Blood Harvest (22 page)

Something should be visible by now! The beam of light extended thirty yards into the tunnel. A body part, a face, a shadow, something should be distinguishable. The footsteps were growing resoundingly loud; Steve realized all sounds were amplified by the stone walls of the mine making the persons heading his way sound far closer than they actually were. Still the flashlight beam revealed nothing of what was coming. He remembered the flashlight was part of a lantern that would illuminate everything around him in a blue all-encompassing glow. There would be no way anyone could approach without being seen in the lantern’s revealing aura.

The sound of the footsteps was becoming deafeningly loud as he fumbled for the switch to change over from flashlight to lantern. His fingers searched without luck. Frustration and desperation overwhelmed Steve as he briefly took his eyes off of the tunnel before him and, using the peripheral glow of the flashlight beam, located the switch on the side of the lantern. Looking back up and into the tunnel Steve thought he could make out silhouettes of men running toward him as he pressed down on the switch.

Instantly the entire area of the mine was washed in the glow of the blue light. Steve screamed with astonishment as he brought the pistol to bear on three men, all of whom skidded to a halt at the sight of the blue light and the man holding said light in one hand and a Glock 17 in the other. All three men were less than five feet away as they stared in disbelief at Steve, who realized he was equally disorientated at the sight of them. Seconds ticked by as everyone held their ground. Steve noticed a growing look of apprehension on the face of one of the three men.

“Drop to the ground, NOW!” Steve hollered in his best cop voice.

The reaction he received was completely unexpected. The man with the growing look of fear immediately covered his eyes and screamed in a wail of pain that bounced off the walls of the chamber. Another of the men dove to his friend and caught him as he crumpled to the ground.

What the hell was this?

The screaming man was flailing, convulsing and clawing at his face with frenzy. The second man tried to cover and control the man in his delirium. Steve suddenly panicked, realizing he was so enthralled by the strangeness of the two men on the ground he had forgotten about the third man.

Raising his weapon to head level he turned and came eye to eye with the third man who was now aiming a particularly large caliber revolver between Steve’s eyes. The third man was saying something but the wailing of the man on the ground made whatever it was inaudible.

His police training took over, “Police! Drop your weapon! Now!”

The third man was now screaming something back at Steve.

“Shut off that light!”

Ignoring the seemingly inane request, Steve persisted.

“Drop your weapon now or I will kill you!”

“Turn it off!”

“Drop it! I mean it!”

“You’re already killing him!”

Did he hear that right?

“Put your weapon on the ground! And shut him up!”

Both men were yelling at each other though neither was listening to the other. The third man was highly agitated and less concerned about the gun being pointed at him than he was for the light.

“Turn off the goddamn light! You’re killing him!”

Against all his training, Steve eyed the man on the ground who continued convulsing in pain. Blisters were forming on every exposed area of his skin.

“Turn it off now or I’ll have to shoot it out!”

Steve retorted, “I won’t shut anything off while you are pointing a gun at my head.”

A moment passed with the only sound being the moans of the wrenching man on the ground and his friend trying to cover him.

“All right, I’ll drop the gun and you switch that thing back to the high beam I saw earlier. Agreed?”

“How do I know your friends aren’t armed?”

“Dammit! He’ll be dead before any of your trust issues can be resolved. Here!” The third man tossed the weapon in front of Steve’s feet.

Not wanting to bank on this small victory, Steve replied. “Okay, move over to your two friends so I can keep all three of you in the flashlight beam.”

The third man readily complied. Dropping to his knees by his fallen comrade he quickly removed his shirt exposing a corpse-like pale flesh that almost fluoresced in the ultraviolet illumination. The man ripped and wrapped his shirt around any remaining areas of his comrades exposed skin which, to Steve’s amazement, had begun to blacken and crack as if being severly burned.

Turning back to face Steve, the man hissed, “Turn the lantern off!”

Steve would have preferred to leave the light on, but he was in search of answers and not out to make enemies if he could help it. Reluctantly, he switched the lantern setting back to flashlight. The area instantly went black except for the intense ray of white light capturing the three individuals in its beam. The blistering man calmed and relaxed, but still moaned quietly from the pain of the injuries he had sustained.

The third man never took his eyes off of Steve; he stared directly into the center of the flashlight beam. His eyes shone in bright orange circles like an animal’s eyes caught in the high beams of an approaching car.

“We have to get him to the healers now!” the other man said urgently as he continued to tend to his friend.

“I know. Calm down,” the man watching Steve said with measured control.

“Calm down?!? You saw the burns! You know what that can mean for him!”

“I saw them and I am well aware of the need!” He angrily responded.

Steve and the man studied each other for the next few seconds, assessing their next move. Steve noticed a shift in the man’s expression for a fleeting instant before it was gone.

When the man spoke again it was with a disconcerting confidence that unnerved Steve.

“Nathan, get Samuel to his feet.”

The man on the ground looked to his friend, “I don’t think he can stand, Jeremiah.”

Purposefully the man turned his back to Steve and, with the help of the man he called “Nathan,” lifted the man named Samuel. With quick motion Jeremiah hoisted Samuel onto his shoulders in a fireman’s carry and took a couple steps back toward the depths of the mineshaft.

“HELLO! Man with a gun over here!” Steve called out in a voice that belied his incredulity. Had they completely forgotten he was there?

Steve warned, “You take one step out of the light and I start shooting!”

Nathan immediately froze in his tracks, but Jeremiah continued moving.

Calling back over his shoulder Jeremiah said, “C’mon Nathan, he isn’t going to shoot.”

“Are you so sure?” Steve cocked the bolt action of his weapon. The sound of the weapon being made ready to fire echoed off the walls of the mine.

Jeremiah turned back toward Steve, “Actually, what I meant was you aren’t going to be able to shoot. Alpha’s got you.”

Then the man turned and proceeded further into the tunnel closely followed by Samuel.

“Hey Freeze! No one’s going anywhere until…” Suddenly the name Alpha registered. Steve had been so preoccupied with the three men and the unusual scene he hadn’t grasped the significance of hearing Alpha’s name.

“Oh crap, not again.” Steve felt an intense pain at the side of his neck and lightning seemed to erupt before his eyes. Then everything went black.

Chapter 26

The sounds and smells of his surroundings slowly began to register as Steve’s mind struggled to consciousness. Unfortunately, the more he became aware of himself the more he realized how much trouble he was in. He was lying on his side in a near fetal position, completely unable to see. He could feel something wrapped tightly around his head and covering his eyes. As he attempted to reach up to his face to remove the wrapping he discovered his hands were bound at the wrists, loosely connected to what felt like straps binding his feet at the ankles. Steve twisted and arched his body until he was able to set himself in a seated position. He listened for any evidence of a presence in the area. The only noise was a slow drip of what sounded like water from a high elevation falling into a pool or puddle. Steve guessed he was still within the cave judging from the loudness of the drop as it hit the pool. The area felt like some kind of large cavern comprised of cold stone as opposed to the loose earth he’d experienced when initially descending into the mine.

Steve had no idea how long he had been unconscious. His head and neck throbbed terribly as he tried to stretch himself out as far as his bonds would allow. Every movement or scuffle along the floor was amplified by the cave, threatening to announce his consciousness to his captors. He did everything he could to keep quiet but, realizing it was a losing battle, he redoubled his struggle to free himself from his bonds.

The floor felt smooth like river rock and probably wouldn’t create enough friction to wear through the bindings. He tried to wriggle his hands to create some space, thinking he would use it to loosen the restraints, but the knots held fast. Dipping the side of his head to one shoulder, he even tried to push free of the blindfold. He had some success, but not enough to raise the wrap to the point where he could see. Steve abandoned this effort as he realized no light was coming in from the perimeter of the blindfold. He was in pitch blackness and would be unable to see regardless.

The sound of multiple footsteps approaching resigned Steve to the fact that he would not be able to free himself in time for any kind of escape. He decided to conserve his strength which served as a morale booster and a tiny measure of optimism, considering that was pretty much all he could do anyway. Dwelling on his extreme helplessness certainly wasn’t going to be useful.

Shifting and scooting with tremendous effort, he was able to push himself in reverse and away from the approaching footsteps until his back struck a solid wall. He had no real idea whether or not he was in any kind of contained area and the fear of scooting right off the edge of some unseen ledge haunted him prior to striking solid rock. Tensing as the footsteps grew louder and closer, Steve did his best to stifle any new noise which might alert whoever was approaching. The sound of the footsteps was becoming so loud it was if they were now walking inside his head.

Then, unbelievably, Steve thought he heard the sound diminish slightly and the footsteps sounded as if they were moving away, quieting and distancing. Realizing he had been holding his breath, Steve slowly let the air out of his lungs as his whole body relaxed.

“That was quite an effort.”

Steve’s head shot up so fast at the sound of the voice he struck the back of his skull against the rock wall he had worked so hard to scoot up against. He hadn’t heard or sensed anyone near by and the thought of someone having watched him the whole time chilled him.

“Alpha?” Steve said aloud, almost reflexively.

“I have to say boy, we seem to be having a terrible time always running into each other.” The voice was low, rhythmic and harmonic with the accent Steve had always thought to be musical. Now the effect of the room caused his voice to echo in as menacing a manner as it was once melodious.

“Knock it off Alpha and let me up.” Steve tried to sound intimidating but really felt ridiculous given his bound state.

“You are a little bit outside your jurisdiction, officer, to be giving anyone orders,” the voice chuckled.

“You’re not really that mad at me are you?”

“How could you bring an ultraviolet light into our home?” Alpha spoke in a low tone which Steve knew meant he was beyond furious.

“I hadn’t meant to use it as a weapon. Who were those three?”

“New arrivals of course, triplets, all of whom share our common fate. Unfortunately one of the brothers suffers from XP as well.”

“Oh God!” Steve gasped.
Xerotogenous Pigmentosa
, or XP as it is more commonly known, is a genetic defect where the melanin in the skin isn’t functional in absorbing ultraviolet light. Steve knew this weakness is rare but not uncommon among those living in the silver mine, although those affected usually keep to the darker and deeper sections of the cavern system.

“Alpha, I swear I had no idea.”

“Of course you didn’t, but you should have known better than to bring a UV light into the community.”

“I wasn’t in the community yet. I was still in the tunnels. Besides, since when are you making one of us with XP into a hunter?”

“It was a favor to his brothers. I was against it but the boy was so capable otherwise. Anyhow, someone had to take your place.” Alpha spoke with distaste. “And if you didn’t bring the lantern in as a weapon then why…?”

“You know I hate scorpions.”

Alpha was quiet a moment then said softly, “Actually, I had forgotten.”

The voice came from a completely different area around twenty feet to his right and yet Steve hadn’t heard a single footfall.

“It has been a while, hasn’t it?” The warm manner in which Alpha now spoke made the situation all the more disconcerting. Steve felt a quick tug at his ankle and then his wrists.

“All right, you can get up now.”

Steve slowly raised his hands to his face and slid the blindfold from around of his eyes. Warm light from two firelight torches filled the room as Steve inspected his surroundings. The room he was in was enormous with a high ceiling, rounded walls and floor all carved from solid rock. The room itself was as open as a large cathedral with sparse wooden beam supports throughout the central area. The rock appeared to be polished to a semi-gloss shine which assisted the fires in illuminating the area. It was primitive, but the effect was also magnificent. Steve actually felt as though he was inside some kind of ancient royal chamber.