breathing of the hanging creatures in the cave. They were all breathing together. All of them.

[Sir Lazeabout]

Biting his lip, Malcolm slowly inches his way through the cave...

[Butchern]

The investigators crawled under the sleeping creature and into the tunnel on the opposite side of the room. They could feel the breathing on their faces now. The undulation of the air was quite distinct.

The tunnel they crawled into was almost tall enough to stand, but there was little point. The top of the tunnel was sparsely covered with more sleeping creatures. Every three or four feet there was a cluster of two or three of the monsters huddled together, sleeping, breathing.

After crawling for only about ten yards, the investigators came to a crossroads. The tunnel they were in split off into three tunnels. Each was a little smaller than their current tunnel, and each were more tightly packed with the bird-like creatures.

They were in front and behind now; the investigators were surrounded. There was no where to go, and it was pitch black.

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by Butchern (see edit history)