Kevin Ashman - Mortuus Virgo

‘No on the contrary, though there was a disaster, the majority would have survived but they just moved out of the area.’

‘Why?’

‘The great flood.’

A silence fell in the darkened room before Brandon finally spoke.

‘Please don’t tell me you mean Noah’s flood.’

‘I do!’

‘Oh this is getting ridiculous,’ he said and stood up, switching on his torch.

‘What are you doing?’ she asked.

‘Getting out of here,’ he said, ‘Before these torches run out.’

‘I thought we had agreed we would wait for the manager.’ she said.

‘It’s been over an hour,’ he said, ‘If anyone was coming they would be here by now.’

‘Surely he wouldn’t just leave us down here, that would be stupid.’

‘Unless he was the one who locked us in!’

‘What?’

‘Think about it,’ he said, ‘There’s only one way into these tunnels and that’s through his office. Only he knows we are here so who else can it be?’

‘What are you going to do,’ she asked picking up her own torch.

‘Those cables,’ he said, pointing at the old electricity supplies piercing the walls, ‘They must lead somewhere, pass me that crowbar.’ He climbed on a chair and started to hit at the rotten wood with the tool. The sixty year old wooden panel broke easily and within a few minutes he had made a hole wide enough for him to peer through. ‘There’s another panel a few yards along,’ he said and made the hole in the panel as wide as he could. Eventually it was big enough to crawl through and he jumped down off the chair. ‘Come on,’ he said, ‘I’ll help you up.’

‘I’m not going in there,’ she said.

‘You have to,’ he replied, ‘You are smaller than me, I’ll never fit through.’

‘I can’t’ she said, ‘I suffer from claustrophobia. This room is bad enough but at least I had you here with me. It looks like that hole is barely big enough for me to crawl through. I can’t do it.’

‘It’s only a few yards, India,’ he said, ‘Drop into the next room and come and open the door from the outside. It’s probably our only chance.’

‘I can’t,’ she said again.

‘India, you can,’ he said, ‘I’ll help you up and you go in feet first on your back. Just keep your eyes closed. Two minutes max and it will be over. I will be only a few feet away at all times.’

‘I don’t have an option do I?’ she asked.

Brandon just smiled grimly.

‘We could wait for help to arrive.’ he said, ‘But somehow I think that could be quite a while, if ever.’

‘Okay,’ she said, ‘I’ll do it.’

‘That’s my girl,’ he said and dragged the table across to below the cables. ‘Come on, Ill help you up.’

She climbed in the hole feet first and wriggled until only her head and shoulders still remained in the room.

‘Good girl,’ said Brandon, ‘Keep going until your feet touch the board on the other side and kick it as hard as you can, it should give way easy enough. When it does, turn over and lower yourself into the room.’

‘Here goes,’ she said and wriggled into the tunnel. ‘Keep that light on,’ she called as she went and Brandon shone the torch into the conduit behind her. Within a few minutes he heard the sound of banging and a sudden shout of ‘Yes’ as the board fell away.

‘It’s gone,’ she shouted, ‘I m just going to drop down.’

‘Be careful,’ he called and watched as she disappeared from view.

A second later she called again.

‘I’m in,’ came her muffled voice, ‘Just looking for the door, just a second there’s someone…. Oh my God’ she screamed, ‘ Brandon……Help me!’

Her terrified scream chilled him to the bone.

‘India!’ he shouted, ‘What’s the matter, India, answer me, are you okay?’

Apart from her crying there was no answer and Brandon looked around frantically for the crowbar. He laid the torch on the table and started to smash at the door with little success. He looked around again and picked up the solid bench, hardly managing its weight. Swinging it back he smashed it against the hinge side of the door and had the satisfaction of seeing it move. Straining every muscle he hit the door over and over again until at last the door frame fixings gave way and the whole doorway fell outwards in a cloud of dust. Brandon climbed through and taking his torch, made his way the few yards to the next door coughing as he went. The door was also locked but this time he could see it was a very old padlock and probably hadn’t been opened in years. He returned to the linesman’s room for the crowbar and a minute later, after smashing the lock off the second door, ran in to the darkened room. His torch cut through the darkness and he immediately saw India sat in the corner, still crying and shaking in terror.

‘India,’ he said grabbing her by her arms, ‘India, it’s me Brandon what’s the matter.’

She looked at him, realising who he was and threw her arms around him sobbing.

‘Okay India,’ he said, ‘you’re safe now, the darkness must have got to you quite bad.’

‘No she sobbed, ‘Look…there!

He turned his head and pointed the torch in the direction she was staring and his blood ran cold.

Leaning against the wall was a primitive crucifix, and tied to the cross was the rotting remains of a young girl!

Brandon stared in disbelief at the heart stopping horror in front of him. The girl seemed to be less than ten years old and by the state of the corpse and lack of smell must have been there for months if not years. The rotting fabric hanging from her skeletal frame had once been a white nightdress of some sort but the thick dust layer had transformed it into a morose dirty grey.

A spider, annoyed by the sudden intrusion of light, scuttled from the web suspended between her nailed wrist and her head, seeking the safety of her straw like hair.

‘Oh my God,’ he whispered and walked over to inspect the body more closely.

‘Brandon, get me out of here,’ said India quietly.

‘Wait a minute,’ he said and shone the torch slowly over the whole body. The skin was stretched tight over the skeleton and her head hung down onto her chest. He used the torch to raise the head up, swallowing hard as he saw the empty sockets of her eyes.

‘Brandon, for Christ’s sake, lets get out of here,’ said India, unaware of the ironic reference of the link to the cross.

Brandon leaned closer and using his other hand, broke through the cobwebs to get a better look at something underneath.

‘Brandon, I need to get out of here, now ?’ she said looking nervously over his shoulder at the dead girl.

He fumbled with something before answering.

‘Okay,’ he said, ‘Let’s go.’ He led her from the room and they made their way back as quickly as possible to the entrance to the station. A few minutes later they reached the door and Brandon was pleasantly surprised to find it slightly ajar.

‘Wait here,’ he said.

‘Why?’

‘If this guy locked us in that room he is probably the one responsible for those poor girl's deaths. Who knows how he will react when he knows we are alive?’ He picked up a broken piece of wood and wielding it like a club, pushed the door slowly open, his eyes squinting in the bright light of the workroom within. India waited outside in the maintenance tunnel shining her torch around her nervously as she waited. A few moments later she jumped as she heard him call her name. ‘India,’ he shouted, ‘Come here, quickly.’

She ran in and found him crouched over the body of the station Master laying in a pool of blood.

‘Oh my God,’ she said, ‘Not another one?’

‘He’s still alive,’ said Brandon, ‘Find a phone and call an ambulance, this is getting ridiculous!’