Chapter 7: Darkness Waits
I found Isabelle near the door that lead into Storage. She was sitting near it, gaze lost in thought. When I approached, her aqua eyes shot up and glared at me.
"What do you want?" Could there be any more hatred in her tone?
"I want to talk with someone." I replied, voice quivering. She seemed surprised at my tone. I guess I still sounded upset from my conflict with Daniel.
"Is something wrong?" She asked. All malice had vanished from her voice and was replaced with actual concern.
"Nothing too important," I lied, "Do you want to go exploring together?"
She was obviously taken aback by my question. "Why don't you go with Daniel? You two have been inseparable."
"We got in an argument." I stated. "So, answer my question."
"Uh, sure." Isabelle sounded confused, "Want to go into Storage? I've been wanting too but you and Daniel have been elsewhere."
"Sounds good." I shrugged. The woman climbed to her feet and opened the door. We were greeted with a sudden gust of wind, sending chills along my skin. Isabelle didn't seem to take notice of the strange gust, for she descended down the staircase and into the darkness.
I'm awfully sick of darkness.
I followed Isabelle reluctantly. This darkness didn't seem natural; it seemed alive and abnormal. Something about it really terrified me. Isabelle turned to me, aqua eyes betraying her sense of fear.
"This place feels different," She whispered. I nodded, agreeing with her words.
"We should be extra careful." I replied in a hushed tone. She glanced at me before taking a step forward. The hall expanded into some sort of room. To my left was a door, to my front was more darkness, and to my right was a staircase leading down.
"Let's start over there." I stated, pointing to the door to my left. Isabelle didn't say a word as we walked over. I reached out and pulled open the door, only to see it was some sort of storage. The place was full of shelves and boxes. It was almost impossible to see, but I could make out something on a shelf. Walking over, it looked like some sort of drill part.
"What's this?" I said to myself, picking up the piece of metal gingerly. When my hands grazed the drill part, my heart almost stopped when a growl sounded from behind us. Isabelle let out a hiss of exasperation and crouched down behind a barrel. I followed, pressing close to her. We stayed silent for a few terrifying minutes, listening as the monster entered the room. When it left, I let out a long sigh of relief.
"L-let's just keep going." Isabelle stammered before leaving the room with extra caution. The beast had obviously left, but now the place had scared me even more.
We decided to go down the staircase next. When we reached the end, the room was different than the last. Massive barrels were lining the walls; a few doors were hidden in the gloom. Narrowing my eyes, I stalked over to one of the barrels. The word Primary was plastered on the wood.
"Hey, Felix." Isabelle called out, "This barrel says something on it." I whipped around, trying to locate her. When it proved to be futile, I responded.
"What does it say?" I replied.
"Secondary." She stated. I thought for a moment, pondering the names. Primary and Secondary. These barrels must have some sort of use. But what exactly?
I reached up and tried to open the valve but I noticed it was rusted shut. That's when I realized. We must have to find the rest of the drill and open these valves. I jogged over to one of the doors and entered. Sure enough, there was another piece of the drill. But something caught my attention. There was a note on the table next to me. Intrigued, I picked up the fragile piece of paper.
Alexander,
I have prepared the explosives you needed for clearing the flood drain. I can't stress enough how important it is that the mixture is handled with care. Please try to tell your featherbrained servants this before you go ahead with your plans. The liquids are not by themselves explosive and should be kept separated to avoid further mishaps. I have arranged two large vats in the next room for the ingredients. All you need to do is to mix the liquids and you are ready to go.
~Agrippa
When I was done reading, I threw the note down and exited the room. I didn't know why I needed an explosive but I'm sure there was a reason. I found Isabelle near the Secondarybarrel.
"We need to get the rest of the drill and make an explosive." I said flatly, grabbing her wrist and tugging the woman along with me. She was bewildered but didn't protest. We began exploring and it didn't take long for Isabelle to find the last part of the drill. Assembling it with ease, the two of us walked over to Primary. I jammed the drill into the damp wood, creating a hole large enough for the explosive liquid to seep out.
"Do you have anything to carry the explosive?" Isabelle asked. I mentally smacked myself.
"I didn't think about it," I said sheepishly, "I wonder if Daniel still has the chemistry pot."
"And here I was, thinking you were smart." Isabelle taunted, "We should go find Daniel then." I was about to retort but I kept my mouth shut and nodded. I really don't want to see Daniel but he has the chemistry pot.
Isabelle and I left Storage and began our search for the young man. We found him near the fountain, gazing into the water with extreme intensity.
"Where were you guys?" His head shot up in our direction, emerald eyes glittering with fright.
I avoided speaking to him. He glared at me with fury before turning to Isabelle.
"We went into Storage but we need the chemistry pot. Do you still have it?" She asked. Daniel lifted a brow before pulling it out.
"Before I give this to you," He said mischievously, "Why do you need it?" I let out a snort of frustration, drawing the man's attention.
"We need to carry an explosive." Isabelle stated. Daniel nodded and handed her the pot.
"I'm coming with you." He said flatly. I let out a sigh. Daniel was the last person I wanted to trek with, but I was given no choice. The russet-haired man shot me a look of contempt before following Isabelle back into Storage.
We made our way back to the room with the barrels in little time. Daniel placed the chemistry pot under the small stream of liquid, filling the pot till about halfway. We then turned toward Secondary and repeated the process. The pot was now a shimmering orange, highly explosive and dangerous.
"Let's find out what we have to use this on." Isabelle stated, breaking the eerie veil of silence. We left the room behind in moments. The only place left was to go forward, straight into the wall of darkness.
We began to make our way to the gloomy hallway when Daniel let out a gasp and froze up, eyes glazed over again.
"What's happening?" Isabelle whispered into my ear.
"I'm not sure, but it happens frequently." I replied. Daniel soon snapped out of his daze, sweating slightly.
"Is something wrong?" Isabelle asked. The man shook his head wildly before jogging ahead of us. Well, that couldn't be any weirder. I thought as we followed the man.
We descended down a short staircase before the hall lit up. But, our passage was blocked by a rockslide.
"I'm guessing we should use the explosive here." Daniel stated before setting the pot on the ground.
"How do we set it off?" I asked. The man glanced around the dirty room before his gaze landed on a pile of rocks. He walked over and picked up a stone.
"Stand back." He said before tossing the rock at the chemistry pot. The stone hit the pot with a satisfying clank. Instantly, the liquid began to fizz and hiss. I bolted up the staircase and hid around the corner, hoping the blast radius wasn't too massive. In a matter of seconds, the air was filled with a loud bang. The whole room trembled at the explosive went off, but after a few moments, the quaking stopped. The three of us climbed to our feet and went back down the staircase.
It had worked.
The rocks were gone.
And now we were greeted with more darkness.
