The Maybrick Estate: Deeper Underground

It must have been hours before I regained consciousness. I had no Idea of where I was. I had good reason to believe I should have landed somewhere on the first floor of the house when I fell but it was clearly not so. I could see the gaping hole in the bathtub that I fell through up above me and the (now) moonlight shone through the small bathroom window illuminating the rusted edge of the hole like a halo and making every droplet of water look like diamonds shattering at my feet as they pitter-pattered on the ground in front of me.

The corpse I had been In the struggle with was nowhere to be seen, as If it had either got up and walked off or completely vanished from existence.

It was clear that I wasn't on the first floor of the house, in fact I was rather below the house. It defied all logic to me, to fall from the second floor and completely by-pass the first floor. How could that be possible. If I were to walk ten paces to the left of me I should have been looking out into the vineyard, if I were to walk ten paces to the right I should have been back in the foyer of the house. But it was just not the case, for as far as my eyes could see I was surrounded by caves and tunnels, all engulfed in darkness except for the tunnel directly in front of me which flickered with the golden glow of candle light. I must admit, while that tunnel suggested I wasn't alone, it was by far the most inviting. With no other obvious way out of the pit I was in I decided to follow the tunnel that offered the comfort of light.

The tunnel itself appeared to be man made, every so often there were wooden supports adorned with various iron hooks and utensils, reminiscent of old mine shafts. And at every wooden support was another flickering candle offering light to guide me on my way. The tunnel offered no twists or turns and there was never any alternate path along the way, there was only one direction and that was straight ahead. However I did have the feeling as if I was heading further down into the ground rather than heading up towards the surface.

After following the tunnel and its repetitiveness for some time I decided to stop and sit down for a breather. As I sat in silence I once again heard the rasping inhale and exhale sounds coming from all directions. I heard a light crackle of gravel on the tunnel floor coming from the direction that I'd come from. Looking that way it had become apparent that the candles I had passed were no longer lit. I could sense something waiting and watching, just on the edge of where the light from up ahead faded into the darkness behind me. I couldn't see it but I knew it was there, staring at me much as I was staring back in its direction. So without better reason I stood up and continued my trek along the tunnel growing ever hopeful that I'd soon reach its end.

Before long the the rough tunnel walls blended into a more "finished" edge, more polished and looking much more habitable - at least in relation to the rest of the tunnel. The walls were again carved with glyphs and symbols, similar to the ones that I'd seen in the foyer of the house except these were engraved in a much more intricate manner. I could see a turn in the tunnel up ahead that glowed a much more golden glow than what the candle light had to offer.

I could hear singing up ahead. I recognised the tune as Ave Maria, it was being sung softly and clearly in woman's voice. It was beautiful - like ecstasy to my ears. I crept to the corner of the tunnel quietly so as to not startle the seductive Siren, and peered around the corner.

There before me stood a beauty to behold: A young, slender woman with striking dark black hair which neatly fountained down against her pale unblemished body. She was naked, except for a golden tiara encrusted with blood red rubies and a matching necklace which glistened against her voluptuous breasts as she stood in front of an old fashioned black iron fireplace . A low muffled moan could be heard from out of view and her singing ceased as she spoke to her unseen company. "Hush now maggot, don't make this any harder than what it needs to be". Her words while harsh, had an unusual way of sounding comforting as she spoke softly and politely with an apparent southern accent. I couldn't help but think something sinister was afoot with this nymph-like beauty. Did she have someone held captive?

She placed a hand inside the fireplace and withdrew a glowing red dagger. Her face was showed no sign of grimace as the metal sizzled into the flesh of her bare hand. She playfully spun the blade between her fingers and wrist without a care (as if skilled in some sort of self taught martial art) and walked out of sight towards her companion.

My curiosity drew me further into the room, out of hiding but trying as best to stay unseen. The room was exceptionally large and it continued around another small corner in an "L" shape. Its walls were decorated with a selection of weaponry and torture devices made from a range of wood and iron some even made more intricately out of precious metals. I shuddered to think of the pain some of these devices had inflicted even more so looking at some of the devices that defied even the sickest of imaginations. Rusted chains hung from the ceiling with dried viscera crusting from iron hooks at random intervals.

Part of the far wall had been dug out and replaced with iron bars to make a crude but secure prison cell. It was empty aside from a tin bucket that buzzed with flies, I couldn't begin to imagine its contents but it smelt like a combination of vomit and excrement.

As I had suspected, around the corner in a small alcove lay a chubby, middle aged man bound and gagged with thick leather belts to a heavy stone table. The young woman stood at the table and lightly dragged the burning dagger across the mans belly. He squirmed and muffled a shriek through his gag as the blade singed his skin. Beads of sweat formed at the small of the woman's back and trickled down to the cleft of her buttocks as she quivered with excitement and threw her head back with laughter. "Oh boy, Daddy is gonna be so pleased, this little piggies a squealer". She took the dagger and plunged it into the mans chest and sliced down to his naval with ease and let the squealing man bleed out. She licked the blade clean before discarding it and soon after, continued to slowly pry the wound open and ease her hands in before playing about with his insides, ripping and discarding bloody lumps of innards on the floor as if sifting through his body in search of something - and it wasn't long before she removed her hand from her victims chest cavity clutching at his heart and ripping it free like a root bound plant as she raised it above her head and drained its contents into her mouth and greedily taking a bite out of the muscular organ letting blood cover her chin and splatter across her chest. I stood frozen in fear as she turned to me and grinned a bloody grin. "Pardon my manners but a girl's gotta eat well if she wants to look this good". She spoke as though she'd known I'd been watching for quite some time now.

She walked seductively toward me, circling a drop of blood around her nipple and licking it off her finger in a flirtatious manner. She looked straight into my eyes and took my hand and gently placed it on her chest. If she had a heart beat it was very faint. I looked deep into her eyes, a beautiful dark brown that burned deep into my soul. She took my hand once more and exposed my palm upward and placed something in the center of my hand before gently closing my fingers over and placing a soft passionate kiss on my lips.

A kiss that lingered

A kiss that burned

A kiss that took my breath and sent me to my knees.

Literally

To be continued.......

Next Issue: Love thy neighbour