Post by Tiago James Squalor on Feb 8, 2013 11:21:47 GMT -5
Chapter Four
Isadora Quagmire opened her eyes. The recent events had become a fuzzy memory, her sight was blurred and her whole body ached. It was a strained effort sitting up, but she did, leaning on the stony wall of wherever she was. Taking the time to examine her body for injuries, Isadora tried to remember what happened, but her head seemed like it would explode if she thought hard enough. The splitting headache left her dizzy and messed with her sight. As she regained her senses, however, Isadora checked her surroundings. She was in a strange space, there was a metallic door on one side, and a dim, faint electric lamp hung on one wall, giving off just enough light that she could see a shape across the room from her. It took her a good ten seconds to realize that the shape was Cid Jetsam, probably unconscious, or, God forbid, dead. Isadora crawled towards Cid, bent on taking his pulse, a phrase which here means to press her two fingers on Cid’s wrist as well as his neck and feel his blood pulse. If there was no pulse, Cid would be dead, and so would be Isadora, she feared. Isadora turned Cid’s body from the awkward position it was in – it was hard for her to move him, he being so huge and she such a small frame, but she did it – and took his pulse; luckily, Cid was alive. Isadora ran her hands on Cid’s arms and legs, trying to feel for broken bones, a grim possibility in such a place, but alas, fortune was on their side at least in that. Cid was whole, and Isadora sighed in relief. She let herself lie on the floor, resting, probably recollecting on the recent chain of events.
She seemingly saw no point in trying to cry out for her brothers and Cindry, as she understood immediately they had been separated. Isadora instead tried to stand up, leaning on the wall for support, and walked a full circle around the room. There was a table with some very old papers on it; Isadora examined some of them, most were newspapers with articles detailing the closing of the Malaise Mines.
‘Duncan would like to see this.’ Her brother was eager to get his hands on any sort of newspaper. ‘Hnnnrgh.’ Cid moaned. ‘Cid?’ Isadora rushed to his side, leaving the newspapers where they were. Cid sat upright, massaging his head. One of the lenses on his goggles were broken, and some pieces of the glass were all mixed in his hair. ‘Oh, there’s glass in your hair. Let me take care of it.’ Isadora removed the goggles carefully and proceeded to remove the tiny pieces of glass from Cid’s blue hair. ‘Thanks.’ He said. ‘The flashlight is history.’ Across the room, the helmet with the flashlight Cid had been wearing was on the floor, the flashlight broken, its pieces scattered all across the room. ‘I guess we’ll have to tread in the darkness from now on. Until we find your siblings.’
After Isadora was done removing the glass from Cid’s hair, he put his goggles back on. ‘I don’t feel like myself without these.’ Cid said with a half-smile. It was good to see an improvement on Cid, when a few days before he had been incapable of moving. ‘Let’s open that door now.’ Cid said after Isadora had removed all the glass from his hair. The two approached the old, rusty metallic door, which had a large, round handle, which was just as rusted. ‘Be careful, Cid.’ Isadora said when he grabbed the door handle. Cid put a lot of pressure on the handle, trying to turn it. He grunted, his feet dragging on the ground lifting up dust as he kept trying. ‘It won’t budge.’ Cid let go of the handle, and Isadora saw the cuts on his hands. ‘Cid, your hands…’
‘That’s nothing.’ Cid examined the door and noticed it wasn’t exactly in perfect condition, and realized something. ‘Stand back, Isadora.’ Isadora backed off, and Cid began kicking the door with great strength. After kicking it a few times, the door budged. ‘See? Progress.’ Cid continued his punishment of the door, and after a dozen kicks the door budged again. Cid walked away from the door and ran, slamming the door which got ripped from the frame around it and he fell with it to the other side. ‘Cid!’ Isadora rushed to help him.
‘I’m okay.’ Cid stood up, patting off some dust from his pants. ‘Let’s go find everyone else.’ Cid and Isadora were now in a long stony hallway . In the distance, they could see some flickering lights. ‘Let’s go that way.’
After walking the distance they found themselves in a large room with some machinery; some lights were still on, and flickered, threatening to go dark at any moment. The room was a mess; broken pieces of machinery, scattered tools, abandoned items such as miner hats and uniform littered the room. Near a broken table, Isadora saw something sparkle on the ground. She approached the object with curiosity, and crouching near it, she uncovered a lighter from the dark. Isadora tested the lighter, which had the initials L.L. on it, and to her pleasure, the lighter produced a blue flame, bright enough to bring some hope in that journey through the mines.
Turning to Cid, Isadora saw that he, too, had made a discovery. Cid found a knife, surprisingly well preserved, inside a container with some fireproof blankets in it. Cid stuck the knife in his boot. ‘We might need this if we come across any of those…things. If we do, I want you to run in the opposite direction and wait for me. You can make a sign with that lighter so that I know where you are.’
‘Okay.’ Isadora agreed. She was not very interested in reuniting with the dreadful monsters that had cause the group’s separation, though what was reserved for Cid and Isadora was just as dreadful. ‘There’s a ladder over there. Let’s see if it takes us anywhere.’ Cid told her, and the two climbed a ladder to find themselves upon a metallic platform that went into a mine shaft, elevated two or three feet from the ground. ‘Are you sure, Cid? I have this feeling of dread about this…’ Isadora asked nervously. Cid gave a half-smile. ‘Where else are we supposed to go? Let’s just see where this goes. If it is a dead end we’ll come back here, alright?’
Isadora felt less uneasy with Cid’s reassurance, but she never forgot the feeling she had as the two proceeded on that platform in the dark shaft. But there was something else bothering her. Something there was no remedying. No possible way of fixing or avoiding. She had to say something.
‘Cid. If you want to talk…About what happened. I’m here.’ She said timidly to the huge man walking a bit ahead of her. ‘Talk? About what?’ Cid did not seem to want to speak about the destruction of Deluge Dam and the deaths of everyone he cared about. Martha, Cid’s apprentice and friend, and Isabella, his sister, had possibly survived with a handful of others. But Flora, Cid’s small cousin, had died. An eight year old, gone because of the dealings her father had made with Gothic Works. The organization’s motives for blowing up the dam were still not clear. ‘Nothing.’ Isadora replied. If Cid did not want to confront his own feelings Isadora would not force it on him.
They walked and walked in the dark shaft, on that metallic platform. Isadora sporadically used the lighter to check their surroundings, and once or twice they had come to a fork in the path. Cid proposed a game of rock-paper-scissors to decide which path to take, and both times they had gone with the left path. Soon, they found themselves facing another abyss. The platform ascended through several flights of stairs. As they were climbing, Isadora noticed something in the distance. It was a strange glow, behind a large stone wall, a reddish glow similar to that a town with yellow lighting poles gives off, making the night sky a grim dark red.
‘Cid, look.’ Isadora pointed that way and Cid saw the reddish light. ‘There’s something behind that stone wall. Apparently I was right about someone living here. We should probably avoid going that way if we can. Anyone who needs to take up residence this far underground cannot be kind to outsiders.’ Isadora agreed and the two climbed to the top of the stairs, coming across another tunnel entrance. The tunnel was more twisted than the last, full of abrupt turns and a few winding paths which led nowhere, making Isadora and Cid have to turn back and take another path. Eventually they reached a wide open area. They could see the destroyed bridge in the distance, the creatures were absent. To their relief, there was a bridge ahead of them, this one made of wooden planks and ropes. Walking to the other side was nerve-wrecking, the bridge was very run-down and untrustworthy, specially taking into consideration, Cid’s weight. To be fair he gave Isadora a nice head start so that if the bridge fell apart at least Isadora would have better chances of climbing her way up to the other side on the remains of the bridge. But they were at least fortunate enough to make it across the abyss safe from harm, although harm of a different kind was waiting around the corner.
‘Remind me never to go into another mine while I live later.’ Isadora joked as a way of breaking the tension. ‘I’m regretting taking this route. It was irresponsible of me to bring you, your brothers and that girl into these mines. This is no place for you.’ Cid said bitterly. ‘Cid, it was either this or a very dangerous climb down and up those mountains. We didn’t have the equipment for that, it would have been suicide to attempt it o to stay there. There was no other way. You don’t need to guilt over it.’ Isadora comforted him.
‘Still…I think—‘ Cid never finished his sentence. From the darkness, a terrifying creature appeared. ‘Isadora!’ Cid jumped, tackling Isadora to save her from the blow; a gigantic hammer-like object swung and hit the stone wall exactly where Isadora stood, creating a crater on the wall and lifting up a cloud of dust and rock pieces. Isadora couldn’t breathe and she couldn’t see. Cid picked her up over his shoulder quickly and jumped to the other side when the hammer was brought down where they were. This time, Cid tripped and dropped Isadora, and she rolled around a couple times and hit the wall with a thud. Gasping for air, Isadora watched as a gigantic figure turned it’s head around to eye them. She couldn’t see very well in the dark, so she flipped her lighter and raised it, her back against the stone wall.
The man – was it a man? – was enormous – even more so than Cid, which had a very muscular, strong build. This man comparable to a glacier, in that he was so huge, but he was also white. His skin was pale like milk, and the tangled mess that was his hair was a very pale blonde, nearly white. She could see the pattern of his throbbing veins on his huge exposed shoulders, as the man wore a beaten up, dark jumpsuit, and a dark gas mask that hid his features, making him all the more monstrous. Isadora was frozen in fear – never had the possibility of her imminent death seemed as real as in that moment – and when the huge monster approached, her lighter failed. Isadora close her eyes and felt herself being picked up quickly – Cid had leaped from the cloud of dust to her aid.
‘You’re quick. Distract him so I can get a chance!’ Cid pulled his knife. Isadora stood up with resolve. Cid’s idea was insane, but there was no time to come up with another plan, the attacker was relentless; soon Cid disappeared in the cloud of dust. Isadora then provoked the monster.
‘Hey! You freak! Get over here!’ Isadora shouted, catching the monster’s attention. He headed in her direction. Just when he was about to swing his enormous hammer-like weapon, Cid jumped on top of him. The monster shook and thrashed around trying to get rid of Cid’s body – it was like Cid was a small child in comparison. Cid held onto the man’s messy head of hair, and raising his knife, Cid stabbed the man. The guttural scream the man produced was terrifying. He thrashed around even more, and then grabbed Cid with his right hand and threw him across the room, and Cid hit the wall with a hard thud, falling unconscious on the floor. The blood that poured from the enormous man’s wound was specially red in comparison to his pale skin. Isadora rushed to Cid’s side, tried to move him, but he was too heavy. Desperate, Isadora started to cry. Her death had never seemed more imminent. But alas, it was not the day of Isadora Quagmire’s death. Across the room, a group of cloaked individuals came in. They had large iron poles or pokers, and used them to control the huge man.
One of them detached from the group. It was a man, and he removed his hood, and Isadora could see his face. It was remarkably familiar, but Isadora could not place him. Before she could even speak, Isadora felt a stab of pain on her thigh, when she looked down, a dart had lodged itself in her flesh. Isadora removed the dart, but she started feeling dizzy, her eyes heavy, and she fell unconscious.
Chapter Five
It is time to learn what happened to Duncan and Cindry after they fell into the dark abyss. After venturing into the Mines myself, and happening upon the vestiges of the events past, I am able to convey Duncan and Cindry’s journey in the darkness in search of the rest of the group. They wound up in an entirely different section of the Mines. When Duncan Quagmire opened his eyes, he was half underwater; he was in a lagoon. All around, hexagonal crystals shimmered with the faint light that came from above in an eerie purple color. A few feet away from Duncan, Cindry Fulfillment laid unconscious. Gathering himself up, Duncan got out of the lagoon and checked on Cindry; her heart was beating, her breathing was normal, and examining her arms and legs, Duncan saw no broken bones or exposed fractures. Duncan was no doctor, but an exposed fracture could be a death sentence in such an environment.
‘Cindry. Wake up.’ Duncan poked Cindry’s arm. The girl nudged and awoke, let out a scream and then crawl away from Duncan as if he was trying to kill her. ‘Get away from me! Get away from me! Nemo!’ Cindry screamed, leaving Duncan dumbfounded.
‘ Cindry! It’s me, Duncan!’
‘D-Duncan?’ Cindry had to pause for a second to gather herself. She seemed to have forgotten him, and for a moment he worried she might have traumatic amnesia due to a concussion – a word which here means ‘hitting one’s head hard against a rock’.
‘Yes. Duncan Quagmire. Friend of Klaus Baudelaire and Violet and Sunny Baudelaire.’ Duncan approached her slowly. Cindry was slowly coming into her senses. She sat down and Duncan sat beside her. ‘What happened?’ She asked. ‘We got attacked by a bunch of strange creatures, the bridge crumbled beneath us and we fell. We got separated, too.’
Being separated from his siblings left Duncan feeling very wrong, as if a part of him was gone. Duncan had never stayed too far apart from Quigley and Isadora, except for the time Quigley had been on his own and Duncan and Isadora both thought he was dead. But still, Duncan did not complain to Cindry. He remembered she too, had a brother, and he had been taken from her. Cindry had been on her own for a very long time, running away from Gothic Works and keeping herself alive through sheer will to live and smarts.
‘I’d feel a lot better if I could break a plate or two.’ Cindry joked, in an attempt to lighten the mood. The joke went over Duncan’s head as he was unfamiliar with her attitude towards dishes and plates. Seeing his expression, Cindry laughed. ‘Sorry. In this lighting, you remind me a bit of Klaus. See, I used to be obsessed about plates and dishes. I would throw the plates and dishes away after using them because I thought it was trash if it was dirty and there was no point in washing it. I made everyone in my family do it too.’ She laughed again. ‘The only thing I didn’t break was a cute mug Klaus gave me. I never used it…’ Cindry lamented. ‘I never used it because I’d have to break it, so I just kept it. But after everything, I bet that mug is broken anyway. The factory was consumed by fire, my uncle and aunt and my father are dead. Klaus might be dead too.’
‘Don’t say that.’ Duncan told her. ‘Klaus is alive. He’s out there, looking for you. Waiting to see you. Don’t give up on him.’ Cindry broke down crying, and Duncan said nothing else. He put his arm around her in a comforting, but respectful and brotherly manner, and sat there with her in the dark as she sobbed and cried. There was nothing Duncan could say or do but sit there with her and just be there. In his place, I would have fumbled, as I cannot deal very well with comforting others.
Eventually Cindry did stop crying, and Duncan said with resolve. ‘We have to find them, and then get out of these mines. Let’s go.’ Cindry and him examined their surroundings. The lagoon was of the deepest dark blue with suspicious movement on its surface. But across the lagoon there was an ascending vault leading to what, from a distance, looked like a strange sort of natural bridge. All around there was clouds of a weird smelling gas, and the purple crystals.
‘Think these are precious?’ Cindry asked, pointing to the crystals. ‘I don’t think so but I’m no appraiser.’
For all drab and disgusting the mines were, they sure offered some breathtaking vistas. As Duncan and Cindry were walking on the natural bridge, they saw a reddish glow in the distance, behind what seemed to be a large stone wall. What it was, that was anyone’s guess, but it contrasted with the pitch black abyss beneath and the dark stone of the mines. There is of course a story behind this reddish glow just as there was something behind that stone wall. Something so dreadful I am afraid to write it, but I must report the actual events as they happened.
As they walked on the natural bridge, however, there was something troubling Duncan. Something other than the separation from their siblings. Even in that darkness, Cindry could tell. ‘Something bothering you?’
Duncan was startled. ‘No, nothing at all.’ He denied, not very convincingly. ‘I can see you blushing even in the dark. Spit it out.’ Cindry smiled. ‘Well…If you insist.’
‘I have been having certain feelings…about someone.’ Duncan said timidly.
‘Is it me?’ Cindry flirted. She did recover fast, that one. ‘No. It’s weird. I shouldn’t even be talking about it.’ Cindry insisted. ‘Why? Don’t deny your feelings. Supressing your feelings does no good. I did it and look where I am now.’
‘If I say it you’ll think I’m weird, or worse. I mean, this is a first time thing. It never happened before, so I don’t know what’s happening.’ Duncan said. ‘You’re talking to the princess of weird, Duncan.’ Cindry joked.
Though the conversation might seem a bit too light-hearted considering the circumstances, what would the point of talking about how hopeless they were? Often I have found myself in the most disconcerting, unpleasant and dangerous situations where poking fun at myself was the only thing I had left.
‘Is it Martha? Are you worried about her? I’m sure she’s alive. She’s smart.’ Cindry tried to comfort Duncan, but that only flustered him more. ‘No, it’s not her. I was definitely bewildered by her beauty, but…’ Cindry walked playfully with her arms above her head, hands on her elbows, like a child would.
‘Isabella then? I don’t blame you. She’s beautiful. She could be a model if she wanted.’ Cindry said. Duncan got even more embarrassed. To be fair, I know of such things, and I know what Duncan was feeling then.
‘No, it’s neither of them. It’s…I’m just gonna say it. It’s Cid.’
Cindry stopped dead on her tracks. ‘Did you just say…Cid?’ Duncan got even more flustered. ‘Go ahead, call me a weirdo.’ Cindry laughed, and Duncan got even more bothered. ‘No, man. I think that’s great!’
‘I couldn’t talk to my siblings about it. I don’t know what’s going on.’ Duncan explained. ‘Well, he’s a bit old for you isn’t he?’
‘Only by like, 15 years?’ Duncan stated. ‘I don’t know his age.’
‘Well, you can talk to him about it when you see him. I think that’s awesome, there’s no reason you can’t tell that to Isadora and Quigley though. You know, my brother Nemo is the same way.’ That confused Duncan. ‘But, Isadora..’
‘Yeah, but he definitely is like you too. No use getting too hot and bothered, don’t worry. Also, Cid is handsome, I think I like him too.’ Duncan laughed, and Cindry joined in. As they were done crossing the natural bridge, however, they were in for a grim surprise. A group of robed individuals with strange masks was waiting for them in the dark.
‘Halt!’ One of them said. It was the voice of a woman. Her clothing and mask were unique to her, however. ‘Who are you?’ Duncan got in front of Cindry with his arms raised in a defensive stance. ‘We ask you the same question, strangers.’ The woman replied. ‘Only a fool answers a question with a question!’ Cindry shouted. The woman made a hand gesture and one of the cloaked figures shot Cindry with a dart. ‘Ouch! You jerk!’ Cindry removed the dart. Duncan grabbed her hand and they ran towards the bridge. ‘Halt!’ The woman shouted again. ‘Shoot him!’
Duncan felt the darts flying around him. ‘Duncan…I don’t feel so good.’ Cindry mumbled and passed out, falling on ground with a thud. Duncan felt a stab of pain on his stomach and his shoulder. ‘Who are you people?’ Duncan removed both darts and tossed them into the abyss below. ‘You will soon find out.’ The woman replied. The last thing Duncan Quagmire saw was the image of the cloaked woman walking towards him, and everything faded to black.
Chapter Six
There’s an expression called ‘getting the short end of the stick’ which means when someone ends up getting the worst possible option or scenario. I have gotten the short end of the stick more than enough times in my life, more than I could count, so I am definitely used to it by now. In this story however, one of the Quagmire had it harder than the others. It was Quigley Quagmire, who had wound up completely separated from his siblings and Cindry and Cid, their companions. As Quigley was alone the entire time, this chapter is quite short. There was no other source for the events that the eldest Quagmire endured while separated from his siblings and companions other than his account of it as reported to said companions.
Quigley Quagmire woke up in a dark tunnel, by himself. By himself in the sense that he was the only human down there. Because nearby were the bodies of several of the strange creatures that had attacked him and the others earlier. Quigley rubbed his had and got up. His flashlight was busted, but at least he had no broken bones. He wanted to call out to his siblings but it seemed pointless. Plus, he was afraid to wake any of the creatures. A few of them were visibly dead, but he could hear some of them breathing.
Quigley wasted no time, and began searching for his siblings. He had wound up in a series of interconnected tunnels with rudimentary or busted rails. It seemed like that part of the mines had been abandoned at least a century ago judging by the technology. In the distance Quigley could see a grim, reddish light. An ill omen, it must be said. Long ago, I received advice: ‘Never go anywhere where the lights are red’ by a retired policeman. Unfortunately for the Quagmires and their companions, it was at that place that they eventually wound up in and discovered a startling fact about Gothic Works and their scientific endeavors.
However, as Quigley walked towards the light, he heard noises behind him. When he looked back, the creatures were almost upon him. Fortunately for Quigley, there was a loose piece of wood, perfect as a bludgeon, and Quigley put it to use. He fended off the monsters as he could, but one or two manage to rake him on the arm and on the back. Quigley ran as he could with the wound on his leg, fending off some creatures that appeared from openings on the sides of the tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, Quigley stopped, almost falling. A good thirty feet drop into dark water waited. The creatures were coming, with bloodlust, towards him. Quigley jumped, falling into the dark water below. As he was struggling to get to the surface, a net caught him. Quigley was dragged onto a boat, and the first thing he saw was a cloaked man leaning towards him. ‘What the hell?! Who are you?’ Quigley said, and the man stabbed him with something. Quigley cried out in pain, but he realized the instrument was a dart. As his vision blurred and darkened, Quigley heard a voice.
‘Go tell the Priest we caught another one.’ And everything went black as Quigley fell unconscious.