Chapter 8

Forty minutes of driving and a lame text message excuse to JJ implying Henry was bailing on the group because he’d gotten nicotine sickness, and Henry was at the ‘headquarters for the exorcists. Or at least, what Loki claimed was the headquarters.

Loki had led him up into the mountains to an old road known as Gold Camp. Henry was familiar with the location, as people would regularly go up there late at night. Reason being, there were spooky tunnels on the road and an urban legend around one of the tunnels. Legend was, a bus full of children had been trapped in it during a landslide, and everyone had perished. So people went up late at night during Halloween and the likes, to see if they could experience anything supernatural. Which meant Henry was more than a little skeptical about what they were doing up there.

His skepticism intensified as Loki parked just outside of the haunted tunnel and motioned for Henry to follow him. Cautiously, and aware he no longer had cell phone reception, Henry followed the strange individual. After all, he was pretty sure Loki didn’t mean him harm. If he did…Loki could have killed Henry a long time ago. Whatever was going on, no matter how uneasy Henry felt about it, he was going to trust Loki on this one.

“Our organization is spread out into multiple branches.” Loki started as they walked into the tunnel. “Each major city has a local chapter, and depending on the rift activity, each State or region will have a larger branch command. Our area is unique, in that we have two major chapters in Colorado. The Colorado Springs chapter is one of the older branches in the US, with a long history, and a line of powerful exorcists.

Because of the area, and the increased number of rifts that seem to form along the mountain range, a larger branch was created to handle the exorcists in the Midwest. That branch is located below DIA, and also works to send reinforcements throughout the world as needed. After all, being based below an international airport allows for quite the effective logistics.”

Henry could only laugh at that. There were so many conspiracy theories about Denver International Airport, and it seemed, at the very least, something was indeed amiss there. But secret organization fighting creatures from another dimension definitely didn’t fit in.

“The Colorado Springs chapter is based within the mountain range, and there are a variety of entrances. If we’d just left from downtown, I would have taken you to a different one. But given we had to go back for your car, this was the better option.” Loki chuckled, the distorted sound echoing eerily through the abandoned tunnel. It seemed he had regained a lot of his composure and energy following the larpen battle. “Though, this is probably my favorite one, simply for aesthetics.”

Loki paused in the middle of the tunnel and walked over to the wall. He pulled out his phone, the screen glowing with green light, and held it up to a piece of graffiti. The light illuminated the graffiti to show it was in the same shape as the pentagram that appeared on the app. As Henry heard the phone release a strange buzz, the graffiti began to glow. A moment later the wall seemed to shudder, and just in front of it a part of the ground moved aside, revealing a ladder descending into a dark pit.

“And here we go.” Loki put his phone away and motioned towards the pit. “Once you go down the ladder you will find a singular tunnel that will lead you to the entrance to our base. I’ve already sent word ahead, and they will have someone there to meet with you.”

“You’re not coming?” Henry asked. He knew Loki wanted to get rid of him, but he’d at least expected the individual to stay with him until Henry got to whoever it was that would handle his initiation.

“No.” Loki responded simply. “I’ve got other tasks to see to. This is where we part ways.” He motioned towards the ladder. “Remember what I told you. Don’t trust anyone but the director.”

And with that Loki walked past Henry, moving back towards the charger. Henry glanced back and absentmindedly grabbed the keys in his pocket, clicking them twice to ensure he’d locked his car. While they hadn’t seen any other cars on their way up here…he’d rather not take a risk. Granted, the only thing people would get if they broke into his car was a few random packs worth of magic cards he’d had yet to sort into his decks back home. He’d had his car broken into once before, and learned to never leave anything valuable in it.

“Thanks for that.” Henry said dryly before he looked down into the hole. He couldn’t tell how deep it ran, and yet, climbing down a ladder into the unknown, while normally a crazy thing to do, was not the craziest thing he’d done that day. In fact, it seemed rather tame. With no other options, and a bunch of questions he wanted answered, Henry climbed into the hole and began to descend.

As he climbed down the ladder the ground above him slid silently shut again, completely encasing him in darkness. He was left alone with just the sounds of his own heartbeat, his breathing, and the eerie flapping of the floating eyeball. He made a mental note to inquire if there were any ways to this ‘secret base’ that didn’t involve a claustrophobic tunnel.

After what felt like an eternity Henry reached the bottom of the ladder and sure enough there was a singular tunnel, lit with barely glowing red lights, leading in a one direction. Henry pulled his phone out and activated the flashlight on it, noticing he still had no signal, though that wasn’t a surprise. With his light up, offering only marginally better light than the red ones in the tunnel, he walked down the path, observing his surroundings as he went.

While he was obviously no expert on tunnels, he could tell the walls of this particular tunnel seemed impossibly smooth and perfectly crafted. It was as if something had come through and erased a circular portion of the mountain to create this gently sloping path. The lights, interlaid every 10 or so feet, were classic military grade lights. They glowed red and gave off a post-apocalyptic nuclear bunker vibe.

As he continued to walk, he noticed the path seemed well used. There wasn’t dust or dirt or any type of grime anywhere, and it seemed the path was traveled quite frequently. Which also begged to question, how many people used it, how often, and who were they? Henry had to wonder if the urban legends around the tunnel had grown from people overhearing strange echoes and sounds from this secret passage, far below that tunnel. Their logical thought then, would be haunted tunnel.

Henry finished up that conspiracy theory train of thought just as he reached a heavy metal door and the end of the tunnel. He saw a panel of sorts on the side of the door, with the glowing pentagram symbol above it. Henry figured the app would be able to open the door, considering what he’d seen Loki do earlier with regards to opening the secret tunnel. However, even as he opened the app, looking for ‘secret door’ unlock or something, he heard muffled movement on the other side. A second later, he heard the sound of a massive deadbolt moving, and the door swung open.

“Henry, so good to finally meet you.” Said a voice Henry immediately recognized. “Welcome, officially, to the Colorado Springs Exorcists.” The woman before him was the same woman who had called him, immediately after he’d activated the app. The director, according to Loki.

She held her hand out to him, smiling kindly at him. It was very different from how she’d acted during the call. “Allow me to officially introduce myself to you. I’m Director Emelia Bowers, and as of tonight, you, Henry, are the newest member of my Branch.”

He took her hand and shook it, noticing the surprising amount of strength she put into her grip. She was probably half a foot shorter than his own six-foot height, and yet she was fit and strong. While the exorcists used D.E.D. to fight their battles, the Director definitely seemed more than capable of taking Henry out in a fight with her bare hands. Which made her cheery disposition even more disturbing.

That, and the fact that as she shook his hand, for the brief, split second, so fast it could have been imagined, there had been a glowing, angelic form behind her which radiated pure power. Power that made the aura around Loki seem like child’s play. And that, sent a shiver of fear down Henry’s spine.