Chapter 111
“Thanks,” Jamie said quietly, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the light. There was none, save a sliver coming from the hole, and it almost hurt to stand there in the dark.
“Jamie!” he heard Janette whisper rather loudly. “Axe!”
He reached back the way he came and took the handle of the weapon from her and then heard another loud sigh before she began to come through. She said a few choice words as she made her way down, and both Jamie and Hannah helped her find her footing. They all took a step out of the way as Jordan followed.
“It’s darker than hell down here,” he muttered.
“No kidding,” Janette responded. “Do you have a light?”
Jordan felt around in his pocket for a moment and then pulled out a thin flashlight. “I didn’t want to alert them to our presence,” he said as the narrow light shined off of the rocky walls only a few feet in front of them.
“Well, it’s either that or take a stalagmite to the head,” Janette replied as they began to slowly walk forward, listening for any noise at all that might indicate which direction they should go.
“No, stalagmites grow up; stalactites grow down,” Jordan corrected.
“Stalagmite, stalactite, either one isn’t gonna feel good,” his wife said, clearly losing her patience.
Jamie tried not to laugh and walked along beside them, near enough that he could sort of see the ground in front of him. “Be careful,” Jordan warned. “I’ve heard there are some pretty sudden and deep drop offs.”
Janette muttered under her breath, clearly unhappy about this particular hunt, but the team moved on. Off in the distance, Jamie was fairly sure he could hear some sort of noise echoing around in the cave, though he couldn’t be sure what it was. For all he knew, it could be a drip of water, a bat flying around, or a Vampire.
“We have it on good authority that, once the speakeasy closes for the night, these two finish up the meal of whomever they’ve claimed and fall asleep back there in the far reaches of the cave,” Jordan explained. This wasn’t the first time they’d gone over his reasoning for choosing this particular time. “This thing goes on for at least a half a mile.”
“I don’t like it,” Janette muttered. “It’s slick and smelly, and there’s absolutely no way to see anything.”
Jamie had been working with Christian on a way to improve night vision, but so far, they hadn’t come up with anything solid. This might be just the inspiration they needed to figure something out. He envied his new friend, standing over by a wide opening with ample light and a pretty girl.
“What’s the plan when we find them?” Hannah asked. “Is Janette going in first?”
“Not under the circumstances,” Jordan muttered. Normally, a Hunter would go in first since technically, they would be the ones to attack whereas a Guardian was there to protect, but Janette had made her position rather clear. “You and I will go in,” Jordan said, still talking to Hannah. “We’ll keep Janette in reserve, and hopefully Jamie won’t have to do anything but stand around and be handsome.”
He was suddenly glad it was dark since that comment brought a tinge of red to his face. He knew Jordan liked to give the younger guys a hard time whenever he could and that Jamie was overly-sensitive about his appearance.
Thinking about appearances made him wish he could see the cave. While there was no way for him to tell at all, it seemed like the cavern they were in was expansive, like the ceiling was soaring above him and that the walls were fairly far out. However, just as he was about to become more comfortable with being in an enclosed place underground, the room seemed to narrow, and before he knew it, they were forced to walk in single file.
“This is the opening to the speak easy,” Jordan whispered. “We’ll pass through a tight space with pretty sheer drop-offs on either side, and then we’ll walk into a pretty large room again.”
“Wonderful,” Janette mumbled, falling into step behind Jordan. Hannah went next and then Jamie took up the rear, cautiously placing each foot before he put enough pressure down that he might fall if the there was no solid ground beneath him.
This space made the alley seem like a wide-open prairie. At one point, he had to turn his shoulders to get by, and he was not a large man. Even though Hannah was between them, he heard Janette complaining that there was little room for someone with “childbearing hips.” When Jamie felt like he couldn’t take it much longer, they came out on the other side, and even though he could still see very little, he got that impression again that there was a large void around him.
And Vampires.
He couldn’t tell exactly where they were, but up ahead, in the distance, there were most certainly Vampires, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if there weren’t more than two.
“I think someone may have gotten their estimate wrong,” Janette whispered, and Jamie was sure, since she was a highly experience Hunter, her gut was telling her even more solidly that they were not alone.
“Maybe they’ve turned some of their victims,” Jordan reasoned, stopping in the middle of what Jamie could now see looked like a saloon, though the floor was made of rock and the ceilings above them were not where light could reach.
“You know, it might be a good idea for Jamie and me to stay here,” Janette said, her hands on her hip, her axe moved slightly out of the way. “If you’re sure there’s no other way out, they won’t be able to get through that narrow passage without coming right through here, should they get away from you and Hannah.”
Jordan mulled it over. “I think that’s a good idea. We only have one light, though.”
The thought of standing in the pitch black waiting for a Vampire to come flying at his face was not a pleasant one. “Maybe there’s a lantern or something over by the bar?” Jamie suggested.
“Good idea.” Jordan headed in that direction, and as he took the light with him, Jamie stood very still, hoping not to fall off an unforeseen ledge, though the ground looked solid and hole-free here.
A few minutes later, Jordan made an “ah-ha” sound and came back with a lantern. “There are several, but I think one should be sufficient. Don’t wanna let ‘em know too far in advance that we’re standing here.”
“What about the other entrance?” Hannah asked. “Is there a way to get to that without going through this narrow passage?”
“Not that I know of,” Jordan replied. “It splits off back there a ways.” He indicated back the way they’d all come.
“But there might be?” she pressed on. “So we’ll have to be ready for that.”
“I suppose so,” Jordan admitted. “But if they’re going that way, then they should run into Christian and Maryann.
