Chereads / Choices of Life / Chapter 3 - A warehouse under the shadows of Hell

Chapter 3 - A warehouse under the shadows of Hell

It was five minutes past ten in the night when everyone gathered up. They got closer to the warehouse through the back road. They didn't want to pull any unwanted attention to them. They could get into trouble for trespassing in private property. When they got inside, Zigs searched for a switch to open the light. Nothing more expected from the brainless one of the team... Sam hit him hard on his head, as an attempt of forcing some sense into Zigs's head, reminding him that they weren't supposed to be here. They shouldn't be spotted nor leave anything that could be traced back to them. After agreeing that Zigs wasn't the smartest in the world, Sam and Mat shot some light in the room with their flashlights.

The warehouse seemed bigger than from outside. The light revealed a lot of boxes,random machines and a metallic stairway leading to a small room that was probably used as an office. Nothing seemed to have been touched or moved for a long time. Most of the warehouse was covered in dust. Ky almost sneezed, but Sara and Natasha fell on him to prevent that from happening, with the consequence of all three of them falling down on the floor. Mat threw some light on them and was trying hard not to burst to laughter. Ky's glare was enough to make Mat swallow his laughter. The girls tried to prevent him from sneezing, since Ky wasn't the most silent person when he was sneezing, but in the end they cleaned up an area of dust with their falling instead.

They all searched around to see if something could give them some info regarding the men in black or maybe about what they were carrying in their van. They couldn't find anything other than piles of dust and boxes.

'I guess that your alien friends didn't show up tonight Mat' Sam said obviously disappointed.

With a closer inspection of the floor, one could notice that there were tire tracks and footprints. The dust was thinner around the area of the lines, which were revealing a way leading from the warehouse entrance to a wall.

They all look at each other, while Mat had started shining from happiness, since he was almost proven right and that indeed something odd was going on here.

'Would you look at this... I guess Mat might be right after all.' Lance said and pointed at the tire prints. Ky wore his gloves, went at the small room that seemed like an office and searched a bit on the bookshelf, which seemed a bit cliche, but the whole story with the 'black men' was cliche enough to have the good old bookshelf trick included.

'Do you have any idea of what you are doing Ky?' Sara asked Ky, questioning his investigating abilities.

'Even if I didn't, I doubt your have a better idea other than stand there and keep looking at the tire tracks.' Ky answered with a smile and a happy tone to Sara's question, causing her to look away, obviously annoyed because he was right. Sara wasn't the best when it came down to brainstorming.

It wasn't easy to miss that the bookshelf was able to move, since scratches were all around the floor right next to it. The question was, how would they make it move.

Ky started pulling a bunch of books together and let them down on a table next to the library. There was a mirror behind the books. There was no dust at the mirror, nor at some of the books that Ky pulled out.

'What if there is a switch in it that turns on with light?' Lance asked Mat, who went near Ky to try it out. The light cause by Mat's flashlight, which was being reflected by the mirror and almost causing Ky to lose his ability to see, lighted the bookshelf but no switch was turned on nor did the furniture move. Looking at the enlightened spot, Mat noticed that there was a three-digit number written on the lowest part of the mirror when Zigs came from the back of the room, carrying a small chest with a locket on his hands.

'Look what I found!' Zigs yelled and this time, it was Sara and Lance that punched him hard on the stomach to silence him. Sam got the chest on his hands and looked at the locket.

'It's a three-digit code one Ky. Tell me the numbers you have over there.' Sam said and Ky told him the numbers.

'539' Ky said and Sam took out a book from inside the chest.

Ky put the books back on the bookshelf and grabbed the book that Sam was holding. 'Shadows of Hell' was its title, quite weird to find in an old warehouse.

'Well, it makes sense now.' he said and put the book from the chest in a hole that there was between the books.

A sound came from the wall that the tire tracks were leading to and the wall started moving, revealing a stairway that was going underground.

'Whoever wants to back out, now is the time.' Zigs said shaking. 'Come on guys, let's go. Mat was right! Something isn't right with this place.' he continued saying.

Everyone looked at him and tried to show that they weren't afraid.

'I don't like to agree with him, but he might be right for the first time in his life about something.' Ky said and everyone looked at him with wide eyes open, surprised by what he said, since it was known that the two of them never got along.

'You must be kidding, right?' Sam asked Ky.

'Don't get me wrong Sam. This isn't a thing about fear or about bravery. I really think that you guys should go back home and forget about this place.' he answered.

'And what about you?' Mat asked, 'You don't really expect us to leave you go inside alone, do you?' he continued and everyone gave Ky that look full of warmth, saying 'We are coming with you, weather you like it or not'. except Zigs of course.

'Then come and don't think too much about it. Whoever is afraid of coming, go home. There is nothing wrong with being scared.' Ky said and started walking down the stairs. In less than an hour those stairs will be covered by blood and dead bodies.