Town Secrets - The Book of Adam 1

  Adam stepped slowly down the stairs. The first time he made that trip he hadn’t read the Keystone. The information was in his head, but it all seemed out of reach. All he knew was that he needed to stop at the landing before going any further.

  His mind ran through images of everything that just happened, trying to find a way out and escaping from Larix. All of the scenarios ended up with Larix holding the Heartstone and everyone else locked in the tunnels with no food or water until…

  Adam shook his head to wake from the daydream. How many steps was that? Last count was over fifty, but how many more to the landing?

  Step after step, he dropped further into the earth, feeling the wall on his right side the entire way. It had led him to the landing the first time, so it was the safest thing to do again. Twenty three steps later, he reached his destination.

  The instant both feet touched down, an image appeared in his mind. It was as though the lights had been turned on for a second giving him a view of the entire staircase ahead. Straight in front of him was a large hole where he earlier thought there were more stairs. If he had continued on his way the first time, he would have fallen into the hole, never to be seen again. The image sent a chill up his spine.

  Adam spoke to the others behind him, “There’s a landing here, and beyond it is a large hole. You need to go to the left side. There are stairs on the left, about two feet wide. I don’t know how far down they go.”

  He shuffled his way across the landing using the bottom step as a guide, feeling relieved the moment he touched the left wall. With great care, he shuffled ahead until his foot found the edge of the stairs, then started down another long staircase. He knew it would be long as well, but just how long wasn’t revealed to him at the landing.

  Adam guessed that he would only be given instruction by the Keystone as it was needed. The glance he had been shown of the open pit had only been a flash, just enough for him to understand where the danger was. He hoped that in the future the instructions would get clearer.

  “Are you all still with me,” Adam called back to the others, hoping at least one had silently fallen. He could still hear footsteps, much to his disappointment, and they were closer than he preferred.

  The two guards gave an arrogant chuckle, silently stating they wouldn’t be that easy to lose. Larix said nothing.

  On Adam went, step by step, further and further down. The air was stale and humid, and the deeper they stepped the colder it felt. The walls were almost slick with the hint of condensation forming as the temperature dropped. Adam wondered if the coating Elianora applied to his shoes helped with grip on the slippery stairs or if they would actually make it worse.

  Adam’s foot jarred onto another landing, and an image of a Lumiens panel appeared in his mind. He reached to the left, sliding his hand in a smooth motion upward as it found the panel. The Lumiens glowed in reply.

  Once the light was at its brightest, a warm yellow glow filled the large cave, and Adam could hardly believe his eyes. The cave was at least the size of a football stadium. A few steps forward, the landing opened the entire width of the cave, but straight ahead it dropped off a sharp edge into a cavern.

  Adam took careful steps to the edge and looked down. He saw the wall going down for a few feet, then disappearing into darkness like the stairs under the office. If he had a stone, he would have dropped it just to hear it hit the bottom – if there was a bottom.

  He stepped back from the edge as the others came near.

  “What now?” asked the guard with the slimmer build.

  “I don’t know yet,” said Adam.

  “Hurry it up,” said the thicker built guard, hitting Adam with the butt of his gun and laughing.

  “Relax,” said Larix placing a hand on the guard’s shoulder.

  Larix looked at Adam. “Walk around until you trigger more information.”

  Adam rubbed his shoulder where the guard had hit him, then looked around. They were in the middle of the expanse, and the cave was wider than it was long. The cavern in front of them ran the length of the cave and was at least fifty feet across. There was another landing on the other side that looked identical to the one they were standing on, with a doorway in the middle. Adam couldn’t see any way across from where he stood, so he walked to the right, looking around as he stepped. The others stayed where they were.

  Adam reached the right side of the cave. The moment he touched the wall it triggered another image. It showed him bridges on the right and left side of the cave. The bridge on the right only went a short distance and dropped off into the cavern. The bridge on the left went over the entire span, but somewhere before halfway he saw a break in the bridge, marked on both sides by something on the wall. It also showed him the break was covered by something, but it didn’t show him what it was.

  Adam looked where the bridge should be, near where he stood, but there wasn’t one. Confused, he turned and walked toward the opposite side of the cave.

  “We need to get to the landing on the other side. There’s supposed to be a bridge across the cavern on that wall,” said Adam pointing, “But somewhere around halfway it looks like there is a break we’ll have to jump over. There’s some kind of marker near the break.”

  He walked over to the other wall, and as soon as he touched it, the same information played in his mind again. Differing from the first one, he saw the break was closer to a third of the way over the cavern, but still could not tell what or where the marker was on the wall.

  “Hang on, Adam,” said Larix, as Adam approached the edge of the cavern. “This good fellow is going to go first.”

  Larix tapped one of the guards on the shoulder, and the guard stepped in front of Adam. It was the guard who hit Adam with his gun.

  As far as Adam could see, there was no bridge, just a drop off to the bottomless pit below. The guard in front of him must have seen the same, because he wasn’t moving.

  “It’s an illusion,” said Larix, “The bridge is painted to hide it from viewing in this direction. Take a few steps forward and look back; then you will understand.”

  The guard felt ahead with his foot. When he seemed satisfied that there was solid support, he stepped ahead with the other foot. Being cautious, he stepped a few more times, then turned around and laughed as he looked down.

  “I can see the bridge. It’s only about two feet wide, so stay close to the wall,” he informed the others.

  Adam watched as it looked like the guard was air walking across the cavern. It was an odd sight. The guard seemed to be getting more confident in his steps, moving a little faster while scanning the wall as he went.

  The scanning triggered Adam’s memory of the direction markers in the tunnels. Those markers couldn’t be seen but had to be felt. Panic set in.

  “Feel the w…” is all Adam could say before the guard disappeared, as if he were sitting in a dunk-tank at the fair and someone hit the target.

  They heard him scream for a moment, then complete silence. Adam’s stomach churned. Even though the guard had just hit Adam, Adam didn’t think it was right to wish that fate on him.

  Larix sighed, “Stupid Common,” he muttered to himself. “And that is why I asked him to go first,” Larix said to Adam.

  He turned to the remaining guard. “Your turn, my friend,” he said, as though he were letting the guard onto a carnival ride rather than sending him into danger.

  “Feel the wall,” said Adam. “You won’t see the marker; you’ll have to feel it.”

  The guard nodded and stepped forward as though he were a hunter in the woods stalking his prey. His hands began searching the wall at the second step, and he made sure to feel every inch.

  “I feel something,” the guard called back after making it near the point where they had last seen the other, “It feels like a checkmark.”

  “Stay there,” said Larix. He ushered Adam toward the unseen bridge. “After you,” he said; his voice full of kindness.

  The more Adam
was around Larix, the more he understood how dangerous Larix was. Just his voice began to send chills up and down Adam’s back.

  Adam stepped ahead with great caution. Even though he had seen two others do so already, it was hard for his mind to believe there was a bridge supporting him. If only there was some dirt or sand he could throw on the bridge to stop the illusion, he thought, but he had nothing. After a few steps he looked back and immediately the illusion stopped, being made for anyone moving forward, not backward. Every few steps he would turn and look back, just to get a mental break.

  “It is quite impressive, and disturbing,” said Larix as Adam looked back. Larix was quite a few steps behind.

  Adam turned forward and kept moving without saying anything in return. After a few more steps, he made it to the point where the other guard had stopped.

  “Right here,” the guard showed Adam, and Adam put his hand on the spot.

  More instruction popped into his mind. It showed a trapdoor immediately in front of them. A view of the bridge from the side showed a figure starting from a point behind them and running over the trapdoor, which was now shown to be too large to jump.

  Adam snapped back to reality again. “We need to back up and run over the trapdoor. It’s too big to jump and it’s on a timer that starts as soon as it senses a footstep. If you don’t run fast enough, it’ll open before you make it across. If you make it across, it won’t open at all. The timer resets itself automatically.”

  The guard looked at Adam then to Larix.

  “Yes, you can go first,” said Larix.

  I don’t think that’s what he was thinking, thought Adam.

  Larix backed up a few steps to make room as Adam and the guard retreated down the bridge.

  “Get on with it,” said Larix as the guard paused for a bit too long.

  The guard took in a few deep breaths then sprinted forward, slowing down a little as the arc of the bridge started going downwards, but he didn’t stop until he made it to the landing on the other side.

  “Your turn,” Larix said to Adam. “I’ll be right behind you, so you better run fast.”

  The thought was no comfort to Adam. He did the same as the guard before him and took a couple of deep breaths, then broke into a sprint. Adrenaline fuelled him as he felt the angle of the bridge change. He slowed slightly, but it felt as though Larix was breathing in his ear and that made him speed up again. He nearly tripped on the last few strides and fell into the stomach of the guard on the other side.

  “Sorry,” said Adam.

  “No problem,” the guard replied in a gruff voice.

  “Well now, that was fun,” exclaimed Larix, laughing as though he really did have fun.

  Not by a long shot, thought Adam, his heart still racing and his body full of the adrenaline of fear.

  “On to the next adventure,” said Larix in a cheery voice.

  Adam wished Larix had gone over the bridge first.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE