A Light in the Pit

Somewhere distant, the sound of water dripped into a small pond. The ruins had been sealed shut to any human intervention for more than seven thousand years, but not sealed to the water. In time, the nearby river would wash all of it away, the recent floods threatening to accelerate the process.

Eve maneuvered carefully down the stone steps, proceeding deeper into the bowels of history with only a flashlight and a machete to cut away the roots that had followed the progress of the water.

They’d warned her not to go down there. From the locals, it was superstition; legends of a lost tribe turned to monsters, cursed to remain buried with their ill-gotten treasure until the end of time. From her colleagues, it was the instability of the region. It wasn’t just history that was in danger of washing away; it was the entire way of life of the neighboring tribes. Soon they would be uprooted from the homes they had built, forced to move further downstream, or deeper into the harsh jungle to the north. One wrong move, one slip of her foot, could start a chain reaction that would send the weathered bricks into a landslide.

But, she had to know; had to know if the faded ink on the map in her pocket was correct. Had to know that her professor, the man she had come to think of as a second father, hadn’t wasted his life chasing a myth.

She came to the bottom of the stairs, her boot splashing into water several inches deep. Perhaps the pond she’d heard wasn’t so small after all. Her flashlight blanketed the surface, small waves rippling out from where she stood. Before her stretched a long corridor, the end of which her light couldn’t reach. Yet she could see something, in the distance; another beam of light, flickering like her own.

Had one of her colleagues found a second entrance? Had they come to find her, to talk her out of her suicidal search for the artifact? She wouldn’t be dissuaded. If they’d come as far as her, then they would just have to help her, or get out of her way.

She trudged onward through the water, searching for passages that might indicate the way to the artifact. But the walls were solid, the stone unyielding despite its fragile location in the jungle.

The second light progressed towards her, at the opposite end of the corridor, but she ignored it. She was much too fascinated by the markings on the walls, the crude pictograms of the lost tribe and their vast riches. Much like the stories of local legend, the images told of the rise and fall, including their transformation into grotesque monsters. The further she progressed down the corridor, the cruder the drawings became until all that was left were smudges and claw marks. Whoever had written the story took great care to scare off grave robbers.

Her foot caught on a raised stone beneath her and she stumbled forward, her hands breaking the fall in a loud splash. Her flashlight rolled from her grasp, flickering in the water before it went out.

Waterproof, my arse, she thought. Rising back to her feet, she looked down the corridor to the light of her approaching colleague. They were still a ways off.

“My torch is out,” she called to them. “I don’t suppose I can convince you to lend me yours?”

There was no response.

Eve sighed, continuing her near-blind trudge towards the light. The water had soaked through her clothes, and the dank smell was becoming more potent as she went.

Had she been crazy to follow the professor’s map? Maybe there really was no artifact? Maybe the old man had been desperate to complete his life’s work and had simply forced a conclusion that wasn’t there.

Though she couldn’t see anything other than the approaching light, her hands still felt along the walls, felt each crevice, scratch, and dangling root. There were no branching corridors; just one long channel that led underground to some other exit on the other side. This wasn’t a storehouse, a tomb, or any ritualistic site. It was an aqueduct. She’d traveled halfway around the world to visit a stagnant aqueduct.

The only solace she took was that she didn’t have to see the disappointment on the professor’s face. He’d died thinking he’d found the discovery of a lifetime. And she could think of no better way to go.

She reached the light at the center of the corridor, though she couldn’t see who was on the other side. It shone in her eyes, a wall of darkness just behind it.

“Alright, you win,” she said. “I’ll go peacefully. Can’t blame me for trying.”

There was no response.

“Are you trying to scare me? You made your point. James? Emma? Let’s just go. We’ll head out your way.”

Still, there was no response. Then, the light winked out.

“Hey, come on! I said you won. Do you want me to apologize?”

She reached out where the light had been but caught only air. Then, the light reappeared, further down the corridor.

Eve picked up the pace, running in the direction of the light.

“Hey! I’m sorry, okay? No need to be a dick!”

Just before she reached the light, it vanished again, then reappeared out of her reach.

“This isn’t funny!”

She chased after it again and, again it drew her like a carrot on a string.

“Bugger off!” She said. “I’ll find my own way out.”

She turned to head back the way she came, but the floor gave out from under her. A loud roar echoed through the structure as stone ground against stone. She slipped and fell, careening downward until she landed with a splash.

Eve kicked and clawed her way to the surface, took several deep breaths, then swam away from the torrent, still falling from the passage above.

She found purchase on a nearby stone slab and pulled herself free of the pool.

The room around her was pitch black, leaving her with nothing but the sound of rushing water somewhere to her left. After catching her breath, she rose to her feet. There were no walls around her, so she walked in the only direction that supported her feet. Onward she went, one hand prodding into the darkness, while the other still gripped the machete.

“Hello?” She called, her voice echoing off distant walls. “Can anyone hear me?”

Something rustled nearby. She turned on it, holding up her weapon.

“Who’s there?”

Then, she saw it again, the light, across what she now realized was a cavernous room beneath the aqueduct. It looked different, or had it always had that greenish hue? It winked off, then on again, closer now.

Eve’s heart beat in her chest.

“Stay back!” She said, but the light continued to blip closer, now accompanied by sloshing steps.

“I’m armed!”

The light flickered out several feet away and the sound of footsteps ceased.

Her machete was still extended before her. Maybe whoever it was would impale themselves, or else feel the prick of it and back off.

Then the light was there, just to the right of her head.

Her eyes turned, sweat dripping down her brow, and she saw a face; twisted and hairy with eyes blacker than the ruins around them. It was there, for only a fraction of a second. Then, the light went out.