ANOTHER CLUE
-Dis/Claimer- x x x . Chapter Twenty . The freezing water paralyzed Carolyn as it rushed up around her legs and encircled her waist. She gasped in shock at the bitter cold as the others screamed at one another and climbed higher onto the rocks. Ian shouted at Fischer while Walt helped Ben up onto a quickly disappearing shelf of rock. She halted. Where was Riley? Trying to shake off the mind-numbing cold, she caught sight of him staring at her blankly from across the cavern. Her breath hitched at the sight of his eyes pouring onto her in a ghostly way that made more guilt punish her, but she tore through the water towards him recklessly, stumbling and fighting the powerful current. Riley began to blink, realizing the water was fast, swift, and real, and that Carolyn was fighting it to get to him. Overcome, he jumped down in the cold rising water with a gasp of shock. His mind went blank, his spine froze, his body ceased to function for half a second… He was vaguely aware of Carolyn grasping onto his arm desperately, holding on as the dirty waves crashed on the rocks behind him. Riley shook his head, trying to concentrate on her distressed face. “Come on!” she pleaded hysterically, trying to pull him away from the wall of rocks behind him. The cold still rendered him motionless- SPLASH A giant boulder fell into the current right beside them. Carolyn latched onto his arm even more with a scream. “Ooooookay!” Riley shouted in panic through chattering teeth. “Get me out… out…” “Come on!” SPLASH Another great rock fell right before Carolyn as she turned around and halted fearfully. The water raced around her elbows with blinding speed. “Go!” Riley pushed her forward in the thinning light. He looked up in the opposite corner of the cavern, seeing one lone torch survive the water’s rampage. Ian held it protectively next to a small inlet that Fischer had just crawled into. Their only hope. “Riley!” He looked up, his name faintly heard above the rushing of the water. Ben was shouting at them, but he couldn’t make any of it out. His head was heavy with the unbearable cold, and he couldn’t feel anything. Where were his fingers? His toes? His shoulders and neck? They seemed nonexistent… Carolyn screamed beside him wildly. Before he knew it, a flash of her blonde hair was clinging to his neck as she buried her face there. What wa-? Suddenly, the wall next to him and Carolyn blew out as more water blasted into the small cavern. Riley and Carolyn were instantly lost from sight. Ben stared in horror as the brown water swirled and crashed ominously, almost guaranteeing that the two of them death on impact. Distantly, he heard Walt surface and call out for help. Ian ran for his colleague as Ben’s eyes glazed over traumatically, believing that was the last time he would ever see Riley (and Carolyn) again. His eyes almost failed to function (in fact, he was certain they had) when he saw Carolyn bob above the harsh dark foam gasping for air. “Carolyn!” He slid down a few rocks into the water almost waist deep, reaching for her icy hand. She fought against the rising water with tiring effort until her hand rested lifelessly in Ben’s strong grasp. He pulled her from the thunderous waves until she crawled up next to him on the swiftly disappearing rock. Ben steadied her as she stood, looking at the water terrified. “Riley’s still down there!” she croaked hoarsely in his ear. “What?!” “I lost him as soon as… the water hit us…” Ben looked down in the dark, muddy water, seeing a watery blur of dim light under its pounding weight. He stared at it defiantly, angrily… Carolyn knew this look after only three weeks of acquaintance very well; it lit an astounding fear in her chest. “Be-“ “Go! Get up there and get out!” he said, thrusting her out of his arms and up towards the inlet. “Hurry!” She gave him a look of fleeting scare as he ripped off his coat and turned on his helmet light. In the blink of an eye, he dived into the thick water resolutely. “BEN! NO! HE’S DEAD!” Carolyn suddenly dropped to her hands and knees sobbing, eyes searching the water for a miracle she was insane to hope for. She felt she had betrayed herself, saying such words, but there was only the truth in them. He’s dead… There’s nothing else... Ben… “Carolyn! Move!” She gagged as a force pulled her back by the throat. Another rock fell where she had been. She twisted around out of Ian’s grasp as he pushed her to the inlet frantically. “GO! GO!” Carolyn crawled in at top speed, the water in her eyes blurring the light her helmet gave off. She heard the tremendous sounds of the ferocious water still beating off the rocks and walls below. She kept moving, not wanting to look back or think back or slow down for the sake of not wanting to drown… She moved faster, faster, faster… Eventually, the sounds of the water drowning out the cavern were far and distant. She heard her own panting breath escape her lungs in sharp, painful gusts. Her eyes stung, her head pounded. The cold was… inexplicable… Soon, the tunnel dipped into a gradual slope, widening slightly. Carolyn crawled down sluggishly, Ian beginning to come up behind her. Her eyes were sinking with exhaustion, and she knew hypothermia was setting in. She let her eyelids touch, continuing to move by sight of her hands. Cool rock, slickened by natural water, slid under her palms. One after the other, after the other… “Ah!” Carolyn halted, her eyes snapping open. Behind her, Ian looked at her incredulously. “Don’t stop moving!” “There’s a hole, Ian!” she said hotly. “Stop you pussyfooting around and move!” he said, shoving her forward impatiently. “Iaaaa- oomph!” Ian leapt forward on his stomach and peered down into the crater. About seven feet down sat Carolyn, looking up at him angrily. He merely smirked as she stood, walking forward into a rough-looking archway that had faint bouts of light coming from within it. Curious, he swung his legs around and fell into the small shaft. Standing full height again, he saw Patrick, Carolyn, and Fischer standing in a much smaller cavern than the one they had just encountered. This cave looked more like a civilized room, too, with smoother wall faces and rocks. They were deep underground now. His eyes suddenly flashed. “Where’s Walt?” A heavy thud fell in the shaft behind Ian, and the four of them looked over in disbelief as Ben stood, helping to support a coughing Riley somewhat. Carolyn felt herself smile weakly and her heart leap despite the numbness. He’s alive… Ben looked up at Ian as Riley wandered into the small cave, slumping down against a wall with a tight wince. “He didn’t make it,” he told Ian quietly. “I tried to grab him, but the current pulled him under.” Carolyn regarded Riley sympathetically from her position in the middle of the cave. She wanted to fall next to him and cling to him as she had before a wall of water came and forced them apart. Riley… Riley was still seeing blur. He shut his waterlogged eyes and eased his head back into the wall slowly, swearing he had broken something in the vicinity of his left arm or wrist. He may have been freezing, but he could feel a protruding pain like nothing else shooting in his arm somewhere. Ian gave Ben a look of disgust as he walked over to his father. “Dead?” His tone was flat and rigid at the same time. Carolyn heard its dangerous potential climb exceedingly fast as she watched Riley breath unevenly against the wall. “Ian, we all knew the risk when we came down here,” Ben shouted as Ian began moving swiftly with a deathly snarl on his face. The furious man suddenly pulled a gun on Ben and his father. They stared at it cautiously, silently. Riley’s eyes opened in panic as Carolyn froze. “Don’t speak, Ben,” Ian threatened in a low whisper. “You were right about the dangers we’d face coming down here.” Then, his face changed somewhat, and he glanced over at Carolyn. A sardonic smile upturned his lips. “Some of them anyways…” He walked over to Carolyn, shouting, “Fischer! Hold them!” “What? Hey! Let go of him,” Ben demanded as Fischer grabbed Patrick. Fischer simply smiled and pulled out his own weapon, positioning it at Patrick’s temple. Ben stopped huffing angrily as Patrick gave his son a warning look to keep quiet. Ben looked over at Ian with all the hate he had ever collected for the man. He opened his mouth to yell at him, but he held his tongue as Ian pulled Riley to his feet roughly. Riley let out a painful cry, cradling his arm against him. Ian then walked up to Carolyn briskly, grabbed her hand, and laid the dead weight of his gun in her hand. It registered as Carolyn slowly looked up at him in disbelief. Her mouth was slightly slack. “Do it,” Ian commanded. Riley’s eyes now doubled in realization. His pulse jumped incredibly. His eyes were on Ben momentarily before staring at Carolyn and Ian. Oh shit… Ian smiled at his thunderstruck sister in a sickening, reassuring way. “Ian!” “Shut up, Ben!” Fischer’s gun at Patrick’s head clicked, and Ben was again silenced. Ian looked over at his rival. “When will you realize it? I’m not playing games anymore. One life taken deserves another-“ “Then shoot me,” Ben demanded. “I’m the one that didn’t save Walt-“ Ian laughed. “I can’t just go and waste you, Ben. Your knowledge is far too valuable to me. Your father is also a bank of countless fairytales and riddles that I can have at my expense, but what is Mr. Riley Poole?” Riley’s stomach dropped as Ian’s eyes fell on him, that charming grin an acidic lurch in his abdomen. “A whiny little sidekick with a computer,” Ian droned with a wicked gleam in his eye that made Riley take half a step beck. “Well, there are no more computers now, so what is he good for?” Ian looked back at Carolyn; she was staring at Riley helplessly, a blank expression on her face. Riley was shaking slightly from his nerves, heightening Ian’s amusement. Ian rounded his sister. “This is what you wanted,” he said in her ear hypnotically. “Just to get him out of the way… Well I promised you could when I had what I needed,” – Carolyn jumped as he loaded the gun in her hand – “and I have it. This is your reward, and you deserve it.” Carolyn’s heart pounded as she looked up at Riley, broken. That wasn’t true anymore. “For all your trouble,” he further leered before lowering his voice. “Don’t be shy.” Carolyn’s heart pounded helplessly, looking at Riley with a dazed and stricken expression. He was tense and afraid, praying she still had an inkling of heart left in her that Ian had not totally corrupted. He felt sick as he looked at her, hoping she would be able to read between the lines of what he was saying. “I hate you,” he whispered barely enough for her to hear. Carolyn’s mouth opened slightly in awe as he stared back at her. A plead was in his eyes as Ian looked between them curiously. “What did he say?” he half-laughed. “I said I hate you,” Riley repeated with growing anger, eyes still on Carolyn. “I hate you so – much!” Carolyn was stung by the words, but somehow they felt empty to her. Her eyes began widen slightly as Riley continued. “You know what? Just, just shoot me,” he said, holding his arms out in surrender to everyone’s surprise. “It’s not like you could possibly torture me anymore-“ Ben tried to intervene. “Riley-“ “-What with freezing me to death, starving me, and lying to me about everything-“ “Ian, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, please just stop it-“ “No, Ben, I’m fine,” Riley said with a laugh. “I’ve… I’ve never felt more sane in my life.” Riley nervously looked over at Carolyn, trying to hold up his act. He lowered his voice as her looked pointedly at her. “If you really hate me as much as I hate you,” he said desperately, “you will shoot me right now.” Carolyn’s eyes read his face discreetly, and Riley nodded slowly, hopeful now that she had understood. Carolyn swallowed a hard lump only a fraction of the way down her throat. “Do it,” Riley urged quietly. As Carolyn stood motionless, Ian narrowed his eyes on Riley. “Well you heard him,” he said. “Get on with it.” Carolyn shook her head at Riley, but he nodded feverishly. She knew what he meant, but… she didn’t deserve anything. Not the treasure, not Riley, not a second chance… It was just nice to know that he had finally read her note. Now she knew. At least she had that satisfaction. Slowly, she raised the gun level with Riley’s heaving chest. He looked at it fearfully now. Maybe she didn’t understand… He looked up at Carolyn as guilt washed over her face. “I hate you, too,” she whispered hoarsely. Before Riley could be thankful that she had figured it out, Carolyn spun the gun upside down in her hands and pulled the trigger. Ian screamed against the loud gunfire as she fell backwards to the floor, gun skidding out of her hand. Shock. Riley stood weakly, the color gone from his face. Carolyn made not a sound under her brother’s shouting, not a move. He shook his head in denial. “That’s not what I meant!” he shouted desperately, falling to his knees on the other side of her. He hovered over the hole on the left side of her ribcage, pounding the ground in frustrated anger. “What did you mean, Riley?” He looked up an infuriated Ian. The man’s face twisted loathingly before his fist collided with Riley’s face. “Riley!” Ben went over to his friend as he sat up with a bleeding nose. Ben tried to look him over more, but the most wonderful and frightful sound detracted from everything around Riley as he sat up – Carolyn gasped. She’s alive. Ian cradled his sister in his arms torn between fear and anger, but anger won almost immediately. “Stupid girl!” he shouted in frustration. “Get me something to stop the blood!” Riley crawled over slowly, watching as Fischer wrung out a wet piece of material and pushed it to the wound hard. Carolyn groaned weakly as Riley finally reached her side again. She was turning paler with every second that passed. Riley felt ill. “Let me see it,” Patrick said, appearing between Ian and Fischer’s shoulders. “Get away from her!” Ian shouted defensively. “Listen you have no idea what you’re doing so if you maybe want to save her life, let me look at it.” Ben raised an eyebrow at the challenge in his father’s tone. Ian eventually moved the material away from Carolyn’s side. She gasped again in pain, and Riley grabbed her hand instinctively. Patrick squinted in the poor light. “If that went in the right way, her lung could be punctured,” he said. “She’s definitely had some ribs broken and splintered, and they could damage any of her organs-“ “Oh god,” Riley said breathlessly. He lowered his head and closed his eyes momentarily. “What can we do?” Ian asked. “Oh why bother, Ian?” Ben suddenly snapped at him sarcastically. “You wanted her dead anyway.” “Don’t test me, Ben!” Ian bellowed. “I’ve had enou-!” “JUST SHUT UP!! SHUT UP!! NONE OF YOU ARE HELPING ANYTHING!! Ian, if you keep shooting everyone, you’ll never get out! Ben, stop provoking the man! He DOES have a gun! You’re just as much as a moron for answering to him,” – he pointed at Fischer – “and so what if I don’t have a computer? I’m still alive, and-!” A gun met his throat. “Riley-“ “Don’t touch me again,” he whined angrily, shoving the gun away from his neck. “I’m so sick of all this ‘I’m gonna shoot you’ garbage. Seriously.” Fischer looked awestruck as Riley gave everyone a venomous glare until he was certain his silence would hold. Ian did not even attempt to speak a word. Satisfied, Riley looked up at Patrick. “How can you tell if her lung is damaged?” “Her breathing is shallow and choppy,” Patrick explained. “Maybe it’s not severely torn now, but wherever that bullet is, it’ll do more hurt. And her ribs could cut her up internally if she moves the right way…” “God damn it! This is all your fault!” Ian accused of Riley, standing and picking up his gun. Riley stood and stumbled backwards as he moved towards him with stealth. “How many times have I tried to kill you?!” Riley fell backwards, his head hitting off a rock protruding from the wall. He fell over on his side dizzily. Ian wasted no time in loading the gun. “Ian.” He wielded around at Ben. “Don’t beg for his life again, it is pathetic!” “Ian.” “What?!” Ben stepped forward next to Ian, rendering him confused. Ben stared at the wall before them, above Riley. When Ian looked, his rage was elapsed dramatically. Riley moved out from underneath the overhanging rock when Ian didn’t shoot him, standing up beside Ben so he would have a barrier between him and Ian. But something was wrong. “Ben, what’re you… Oh. Whoa.” On the wall were not one, but two rectangular rocks jutting out at them. The second was positioned directly above the other by a foot and a half. On the upper rock shelf, a neat row of a dozen stalactites hung over a set of holes between the stalagmites sticking up from the lower rock shelf. Upon closer inspection, Ben, Ian, and Riley saw holes between the stalactites for the stalagmites to fit into. On each of the stalagmites, save one, there was a ring with a gold letter set into a red stone. Ian looked at them in thought as Ben’s eyes scanned a message on the top shelf’s rectangular face: “’In Deus Nos Fides,’” Ben read aloud as Riley kneeled beside Carolyn again. Riley looked up as he took off his heavy coat to lie over Carolyn’s quivering body. His eyes flickered. “It’s Latin,” he said. “I know-“ Riley slid another folded article of Patrick’s under her head. “What’s it say again?” “In D-“ Suddenly, a loud crunch came from over at the archway. Riley and Patrick looked up as a giant flat stone sealed off their entrance. His heart raced further when the entire wall began to slide towards them gradually. Riley’s eyes doubled in size, and he shut his mouth. It was a poor attempt to stay calm. “Ben? What is happening?” he almost squeaked. Then, a tiny clink echoed around. Ian bent down to pick up one of the rings he had dropped, replacing it on the stalagmite and thinking it would stop the wall. It didn’t. “What did you do?!” Ben cried out. “I only picked up the ring-!” “Hurry! Help me move her!” Patrick got down into a stance on Carolyn’s right side, and Riley positioned his hands under her back and legs. “One, two, three, lift!” Carolyn gasped out sharply, sending a particular painful pulse through Riley’s chest. He looked down at her as they moved away from the sliding wall. “It’s okay, it’s okay!” he said. He turned to Patrick: “Just let me carry her!” Ben’s father eased Carolyn into Riley’s struggling arms, but he stabilized his balance enough to keep her close to him. He and Patrick joined Ben, Ian, and Fischer at the immobile wall where they fumbled with handfuls of the rings, sticking them back on the stalagmites wildly. “What are you doing?!” Riley yelled. “It’s not working!” “That Latin phrase says ‘In God We Trust,’ and the rings have all the right letters out of order. We’re putting them in order and hoping the wall will stop!” Ben told him over the deep rumbling of the sliding rock. “Except for one!” Fischer said, placing the last ‘T’ in ‘Trust’ on the last stalagmite. Ben furrowed his brow as Fischer pointed to the third one which was without a ring. “No ‘G!’” Ian looked around on the floor frantically. “We must have dropped one!” “No, no, no!” Ben said. “One of them didn’t have a ring, remember?” “Then how do we stop the wall?!” Riley asked anxiously as it slid within fifteen feet of its opposite. Ben looked up at the Latin phrase again, hurrying his thoughts to conclude something. What happened to the other ring? How could they stop the wall without it? “Ben!” Maybe the message meant something… Trust God and get through it… But trust wouldn’t stop the wall! “Find the ring!” “Move back!” Ben’s mind blurred back through so many things he thought might relate. Money. ‘In God We Trust’ was all over money… Courts, documents… And a memory. “What does the ‘G’ mean, Grandpa?” John looked down at his twelve-year-old grandson. “Hmm?” “The ‘G’ on the Freemason’s emblem?” Ben pushed half of a book into his grandfather’s lap, pointing at the large picture. John smiled. “It’s a tribute to the builders of the great temples and pyramids, along with the structure of the order,” he said, showing Ben the compass and square surrounding the ‘G.’ “And the ‘G’ is said to stand for many things, but above all, faith in God for seeing them through their hardships over the centuries. They had trust God enough that they soon had a blooming country on their hands, ever-thankful to him.” Ben nodded, looking back down at the picture. “In God We Trust, right Grandpa?” John clapped him on the back. “Right, Ben.” “BEN! MOVE!” Ben moved forward immediately at Riley’s call, the wall less than ten feet from crushing them. He looked back at the rings aligned in order to say ‘In -od We Trust.’ His mind rattled. The ‘G,’ God, trust, rings, freemas- That’s it! “That’s it!” “What’s it?!” Ian shouted. Ben’s hand flew to his wide eyes, and he turned it over in amazement. Sadusky’s blue ring with the Freemason emblem on it gleamed in the lamplight of his helmet, the ‘G’ enclosed by the compasses popping out at him tauntingly. Ben’s look turned to that of desire. “Ben!” “Oh god! Get back!” A gasp. “Carolyn, stay with me…” Ben slipped the ring from his finger with the utmost care and respect. It didn’t match the other rings by a long shot, but he had no other choice. The wall was pressing into his shoulder as urgent cries broke his conscience. He marveled at the ring one last brief moment. “In God We Trust, right Sadusky?” Quickly, he slid the ring onto the third empty stalagmite, positioning it to face forward like the rest of the rings. He held his breath and said a quick prayer. The wall stopped. The others looked around in wonder, turning to the wall hovering behind their backs. Patrick gave it a firm push, emphasizing the fact the it would not be moving anytime soon. He looked up at them, but Riley was still uncertain. “Well now what?” he asked, shoulder to shoulder with Fischer and Ben. He still tried to keep his balance with Carolyn limp in his- The room shook. Ian’s eyes darted. “Wh-“ “AHHHHH!!” The floor fell through, and they all went with it, plummeting into endless darkness. . Please Review .
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