They stopped running once they reached the center of the tunnel and listened carefully to the sounds all around them. Just as with the first tunnel, they could hear music coming from the end but they didn't hear any mob coming from the entrance. Did that mean the plan had worked? Were they safe at the moment? Or was it just a false sense of security before something more dangerous and morbid came for them?
"Do you think they're gone?" Charlie asked. "Did we out run them?"
"I don't hear anyone coming." Angel said. "I think we lost them. But I have a feeling that it's only a matter of time before they find us again."
"Angel I'm really scared." Charlie shivered. "I don't wanna be here. I wanna go back to the mansion."
"Alright don't panic. Panicking is the last thing we wanna do in a situation like this. As a matter of fact, panicking is the last thing anyone should do in any situation. Panicking has never helped anyone."
"So what do we do?"
"We find a way to get back up above ground before we're found again."
"How? It's not exactly safe to go out there and something tells me that door won't be very easy to open."
"I don't know...Maybe we should...We should call somebody? Maybe we should call Vaggie and ask her to come open the door for us."
"What if she doesn't believe us? I mean trapped underground in a crypt full of clubbing demons? Seems very far fetched, and I doubt someone like Vaggie would believe that."
"She'll believe it if it comes out of your mouth. She'd believe you if you ran around screaming that the end of the world was coming tomorrow."
"But what if she can't open the door?"
"Then I don't know what we'll do but right now calling her for help seems to be our only option." He handed her his rosary beads. "Here's the plan, you stay here and try to call Vaggie. I'm going out there and I'm going to try to open the door myself."
"I can't take your beads. What if those...Those...Those things find you? How will you defend yourself?"
Angel looked down at a sharp stone that laid on the ground. It gave him an idea, a very nasty and unpleasant idea, but desperate times call for desperate measures and this was a defintely a desperate time.
"Charlie look away." He told her.
"Why?" She asked.
"Because Vaggie told me how body horror can sometimes make you woozy."
"Body horror? What are you going to do?"
"I saw something in a Hammer Horror film that might provide me with protection but it requires me to hurt myself a little bit. Now I'm not sure if this method will work, but it's worth a shot."
"I don't know if that's a good idea Angel."
"It won't be anything fatal or anything that requires medical attention. Just something to draw my blood out, I need it to pull this off. Now close your eyes, I can't have you fainting on me."
Charlie did as she was told. Angel grit his teeth and used the sharp end of the stone to make a cut in his arm. Then he unbuttoned his shirt, dipped two fingers into his wound, and used his own blood as ink to draw a cross over his chest. Charlie opened her eyes before Angel said it was alright and she quickly removed her scarf, using it to bind up Angel's injury.
"I hope this method of yours works." Charlie said.
"Me too. I'll try not to be too long, and keep those beads with you at all times. If anyone or anything weird approaches you, hold up the cross."
He left as quietly as possible. Charlie took her phone out of her pocket and tried to call Vaggie but there was no signal down here.
"Oh come on, seriously?!" She cried to the phone. "Don't do this to me! Please don't!"
With great care, she crept around and tried her best to find a signal somewhere. The music from the end of the tunnel was suddenly drawing closer to her. Clutching the beads, she started to slowly stepback. But her back made contact with a wall and the tunnel entrance had somehow vanished.
"Oh no!" She thought panicked. "Oh no! Please!"
Her hands desperately spread out over the wall, fingers searching for a hole or anything she could use as a means to escape.
"Please!" She pleaded. "Please don't let me be trapped! Oh God please! I have to get out of here! I just have to! I don't want to die down here!"
She was so scared. Her breathing was frantic and tears were in her eyes, she could feel that something was coming to get her. Something was coming to get her and she couldn't get away. The poor woman was so overcome with fright that she didn't notice the tall shadow slipping on up from the floor and slowly approaching her from behind without making a sound. But when the darkness fell over her, she became stiff and held her breath, not sure what to do at the moment. Then she turned around and saw him standing over her. The Shadow Man.
More tears came streaming down her cheeks and her body trembled so terribly that she could barely keep standing. She shakingly raised the hand that held the rosary beads. The Shadow Man only chuckled and placed his own hand over hers, the Catholic talisman did him no harm. She cried even harder.
"Shhh." He hushed, moving his hands to gently take hold of her face, using his fingers to wipe away her tears. "Do not cry, you will stain your lovely face."
"Please don't hurt me." She whimpered in a sob.
"Now why in the world would I want to hurt you?" He lifted her chin to where she had no choice but to look into his eyes. "Such beauty and goodness, I'd burn in hellfire before I ever harmed you."
There was something familiar about his voice and his eyes. She knew them from somewhere, but something was preventing her from recognizing any of it.
"They want your life and your soul my dear." He said. "But you are safe with me."
With one hand he caressed her cheek and with his other he gently traced her throat with his fingers as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"You feel so cold." She remarked. "As cold as death."
"Perhaps, but I can assure you that I am very much alive."
She closed her eyes and leaned her cheek into his palm. Her fears were slowly put to rest and she was becoming soothed by his touch.
"Come with me." He said taking her by the hand.
She allowed him to lead her down the tunnel and into a surreal world of bright lights, sparking flames, and colors and shadows that mixed together. Supernatural creatures could be seen dancing all around and some were dancing very erotically. Charlie blushed, for a moment she feared that the Shadow Man would try to touch her in an inappropriate manner, but he did no such thing. He pulled her into a fast and exhilarating dance but he kept his hands far from her bosom and from any part below her waist.
As they grew accustomed to the tune and the rhythm, Charlie found herself stepping into his arms without an ounce of fear or uncertainty. The music was pushing back the walls as it pounded into her nervous system, galvanizing her into motion that synchronized perfectly with his. Her mood had turned absent, dreamy, almost excited.
"Who are you?" She asked him almost breathless. "What are you going to do to me?"
"I am The Shadow Man and I only want to share a dance with the most beautiful woman in world." He whispered into her ear which made the blush in her cheeks increase ten fold.
He held her close, hands playing lightly over her back and her hair, the sensation was just incredible. He made her feel intoxicated, enchanted, full of trust. This demon who had started out as something she was terrified of, had suddenly become her guardian angel. Someone she knew would never allow any harm to come to her.
"Oh please don't ever go away." She sighed without thinking.
"Oh my dear." He chuckled. "I will never leave you. Never again. If you ever need me, I will be there. I won't let anything or anyone hurt you."
His smile beamed with such pride yet his eyes were so full of agonized yearning. Agonized yearning for her. He wanted her, and this wasn't just some random desire for an attractive person you just met. No, the only way you could look at anyone with a longing like this was if they were much more special than a stranger you wanted just for sex. You could only give a longing look to someone if you loved them with your whole heart and soul, but couldn't have that person.
"We know each other, don't we?" She asked him. "You're no stranger. I wouldn't feel so safe in the arms of a stranger, and you go by another name as well. What is your other name? Who are you really? Who are you to me?"
"Patience." He crooned into her hair. "In time all will be made clear to you."
"What is happening here?" She asked. "Is this even real? Or is it all just a dream?"
"For now my lovely, think of this as just a dream. But when the moment is right, I shall take you away and turn all your sweet dreams into a reality."
The mood of dreamlike exaltation lasted until the shadows and lights spun all around her. Spinning and spinning, and spinning til everything went black.