Chapter 53
53.1
"Stop the firing, man." Urich, shouting, ran and held the hand of the officer who'd drawn his revolver.
"Why not," the officer shouted back. "They are fugitives escaping."
"Mamazola could be down there."
"What did you say?" the hefty Qmalian officer objected, getting ready to aim again. "Who is Mamazola?"
Urich suddenly remembered he was under instruction not to reveal anything about the fabulous creation.
"I say not to fire, these are holy chambers," he ordered.
"The humans could escape. Do you want that?" the officer put his hand to his trigger once more.
"Look, officer, I know this place. The humans have no means of escaping, but here is what you can do to quicken their capture."
"What?"
"Radio your fellows and have a group go to the basement. Meanwhile you stay up here and watch this opening. I will go myself down there to give instructions to the group you'd have sent."
"You mean this chute does not end in some dump outside the mosque."
"Don't worry about those technicalities," Urich knew he shouldn't reveal too much.
The other officer, the one not holding a gun, pressed the talk switch on his radio and called. He passed over Urich's instructions.
"You officers remain," Urich said to the two cops. "But you, pal, can come with me," he commanded a young recruit who'd just followed in.
They marched out. Nursing his injured neck, Urich knew he need not really rush. The chute ended in a cellar, and although the cellar had a door that opened into the basement, that door was stronger than even a prison's. Without the relevant keys no one could ever open it, unless you used welding torches, or you totally bombed it, of which the hapless fugitives could never do. They only had the pliers and side cutters he had seen, and those were pretty useless…
Down toward the basement, they trotted…
Chapter 54
54.1
A bullet wheezed past her and plopped onto something hard below. The sound of the plop wasn't distant, and Bella thought it meant she was not too far from hitting the bottom. Her fear had been that this well could be bottomless, and no matter how much she hung on, the journey would never end—but now there was a chance she could just hold on and make it. Her hands were sore and her ankles painful.
Another shot rang. Something groaned distantly above. Ed could have been hit. Bella nearly shed a tear as she waited for Ed's body to come tumbling. The two of them would then crush to the bottom and die together. The thought pained her but it also made her feel good in a way. They would die in each other's arms, which was what they'd promised each other in the first place.
Ed's body did not come falling, and when she looked high up she saw his shadow in the chute. He was hanging on. A need to rest her hands hit her, but she knew she had to continue. Wisdom has it that when going down a ladder, never look down where you are going, but now she did. What she saw scared her more than the depth she still had to contend with. Something was resting on the bottom; she saw a faint glow. Was that from hell? Maybe yes but maybe not. She sensed the air. There was no heat coming up, but that weedy, smoky smell of the Mamazola was now even stronger. That was scary; that evil thing had destroyed a wall and seriously hurt her legs.
"You caming down?" a voice startled her after she'd gone down a few more notches. She took another peek. She was nearing the bottom; the little glow had brightened. The smell of smoke and ash was now almost chocking.
"Mamazola was waiting. These are his lower chambers," the creature spoke.
'What the heck,' Bella began to sweat. Judging by its voice the Mamazola must have grown in strength, even though it still strangely pronounced its name as 'Mamajoya'. Her fears intensified. She halted.
Suddenly the glow of fire began to gyrate. A huge grinding sound rose. She now could see an outline of the strange, talking carving. The Mamazola soon abandoned the one-position spin, and began to roll from side to side much like a wrestler trying to gather strength by bouncing around between the ropes. Judging by the evil carving's movements, the chute seemed to end in a wider bottom. The Mamazola then shot to one wall and the whole structure vibrated. Bella fought to cling on to her holds. The carving wasn't done; it spun in one position again then boomed toward the wall with the notches and pegs Bella clung to. She lost her grip at once and began tumbling. She banged on to the floor and shock drowned her, but she didn't completely pass out yet.
"Werecome."
The Mamazola was now bigger than she had seen before. Bella attempted to gather herself. Pain seared her head and back. Before she could do anything, another rolling noise erupted and the wicked carving was coming for her. How ferocious the thing. Perhaps it wasn't a carving at all, but a demon which had taken the form of a wooden sculpture. The wood-man-demon shot toward her and struck at her with the force of a boulder. She was pinned and she struggled for breath; it'd be a miracle if she lived another minute.
"Hang on, Bella I'm almost there." A voice she scarcely remembered called from above. Bella didn't think it mattered really because the force pinning her was just too enormous. What she could only do was to wait for her breath to flutter out…