(no subject)
Chapter 1: Christmas Detour
Chapter 2: Following Tracks
After climbing down the ladder, Elise Poisson understood that she was at the point of no return. She had the choice to go back, leaving this event a mystery, a story shared by crazies and conspiracy nuts. Somehow, the thought that no one was going to believe this made her want to push forward. She wasn't sure that idea made any sense. Surely, this curiosity was getting to get her killed if this kept up. She resolved in her mind to temper that curiosity with caution, but feared it was far too late for this arrangement to function properly.
She let her eyes adjust to the light of the sewer. There were lamps on the walls, every five yards or so. It seemed much warmer down here, a thin layer of water moving along the floor, drops of it falling from pipes all around. The humidity hit her the hardest, much more than the change in temperature.
It was at this point tat she stopped to wonder how she was going to follow the wolf-creature down here. Now that her eyes had adjusted, she looked around. She could hear what sounded like larger splashes from one direction, but she couldn't be sure. There was scratching coming from the other way, and the sound of falling water didn't help her.
She spun around. Elise wasn't even sure she could find her way in here, and now there didn't seem to be a way to follow this thing. She seemed to remember reading about how sound worked down in these kinds of tunnels, that the echoes were so bad it was impossible to tell where a sound is coming from.
Here, she only had two choices for direction: Right or left. Left followed the larger splashes, which her mind said could only be footsteps as they began to fade, and the right followed the scratching, which didn't sound like it was moving at all.
"Left it is, then," Elise said to herself. She quickly moved in that direction, trying to avoid making noise by not stepping in the water. As she continued on, she could see that there was a layer of muck under the water. when she approached one of the lamps, she bent down to look closely.
The water wasn't very deep at all, or moving very quickly. The substance below the surface, like mud, but without soil as a primary component, seemed to hold prints very well. The creature's paw-print was bigger than her hand, and was pressed at least three inches deep in muck, all the way to the stone floor. She glanced ahead, and could just make out other prints, but no in a walking pattern, as if it were stepping in the water at random intervals. Elise was sure that this should tell her something, but couldn't really say what.
Just then, a howl rang out in the sewers, nearly making her scream in fright. She managed to bite it back, feeling pain in her lips as she did so. Elise didn't know what to make of that, as the howl faded. She was sure her ears were playing tricks on her, because the howl sounded like it was changing there at the end. Not just fading away, but that the tone and pitch of the sound were shifting. She didn't really have an ear for identifying this kind of sound, so there was no way she could be certain.
The enclosed space was just making her imagine things. That had to be it. But then, if that was the case, why did she voluntarily come down here. She couldn't base the original scene she'd been exposed to on an enclosed space. There was still this part of her that couldn't believe what was going on. Elise pushed all of that to the side, concentrating on the moment. It was all she could do.
She pushed forward, and step by step her heart pounded harder and harder. It was all she could do to not let the fear take control of her. She would not give in to panic. She had to know what was going on.
Elise was approaching what looked like the end of the tunnel. It was a junction, with another two choices as to the direction she could go. She quickly studied the muck covering the floor. The paw-prints led down the right hand corridor. That was where she was going. She proceeded down, moving along three more corridors. She was sure that she was n the right path, but just as certain that she couldn't find her way back.
At the end of the last corridor she'd entered, she saw something. It was a small pile of something, and as she looked closer, she thought she knew what it was. It was flesh, probably from the corpse of the man that thing had killed as she found it. Once more she gagged, barely keeping the contents of her stomach down. She couldn't tell what part of the man it was, but it wasn't hard to know that it was very fresh. Elise glanced around, and saw there was a broken pipe, which had some kind of black liquid on it.
She looked closely at the end of the pipe. There was fur, and a bit of what looked like skin. This had to be the reason for that howl, Elise thought. She rummaged in her purse for a moment, pulling out an unused tissue. She wiped the end of the pipe, taking off a bit of the blood, and pulled the fur and skin with it. She wrapped it carefully around itself. This might help her prove the story she was going to be telling.
She was of course assuming she would get out of here to tell it.
Elise mentally kicked herself for thinking such a thing. She was already a second away from panicking without thoughts like that.
She pressed on. She saw more little drops of black blood on the ground, and even the occasional drop of red, though this seemed to be a little clumpy when she looked at it. In a few places, she could see claw marks in the walls. A lot of claw marks. Almost like this area was used as some kind of a scratching post. It looked to her to be from more than one of these creatures, but she couldn't be sure of that. It really depended on how long it had been here, she supposed. If there was more than one, then all these scratches could be from as little as a few days.
There was some doubt in her mind that more than one of these wolf-like creatures could live in the midst of the city without being revealed to the public. If there was only one, how did it manage to stay down here so long without being noticed?
There were a lot of questions. She knew only one way to get any answers, and that was to keep going. Whatever was going on, she was sure that she'd know something more when she arrived at... What? The creature's den? She couldn't think of anything else to call it.
Elise moved forward, more slowly now. She came round a corner, a bend in the tunnel, and started hearing something. She couldn't make out what it was at first, but she knew it had to have something to do with the creature. As she crept closer there was also a light accompanying the sound. It flickered, like a fire, and it was in a junction up ahead, a wide clearing in the tunnels, a large work room maybe.
She was moving slowly. Very carefully, watching every step she took, she moved forward, barely making any noise as she made her approach. The closer she came, the clearer the sounds she was hearing became. It was more growling and and something that sounded like a dog's whining.
There was definitely more than one, Elise now knew. She crept closer and closer, and could see shadows moving on the wall. At least three. Before long, she was at the corner, ready to look around it and see what she had come down here to see.
Chapter 2: Following Tracks
After climbing down the ladder, Elise Poisson understood that she was at the point of no return. She had the choice to go back, leaving this event a mystery, a story shared by crazies and conspiracy nuts. Somehow, the thought that no one was going to believe this made her want to push forward. She wasn't sure that idea made any sense. Surely, this curiosity was getting to get her killed if this kept up. She resolved in her mind to temper that curiosity with caution, but feared it was far too late for this arrangement to function properly.
She let her eyes adjust to the light of the sewer. There were lamps on the walls, every five yards or so. It seemed much warmer down here, a thin layer of water moving along the floor, drops of it falling from pipes all around. The humidity hit her the hardest, much more than the change in temperature.
It was at this point tat she stopped to wonder how she was going to follow the wolf-creature down here. Now that her eyes had adjusted, she looked around. She could hear what sounded like larger splashes from one direction, but she couldn't be sure. There was scratching coming from the other way, and the sound of falling water didn't help her.
She spun around. Elise wasn't even sure she could find her way in here, and now there didn't seem to be a way to follow this thing. She seemed to remember reading about how sound worked down in these kinds of tunnels, that the echoes were so bad it was impossible to tell where a sound is coming from.
Here, she only had two choices for direction: Right or left. Left followed the larger splashes, which her mind said could only be footsteps as they began to fade, and the right followed the scratching, which didn't sound like it was moving at all.
"Left it is, then," Elise said to herself. She quickly moved in that direction, trying to avoid making noise by not stepping in the water. As she continued on, she could see that there was a layer of muck under the water. when she approached one of the lamps, she bent down to look closely.
The water wasn't very deep at all, or moving very quickly. The substance below the surface, like mud, but without soil as a primary component, seemed to hold prints very well. The creature's paw-print was bigger than her hand, and was pressed at least three inches deep in muck, all the way to the stone floor. She glanced ahead, and could just make out other prints, but no in a walking pattern, as if it were stepping in the water at random intervals. Elise was sure that this should tell her something, but couldn't really say what.
Just then, a howl rang out in the sewers, nearly making her scream in fright. She managed to bite it back, feeling pain in her lips as she did so. Elise didn't know what to make of that, as the howl faded. She was sure her ears were playing tricks on her, because the howl sounded like it was changing there at the end. Not just fading away, but that the tone and pitch of the sound were shifting. She didn't really have an ear for identifying this kind of sound, so there was no way she could be certain.
The enclosed space was just making her imagine things. That had to be it. But then, if that was the case, why did she voluntarily come down here. She couldn't base the original scene she'd been exposed to on an enclosed space. There was still this part of her that couldn't believe what was going on. Elise pushed all of that to the side, concentrating on the moment. It was all she could do.
She pushed forward, and step by step her heart pounded harder and harder. It was all she could do to not let the fear take control of her. She would not give in to panic. She had to know what was going on.
Elise was approaching what looked like the end of the tunnel. It was a junction, with another two choices as to the direction she could go. She quickly studied the muck covering the floor. The paw-prints led down the right hand corridor. That was where she was going. She proceeded down, moving along three more corridors. She was sure that she was n the right path, but just as certain that she couldn't find her way back.
At the end of the last corridor she'd entered, she saw something. It was a small pile of something, and as she looked closer, she thought she knew what it was. It was flesh, probably from the corpse of the man that thing had killed as she found it. Once more she gagged, barely keeping the contents of her stomach down. She couldn't tell what part of the man it was, but it wasn't hard to know that it was very fresh. Elise glanced around, and saw there was a broken pipe, which had some kind of black liquid on it.
She looked closely at the end of the pipe. There was fur, and a bit of what looked like skin. This had to be the reason for that howl, Elise thought. She rummaged in her purse for a moment, pulling out an unused tissue. She wiped the end of the pipe, taking off a bit of the blood, and pulled the fur and skin with it. She wrapped it carefully around itself. This might help her prove the story she was going to be telling.
She was of course assuming she would get out of here to tell it.
Elise mentally kicked herself for thinking such a thing. She was already a second away from panicking without thoughts like that.
She pressed on. She saw more little drops of black blood on the ground, and even the occasional drop of red, though this seemed to be a little clumpy when she looked at it. In a few places, she could see claw marks in the walls. A lot of claw marks. Almost like this area was used as some kind of a scratching post. It looked to her to be from more than one of these creatures, but she couldn't be sure of that. It really depended on how long it had been here, she supposed. If there was more than one, then all these scratches could be from as little as a few days.
There was some doubt in her mind that more than one of these wolf-like creatures could live in the midst of the city without being revealed to the public. If there was only one, how did it manage to stay down here so long without being noticed?
There were a lot of questions. She knew only one way to get any answers, and that was to keep going. Whatever was going on, she was sure that she'd know something more when she arrived at... What? The creature's den? She couldn't think of anything else to call it.
Elise moved forward, more slowly now. She came round a corner, a bend in the tunnel, and started hearing something. She couldn't make out what it was at first, but she knew it had to have something to do with the creature. As she crept closer there was also a light accompanying the sound. It flickered, like a fire, and it was in a junction up ahead, a wide clearing in the tunnels, a large work room maybe.
She was moving slowly. Very carefully, watching every step she took, she moved forward, barely making any noise as she made her approach. The closer she came, the clearer the sounds she was hearing became. It was more growling and and something that sounded like a dog's whining.
There was definitely more than one, Elise now knew. She crept closer and closer, and could see shadows moving on the wall. At least three. Before long, she was at the corner, ready to look around it and see what she had come down here to see.