Drowned In The Underground

Blair drowned slowly; the murky water suffocated her as an unknown force dragged her deeper into the eerie abyss. The sinister energy wrapped itself around her, squeezing tighter as she ingested foreign particles. Her life slipped away; when a familiar embrace dragged her to the surface. Her best friend Quinton heaved her to the edge of the ill-lit poolside and attempted to resuscitate her; each compression starved him of hope. Quinton's guilt seized his existence; he was the one who had pressured Blair into this situation. Regret and anger burnt through his brain.

"C'mon Blair, stay with me!" his golden strands dripped down his panicked expression.

Suddenly Blair coughed up moisture and debris; her hazel eyes shot open as she gasped for oxygen. Quinton propped her up as she stumbled to her feet. Blair had managed to escape death, but they faced the hard reality that her boyfriend Damien was still missing. Ominous chants reverberated off the tunnel walls; as the pair trudged through shallow puddles. The howls of lost souls echoed from each doorway they passed; the filthy chambers housed grungy pools that reeked of rotting corpses, and rusted shackles swung above them. Each flooded trench accompanied a slide that led from the waterpark atop.

"Shh… Did you hear that?" Blair's face turned pensive.

Blair felt a heavy presence follow them; she could feel the sinister force that clutched her earlier; it was nearby. Their perilous journey came to a halt when a terrifying scream pierced through them like a thousand needles. It sounded like Damien's high-pitch cry of agony in the distance. The foul sulfurous odor choked them as they charged towards their friends' haunting shriek. The florescent rows flickered above them. The cries tapered off and came to an abrupt stop.

"Wait here…" Quinton demanded.

Blair refused to adhere to his request and continued to shadow him.

"I told you to stay back…" he whispered with authority.

"I'm not letting you go alone; Damien's my boyfriend!" she argued.

Quinton expelled displeasure as he edged around the corner; his gaze tortured. His friend was bound in rusted chains and suspended by hooks over a crystal clear plunge pool. It was the only water they'd seen that wasn't manky, and the gruesome odor was no longer present.

Blair's heart choked as she witnessed Damien's lifeless body dangle from the ceiling, his long black hair draped over his pale face. Quinton turned to console Blair, but before he could catch her, she buckled at the knees and collapsed in a pile of ruins. She'd never been subjected to this level of trauma in her entire life. Memories flooded her brain… the day she met Damien outside gym class… their first kiss that cut her lip from his neon green braces… the day he promised her that she'd be stuck with him forever.

Rage swallowed her grief as she recognized the burly guy that held her partner captive. She picked herself up off the ground; adrenalin coursed through her veins.

The man that stood before them was the same guy the group had encountered right before Damien's disappearance. The same foul ogre; with his weathered skin and filthy boots. It was the same raspy voice that chased them through the dead plantation and cement. This was the same monster who was to blame for Damien's demise.

They had escaped the hostile man earlier when they first found Damien, although Damien was different. He was vacant. Damien scaled up the flight of stairs to the top of the Aqua Loop. Blair and Quinton rushed after him, where they had finally caught up to him. He stood in the enclosed case as he turned to them with a menacing smirk. The trap door beneath him sent him plummeting through the tubes. Blair wailed as she started toward the entrance of the ride. She stopped and begged Quinton to go after him, as she was petrified of constricted spaces.

"Please, Quinton… I can't do it!" she pleaded.

"C'mon, stop being a wimp! Damien wouldn't hesitate if you needed his help… do you even want to save him?!" Quinton badgered her.

Blair exhaled conflict; she knew she couldn't swim but felt compelled to take the plunge. She entered the capsule and closed the door across her. Blair's eyes squinted shut. The fatal decision carried her around the pipes that were strangled by dead, leafless vines. Her scream flooded with filthy fluid as she fainted from panic; her unconscious body flopped into the plunge pool below, deep in the underground. Quinton loaded himself in after her and splashed into the same pool that Blair nearly drowned in. It was the pool that belonged to a lost soul that yearned for life once again.

"What have you done!?" Blair charged at the monster; logic was no longer present; all she tasted was revenge.

The deep, raspy voice shouted at her.

"Stop! The exorcism is almost done!" the man quickly finished his chants.

Quinton discerned what the man had exclaimed and put two and two together. Damien was possessed; why else would he be getting exorcised?

Quinton's voice boomed across the chamber.

"Blair! Look!" Quinton pointed toward Damien.

Damien's scrawny body began to thrash violently as an inky haze oozed from his eyes, nose, and throat. The black smoke seeped into the clear water below and turned it charcoal, like all the other pools within the tunnel. Blair froze in awe; as she watched the creepy man lower her boyfriend to unhook him. Blair stumbled over to catch Damien as he fell into her arms; she wrapped herself around him as he gazed up at her. Blair burst into tears of joy. He was alive.

Quinton approached the man whose name was unknown.

"Hey… so like, who are you?" Quinton hesitated.

"The name's Monroe, Arlo Monroe." He dragged his stubby fingers through his wiry salt and pepper beard.

Quinton tried to hold a straight face. Arlo grunted; his bushy grey brows furrowed.

"What's so funny, kid?" Arlo cleared his throat.

"Uhh, nothing, sir…." Quinton sniggered.

Arlo was aware his name didn't quite match his appearance. Quinton scurried off to reunite with his friends. They each exchanged appreciation for one another.

"When you kids are done having your little chit-chat, I'll show you out." Arlo closed his weathered hardback, dust expelled from between the rough pages.

The group reached the fresh air above. Arlo explained that he'd been guarding the park for years in an attempt to eliminate any other possessions. He continued to explain the history of the abandoned water park.

It was shut down 13 years ago when a mass shooting killed hundreds of guests. Their souls had become trapped there. Occasionally, they managed to possess trespassers, which is what happened to Damien. It was their only way of escaping the horrific location.

"So, why did you decide to come and help exorcise all these souls? It's not like you knew any of them, right?" Blair piped up.

"Originally, I only came back to save one soul… my wife… she was one of the victims from that tragic day." Arlo's somber face swept across the landscape.

Blair shrunk into herself. Arlo shrugged.

"I mean, I've got nothing else better to do with my time anymore… why not stay and save dimwits like yourselves? Unfortunately, everyone ends up getting possessed before I get a chance to warn them. I mean, I'm approachable, right?"

Quinton, Blair, and Damien side-eyed each other before they burst into laughter. Arlo chuckled with them.

"Now, run along… I don't wanna see you, kids, here again, ya hear me?" Arlo pointed toward the broken turnstiles at the exit.

They all agreed to never step foot back in that hell hole again!