In the Deep, Deep Dark (SS: Trouble in the Deep. Closed)

[Levi DAmico]

The funny thing about becoming invisible is, well, you become invisible. Although it had been Levi’s idea for everyone to cloak themselves in shadows, he hadn’t exactly accounted for the fact that his team mates would just wander about like dumb apes in the pitch-black. It was implied, but not obviously stated, that they would need to bypass this room full of the undead to make it to the next. Yet, it was at the moment of all three vanishing from sight that the Italian realised his mistake – he couldn’t see his team mates to check their positions were kosher. That was a little alarming to the control-freak, but, there was nothing he could do about it now. He just had to hope that they were smarter than he thought them to be, and that they would be able to figure out the objective on their own. It was his own fault, really. Levi was just accustomed to never having to explain a plan or the reasons why. Generally it was because it didn’t matter why Levi was doing something – his soldiers didn’t get a say anyway, they didn’t need to be consulted, and Shiro was smart enough and experienced enough to figure the reasons out for himself, and most often agreed at any rate. Levi couldn’t say that those scenarios fitted here exactly, because he just wasn’t used to working with this many unknowns. He had no choice, he would have to rely on Grant and Prudence making their way to the other end of this room in as safe – and quiet – a manner as possible.

Within the protection of the shadows, the Vampiri successfully made their way around the perimeter of the room, only to find themselves with no place to go. Unlike the former chamber which was one direct route through-and-through, it appeared that this room was little more than an inescapable dome of rock. The Hebigumo had broken through one of its walls like grave robbers smashing their way through a Pharaoh’s tomb, and had apparently taken all the treasure with them. But why leave armed guards patrolling the boundary? It didn’t make any sense that this room would be the end of the line – there had to be a hidden exit somewhere. That was when Levi’s thoughts circled back to their undead company – the Zombies – that were still lingering specifically near the centre. They too looked like they were guarding something judging by their proximity to each other and that central point of the room. It was risky, but, they would need to find a way through the shifting mass of undead flesh first before they would know if the risk was worth it. Thank **** they were invisible.

After a little tense negotiating, the Vampiri made their way successfully past the shuffling corpses and found a hole in which to drop through. Oddly, the chute looked purposefully constructed by the same hands that had built the room. As this was their only escape route, Levi thought nothing of maneuvering down the shallow incline and walking a few feet into the connecting tunnel before the cloak of shadows was withdrawn. It appeared his comrades had, after all, made the same decisions and had successfully traversed the chamber, passed the Undead, and had found their way into the tunnels. Levi gave them both a nod in greeting – slightly grateful that they were still in one piece and none of the sentries had been alerted to their presence. He wouldn’t admit it, but, perhaps it was there in his expressions all the same because, to put it frankly, Levi looked relieved. His tensed shoulders slumped for the slightest fraction of a second and the frown in his features had lifted. Still, it was better to remain tight-lipped because they had no idea just where this tunnel would take them.

As they continued their descent, the character of the tunnels began to change. Replacing the smooth, chiselled walls of stone were the juts of Human bones and skulls. They were arranged like tiles in a mosaic, where layers of limb bones – joints facing outward – were bordered by a thin line of skulls. More often than not, the skulls were facing outward so that a row of faces subjected the passers-by to vacant, chilling stares. As they continued down the sloping path, occasionally the limb-decorated walls would feature a crucifix and a number of strange symbols made entirely out of skulls. It was reminiscent in design to the Catacombs of Paris, dubbed the world’s largest grave on account of the number of individuals that were buried there. The underground ossuaries hold the remains of over six million people, and were created when a series of cave-ins and over-flowing cemeteries made the French think; maybe we should reinforce the tunnel walls with the excess of Human remains. Whatever had spurred the Canadians to create this place was, as of yet, unknown. Maybe it had simply been the curiosity that had encouraged the Hebigumo to come with their industrial-sized spades, or maybe the Hebigumo had uncovered the truth about Harper Rock’s catacombs some time ago and were in the process of excavating some divine, forgotten relic.

Although the Italian hadn’t expressed his motivation with the others, he was more than a little interested in what was happening here. It wasn’t just the Hebigumo Foundation that made him curious though, it was all of it. What was the deal with this city, what was behind all the supernatural viscera of Harper Rock, and what did the future hold for any of them? In his mind, it was all connected – one giant entity of many, many parts. Vampiri were just another fragment of it, not the source, and Levi had always been the type to look at the bigger picture of things. He had to know everything, had to know how circumstances evolved into consequences so that he could acknowledge a pattern and work on a strategy that would respond to his ambitions. Whether that was because he wanted to stop those consequences from ever happening again or promote them, he needed to first appreciate how these things had come to be in the first place. Doing so involved an intricate understanding of history as well as the current climate, and unfortunately, Levi was just one person. Granted, he was an intelligent, judicious, compelling and terribly handsome person, but even those impressive traits had their limits.

What Levi needed – and he’d been thinking about this for a while – was a second business empire, one that worked away in the deeper layers of subterfuge than even the Mafia. While making money and building power and influence was always a top priority for the Italian, in this case, it would take something of a back-seat to the more prominent objective of shining a light on shadowed knowledge. There had to be some explanation out there for why things were the way they were and Levi would need a team of experts to help him gather what was necessary to find that out. He would need people like him, people who were smart, skilled, ambitious and willing to work toward the same goal. More importantly they would need to understand the nature of the paranormal as intimately as he did – if not more so. There was no point bringing along mortals for a mission that might invariably result in death. Levi had assumed that such organisations may have been formed previously. There was talk of Factions – groups of individuals who’d gathered for a united cause like an army marching under the banner of their country. However, Levi had found that what remained of those Factions were little more than castle ruins. So, perhaps this was a job he would have to organise on his own after all, and maybe once this was all over, he could consider recruiting Grant and Prudence.

The trio did appear to have a mutual penchant for exploration, and a taste for violence – these were good things in the Italian’s mind. They would need them too for what was ahead because if their assault on the mine so far had proven anything, they were likely going to have to engage with something terrible in the room ahead. For some reason, it appeared that they were taking it in turns to be at the forefront of the group. Prudence had been the first to step onto the elevator, leaving Grant to be the one to step into their first chamber. After the traps had been disarmed and the sentry had been dealt with, Levi was the first to lead them into the second chamber. And now it seemed as though things had come full circle and it was once again Prudence’s turn to lead them into chamber number three. Levi kept close to the redhead, however, providing back up because he honestly cared more about her health and safety than the man at their rear, and yet if anything was going to come sneaking up behind, he wanted Grant there to be able to deal with that. Apparently the Italian was giving the Englishman the benefit of the doubt that he wouldn’t simply stab them in the back just because their backs were turned. But weren’t appearances just wonderful for being deceiving…

[Prudence]

With no door or anything in plain sight, the obvious choice was to turn around. At least in her mind. And hopefully not turn right into Levi or Grant because of those big muscle meat heads a few feet away from her. Her bright blue eyes scanned past over to the big baddies, wondering if maybe, just maybe, one of them had a key or something in their possession. Maybe tied around an arm, or neck, hell, even a leg. But nothing, until she saw something that Prudence couldn't believe she missed, or paid much attention to. A hole, smack dab behind the creatures they were trying to avoid, which might have been missed because Prudence was so focused on not hitting them, not walking too fast or too slow as to run into Levi or Grant and vice versa.

She wanted to whisper what she had found and seen, but the risk was too high for her personally and for the group. If she said a single thing that brought the attention of the monsters on her, it was an almost certainty in her mind that they would come to recognize that there might be others with Prudence. Or at least brush up against one of her two partners in crime, which meant dealing with them in the way she would personally like to. But since Grant seemed to agree with Levi, subtly and stealth would be the course of action and in this case, remain the course of action.

The woman moved quietly, but quickly, because time was of the essence when using a power like this. Since she had no knowledge of time, the protection of the blanket of cover that enveloped her could drop at any time. The red head moved to the hole in the ground and peeked down it. Nothing but darkness and dirt that looked like earth met her gaze. The woman shrugged and figured 'here goes nothing,' and stepped right off the edge, the right taking the lead before her boots hit the ground with a solid thud and her left knee buckled due to the uneven surface that greeted her feet.

Prudence lurched forwards just a little, arms shooting out to reclaim her balance, the cover that had been around her, falling as she almost did. The woman looked down at her feet to make sure nothing fell out of her pockets or holders and nodded, seemingly pleased that things were as they should be. When her eyes glanced up again, and fell on the walls that surrounded the trio, she blinked and reached one of her arms out to touch what she saw, as if in disbelief. After all, what sort of person, thing, or creature kept bones of whatever? Other than bat **** crazy serial killers. Prudence had never had an urge to keep any bones that weren't essential for any ritualistic purposes, but these clearly were not for those sort of endeavors. It was sort of like a trophy room of sorts in her mind. “****.” Prudence said as her hand dropped from the wall, wondering just what the **** they walked into and if her bones would end up in this wall tonight. “Let's move.” She said, not wanting to stick around like sitting ducks. Moving seemed like the smarter option. Maybe they could take whatever was down here by surprise and off guard. Unlikely judging by the mass city of bones they found themselves in, but maybe.

“Whatever is down here, collecting bones has got to be strong and powerful.” The red head said out loud as she moved down the incline that gravity more or less seemed to pull her in. Her tone didn't seem so much worried, as it did excited. Once upon a time, Prudence had killed the first fadebeast creature that had been running around the city, breaking into vampire homes and ******* their **** up. To find something new, strong and challenging, seemed like a great time to her! Only, when they got to the end of the slope and the opening of another chamber, she just stared and came to an abrupt halt.

This was what they worked their asses off for?! For something they could find and see in the caverns near the Bullwood district? Prudence couldn't help but look at the Italian and give him some daggers.

An old man with smooth, but an odd sort of hue to its coloring came into view and caused Prudence to halt. She had seen ones like these before, so it wasn't what he looked like that made the woman stop. It was what he was saying and doing that had the red head frozen in her tracks. Eyes bounced around the opening of the room, looking for this him, but came up empty. She waited to hear more through what seemed to be paranoid and frantic ramblings, but he seemed so engrossed in just two trains of thought, that he probably didn't notice her, the group, of her fingers slipping for her hand gun in the holster around her waist.