Inferno by Scott Reeves

Author:Scott Reeves
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: The Descent, Jules Verne, underground world, fantastic horror, horror fantasy, spelunking, mine exploration, christianity, hell, horror fiction, horror, subterranean fiction
Publisher: Scott Reeves
Published: 2014-08-26T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

THEIR GUARDS PRODDED them into the tunnel on the right. It was much narrow than the tunnels above. They had to duck their heads to avoid scraping the ceiling, even Stacy, who was just a little over five feet tall. The tunnel also sloped down at a steep angle, so between having to half-crouch and step gingerly since they had no shoes to protect their sensitive feet, it was slow going. Their guards had no trouble negotiating the tunnel, of course; being so low to the ground provided them with extra stability on the slope as well as keeping them clear of the ceiling.

The air grew increasingly hotter. Sweat soon broke out on their naked bodies, glistening in the flickering light from the guards’ torches.

“Shouldn’t it be getting colder the further we go down?” Stacy asked.

“Not really,” Jason said. “Caves are cooler because they’re closer to the surface. Mines are warmer. But this is a bit ridiculous. I don’t think it should be anywhere near this hot.”

“Do you not know of Hell on the ssssurfaccce?” asked on of the creatures.

“Well, sure we do,” Paula said. “But it’s a myth.”

“It issss no myth,” said the creature. “Where do you think we are taking you? You are going to Hell.” The creatures laughed as if at a private joke. It was harsh laughter, sinister and laced with violence, like the laughter of a serial killer.

“This place just gets better and better,” Mike muttered.

The screams grew louder as well, a multitude of droning shrieks and tremulous moans of agony, like the wailing of damned souls, echoing from some distant place further down the tunnel.

As they trudged ever downward, one of the creatures skittered up behind Stacy. It reached out an unnaturally long, bony arm and fondled one of Stacy’s breasts from behind. Only for an instant; she shrieked and leapt away as though she’d been scalded with boiling water. The creature retracted its limb and snickered. “Perhaps I ssshall partake of your flesssh before you’re put into the lake,” the creature hissed at her.

Jason folded her into his arms, glaring at the creature.

“Could you tell us a little about this place?” Mike asked, hoping to distract the creatures as well as his friends. “Who dug these tunnels? Who lived in those rooms up above?”

“It is sssaid that the ancestors carved the tunnelsss,” one of the creatures said, surprising Mike with its conversational tone and willingness to talk. “The Beasssst called to the Lord from below, and the Lord caussssed the tunnelsss to be dug. For a hundred yearssss after they were trapped, they dug their way down, down. Finally they came to the Beast, and it hassss been preparing usss for the Kingdom of Heaven ever sssincccce.”

Mike and the others were silent, digesting that. He pieced together what he thought he knew: Nigel’s ancestors had shut the bronze door and sealed it, trapping someone named the Lord inside along with some other people, and they had dug down to... what? The Beast?

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