Order Restored (Excerpt)

TWO

2

I groaned and waited for my head to clear. The only move I dared to make was turning my head a little to the right. I was lying on my side with my face half-buried in what felt like frozen snow, and I didn’t want to suffocate, especially not after surviving the fall. The ski suit and mask had protected me some, but my shoulders and hips hurt from being slammed against the hard rock multiple times. I didn’t think I had a concussion, as I had fallen feet first and apparently had landed the same way. Where, though, I had no idea. I was surrounded by darkness.

Twitching one limb at a time, I made sure no bones were broken. The left side of my face ached, and the trickle down my cheek could be either blood or melted snow, but other than that I seemed to be fine, enough to attempt rolling on my knees and gingerly pull myself to a sitting position. Luckily, I didn’t hit the ceiling.

I remembered I had a flashlight in my pocket and pulled it out. The bright spotlight revealed a small cave with low ceiling, a snow bed on one side and a larger opening on the other. No blood marred the clean snow, so my face had to sport only some bruises. Pointing the flashlight up, I discovered the hole I had fallen through. I remembered sliding into that crack below the edge of the platform before anyone could catch me.

My backpack had gotten lost, its straps breaking upon the first impact with the walls, which had saved me from getting stuck inside the narrow tube. A ventilation shaft? The walls had felt too smooth and too straight during the several meter fall to be a natural occurrence.

“Hello?” I called out with half a voice.

No answer, only the echo that carried my voice farther in the cave. I checked my cell phone but, of course, I had no bars. I was too deep into the mountain for the signal to pass through. And no one was coming after me. All the men left above were too large to fit through that tube. There was no point in waiting for help. I needed to move and get myself out of this mess. That corridor had to go somewhere.

I left the cavern, aiming the flashlight forward, and walked in the corridor. Again, something wasn’t right about the way the walls looked, but I couldn’t quite tell what; I was no speleologist. My source of light prevented me from noticing a faint light coming from the distance. I started when a sensor activated lantern was automatically turned on, alerted by my approach. I inspected the fixture on the wall from close and nodded to myself. No wires, it had to be battery powered and fairly new. Someone had been here recently.

Urging my stomach to settle down from the excitement, I advanced more carefully. If someone had been here, what were the chances of running into that someone, or anyone for that matter? Whoever that one was, my guess was it would wear fangs, and such meeting I would rather avoid. The fourth lantern was already on, not being sensor activated. I turned off the flashlight to save the battery and pondered. The previous lanterns hadn’t stayed on long enough to get from one to the other, but maybe if one moved faster… yes, definitely a vampire friendly environment. But why?

I got my answer when the first opening appeared in the wall. In the absence of a door barring the way, I peeked inside. In the faint light given by the two lanterns hung on the opposite sides of the large enclosure, it took me a moment to come in terms with the idea that those hunched shadows sidelining the walls were bodies. Lots of bodies. Dead bodies? They weren’t moving. But then why were they chained with manacles to the walls? I took a step closer. One of them moved and mumbled something.

“What?” I whispered, kneeling by the man.

“Is it time yet?” he murmured, without opening his eyes.

Time for what?

“Not again,” another voice moaned not from far.

I shook the man’s shoulders. “Hey, look at me!”