Blood of My Death

Blood of My Death: The Ancient Earthscrapper - Chapter Forty

The race to the top ended with us reaching the top after four hours of a nonstop climbing marathon. My muscles hurt, and I was out of breath. A few still pursued us, but the good thing was now we knew what the light source was. It was a hologram that stood there patiently waiting for us.

"Good, you finally made it," it said.

"Who or what are you?" Rachel asked.

"This is Mother. I remember her now. She is the one who helped me," I explained.

"Mother?" Rachel asked.

"You must hurry. Follow me," Mother said.

Rachel took my lead while I followed her. It stunned me at how fast she walked. We had to walk at a quick pace, almost jogging. 'How was she doing that?' I thought. 'Where was she taking us?' Up ahead, the smells were sparse. Another light in the distance slowly came into view. As we arrived, it was an elevator. An old elevator that looked to be centuries old. The door was wooden and falling apart. Inside was a rusted, half-caged cart.

"What is this?" I questioned.

"An abandoned part of the Catacombs that goes back centuries," Mother explained.

"Where does it lead?" Rachel asked.

"To a cave system further up. It's close enough to the surface for you to escape," Mother stated.

"I thought we needed a glass tablet to escape?" I questioned.

"Not anymore. You made your own path," Mother said, smiling.

"So what's going to happen to you?" I asked.

"I'm always with you," Mother stated.

"How?" I asked.

"In time, you'll learn how. Right now this will take you to your sister and friend. They are still far from you, but if you keep making your own path, then I know you'll return to them," Mother explained.

"Thank you for helping us!" I said.

Mother smiled briefly and disappeared. Rachel opened the door while I looked behind us. The monsters were still a ways back. I got in behind her. She closed the cage door, looking for an "on" switch or bottom. I found what we were looking for. 'Would this thing still work? The lights didn't work, but Mother wouldn't have brought us here if it didn't,' I thought. Now was the time to test it out. I pushed the bottom, causing the cage to sputter and shake, coming to life. A loud sound echoed as we rose higher and higher. The cell was vibrating a lot. 'I wonder if this thing will make it far. I really don't want to fall down this shaft,' I thought as we ascended higher.

The elevator wasn't as fast as the ones in Resident One, as the ride took over an hour and a half to reach its stopping point. A loud bang rocked us back and forth as it stopped. I pushed the cage gate open, glad to be stepping on solid ground again. This was an abandoned underground mining site. It was huge, with three tunnels forking off in different directions. Fortunately, there were lights here, but enough that we weren't in total darkness. 'I wonder what is powering the lights,' I thought. That's when I caught a whiff of that wet dog smell. The place was full of this smell. It stunk so badly that I had to cover my nose.

"What the hell is that smell?" I asked.

"I don't know, but we smelled it down in the Catacombs too. I can smell the pseudo vampires up here too. It's faint but there," Rachel said.

"You don't want to met those things again. They did a number on you last time," I told her.

"I don't really remember that, but I remember those two vampires," Rachel said.