Part 4

3pm came around faster then he expected. Reasons for not turning up turned over in his head, but nothing he thought of could save him trouble with the gang. He excused himself from class and walked through the halls until he was in the corridor with the door at the end. It looked different, darker around the edges. As he moved closer, he realised that the door was ever so slightly ajar. John was nowhere in sight, though he had obviously done his part.

He stood on the precipice of the door, sweat rolling from his forehead. The darkness seemed to grow around the edges ominously, and he realised the door was slowly opening, cold air rushing out to meet him. He was surprised to find himself confronted with a staircase, descending into the ground, the walls turning from wood to solid rock. It surprised him even more to find himself placing a foot on the top stair, before stepping fully over the threshold and closing the door behind him. Darkness came quickly, broken only by the infrequent dim bulbs which were strung out along the sides of the staircase, throwing grim shadows onto the walls. The air was silent.

His confidence grew as he descended the staircase; He had always preferred small dark spaces, it suited his character. Though he had been pushed into this small adventure, his natural curiosity overcame his fear, and he made his way further down the staircase before reaching the stony bottom. The tunnel levelled off, extending horizontally forward, as poorly lit as the staircase. It was large enough for only one man to walk through, and improvised passing places were carved into the rock. He moved forwards through the tunnel, stepping lightly on the rock underfoot, reducing his echoes. Keeping his eyes on the tunnel ahead, he stopped suddenly. The lights ahead of him seemed to be slowly extinguishing themselves, the darkness crawling towards him.

It took him a few seconds to realise that someone was coming up the tunnel, and a few more to un-glue his feet from the floor to dive into the neared passing place. Luck was with him; Its sides were horizontally cut away from the tunnel, giving him a shallow but well shadowed hiding place. The squeak of soft leather shoes gave away how close the shadow was, moving slowly through the tunnel, getting closer to the boy's hiding place. He held his breath as the shadow drew level with his hiding place, where the footsteps stopped suddenly. Without a face, what he presumed was a man was only a shadow, filled with hate and malice. He knew that if he was to see that face in light, it would still be a soulless shadow. The boy trembled.