Darkness Calls
“Uh oh” groaned Chilli, “I don’t like this.”
Darkness was Chilli’s second least favourite thing, next to spiders. And now she was being forced to enter a dark passage leading into a house that held dark secrets. The memory of the growls she had heard coming from the house made the hair stand up on the back of her neck.
“C’mon Chilli. We’ve got to face whatever’s in there so we can help your folks. Oubaas, come buddy. We’ve got work to do.”
Delighted there was some action at last, the baboon leapt off the windowsill and scampered down the shadowy passageway without hesitation.
“Oubaas!” yelled Ty. “Don’t g... oh, never mind.” There’s very little you can do when a baboon has made up its mind.
“I once read a book about a secret passageway like this” said Chilli.
“And... ? What happened?”
“I... I... I don’t remember, exactly. But I think someone’s head got bitten off. Or something...” Chilli replied, not doing herself any favours. Sometimes imagined fears are worse than real ones.
But Ty wasn’t going to let something like a missing head get in the way of an adventure.
“Cut that out. You’re talking yourself out of it. Let’s get a move on.” Ty was clearly enjoying himself. Life had suddenly become a lot more interesting.
“We’re going to need some kind of light in there” Chilli suggested. She really, truly, deeply didn’t fancy going down the tunnel. But if she was going to go, there had better be some light.
“Problem solved. There’s an old oil lantern over there and a box of matches. People must have used this tunnel years ago” said Ty, pointing to a table next to the door. He grabbed the matches and flicked one across the box’s strike pad.
Ppppshhhhhhht. The match briefly burst into flame, then fizzled out.
“That’s a good start” said Chilli drily. “Try another one.”
Ty struck another match. It fizzed and hissed, then flickered into a flame.
“Great!” Chilli exclaimed.
Ty held opened the lantern’s door and gave the wick a tweak. It caught alight as soon as he held the match to it.
“See? We’ve got luck on our side. Let’s get going” said Ty as he followed Oubaas into the doorway. He held up the lantern to shed as much light as possible. Chilli took a deep breath, crossed her fingers, and followed her friend.
Skreeeeek! As soon as Chilli stepped into the passage, the door creaked ominously. It suddenly slammed shut, cutting off all light from the library.
“Eeeek!” Chilli gave a frightened squeak. “We’re trapped!” she whispered, her voice trembling with fear.
“Grab hold of my belt so we don’t lose one another,” suggested Ty.
Chilli did as she was told, her heart hammering so hard she was sure it was going to explode. They stood still for a moment as their eyes adjusted to the darkness.
Then it began again, only this time it was much louder than before. It was the sound that had haunted Chilli since she had first arrived at Grimsby Manor. It started as a low rumble and grew to a loud growl. Then it became a roar that swirled around them. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. It bounced off the walls and swooped over their heads, throwing Chilli’s hair into a tumble.
“What’s that sound?” Ty shouted to make himself heard above the noise.
“I don’t know. I’ve heard it before, but not this loud.” Chilli stood with her eyes squeezed shut, not trusting herself to open her eyes.
Just then something wrapped an arm around Ty’s ankles. He yelped in fright and almost dropped the lantern.
“Oubaas, you scared the spit out of me!” Oubaas was terrified of the loud noise and had run to Ty for protection.
Skree-skree-skree! Safe with his friend once more, the baboon threw back his head and barked at the noise. In the dim light Ty could see Oubaas’s lips curl back to show his powerful mandibles.
“That’s right Oubaas, give them hell!” Ty shouted in defiance against the roar. He didn’t know who are what was making the noise, but yelling at it made him feel braver.
Chilli joined in the chorus, shouting: “It’s only sound. Sound can’t hurt us!”
With those words, the roar abruptly stopped, leaving silence in its wake.
“Wow!” cried Chilli, “I should’ve done that when I heard it the first time!”
“I’m just glad it’s gone” said Ty. “Now, let’s find out where this tunnel leads to. Oubaas, it’d help if you’d let my leg go.” The baboon released Ty’s leg and loped off into the darkness.
“Let’s keep walking in a straight line and not turn down any passages” Chilli suggested, “then we’ll be able to find our way back to the library if we have to.”
“Good idea” Ty replied, carefully picking his way along the uneven stonework. “Be careful, the floor’s wet and slippery. It feels like it’s covered in moss.”
As they made their way down the narrow passage, a rustling noise surrounded them.
“Can you hear that? What is it? It sounds like it’s all around us.” Chilli’s voice was shaking so badly she could barely get the words out.
“I don’t know.” Ty swung the lantern closer to the walls.
“Ty! The walls are shiny. They’re moving!”
“It’s cockroaches! The place is crawling with them!” he yelled, shrinking back from the wave of bugs streaming across the wall.
“Eeek!” shrieked Chilli, drawing her arms to her sides. Just the thought of any part of her body touching the shiny black insects made her feel ill.
On hearing his friend’s screams, Oubaas scuttled back down the passage. His tiny baboon eyes brightened with delight at the sight of lunch crawling across the walls. He neatly snatched up a fat cockroach and bit off its head. Then he sat back on his haunches and crunched happily on the doomed insect.
“That’s disgusting Oubaas!” shuddered Chilli. “C’mon Ty, let’s get out of here!”
Chilli and Ty left the baboon munching blissfully on another cockroach and headed forward again, carefully avoiding brushing up against the walls.
The further they walked, the narrower the passage became. It also grew lower and lower, and they had to stoop almost to their waists to avoid hitting their heads. Spider webs clinging to the ceiling made things worse; the skeletons of their dead occupants swung lazily in a cold breeze drifting down the passage. Chilli dared not even think that one of the spiders brushing against her may still be alive.
“Careful Chilli. I think I see some stairs, but the floor is even more slippery. Hold on tight.”
Chilli didn’t answer. She just wanted to get out of the darkness and was grimly hanging onto the little self-control she had left.
The friends climbed what felt like a hundred steps. Chilli shuddered at the sound of creatures scurrying past them on the stairs. Rats! Oh goodie! Can this possibly get any worse? she thought grimly.
“Ow!” Chilli collided with Ty’s back as he abruptly stopped in his tracks.
“There’s a door, Chilli! I’m looking for a handle, but I can’t find one” said Ty, fumbling around in the dim light. “The wood feels rotten, so maybe we can break it down. Squash in next to me Chills.” Chilli did as she was told and squeezed into the passage next to him.
“I’ll count to three and then we push. Okay?” asked Ty, bracing himself against the door.
“Gotcha,” Chilli replied.
“One, two, three... puuuussssh!” Ty yelled.
“Mmmph!” they grunted as they threw their weight against the old door. But centuries of dust and grime had seized its hinges and it stayed stubbornly stuck.
“Again!” ordered Ty. “One, two, three... puuuusssh!”
This time Oubaas joined in what he thought was a game. He hurled his baboon bulk against the door as his human friends pushed with everything they had. The door suddenly shattered and flew off its hinges. The three friends burst through the doorway in a tangle of arms and legs, sending splinters of wood flying in all directions.
“Aaaaargh!” they yelled as they fell headlong into a bright void.
One thing was for sure. They definitely weren’t inside the Manor any longer.