Coming From the Shadows Series
1908 AD
Australia
Dust devils danced across the parched Australian landscape; mirroring the frantic beat of Elizabeth’s heart against her chest; by this point, she was exhausted, having travelling throughout the night with the limp weight of her sisters body against her back, she finally got glimmer of hope when she saw a flickering light in the distance “Finally” Elizabeth said .
Finally, safety; she moved her left hand out while trying to keep her sisters body balanced on her back, managing to get the door open she struggles inside the dilapidated farmhouse; the windows were boarded up, it was a silhouette against the bruised twilight “Mother!” she cried out, her voice raw and cracked
Cathryn, appearing in one of the doorways, saw the sorry state of her daughter, then her eyes landed on Lydia; the unconscious state she was in, she felt a flood of panic wash over her; it nearly sent her reeling, her carefully constructed composure was threatening to shatter, but she forced herself to focus, to breathe; panic wouldn’t help.
“What happened?” she said, a trembling voice as she made her way over to help bring Lydia down to the floor from Elizabeth’s back “Norina!” she shouted as she glanced back a moment, then returned her gaze to Lydia
Elizabeth thought for a moment, doing her best to explain how things had gone, from the fall Lydia had at the abandoned factory to her fight with Keiko; and how Lydia just collapsed shortly after the fight ended.
Norina came rushing upon being called, her eyes landing on Lydia; they widened in horror at the state she was in; she babbled rapidly in Italian, a torrent of concern and disbelief; soon enough they were carefully moving Lydia to the next room, so she could be seen to properly.
The safe house originally a place of safety allowing for Cathryn’s planned operations of espionage against the Imperium and its Cultists active in Australia; however, that same feeling was no longer present; it felt anything but safe, the air felt heavy, that something was not right.
While Elizabeth tried to finally have a moment f rest, sat watching her mother and Norina tending to her sister; she held a glass between her hands; the water had been refreshing, but she couldn’t shake the strange atmosphere that was building.
Then, the sound of movement; shouting in the distance, racing horses coming towards their location; her blood ran cold; she had been followed, they had found them.
Cathryn glanced up “They’re here” she said
Xian appearing in the doorway glanced to the unconscious Lydia a moment before he made his way to the boarded window, peering through the cracks to see outside “They are coming” he said, his voice low “There are a lot of them; armed” he said, his voice was devoid of emotion “Damir” he suddenly said, his voice now raised with an authoritative tone
Damir now standing in the same doorway looked to Xian “Then we’re to hold them off?” he queried
“Yes” Xian nodded, making his way towards him, then stopping to look at Cathryn “We’ll buy you time to get Lydia out of here; you’ll need to move quickly”
Watching as Xian and Damir left them; Cathryn, now the face of determination began to take action; grabbing various things that will be needed, before stopping beside Elizabeth “We need to get your sister our of here; there is a passage down in the basement; it leads into some old mine shafts, it’ll be our only way to get out of here unseen”
When a loud bang rang out; wooden boards suddenly splintered, sending the little shards of wood flying across the floor; the Cultists had started their attack “Go!” Xian barked, he rushed to the front door, grabbing a rifle as he moved, Damir quickly followed behind him
Elizabeth, with Norina’s help started working together to move Lydia; the unconscious girl was like a dead weight, her limps heavy and unresponsive; stumbling about, and not use to working together, they struggled, Cathryn moved ahead of them, rushing down the stairs to the basement.
In the basement, Cathryn began to push things out of the way of a metal gate, behind it; a passage leading to what Elizabeth was hoping to be safety; as gunfire continued to ring out, the farmhouses shuddered as bullets slammed into the walls.
Xian and Damir returned fire; the loud bangs echoing within the confined space, the air had begun to fill with the acris scent of gunpowder, and the screams of wounded.
The Cultists, led by Jack seemed to be endless, as they pushed, regardless of the defence put up by Xian and Damir, they were relentless; they pressed their attack, heedless of the danger; they acted like a swarm.
Down in the basement, Cathryn had gotten the gate open, she then glanced to the two carrying Lydia and indicated for them to follow, as she set a torch alight, using it to illuminate the dark passage they would be walking through.
The push was slow, it wasn’t helping that Elizabeth wasn’t working well with Norina; any Norina said, Elizabeth had no idea how to respond, she spoke too fast, and her skill at understanding Italian was limited and she certainly did not share the same bond her sister had with Norina.
The passage was damp and claustrophobic, it simply added more pressure, more stress; and with how slow they progressed, it just felt agonizing.
Behind them, a battle still raged on; but the more they travelled, the harder it was to hear the distant sound of gunfire and screams; Elizabeth knew that Xian and Damir did not stand a chance of winning, it made her wonder how they would escape.
Finally, they reached the mine shafts; the darkness was absolute; only broken by the flickering flame carried by Cathryn as she raised the burning torch up; now, now they found themselves having to traverse a labyrinthine of tunnels, their hope dwindled as they progressed.
At the farmhouse; Xian and Damir had lost their positioning by the door, now forced to different rooms, but they shouted to one another, communicating whatever way they could; they were like cornered wolves; with the limited ammunition nearly exhausted, they faced little options but to begin their own escape.
While Damir would make it to the basement; Xian was forced to take a different direction entirely; they were completely separated.
As Damir rushed into the passage, he pulled the gate shut with him; slipping the lock into place before also positioning his rifle to add an extra resistance against someone trying to force the gate open; he then finally turned to rush down the dark passage towards the mine shafts, to follow the only direction Cathryn and the others would have gone.
Xian found his way some distance away, turning back he could see the large group of Cultists as the sun had begun to rise; the farmhouse was lost; their safehouse, gone; he hoped that the others would reach safety, he was on his own, and had to move carefully.
Within the mine shafts; Elizabeth and Norina continued to follow the direction Cathryn led them; Elizabeth knew that the safety of the tunnels were simply an illusion; if the Cult found their safe place, they would certainly track their movement in the mines.
Eventually though they would reach safety as sunlight filtered through; Elizabeth wasn’t sure how much time had passed, how long they had been struggling around; but she was certainly happy to see the light of daylight as Cathryn led them out.
Though when they finally came out into the light of the day, they heard a movement that drew their attention; Cathryn, moving her hand as she dropped the burning torch to the ground, her hand gripped the handle of a revolver holstered on her hip, her eyes now landing on the source of the sound; as a woman came to a halt on a raised position just above the mine shafts entrance.
Elizabeth recognised her as her eyes too landed on the woman watching them; Keiko “Hello again” she said
Written By: Westley H.
If You Enjoyed, Why not check some of our other Stories
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- Moonlight in Lagos
- Ghost Ship V: The Searching
- A Cold Night in March: A Tale of Love and Loss
- The Vanguard Incident
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