BLOOD OF THE SPRINGTIDE (PART VI)

David didn’t need to look behind him; he knew his friend was gone. There was no mistaking the horrid sounds of his friend choking as he gasped for air, they had echoed throughout the tunnel. He couldn’t bring himself to look behind him, to see Tim’s crumpled body lying in the tunnel, or worse, the frightening sight of that ghastly killer on his tail. Ahead, the dim light in the next room brightened as he neared. He was moving as fast as he could, but each step sunk into moving water, making it very difficult for him to build up any momentum. Regardless, foreboding and distress compelled him to power on, and eventually he made it to the next room.

His first instinct was to scan the room for signs of his friends, but alas there were none. He feverishly spun around to see if he was being pursued and was relieved to see that the tunnel lay vacant all the way back to the faded light of the last room. He calmed a bit and took some time to examine the tunnel; it was a smooth and seamless stream throughout its length. If Tim’s body was still there; it was completely covered by the water. Turning his attention back to the room, he realized that this tunnel was the only one from the last room that connected here. This area was very much like the last two, with the exception that there was no steel door and only one tunnel that exited upward.

He was sobbing again, and had been for a short time before he realized it. He began telling himself that he needed to calm down and try and figure out how he was going to get out of here. He took deep breaths and said; “OK. OK,” aloud, fighting back his uneven breathing and trying to soothe his rapidly beating heart. Eventually he was able to even out his breathing and the sobbing subsided and he found that he could focus. All this time he had kept his eyes trained down the tunnel, sensitive to even the slightest abnormal movement. It was obvious that he had to keep traveling up through this aqueduct system, into the hills. The water was entering the tunnels from somewhere up there, and that was likely where he would find some sort of exit. It was rational to discern that there were other steel doors as well, and maybe, just maybe, one was unlocked.

Now that he had calmed down some, he became fully aware of how cold he had become. The water was freezing, the heat of the sun had long left him, and goose pimples covered his skin. The further up hill he traveled, the colder it would get, but he had no other choice and dove into the pool, swimming to the opposite tunnel. He entered it and began moving toward the distant light of the next pool room. Quick, but thorough, glances down the tunnel assured him he was not being followed. Again, this room was much like the others, and exactly like the last one except there was a steel door on the right hand wall. David was about to swim toward it when a final look back renewed his panic. The light in the room behind him was out and a deep darkness had filled the tunnel. Although it was not distinct, he could hear a strange melodic ringing, distantly echoing. When he tried to focus in on it and pinpoint the source, he could no longer hear it. The steel door’s knob twisted and that became too much for him and he frantically began swimming for the exiting tunnel. He arrived at its lip and pulled himself onto the waterway.

“David!”

The voice was familiar but fear drove him to duck into the cover of the tunnel.

“Dios!! David! It’s me Rafael!” He heard a splash and recognizing that this was indeed his friend, popped his head out of the opening as Rafael arrived. David reached down and helped him out of the pool.

“Where’s Aaron?” David asked as he leaned out to see if he might be behind him.

“You don’t want to know, my friend.” Rafael choked back a sudden sob. “Tim?”

“Gone.” Tears stung his eyes. “It was horrible. What is it? Is it human?”

“I don’t know. La fantasma, posible. No se. Whatever it is, it is very close by. Can you hear the ringing?” Rafael was surveying the room feverishly, acute to the slightest stirring.

“Yeah, some sort of distant crazy melody being made with bells?”

“Yes, it’s very strange. We better go. There has to be someway out of here up ahead.” Rafael tried to sound confident, but his emotions betrayed him and his voice cracked. “Somewhere?” he said under his breath.

They turned in unison and began moving quickly up the tunnel, looking back constantly as they went. The haunting chime increased in volume with their every step and, as they neared the next pool and looked back, both the lights from the previous room and the room ahead went out.

“What d’ we do!? What d’ we do!?” David was fully panic stricken and was crying uncontrollably, clutching at Rafael’s shoulders.

“Dios! Calm down, mi amigo! I think that he is behind us,” Rafael didn’t believe this necessarily but he needed to make a confident decision so as not to further alarm his friend. “Let’s find the next tunnel up, OK?” Rafael removed his friends hands from clutching him, and held them a moment. “Take a deep breath and try and stop crying. You need to be strong and stay focused if we are going to get out of here.”

David found courage in his friend’s sturdiness and took a couple deep breaths and found himself calming. “OK. OK. I’m OK.”

Rafael let his hands go. “Alright, let’s climb down into the pool. It’s too dark to see so let’s do it slowly.”

“OK.”