Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1) (24 page)

‘
Yes, that would be sensible,’ agreed Alexandre’s father. ‘But
I am afraid that, for the first time, my curiosity and excitement
are overcoming my pragmatism and I am desperate to discover how far
down it extends.’

‘
I am in agreement with you, Didier,’ said Maman. ‘I am simply
dying to find out how deep down these caverns actually
are.’

‘
Good.’ Alexandre’s father seemed to reach a conclusion.
‘Harold, if you are happy to do it, will you start mapping the
first level? In the meantime, Marie-Louise and I will descend to
the lower levels to count the number of floors.’

‘
May I accompany you, Didier?’ Victoria asked. ‘I too am
bursting with curiosity.’ She glanced at her husband as she said
this and Harold raised his eyes heavenward.

‘
Of course,’ Papa agreed.

‘
May we come too?’ Jacques asked, speaking on behalf of
himself and Freddie.

‘
I do not see why not. As long as you stay close. Leonora?
Isobel? Are you coming?’

Leonora smiled
and nodded, but Isobel shook her head vehemently.

‘
Isobel,’ Leonora said. ‘I need you to accompany me. It will
be fun I promise you. We shall hold hands and explore
together.’

‘
I am afraid,’ Isobel admitted, hanging her head.

‘
Then we shall admire you all the more for overcoming your
fear,’ Leonora encouraged. ‘Just come down to the first level with
me and see what you think. If you do not like it, we shall come
straight back up. Besides, if you do not come then one of us will
be obliged to stay above ground with you and you will be denying
that person the opportunity to satisfy their curiosity.’

Isobel was
silent for a few moments and then reluctantly smiled at Leonora.
‘Very well, I shall not be a stick-in-the-mud. I shall be
brave.’

Everybody
cheered. Alexandre picked his sister up by the waist and swung her
around.

‘
Let me down, you big oaf!’ she protested, turning crimson
with embarrassment. ‘I can just as soon change my mind back you
know.’

‘
We will just go down for two hours and then we shall return
to the surface by six o’clock,’ Papa said. ‘All we will do for now,
is try to determine how many levels there are. We shall not be
exploring any further than that this afternoon. Is everybody in
agreement?’

Everyone
noisily voiced their assent. They would be accompanied by Isik and
two guards – Savas and Nail. Harold would also take two guards with
him and a couple of men from their workforce to help him with room
dimensions and cataloguing. Alexandre rose up from his place next
to the cold campfire and began to help with the preparations for
their descent.

*

Alexandre and
the others made their way towards the staircase in the underground
church whilst Harold decided to start in the room at the bottom of
the shaft and work his way slowly eastwards, the way Alexandre had
originally come from.

He enjoyed
this type of methodical measuring and cataloguing. It was a
satisfying process. The minutes evaporated as he got into his
stride. He had worked out a rough key for his mapping system and it
was all going rather well. Harold was eager to show the others how
much progress he had made, although he knew the task would take
many months, if not years to complete.

He pulled out
his pocket watch and saw with surprise it was already seven
o’clock. The others would be wondering where he had got to. He
apologised to the guards and the workers for keeping them so late
and they all headed back up to camp.

Once above
ground, Harold walked over to the tents where he assumed the others
would be now getting ready for dinner.  

Strange. The
tents were empty.

‘
I say!’ he called over to one of the guards. ‘The others and
Isik - have they returned?’

‘
No.’ The guard shook his head. ‘Agha Kaya ...’ He pointed
towards the shaft opening.’

‘
I see,’ Harold replied. ‘Thank you.’ Well, they too must have
lost track of the time. He did not blame them, it
was
all too fascinating.
They would be up shortly no doubt. He returned to his tent to wash
and change.

When he
emerged, darkness had already gathered around the site. He strode
over to the hissing, crackling campfire. Still no sign of the
others. Harold reluctantly concluded that they must have got
themselves lost. They would never be two hours late without very
good reason.

Worry mingled
with irritation. He had half guessed this would happen. It simply
did not do to plunge headlong into this type of exploration.
Preparation, a system and a slow methodical approach should always
be employed if one wanted to avoid situations like this.

Harold sighed.
He would have to take some of the guards down with him to go and
search them out. They would all be tired and hungry and would, he
was sure, now agree to his way of thinking and take it one level at
a time, mapping as they went. Once one had a map, one could not get
lost.

Four guards
accompanied him and Harold showed them that if they got separated
for any reason, they should follow the chalk lines on the walls
which would lead them back to the surface. As they walked in the
direction of the underground church, Harold drew arrows pointing
back towards the entrance.

The darkness
below ground was absolute and the cold seeped into Harold’s body.
No filtering daylight shone through and it felt very different to
earlier when they had all been euphoric at their discovery. Harold
felt enclosed and claustrophobic. He had never had these types of
fears before and wondered why he should experience them now. Maybe
it was just worry for his family and friends.

They would
laugh about this later on over a glass of raki and a good meal.
Harold’s stomach gurgled. He hadn’t eaten for hours. He took a swig
of water to help to stem his appetite, but it only seemed to
increase it. He pulled some bread out of his bag and started
chewing. The others must be ravenous by now.

At last, after
what seemed like an age, they reached the great hall of the
underground church and Harold ran his chalk along the rock wall,
trying to avoid marking the ancient frescoes. It made an eerie
scraping, squeaking noise which echoed through the cavernous space.
They stopped at the top of the stone staircase and, after looking
at each other with some apprehension, carefully made their way to
the next level.

‘
Victoria!’ Harold shouted, once nearly at the bottom.
‘Leonora! Freddie!’ his voice obscenely loud as he called into the
blackness. ‘Shout back if you can hear me!’

They stood in
the echoing passageway, waiting for a reply … nothing.

‘
I wonder if somehow we have missed each other and they are
now above ground wondering where I am,’ he said to the guards with
false cheer.

They did not
really understand what he said and just smiled encouragingly, fear
in their eyes.

‘
Aah, yes,’ he said, despite their incomprehension. ‘You too
feel some apprehension. I suppose being a guard does not give you
immunity from such troublesome human emotions. And now I am
rambling. Come, let us continue.’ He strode on ahead, still
talking. ‘Didier said they would head downwards and eastwards and
so that is what we too shall do.’

They continued
on their course, shouting intermittently and waiting for a reply
that never came. They found more staircases descending to lower
levels and so they kept going. Harold only vaguely noticed things
that would have normally had him in paroxysms of excitement –
ancient artefacts, tombs, more carvings, frescoes.

Off one
particular corridor, several rooms were piled high with human
skeletons. It was at this point one of the guards tapped Harold on
the shoulder. He pointed upwards, speaking vehemently. He had had
enough. They were now about five floors down and if it wasn’t for
their lanterns, the darkness would have been without end. Harold
saw muted terror in the man’s eyes, but he shook his head.

‘
Ten more minutes,’ he said, showing ten fingers to the guard.
‘Ten minutes and then we will return.’

‘
He could not be sure if they understood him, but at any rate
they seemed to have already made up their minds. They tried to
encourage Harold to come with them, but he refused.

‘
I stay,’ said the youngest of them to Harold. ‘I come with
you.’ He turned to his comrades and spoke to them in Turkish. It
sounded as though they were arguing, but eventually they hugged and
kissed each other’s cheeks before the other three turned around and
headed back upwards.

‘
I Refet.’ The young guard introduced himself.

‘
Refet, I am Harold.
Teşekkür
ederim
, thank you for staying and for your
bravery. We will find the others now.’

‘
Yes, we go. Find your family. Find Agha Kaya.’

They descended
to another level and then another. They had been underground now
for nearly two hours and it was almost ten o’clock. Suddenly, a
loud bang filled up the silence. It sounded like a gunshot, but
they could not tell from which direction it came.

Harold and
Refet looked at each other and drew their weapons, continuing in
the same direction. Harold did not know if he should call out. If
it was a gunshot, did it mean the others had fired at an enemy or
that someone was firing at them? If indeed it was actually a
gunshot.

Then Harold
froze. His body prickled with sweat as a scream stabbed the air. A
chilling, blood-curdling sound. A woman’s scream of terror. He
heard footsteps, more bangs, scuffles, another scream …

Harold’s
thoughts swung frenziedly from his wife to his children. He prayed
to God the screams had not belonged to Victoria or Leonora. There
must be a rational explanation. Perhaps Isobel had taken fright at
a ghostly shape which had prompted one of the guards to shoot, or
maybe … No. This speculation was not productive. He just had to
find them, that was all. The matter would then be resolved and they
could follow the chalk lines up and out of this place.

Refet looked
at him with concern and Harold realised he was still rooted to the
spot. Refet urged him onwards. He was a brave boy, this young
Turkish guard. Harold would make sure he told Isik of his loyalty
and valour. He smiled at the guard and they continued forward. The
noises had stopped.

‘
Victoria! Leonora!’ he found the courage to shout. ‘Are you
down here? Didier! Freddie! Is that you? It is I,
Harold!’

His voice
echoed back at him and then faded away into black silence. He tried
not to think of the layers and layers of rock and earth above his
head, of the fact he was so many feet below the ground in the dead
of night with no immediate means of escape. But then he saw his
family’s faces in his mind’s eye and he forged ahead.

They came upon
another great hall, but the cavernous space made Harold feel
exposed and vulnerable after the low confines of the tunnels. He
and Refet kept close to the walls. And then they heard another cry
that faded away. This one infinitely worse than the last.

‘
God help us! Somebody help us!’ It was Isobel’s voice and it
came from the other side of the hall.

A long echoing
scream wound its way towards them. Harold and Refet ran towards the
noise, guns pointing straight out in front of them, the sound of
their footsteps magnifying as they charged across the stone floor.
They had come to another narrow corridor and had to stoop slightly
to enter it. They hunched their way along and peered cautiously
into each room ... nothing.

‘
Where are you?’ Harold cried out. His voice sounded thin and
quavering to his ears. There was no reply. He heard more shouts and
screams - a woman’s voice. A scuffling sound up ahead and then
silence again.

Refet tapped
him on the shoulder making him jump. The young guard pointed up
ahead to a dim pulse of light. As they got closer, they saw it came
from a lantern discarded on the ground, still burning.

‘
They cannot be far away,’ whispered Harold, picking up the
lantern and standing it upright. A thought came to him. ‘Maybe
there are wild animals down here. Bears or wolves. Be
careful.’

They crept
along the corridor until they reached a room which contained such
horror, they could not believe what they were seeing.

‘
No!’ Harold screamed. ‘No! It cannot be!’

Six Hours
Earlier

Didier,
Marie-Louise, Victoria and Isik led the way down the steep
staircase. Isobel and Leonora went next, followed by Jacques,
Freddie and Alexandre. Two more guards, Savas and Nail, brought up
the rear.

‘
I know I have said it before,’ Alexandre’s father said when
they reached the bottom. ‘But no one, and I mean no one, is to
separate from the group. We are to stay together at all times.
Jacques, Freddie, this includes both of you.’

‘
Yes, Father.’

‘
Of course, Sir,’ Freddie agreed.

Alexandre
smiled to himself. If would be a miracle if those two kept their
promise.

‘
We will proceed in an easterly direction, descending the
first set of steps we come to,’ his father instructed. ‘We will
keep descending. Then, after one hour, at five o’clock, we will
head back up to the surface. Now, Isobel, do you still wish to
continue or should one of us escort you back up top?’