Posted on September 17, 2007

Part 37

The people were shouting now, some in the strange language of the crazies, others just calling out phrases in repetition of Jeffry, and several stood up and began dancing, writhing and twisting in place. Elliot pulled Evajean into him as the crowd pressed forward, into the center of the circle. Soon his view was obscured entirely by denim pants and cotton skirts. Neither of them tried to stand, however, because doing so would draw attention and disappearing was the best way to avoid being hurt.

Then it stopped. The dancing, the chanting, and Uncle Jeffry’s oratory all simply ceased and the cavern became still but for the patterns of light and shadow created by the now steady torches. Elliot looked at Evajean and she turned her head up to his, but they both only had blank looks. Neither dared even whisper.

Uncle Jeffry spoke up again, quiet and calm. “Blessed be the prophets of this church,” he said, his voice soft. “Blessed be those who have followed their teachings. We have known this time would come, our scriptures tell us with absolute certainty. Sacrifice is required but we carry the legacy of Joseph Smith and the lost tribe and now we will live up to that legacy. Lindsay, my dear,” he said to a woman Elliot couldn’t see, “will you bring the materials? You know where they are.”

“Yes, Uncle Jeffry,” Lindsay said, a young girl, maybe even still a child.

“Thank you, Miss Tanner,” Jeffry said. “And now, Travers, I want you to help her carry it and set up the materials. Can you do that?”

“Yes, Uncle Jeffry,” Travers said. Still Elliot couldn’t see these people, for the people of Nahom had pressed backwards and together while Jeffry spoke and Elliot’s view was even more obstructed. Evajean sat, leaning into him, unmoving. They could now hear shifting in the crowd as it made way for Lindsay and Travers.

Presently, those two returned, Uncle Jeffry saying, “Ah, now. Now we can begin,” and then there was the thump of something heavy being set in the center of the circle. The people breathed deeply.

“Lindsay, please,” Jeffry said, like he was directing her to sit down. Then Elliot heard a box open on tight hinges and Evajean jumped in his arms. Willing to risk notice, she said under her breath, “This is bad. We need to get out of here. I don’t like it.”

He pushed his mouth close until it was nearly touching her ear. “First chance we get,” he said.

And then a shocked gasp rattled through the crowd and from the center of the circle, where Jeffry, Lindsay, Travers and unknown others were, came the sound of scuffling, feet sliding rapidly on dirt. “Extinguish that,” Uncle Jeffry said and one of torches near Elliot went out.

“Lindsay’s sacrifice,” Jeffry continued, “paves the way for all of us. I say unto you that this shall be our finest day, for we are close to the return of the one mighty and strong. With her blood, Lindsay draws him to us and his coming is prefaced by the power we need to disable the current threat. Quickly now, while the wound is fresh.”

“Oh god,” Evajean was saying, her face firmly against his chest. “Oh god, oh god.”

Elliot wasn’t sure what was happening, didn’t want to be sure what was happening, but he knew they needed to move because things had taken a terrible turn and no matter what happened now, he needed to at least try to get Evajean to safety.

“Come on,” he said, pulling her backward, keeping low to the ground. “Come on.” They both slid on the dirt, away from the circle, and none of the townspeople seemed to notice. Elliot pushed his way past legs and the people moved out of the way easily.

They were near the rock wall when Jeffry spoke again. “The torches,” he said. “Bring them here.” The light in the cavern moved and it became darker where Elliot and Evajean were. Taking this as a blessing, he pushed backwards faster. If they could make it to the cave wall, they could inch around and perhaps find a way out. Going back up the ladder was clearly impossible, but this cave might open out or join another chamber in which they could hide.

He was looking over his shoulder, pushing himself along with his feet, and Evajean did the same, her back pressing into his shoulder. At last Elliot felt hard stone and made the quick decision to go right. “This way,” he said to Evajean, and lifted himself to a crouch, scrambling as best he could along the cave’s wall. Evajean followed, the two barely able to make enough out now that the crowd of people was completely between them and the remaining torches.

They’d gone perhaps ten feet, without finding an opening, when Evajean called out. Her cry was dangerously loud and Elliot immediately hushed her, but then he saw had caused her to forget caution.

The crowd had pushed even closer to Jeffry and the middle of the circle (what was in that circle Elliot didn’t want to think about) but their numbers had swelled. Every adult and every child Elliot could see now had a companion, a figure standing just behind and off to the side, hulking and–he blinked–only barely human. The shapes were indistinct, blurry and transparent, and the darkness of the cave made seeing difficult, but Elliot could make out large heads and shoulders that sloped upwards and out too far before plunging down into arms fat and knobby. Color was entirely washed out of the figures, but Elliot knew this wasn’t a matter of shadows from the torches or even hysteria a hour’s events. No, their modest company had been joined by things impossible to imagine.

“We have to go,” he said to Evajean, forcing himself to give up trying to comprehend what he was seeing. “Now.”

And they rushed along the cave wall, eating the distance, but still no escape presented itself. Is this it? Elliot ask himself, very near panic. Is there only this one room? There can’t be. But of course there could be, as he remained aware.

“There,” Evajean called, her voice still low but only barely.

“Where?”

“There.” She pointed and he could see it now, a recess dark in shadow. On his hands and knees, Elliot dashed towards it, Evajean close behind.

Just as they reached the passageway–for it was an opening that ran deep into the rock–Uncle Jeffry’s voice carried over to them, booming and harsh.

“We are one!” he shouted. “After these long years, we are one!”

And, suddenly, they were. The new shapes, those shadows of monsters, folded into the people of Nahom, shrinking in from the edges and disappearing inside. Many of the townsfolk were overcome by this, shaking or falling to the ground. Elliot didn’t want to stay to learn what happened next, so he pulled Evajean with him into the small passage and, when he was sure she was safely behind, stood as high as he could manage and ran.

As they turned left along a bend in the tunnel, a crash and screams came from back in the chamber, and Uncle Jeffry called out, “They are here! Defeat them, my prophets! Defeat them!” Then Elliot heard the babbling of the crazies and the sounds of combat before he and Evajean turned another corner and the rocks fully muffled the clamber. They were alone in the now complete darkness.