Escaping Fate by Antonio Traficante

Author:Antonio Traficante [Traficante, Antonio]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: 0111, italiano, 0111edizioni, quelli di zed
ISBN: 9788865782927
Published: 2014-05-01T23:00:00+00:00

I dreamed of Death pursuing me, and it’s

when I woke up that it reached me.

A.T.

Chapter IV

The Gran Sasso tunnel – L'Aquila (Italy).

Monday, September 13th, 2010, 06:00 p.m.

A myriad of concentric circles came to meet Robert Masi. They seemed to be engraved inside the big pipe he was walking into, bent down on his knees and panting as he could not remember doing in a long time.

When he decided to cast the light of his flashlight on a portion of the pipeline further away, he realized that those circles were simply the effect created by the sections of the pipe, joined to form a sort of dark intestine to be crossed kneeling, without choice.

The smelly and damp air clung to his face. Masi even had a hard time breathing it and quickly got rid of it only to hold his breath a few moments before inevitably breathing in more.

On the curved and slimy bottom of the pipeline there were clear signs of the recent passage of someone. Every now and then the light shone on some half shoe print, alternating with what looked like handprints, stretched on the concrete surface as if it were the last foothold before slipping.

The echoes produced by his own movements reached his ears, amplifying a sense of unease that fed on the surrounding emptiness, awakening ancient childhood fears.

The Monster in the Dark, who forced him to sleep with his trusty wooden sword as a child, was approaching, pushing aside his rationality and making its way into his mind. Although he constantly swept the darkness with his light, he only perceived his irrationality, which made him pant more than fatigue.

A slightly smaller pipe appeared on his right side, but the traces revealed by the cone of light showed that someone had stayed on the main pipe, and so it was also for the following branches. Then, finally Masi had the feeling that he was going up.

The door that materialized before his eyes toned down the claustrophobic effect of that pipe, deleting from his mind the idea that, large enough to allow the passage of a man as it was, it could suddenly fill with water without notice.

The oppressive silence that had accompanied him until that moment gave way to a muffled noise, drowned only by the hiss of some air flow.

Robert fanned the torch in front of himself, naively trying to cast away every particle of darkness between him and the door. Then he wiped the hand clutching the gun on his trousers, considering if it was the case to test the resistance of the handle, second-thinking himself almost immediately and firmly grabbing it.

With a mighty tug he pulled the door open, causing a groan of rusty hinges, while a sort of luminous dust was sucked inside, creating a small milky whirlwind.

Robert slipped the gun into the crack he had just opened, holding it with both hands, and instantly became accustomed to the light shed by a candle burning on the floor.

The small basement which opened to

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