MY BLOODY VALENTINE, ONCE AGAIN
By, october57rain
Chapter Ten
Saturday, February 14
Marsha stands in the light of the moon just outside the back entrance of tunnel five. Her flashlight unsteadily illuminates the ground. With both hands she directs the beam motioning it around the near walls until a sound from the woods pushes her inside. The air weighs heavy as she cautiously moves deeper into the tunnel with fear playing puppeteer with every step. A noise from the darkness startles Marsha and she leans against the cold dirt wall.
Convincing herself it was most likely a mine rat she continues on to the piled up coal cars. The timber beams that once trapped her were heavy and with each lift the agonizing pain in her side becomes more unbearable forcing her to stop. Moving the timbers was out of the question so Marsha sits down, while she waits for the pain to subside. Back and forth her eyes follow the beam of light until she can no longer take the pinching pain in her side. "Just a few minutes rest", Marsha thinks as she leans against a coal car. The flashlight beam bounces off of something shiny. It is her bracelet up near the ceiling draped over a nail protruding out of a support beam. Joy and relief fills her and she smiles while holding the beam of light on her bracelet as she rest.
The moon has begun its descent into Valentine's Day when Bobby parks his truck a short distance away from the mine entrance. "I can't believe we are doing this." He turns to Dean, "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" A slight shiver runs up Bobby's back looking at Dean dressed in the miner garb Tom had almost hit him with.
"Chill out dude." Dean steps out of the truck with the miner mask in his hand and looks down the long decline to the opened doors of tunnel five. "Look," he turns to Bobby, "No one has been here, if they had those doors would have been closed, so let's get in there and find the tape."
A noise comes from behind. When Bobby turns to look he gives a smile. "Did you guys enjoy the ride? Hope it wasn't too windy for you!" He sees Dwayne's sheepish-grin response. "Hey, I was going to take you back to the motel, but you guys wanted to join the party."
After a brief discussion it was decided, Bobby and Dean would walk the trail that led to the back of the mine and Sandy and Dwayne would go in from the front. They were hoping to cover more ground in a short time. Carol and Russ followed Dean and Bobby until the path split off into the woods then they went off on their own.
"Do you think they will be alright?" Bobby asked Dean as they searched the ground area of the path for the tape.
Flashing his light in the direction Carol and Russ left Dean nodded, "Sure, Carol and Russ use to live here, so they know where there going." The moon's light faded enriching the darkness, "We would have to take a path that the moon can't reach." He takes a deep sigh. "Hey, there's the mine opening." Just ahead was the back entrance to tunnel five. No longer did the moon caress its entry.
As they stood at the entrance a shadowy figure appeared on the hillside. His form barely recognizable as Bobby called out, "Russell is that you? Where is Carol?" The figure approached with heavy steps. Bobby backs up knocking into Dean who just stood and stared. "Oh crap!" The figure raised a miner pick into the air.
"Run," Dean shouted and the two of them ducked into the mine. Fear sewed itself to every nerve in their bodies, twisting their minds into total confusion. With their backs against the mine wall Dean found the strength to reach for the power box. The tunnel lights flickered on and off several times before finally staying on.
Marsha was just reaching for her bracelet by standing on a wobbly tipped coal car when the lights first flickered. Startled by the flash, she thought she had seen someone coming from the front of the mine shaft. Quietly she called out, "Hello," she strained her eyes as the lights flickered and then they stayed on and she could see no one, but was convinced someone was there. She could hear their hollow sounding breathe as it bounced off the mine walls. "Is there someone there?" The car below her moved and she grabbed the support beam to steady her balance. "Dean, is that you?" There was no response.
Finding herself alone Marsha reluctantly decided the echoing tones of breathing was her own as she found the pain in her side making it hard to fill her lungs. Looking up at the bracelet she used the support beam to steady herself then reached, but the bracelet was too high. Carefully she stood on her tip toes which made her side scream with pain. Just as she touched one end of the bracelet with the tip of her fingers, she lost her balance.
The coal car swayed back and forth throwing Marsha against the cold dirt wall. Knocking her unconscious to the ground then pinning her beneath its heavy weight. The figure approached and was about to swing its pick and finish Marsha off when a sound from the front of the mine drew its attention. A short distance from where Marsha lied was a side tunnel where the figure dressed in full miner garb disappeared.
Using her hands Sandy spoke and with a shaking voice in a whispering tone, "Dwayne, I'm scared, let's go back."
Seeing the fear in her eyes Dwayne hand signed, "Its ok," he waved his hands in a circle, "There is nothing to be afraid of. It is just you and me and we have our friends at the other side." He gives her a smile. "They are probably just around the corner."
"No!" Sandy signs and speaks, "I just want to go back to the motel."
Thinking for a moment Dwayne gets an idea and pulls from his jacket a small blue box with a red ribbon and bow. He holds it out to her and sees her look at the box and then at him and back at the box.
She takes the gift from him, "Oh, Dwayne you shouldn't have." As she is about to open the box Dwayne nudges her, knocking her off balance, "Dwayne," Sandy looks up and sees tears forming in the corner of his eyes then the blood that slowly pours out his mouth. That is when she sees the miner beside her with his pick dripping with blood raised above his head. Before she can get her screams of fear out the pick becomes lodged into her skull and as Dwayne falls to his knees trying to hold on to that last spark of life the miner is shaking Sandy's head back and forth to pry his pick from her brain.
Blood spews out from the top of Sandy's head spraying all over Dwayne's face. The miner steps back and watches as Dwayne takes her hand and together they fall lifeless in the dirt.
The sounds echo through the mine tunnel, "Did you hear that!" Dean turns to Bobby who is frozen. "Whoever was out there must not of seen us and Turning the tunnel lights on could have scared him away or at least to the front entrance." With their flashlights they search for the origin of the sound but find nothing, "We need to hurry up." Dean shines his light and can see the wreckage a few yards ahead. "Look, we need to find that tape so we can get the hell out of here."
Agreeing with a nod Bobby follows close behind Dean until fear takes over and without warning he turns and runs for the back entrance of the mine. He can hear Dean calling him to come back, but his feet don't listen they are set in one direction, back to the entrance and to his truck, but before he can make it he crashes into the miner in full garb with his pick axe resting over his shoulder.
Bobby falls backwards to the ground and sees the pick axe coming down towards him. He screams then rolls just in time as the pick is driven into the dirt throwing rock and dust into the air. Somehow Bobby manages to get to his feet and starts running.
Dean sees the miner pull his pick from the dirt and yells, "Get the hell away from him!" The miner quickly turns his upper body towards Dean with a frightening motion. Looking for something to fight with Dean grabs a long piece of wood. But in an effort to ward off the danger Dean finds himself pinned to the wall with the miner axe penetrating through his shoulder, his toes barely touching the ground.
Dean's screams of pain echo out the mine and fade to a murmur where Chief Newby, Tom and Larry had just arrived on the far side of the hill. When they hear the sounds of agony they look to one another then run to the top of the bank and stand on the railroad tracks. "Look," Newby says, "There is light coming from the woods over there." He gives a moment thought. "We need to split up, Tom why don't you take the woods while I take the mine."
Back in the mine a rock hits the miner in the head turning his attention to Bobby who throws another. Bobby has no idea what he is doing or how he will defend himself. He wants to give Dean the time to get away in hope he too can escape. But the miner does not remove the pick from the wall. Instead he picks up a handsaw from a tool box leaving Dean dangling in pain.
Watching the miner stomp his way Bobby looks at the screw driver he had grabbed from the same tool box and realizes he wasn't thinking straight. Before the miner gets to close Bobby takes off running a sound steers him away from the back entrance and into a joint shaft that leads into another tunnel. He searches up one end and the other unsure which way to go he runs deeper into the mine.