Read In the Orient Online

Authors: Art Collins

Tags: #JUV001000 Juvenile Fiction / Action & Adventure / General

In the Orient (7 page)

BOOK: In the Orient
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As they began their treacherous trek inside the mountain, Robert Liu almost didn’t make it. After becoming momentarily wedged in between the rocky sides of the less than two-foot wide entrance, he drew in a deep breath, held it, and with great effort barely squeezed his way through the narrow opening. Once free on the other side, he looked back and wondered how much trouble he’d have exiting in ten minutes.

Leading the group, May picked her way through a rocky passageway that couldn’t have been more than four feet wide and six feet high. After climbing and winding upward on a thirty-degree incline, the dark tunnel suddenly veered to the left and began to descend at a slightly steeper grade.

May suddenly stopped five minutes later when the beam of her flashlight illuminated a wall of sheer rock that blocked the passageway. However, four feet up the rock wall was another opening—a ragged-edged hole about three feet in diameter. It almost appeared as though a giant fist had punched the wall, trying to break through to the other side.

As May approached the dark hole and pointed her flashlight into the pitch-black void, she saw another rock wall and floor on the other side. May was about to report what she’d seen when she and the others heard noise from somewhere inside the hole.

The moment Jockabeb’s ears picked up the muffled laugh coming through the jagged opening in front of him, one terrifying thought raced through his mind as he blurted out loud, “That’s the exact sound I heard in my dream, seriously! I don’t believe that another one of my dreams is coming true!”

“You don’t know that for sure,” Archibald said with conviction, even though he wasn’t entirely convinced that his brother wasn’t right.

The next haunting laugh and words that echoed out from the other side of the thick wall of rock left little doubt that Jockabeb’s clairvoyant dream had accurately foretold the future. “Gau mengh
ā
! Gau mengh
ā
!”

“See!” Jockabeb yelled triumphantly, “Those are the exact words I told you about this morning.”

Since she grew up roaming the abandoned subway tunnels below New York City, Willow had no fear of being in dark, cramped, underground spaces. And even though she believed Jockabeb had probably dreamed something similar to what was happening now, she had no qualms about crawling through the dark hole to help the person who was apparently trapped in the shadows on the other side. So in a desperate voice, she pleaded, “Come on, we have to help whoever is in there.”

“How do you know it’s a person?” Jockabeb asked, remembering the rest of his dream.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” Archibald said, reaching for May’s flashlight.

Pulling the flashlight back, May responded with steely finality, “I understand the language that he or it is speaking, so I’m going in first, thank you.”

“And not without me,” Robert Liu added, looking at the hole in the massive rock wall and wondering just how he was going to squeeze his body through it.

The decision became final when Archibald announced, “Okay, we can’t see what’s going on in there from out here, so we’re all going in together.”

An Ancient Legend Re-emerges

May was the first to climb up and disappear through the shadowy hole in the wall. Since she’d finally agreed to give Archibald the flashlight so he could illuminate the opening while the others crawled through it, May couldn’t see exactly what she’d entered, and wouldn’t until Archibald finally arrived. However, even though she couldn’t see anything in the dark after she lowered herself hand-first to the rock floor on the other side, she could smell a rank odor similar to the smell Jockabeb had described in his dream.

Jockabeb was the second one through the hole. Once he hit the ground on the other side, he felt May’s hand take his and guide him several steps away from the dimly lit opening where the others would soon emerge. Standing in the dark, Jockabeb whispered, “It’s just like I dreamed. Exactly the same sounds, the same smell, the same creepy feeling.”

“Don’t worry, Jockabeb,” May whispered back. “We’ll be alright. Remember, we’re here to rescue someone who needs our help.”

Willow was the third person to land on the other side. As her sensitive eyes adjusted to the dark, she turned in a circle, scanning the perimeter walls. Then, in a hushed voice, she whispered, “There’s something moving over by the far wall, but I can’t make out exactly who or what it is.”

The dim light that flickered through the hole was suddenly extinguished as Robert Liu’s rotund frame completely filled the opening. With great effort, he somehow squeezed through the hole and literally rolled onto the rock floor on the other side of the wall, eliciting a bout of laughter from whatever was lurking in the darkness.

“Over here, Robert,” May said, extending her hand.

“Thank you, Miss May,” he answered, leaning his bruised body up against a wall of damp, cold rock.

Seconds later, Archibald’s head poked out of the hole. As he pulled the rest of his body forward and lowered himself hands-first to the ground, the small space that he had just entered was washed in light.

Willow gasped, “What is that?”

As Archibald trained the flashlight’s beam on the far wall of the twenty-foot wide, eight-foot high square cave, his mind shot back to the book he’d studied in his Chinese Literature class.

Jutting eighteen inches out from the wall was a narrow outcropping of jagged rock. Literally embedded
in the outcropping, from the top of its hips down, was a human-sized monkey. It was wearing an ornate armored vest, and the round hat perched on top of its head looked like a crown. The monkey’s large round eyes sunk in its orbital sockets were like nothing any of them had ever seen before. The sinister eyes were glowing yellow, with not a trace of an iris or pupil.

The monkey’s head slowly turned and its unearthly pair of eyes stared down at the astonished group. The Monkey King’s left arm appeared to be lodged securely in the rock.

As the monkey cocked its round hairy head, Archibald looked at Willow in complete amazement and whispered, “It’s the Monkey King! This is impossible! The Monkey King is just an old Chinese legend. It’s make-believe. This can’t be real, except . . . well . . . I guess it is because we’re looking at it.”

Before anyone could utter another word, the monkey began to speak!

As it did, May whispered, “This monkey is speaking in a language similar to Cantonese. It’s not exactly Cantonese, but I can still understand it.”

For the next several minutes, the monkey spoke excitedly in a nonstop monologue. May listened intently, translating out loud the essence of what she heard. Occasionally, she asked the monkey to repeat itself so she could better understand. While the monkey’s account of what had happened centuries ago
seemed unbelievable, it was somewhat consistent with what Archibald had read in Monkey.

The monkey explained that the day its host and master, the Monkey King, had been freed after the five hundred years of captivity imposed by Buddha, something terrible had happened. When the Monkey King had jumped off the outcropping while leaving the mountain dungeon—the same dungeon in which they were all now standing—one of the hairs on his body fell into a crack in the rock and was left behind.

Minutes later, that hair was magically transformed into a clone of the Monkey King. As the clone grew, its body and left arm became trapped in the rock. Even though the clone was immortal like its departed host, it lacked most of the Monkey King’s other powers. With no way to escape, the Monkey Clone was forced to remain a captive for centuries, waiting in desperate solitude for someone to finally free it.

When the Monkey Clone had finished its fantastic tale, May asked how it could be freed. The Monkey Clone smiled coyly. In a friendly voice, it then laughed and told her to come closer so they could better hear each other.

As May stepped forward, the Monkey Clone’s right arm suddenly shot forward, growing longer as it did. Once the Monkey Clone had a vice-like grip around May’s neck, its hairy arm quickly withdrew, dragging her with it, kicking and screaming.

Monkey Clone

Seeing May struggling and in mortal danger, Jockabeb’s instincts immediately took over. As he ran toward her, he yelled, “Let her go, you stinking ape!”

Surprised and somewhat caught off guard, the Monkey Clone dropped May in order to make a fist. As the Monkey Clone swung its right arm forward, May saw her opening and scampered away.

The Monkey Clone’s aim was good, striking Jockabeb squarely on his left cheek, knocking him to the ground. With lightning speed, the simian beast then grabbed its new victim by the throat and drew him to its chest, laughing loudly as it did.

Although relieved that May had escaped, Robert Liu was horrified to see the young American struggling for his life. Knowing he had to act fast if he was to free the boy, Robert clenched his fists and dashed forward.

There was little doubt in the Monkey Clone’s mind that there was no way the overweight human running toward it could match its own supernatural strength. The evil clone was also determined not to let the boy get away like the girl had done just moments before. After biting down on Jockabeb’s T-shirt so escape was impossible, the Monkey Clone swung its powerful right fist forward with lightning speed.

The sound of Robert Liu’s glasses breaking and his skull cracking turned May’s stomach. Seconds later, Robert staggered backward, collapsing at Archibald’s feet. Seeing Robert bleeding from a large gash in the middle of his forehead and lying motionless on
the ground, it wasn’t clear to the remaining members of the group whether or not he was still alive. Whatever the case, there was no doubt in May’s mind that her father’s bodyguard wouldn’t be guarding anyone for a long time, if ever at all!

Capturing a hostage

After again placing its right arm securely around Jockabeb’s throat, the Monkey Clone spoke. This time, however, there was no trace of kindness or humor in its voice. Spitting out words with vile hatred that had mounted over the centuries, the Monkey Clone issued an ultimatum to May.

May’s voice trembled when she said, “The Monkey Clone says that we have to leave now and come back tomorrow with an elixir that will dissolve the rock surrounding the lower half of its body. If we do that, the Monkey Clone promises to let us all go as a reward for setting it free. If we don’t come back alone with the elixir, or if we tell anyone what happened here, Jockabeb and Robert will both die a slow and very painful death.”

“How are we supposed to find an elixir that can dissolve the rock?” Archibald asked in an exasperated voice.

When May asked the Monkey Clone what the elixir was made out of and where to find it, the hairy beast tightened its grip on Jockabeb, snarling back that it was their responsibility to figure that out. Then, to give the three teens a taste of what was in store for their friend if they failed in their mission, The Monkey Clone leaned its head down and bit off the tip of Jockabeb’s right earlobe!

Jockabeb’s scream was still echoing off the walls of the dark dungeon when a tiny piece of bloody flesh was spit toward the three startled teenagers who could hardly believe what they’d just seen.

Even though every bone in his body wanted to remain and fight rather than leave, Archibald instinctively knew what Simtu had known when he left Haktu alone with the Black Raven warriors at the underground lake—staying behind wouldn’t save his brother. Returning with help, or at least something to destroy the Monkey Clone, was their only hope.

With that painful decision made, the main question in Archibald’s mind was whether he could return with what he needed in time. If not, he feared Jockabeb faced a fate far worse than Haktu did centuries ago. Also knowing that without the car keys, they wouldn’t be able to drive the Mercedes back to Jade Place, Archibald slowly reached down and retrieved the keys from Robert’s coat pocket while the Monkey Clone was giving final instructions to May.

The Rescue Mission Begins

The moment they were dismissed, May, Archibald, and Willow quickly departed the same way they’d arrived, running through the rocky passageway as fast as they could. Thankfully, by the time all three of them squeezed back out through the crack in the mountainside, the cloudy mist had lifted.

BOOK: In the Orient
13.38Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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