Francis stood on the platform and followed Karla with worrisome eyes. He could see the aqueducts down under. But the layout of the canals was barely visible. It was too dark for him to see clearly. Through the obscurity he could see two platforms on the right and on the left. Cleaners and engineers must have needed them to inspect the water channels. A small bridge in the distance linked the two platforms and Francis could barely make out a ladder that took down. Each ladder in Yharnam had a small lantern attached to it. It was by the flickering light of the lantern that he concluded that a ladder was positioned there. He saw another light though. It was getting bigger and… apparently closer.

His eyes widened as he saw the source of the light. A beast two times bigger than Karla was advancing towards her. In the darkness of the aqueducts, it was hard for anyone to see anything. The beast on the other hand was holding a torch on one hand and a crosscut saw on the other. Francis could clearly see it at that moment. It was close enough for him to see the monster clearly. But he had lost sight of Karla. The monster hadn’t noticed her nor heard her.

Francis looked for Karla but couldn’t make out where she was. His eyes were fixed once again on the beast. It was wearing a human long coat. Although with its size, the sleeves could barely reach its elbows. Tatters of what used to be a shirt could be seen on the furry chest of the monster and what used to be trousers were now just shorts. Its head was terribly human. Round shaped with long human hair on its head and beastly fur on its face.

Francis heard the beast’s heavy breathing. It sounded like the brute struggled to breathe but it did not look injured. With every breath it made it wheezed. Its whole body contorted and its open-mouth showed long and dangerous fangs. He tried to look more at its face and saw a sword coming out of the beasts open-mouth. Francis jumped back. Karla was deadly and silent. That fascinated and terrified him. With one hit, she had silenced that huge monster.

She motioned to him to be silent and stay put. There were more of them on the other platforms. He saw a shimmering light in the distance and he understood that it was a torch. He had lost sight of Karla again to see the torch falling to the ground.

After disposing of the second monster, she motioned him to come down. They were on the platform and they heard yet another heavy breathing beast in the distance. No torch was on sight though and with the darkness surrounding them it was difficult to make out where it was. They walked slowly and silently through the paved way.

They took the ladder down towards the canals. On their left they heard munching sounds. Karla put her finger on her mouth as a sign for Francis to keep quiet. With a sign of her hand, she asked him to wait near the ladder and darted towards the source of the sound. She moved swiftly but made as little noise as she could. The aqueducts still had some water running through it. Every move would make a splashing sound. Karla was nimble and fast though. He heard little splashes coming from all directions.

Horrible screams reached Francis’ ears and his body started shaking. He hoped against hope that it wasn’t Karla doing the screaming. The screams subsided quickly and he started hearing quick splashes coming his way. His legs shook harder and he felt a liquid warm his pants. He was always good at eclipsing himself from trouble and evading death. But when he assumed he had no protector, fear immobilized him.

He kept repeating in his head ‘Move! Move! The ladder is right behind you!’ But he was afraid and in shock. He tried to move, he really did his best but his legs wouldn’t respond. In a matter of seconds, all thoughts came rushing to his mind. He thought of his life and the adventure he has been through. He thought of how he dreaded when his luck would run out. And he thought of how was so close to reaching the secret to immortality…. He had accepted his death and waited for it. After all, that’s all he could do.

Karla appeared from the shadows and he sighed. He could never have pictured himself be as happy as he was when he saw her. She was covered in blood and dirty. She looked gruesome and smelled awful. But man was he happy to see her!

“How did you get your pants dirty old man?” she asked. He had forgotten about the liquid he felt in his pants before. His mouth was agape. He couldn’t speak or move. Fear was now replaced with shock. Karla was looking at him puzzled. “Francis, are you alright?” she asked. She started getting worried about him.

“I… was afraid you were gone,” he admitted after he recovered from his state of shock. “I heard those screams then the splashing sounds were getting closer…” His voice got cut and he took a deep breath. “I thought I lost you there,” he said after collecting himself.

“I can see that,” she said pointing at his pants. “Damn rats almost sliced my throat open,” she started as she tried to get the dirt off her cloak. “If sounds in the darkness made you wet your pants, wait till you see those not so little rascals. They had teeth as long as your bony fingers!” She exclaimed. “Anyway, we need to stay focused here. This darkness unnerves me.” She removed her cloak and shook it, trying to get rid of as much dirt and blood as possible. She motioned to Francis to follow her and they moved slowly and quietly through the aqueducts.

As they walked through the darkness, trying not to make as little sound as possible, they heard that rasping sound again. There was no question about it; one of those tall monstrosities was lurking ahead in the obscurity of the water canals. As they approached the edge of the water channel, they saw it. A beast was standing on their left with its back to them. Its breathing made Francis wince. It sent shivers down his spine and made him shake his body to forget the feeling. That only made his skin come in contact with his wet pants and he felt even more terrible. Karla pulled his sleeve and gestured for him to stay still. He lifted his head and took another look at the monster. This one was different though. It had its back to them and since their eyes got used to the darkness, they started making out more details about the monster.

The startling difference was that it had no fur on its body and wore no clothes. It had grey hide and its spine bones were visible, almost sticking out from its posterior. Its back was arched and it also breathed heavily like the others. With its huge hands, it was holding a spear and it didn’t seem ready to move anywhere else. Karla made a shush gesture with her hand and motioned Francis to move backwards.

From where they were standing they could see that the aqueducts, now void of water, led down to the lower parts of the city. There was a canal that took right towards the bridge they had seen from the fountain plaza. They took the ladder down and reached the edge of the water tunnel. The bridge they had seen earlier was even further down.

From that point on they either had to jump down through small wooden platforms or go back up to find a different way. “Shit, now what?” whispered Karla. “I can jump down, don’t worry about me” answered Francis. “We have no other choice do we?”