This choice: Don't use the knife on George • Go Back...Chapter #90An Escape by: imaj   You raise your arm again, ready to bring down the knife into George’s back. At he very least he’s a kidnapper and from the sound of what’s been said he’s a murderer as well. Judging by the robe and magical trappings on the table, he might even be some kind of cultist. He doesn’t deserve to live.
Unsummoned, something you heard yesterday bubbles to the front of your mind.
How can you tell?
How can you tell? You’ve seen the evidence but is it your place to make that kind of decision? You drop your arm to the side and instead ready a sigil in your free hand. George’s partner said you’d never be able to find your way out unless you knew where to go. Well, you don’t know, but George does. Your free hand connects with the back of his head and he sags like a puppet with cut strings.
You catch him as he falls. He’s heavy, but easy enough to drag thanks to Miko’s strength. For a moment you consider taking his clothes and simply walking out the front door using his imago, but that path has risks of its own. You want to keep things simple, leave no trace of your passing just like Rick has told you to.
Instead you drag George back to the chair and sit him in it. You’d dialled the knockout part of the sigil back to fifteen minutes, so with any luck you’ll be long gone by the time he comes to and he’ll put it down to the stress caused by losing you and his knife.
Even though you decided not to use it, you think keeping the knife would be a good idea. Examining it again, Miko’s instincts tell you it has the look of something ritual. Kali, Rick and Fyodor will likely want to have a closer look too. Ultimately though, George was panicking about losing it, and he needs it for whatever he has planned, then taking it away from him makes sense.
You review George’s captured imago, tearing through his memories with little more than a glance until you find what you need: The way out. His companion, who George’s memories tell you is called Rob, was right: The tunnels are a maze. The memories tell you they are narrow and twisting, barely tall enough for a person to walk upright in places.
You figure you have to move quickly. George will not be out for long and the tightness of the tunnels could make your cloak difficult to use if it came to squeezing past people. You aren’t sure about that, but there’s no point in taking risks. You creep out the doorway, sticking your head through first to check outside. It’s one of the larger areas in the tunnels – a vaulted hallway with half a dozen side rooms more or less identical to the one you woke up in.
As you peer round the door, you spy Rob locking one of the side rooms with a heavy iron key. The remnants of your cloak still linger on him, but you wrap it round him afresh just to be on the safe side anyway. He moves to the room on the opposite side and, producing another old looking key, unlocks it. He disappears inside. That gives you your chance. You move down the hall with stolen catlike grace, passing through the door at the end of the hall.
This next section of the tunnels is the worst part according to George’s memories. Intentionally designed as a maze, the ceiling sags in places, forcing you to stoop to pass. You move forward cautiously and carefully. You know from George’s memories that there are four of his fellow cultists in the tunnel complex right now. You’ve already passed Rob. Tony and Harry should be up ahead at the exit, but that still leaves one unaccounted for. You don’t want to stumble into him by accident without having the chance to pull your cloak over his eyes. Left, left again, then straight through two junctions and turn right, you use George’s own route through the maze.
You hear footsteps up ahead. You duck into a low ceilinged side tunnel before they get closer. It only runs a short distance before reaching a dead end where the ceiling has collapsed. You crouch and listen as the footsteps get closer. Another cultist, the hood of his robe obscuring his face passes by without looking at you. That should be the last of them then. Only the two at the door between you and freedom.
You crawl back out of the side tunnel and start moving at speed. A right, two lefts in succession and then one more right and you’re out of the maze and into an arched antechamber.
Fuck.
Two more cultists are in the antechamber. Where the hell did they come from? One is pulling his robe over his head and you snap your cloak round him without thinking. The second is staring straight at you.
“What the hell,” he mutters, his jaw gaping at the unexpected sight. Like all of the cultists you’ve seen so far, he has an athlete’s physique. “John,” he says, turning round to catch the attention of his friend.
That’s all the distraction you need and you throw up your cloak around him too. You shift to the side, unsure how well the cloak will hold if they get too close to you.
“Where did she go,” says the second cultist.
“Where did who go,” ask the first, struggling with his robe.
“There was a woman standing right there,” answers the second, pointing at where you were a few moments ago. You edge further away, closer and closer to the exit.
“Well what did she look like,” asks the first cultist, finally getting his robe into position.
“Oriental totty,” says the second. “Bit older but still pretty.”
“You, my friend, are imaging things,” replies the first, rubbing at his closely clipped beard. “None of the girls are oriental. The girl we’re looking for is an Arab. Unless you can’t tell the difference.”
“I bloody well can,” snorts the second cultist indignantly.
“Well there you go then,” sniggers the first. “You probably did just imagine it. Even if you didn’t, where could she have gone? She probably just turned and ran back into the maze. I’ll call Rob and let him know we’ve pinned down our lost flower.”
“You do that,” replies the second angrily, pointing his finger at his compatriot.
That was too close, you reflect as the pair take up station by the door you came in. You made a stupid assumption – that you’d accounted for all the cultists in the tunnels – and got caught out. Of course Rob was going to call in help once he realised you’d gotten loose. What would Rick say about your naïveté? Something like ‘count them and then add half again just in case’ no doubt.
You can worry about it later. The way out is clear, bar for the two remaining cultists waiting at the exit. Then again, if they think they have you pinned down in the maze, they might bring the two guarding the door further in. You move forward cautiously again.
A few minutes later you are congratulating yourself for outthinking the cultists. Just as you thought, the two door guards are being brought further into the complex. You spot them outlined against the far end of a gently slopping tunnel. It’s sheer simplicity to tie their senses in your cloak and stand to the side as they pass by.
After that there’s no one between you and the exit, which emerges in the cellars of one of the college buildings You make one last check to make sure no one is watching and then run for Margaret’s house.
*****
You find Rick, Kali and Fyodor sitting round the kitchen table when you stumble in exhausted. They look up from their conversation with expressions of surprise and concern on their face.
“What happened to you last night,” ask Rick with a smirk.
“I got kidnapped by cultists,” you exclaim.
“Very funny squirt,” nods Rick. “No one’s gonna blame you if you had a little fun last night. Well no one except Miko if she finds out you used her face for it.”
Kali looks at you carefully, taking in your air of desperation, the badly fitting clothes and the look of exhaustion on your face. Her eyes suddenly go wide. “I don’t think he’s joking Rick,” she says quietly.
Rick looks at you again, taking the time to examine you closely. “Christ squirt,” he says eventually. “What happened to you?”
“I told you,” you whine. “I got kidnapped by cultists. They put something in my drink and next thing I know woke up tied to a chair.”
“Easy there my friend,” interrupts Fyodor. “I think you need to slow down and start at the beginning.”
Kali’s eye’s narrow. She turns to face Rick. “Did you know about this,” she says accusingly.
Rick backs up in his chair. “I swear Kali, I just took the squirt out to score some bedroom faces,” he says. “I didn’t know nothing about no cultists.” He looks at the floor abjectly. “Not consciously anyway,” he adds quietly.
Not consciously, you think, what the fuck does that mean? Kali throws her hands up in the air. “Unbelievable Rick. Of all the times for your subconscious to decide it needs a mystery to solve.”
“Well, it sure explains why I felt the need to hang around that bar all night,” says Rick, rubbing his stubble. “I thought I was just in a generous enough mood to drive the squirt back here afterwards.”
“This just gets better and better,” sighs Kali exasperatedly.
You watch the argument with a feeling of increasing detachment. In your addled mind, the things you heard whilst escaping from the tunnels are finally starting to make connections: ‘another girl to be the third’, ‘none of the girls are oriental’, Rob locking doors behind him.
“Oh fuck,” you say quietly. “They’ve got other captives and they’re going to sacrifice them tonight.”
Everyone at the table goes very, very quiet. “I think,” say Rick slowly. “That you better tell us everything.”
You have the following choice: 1. Continue |
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