hellbound: the chronicles of vincent black
"How... perplexing," mused Hilda to herself. She produced a folding canvas chair and also sat.
Vlad, who had taken up a sitting position beside Hilda, also mused. "It seems to me," he began, "that there are really only two possibilities here."
"Please, enlighten us," snapped Brand. He stood nearest the center, a hand on his dagger. Ever watchful.
Vlad seemed oblivious to his prodding, and continued. "One, that the first team had encountered the field, and merely left it out of their notes, be it willfully or..."
Hilda raised an eyebrow. "Or..?"
"Coersion," he continued. "Perhaps they were somehow coersed into excluding it, though I can't imagine why."
"That doesn't seem likely," stated Hilda matter-of-factly. "Or plausible, even. The original team, much like this one, was selected by choice. There would not have been a saboteur among them. Besides, what purpose would that have served?"
Vlad shrugged. "Oh, I agree. But that only leaves possibility two, which seems the most likely alternative."
Vincent, while rummaging through his belongings, popped his head out long enough to speak. "And what's two?"
"Two would be the possibility that..." Vlad paused, as if searching for the right words to complete his thought. "That the field was simply not there when they passed through."
"You mean..?" Hilda questioned vaguely.
Vlad nodded. "As if it were activated by, or after, their passing."
Brand stood up from his kneeling position, and gave Vlad a dubious look. "What are you saying, that the field back there was some sort of trap they activated?"
Vlad nodded solomnly. "I know that it sounds unlikely, but... believe it or not, some of the earliest civilizations were quite mystifyingly advanced. Take the Egyptians, for example: a civilization that arose overnight, advanced beyond any comparison of the time."
"The reasons for this are somewhat puzzling. There is, of course, the Atlantean theory, which proposes that a civilization which fell predated them - a civilization such as the Sumerians." With this, he gave Hilda a meaningful glare. Hilda was suspectly silent.
"Tell me something, Hilda," asked Vlad, turning to her. "I am fairly certain now that this is not an Enochian temple. And please, do not insult me by telling me otherwise. If it is, indeed, not an Enochian temple..." He trailed off, as if to give her the opportunity to fill in the remainder of the details.
Hilda sighed. "No, you're right," she volunteered quietly. "It is a Sumerian temple."
"Aha," said Vlad. "And...?"
Hilda paused for a moment, and took a small breath, her hands held lightly behind her back as if preparing to address a crowd. "Actually, that was not a complete lie. Merely.. stretching the truth a little.
"You see, we believe this temple to be a shrine to the prophecies of Elimish N'maar. After extensive research, we now believe Elimish to be the pre-biblical equivilent - and the basis - for the prophet known as Enoch."
Vlad was silent at first. "I see," was his only eventual reply.
Vince, who was not terribly enthralled by all the talk of Sumerians and prophecies, turned to Kain. "So," he asked. "What's your deal?"
Kain turned his head ever-so-slightly, to glare directly at Vincent from behind his cold shades. "My deal?" he growled.
Vince continued rummaging through his pack for something. "Yeah. What's up with you? I mean, who wears sunglasses in an underground temple? There's no light, man."
"I do," snapped Kain. "They're.. prescription."
Vince looked up, and decided to let it go. "Oh."
Brand shot them both a curious look, but said nothing.
"Yes!" Vincent pulled something from his pack with a triumphant grin. "Mr. Squiggles!" he proclaimed, hugging the ragged teddy bear tightly. One of its eyes had popped out, and yellowish stuffing jutted out of one ear. It had an appearance that implied it had been sown back together again... repeatedly.
One of Kain's eyebrows arched from behind the dark shades. "Hoo boy," commented Brand from afar, as he stood up and began wandering about the room.
Vlad also stood up, suddenly. Slow worry crept across his face.
"Hilda, precisely what time did the last report from the team come in?"
Hilda gave him a slightly puzzled look. "13:36:07 GMT... why?"
"And when were their coordinates last verified?" Vlad queried again.
"13:43:38 GMT," replied Hilda, with an even more puzzled look.
Vlad frowned. "So then they rested in this room for a while, correct? A few moments, at least. And there was no sign of danger then? Nothing in their last transmission to indicate anything.. unsettling?"
"Speaking of unsettling..." called Brand from across the room.
Hilda shook her head slowly, as if beginning to catch on. "I think I see what you are getting at..."
Vince stood up, still clutching the diseased teddy bear. "What, what?!" he pleaded.
Vlad looked him in the eye grimly. "Maybe they didn't disappear. Maybe their communication was cut off. And maybe they couldn't get back."
The large room was then filled with an unsettling silence, a silence that was broken only by the sound of Brand's voice.
"I said, you'd better get over here," he stated, the insistancy rising in his voice. Given the circumstances, everyone complied.
But they were not prepared for what lie ahead in the black gloom of the far corner. And, as fate would have it, it was Vincent's beam of light that first befell the foul atrocity: a twitch-inducing amalgamation of rank, perfectly human-shaped meat.
Vincent sputtered as he pointed at the grotesque thing before them. "W-what the hell is t-that?!?"
Vlad eyed the lumpen flesh-corpse before them in almost equal horrific disbelief. "It would seem to be... a flayed body."
episode 04: awry
The party gladly set down their equipment, and relieved themselves of their various burdens.
Vincent, ever-watchful, relaxed only slightly as he put his knapsack down in the nearest corner. Beside him, Kain sat down without a word, atop the reinforced duffel bag he had been carrying.
