Welcome to another installment of A Vampire’s Vengeance! When we last spent time with our resident vampires, Isabelle and Edgar, they were chasing a pair of the Beings and their human captive. They stumbled upon what Edgar believes to be the entrance to their colony, or hive, or compound, or base; it’s certainly a portal to somewhere. You can catch up with Part XXXIV here. Now, where does this portal lead to? Let’s find out →
Edgar was not tall as a human, thus was he not tall as a vampire, and he still had need to stoop to enter the tunnel. Isabelle was taller and so had need to stoop lower. The two shuffled along the low and narrow corridor in discomfort as it climbed downward at a somewhat steep decline.
How did the Beings manage to move through here? Edgar thought about their recent encounter, and he determined the Beings were rather tall; at least, perhaps, as tall as Isabelle. From what he observed earlier in the day, they all seemed homogenous in stature. There appeared to be no height or weight difference between any of them. Was this tunnel made for them, or was this an auxiliary entrance to their domain? The tunnel made a sharp turn and Edgar placed a hand on the wall to steady himself as he turned with it. His sank into the squish, and he could feel the membranous material pulse as he pushed himself away from it and removed his hand. Perhaps the tunnel had once been large enough, but this membranous growth had taken over.
The tunnel was long, with few turns, and descended with no alteration in the decline. There was a gradual curve to the right, and then a sharp turn to the right, and then another long and gradual curve to the right, and always down and down and down. Though the descent was steep, Edgar figured they could retrace their steps with some relative ease. The going was dark, but the vampires had no trouble in seeing their way down. They did, however, struggle with the texture of the membrane around them and the smell it emitted. Isabelle felt nauseas. Edgar attempted to swallow the air to acclimate to it quickly, but this also brought on nausea. They both hoped the entire compound was not like this.
Edgar swung around the next bend expecting more of the same but was surprised to find the decline more pronounced. So much so, he was already off balance when his foot made contact with the floor of the tunnel. He slipped on the filmy surface, landed on his ass, and proceeded to slide down, gaining speed as he went.
"Mierda!" It was all Isabelle heard as Edgar raced away down the tunnel.
Continued after the break
on sale now
The gift of time is, for many, an incredible gift indeed. Unless, of course, it is not a gift at all and arrives with a cost in excess of what one may be willing to pay …A tale from the Odds ‘n’ Endings Boutique.
Try as he might to slow himself down, Edgar was stuck going down at an ever increasing rate. He clawed at the walls, but the membranous goop provided no purchase. He was not so much concerned of falling to his death; if the floor opened out from under him, he could float to the bottom. He did not, however, want to announce his arrival to the entirety of the colony below, if the colony of Beings indeed resided here. He stopped struggling against the flow and worked to calm himself down. The decline began to decrease, allowing Edgar to slow down a bit. The tunnel then ended and Edgar was spit out and dropped onto the plateau of a cavern, a few feet below the tunnel's exit. He landed roughly and crumpled to the ground to prevent his joints from taking any more damage than necessary from the sudden jolt.
Thankfully, the ground on which he landed was clear of the membrane lining the tunnel. He got up and walked to the tunnel's exit to attend to Isabelle and was just in time to watch her get thrown out, pass over him, and landed as roughly as he. Isabella rolled over, pulled off her helmet, and threw up, leaving a giant blood spatter on the ground. She spit once, drew her arm across her mouth, and then spit again when she realized her suit was caked with membrane goop.
"This is so fucking gross!" Isabelle spit and sputtered as she stood up. "Fuck, I can't get the taste out of my mouth." She bent over and threw up again, leaving another blood spatter in close proximity to the first. She used her tongue to rub the residual blood in her mouth around and over her lips. She then shook herself, as if doing so would rid her of the remaining membrane clinging to her slick. She replaced her helmet and turned to look at Edgar. "Now what?"
Edgar pointed over the outcropping, where ambient light could be seen. He moved to where Isabelle stood, and together, they moved to the edge of the plateau and looked down.
"What the fuck ..." Isabelle was struck by the grandeur of what lay below them.
Okay, so the passage certainly DID lead somewhere. What was it the two vampires came upon? What did they see?! There’s only one way to find out! Come back next week!
Please, for the love of all that is unholy and calamitous in this world, please let us know what you think of this content! The buttons below will each take you to a respective survey consisting of two to three questions. Your opinions will help shape the future of Backstage at the Calamity.