*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧—chapter twenty: the excavation site

August 23, 2021
Hackett's Quarry
Upstate New York, New York

BEFORE THEY WENT OUT INTO THE WOODS, CASSIDY HEADS BACK TO THE CENTER OF THE CABINS AREA TO GET HIS SHOTGUN AND THE SHELLS. He sets the box down on one of the wooden picnic tables and opens it up, taking out some of the shells to put in his pocket and in the gun itself. He didn't know whether or not these shells had silver in them, but considering he had stole them from the supply closet in his house two months ago, there was most likely silver in the shotgun shells.

He leaves the box on the table and heads back over to where Laura and Ryan were waiting out by the edge of camp, leading into the woods. It was one-thirty in the morning and it still raining by the time they entered the woods, the wet ground squishing under their shoes, the warm air doing nothing to make Cassidy feel clean. He and Ryan were still covered in blood from when Nick turned.

Cassidy glances around whenever he heard the rustling of branches, but it was just the wind blowing through the trees. Werewolf Gabe isn't out to get you, he reassures himself, turning back to the path they were walking. Him being out here with Ryan and Laura wasn't making him feel any safer. And it always felt like something was watching him out here.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Laura asks, breaking the silence that had fallen between the trio when they entered first left the pool house.

"You assumin' I ain't know where my house is?" Cassidy scoffs, furrowing his brows. "You think I'm leadin' you like a lamb to slaughter?"

"This doesn't feel right," Laura says as she stops walking. "I think you're up to something."

"I ain't," he stops walking and turns around to face her. "I don't like being out in these woods at night, so I wouldn't be tryin' to purposely get us lost. Don't know about you, but I'm not tryin' to die tonight."

"You better not just be running out the clock," she accuses.

"I ain't," Cassidy repeats, turning back around again and continuing to walk. He didn't want to talk to her much, each time he did, he kept thinking about how she killed Kaylee and how she wanted to kill Chris, and it made him mad just thinking about it. So he kept his mouth shut in order to not make his anger worsen.

"The longer we're out here, the longer we're in danger," Laura starts speaking again and it's making Cassidy irritated.

"Said the murderer," Ryan mutters.

"Y'know... it would be a lot more pleasant if you two lightened up a little..."

Cassidy stops listening once Laura says that. He reaches into his pockets and takes out the journal and his phone. Shining his flashlight at the journal, he finds a tarot card tucked into a paper pocket on the inside of the front cover. He pulls it out and flips it over.

TAROT CARD FOUND
10 OF ??
THE STAR

Being chained to an electrified bar of a cell was not fun whatsoever. He felt humiliated, considering he was also half-naked in one of the basement cells, struggling to pull free, only to be shocked each time. His father was staring at him in amusement.

"You're gonna be here for a while. Don't thank me for saving your ass," he tells him, before turning around and leaving the basement.

Cassidy quickly slips the card into his pocket before either Ryan or Laura can ask him what he's doing. Looking back down at the journal, he flips to the first page.

     I hope this journal does not fall into the wrong hands. Hello, dear reader, it is essential that you read every page thoroughly to fully understand what has been going on for the past almost seventy years in North Kill. It's been a long time since Hackett's Quarry Summer Camp was opened to the public, but I am afraid everyone is in danger.

~written by Mary Martin

Page 1

Cassidy flips through to the next page, brows furrowed in interest, not bothering to listen to the instructions written in this old journal.

     When the camp opened up in 1953, everything had been going smoothly for the first few months. Fenris Driscoll was one of the first few campers to start attending that first year. He was a strange boy. Never had many friends. Other campers tended to avoid him all at times. He was shunned and picked on at camp because they thought he was weird. They called him names like "Wolf Boy," "Dog Boy," and "Werewolf." All because he had a disease that made him different than everyone else.
     What they didn't know was that he really was a werewolf. A danger to society. He was one of the first cases of lycanthropy in decades. But their words got to his head, and as he got older, he used his lycanthropy to his advantage. He would sneak out during non-full moon nights and head into neighbors' backyards, killing their pets and... eating them. It was all over the news "Pets Gone Missing" headlines like that. He had done that for a good few weeks before getting bored and deciding to prey on humans next. Human children younger than him. Babies, toddlers, preschoolers. He broke into people's houses and bit the children while they had been sleeping peacefully. The screams and cries of the children woke up their parents and Fenris left through the bedroom windows. His victims hadn't survived the bites.
     It was worse when he become an adult. The full moons were the worst part of it. He lost all sense of his own human mind, the wolf within taking over for the night. Preying on animals to satiate his hunger, yet he was never satisfied. Feasting on the hearts of humans of all ages. Infecting humans and animals alike. Though his attempts at infecting others had still failed.

Page 2

     I am sure you've heard of Harum Scarum, the traveling freak show that went up in flames in 2015. The only survivor was Silas the Dog Boy. That poor boy is a werewolf, but I'm sure you knew that already. Here's the catch: Silas wasn't the first.
     "The first what?" you might ask. He wasn't the first werewolf. No, it goes back further than this. Fenris Driscoll, as mentioned in Page 2, is the first. Funnily enough, Fenris Driscoll was Silas' father. Due to Silas' albinism, Fenris thought his son was something to exploit. Back in 2007, Fenris bit Silas when he was just a little boy—Silas was only the age of three at the time. His father wanted him to join him on a mission to form a pack, and to infect as many innocent people as they could. For a week straight, Silas had refused. So, Fenris finally gave up and chose to abandon him. Eliza Vorez found Silas a few days after.
     Years later, no one knows the whereabouts of Fenris. But I do. He is still in North Kill, looking for his son after all these years. My family and I lived in California, but we frequently vacation to North Kill, New York for summers and winters. But for years now, we have been searching for him, to end things. We've taken family trips with my sister and our two brothers. Our most recent hunting trip was in 2000. But everything went wrong as soon as we found him.

Page 3

     I remember everything so vividly. That wolf bastard tore out the throat of my dad, William, and tore off the head of my mom, Helen... He feasted on the hearts of my brothers, Eric and Leo... He didn't get to bite me because I shot him with a regular bullet, which hurt him, but while he was running away, he decided to bite my older sister, Bethany when she was trying to protect me...
She's had to live with the curse for quite some time, but once she got pregnant, it started to kill her and her little boy. Bethany died in 2002, the same day her son was born. I was there when she passed and when her son was taken away.
Travis Hackett, the current sheriff of North Kill (he was a deputy at the time), came all the way to California to come collect his little boy, a promise from him to Bethany, to protect him at all costs, something she had told him in a letter she wrote to him a bit ago. He took him to North Kill, raised that boy in his family's house.
Don't know anything else about them nowadays. I just hope my nephew is all right in that goddamn house. I think his momma would be proud of him, to find out the kind of son her ex-husband raised, knowing he wanted what was best for the kid.

Page 4

He stops reading, staring at the page in front of him. The letters are making sense now... He looks up from the journal for a moment to figure out where they were, how far they were from the house, only to hear someone call his name. He stops walking and looks up from the journal, meeting Laura Kearney's eye.

"Cassidy, you're going to walk straight into a tree if you keep reading that," she informs him, pointing to the journal.

Cassidy doesn't respond, glancing back down at the journal. But he doesn't continue reading just yet, listening to what Laura has to say instead. But Ryan was the one who spoke next.

"Weren't you the one that told him that journal might be important?" the Erzahler boy questions, raising an eyebrow as he looks at her.

Laura sighs, shaking her head. "I said I wasn't sure what it was," she replies as she crosses her arms. "How much farther until we're there?"

"Uh," Ryan looks around for a bit before turning back to face her, "I'm not sure..."

Cassidy blocks them out again and continues walking while reading the journal. This page had a date at the top.

March 28, 2021

     There's a full moon tonight and I'm supposed to be searching for that fucking wolf bastard Fenris. But Sheriff Dickwad held me against my own will and fucking locked me in a jail cell. I don't know why I'm writing it in this guide, but I feel like I'm going to go crazy if I don't talk about it. He didn't have to lock me in here, but whatever. I don't care. I need to keep track of everything that happens to me.
I wrote something on the wall a few hours ago. A scrawled limerick, I guess you could call it. Not sure if it'll mean anything to anyone who reads it, though. But I hope it has some meaning to the person reading everything I wrote in this journal.

When the town of North Kill is sleeping,
The hag in the woods started weeping,
As the bodies decay,
The wolves hunt their prey,
And the sheriff continues creeping...

Page 15

Cassidy looks up from the journal. "Hey, Laura, quick question: by any chance, when you were in that jail cell, did you find a scrawled limerick on the wall?"

Laura furrows her brows before nodding. "Yeah, why?"

"I think I know who wrote it," he replies, flipping back to the first page to show her the name.

"Mary Martin..." Laura looks at it in thought, but then she shakes her head. "Never heard of her. Is she, like..."

"She's my aunt."

"Oh."

Cassidy nods, staying silent after that, falling in step with Ryan, who was now leading them the rest of the way. The Hackett boy flips to the next page as they walk, seeing a poem written on page sixteen. He furrows his brows in confusion at the date and the first line written on the page.

April 26, 2021

     When Sheriff Dickwad removed me from the cell, he handcuffed me and took me to his family's house and locked me in the goddamn basement. I've been down here for almost a month now, I think. I don't know. I've lost track of time.
     Uh, there's some newspaper article about two missing hikers and a journalist. They went missing about two hours ago. I think their disappearances are connected to Sheriff Dickwad and his family. Also, they fucking got some werewolves down here in these other cells. Three of them. Not sure if any of them are related to him or not, but they are not dead, so I can assume none of them are Fenris or Silas. I guess it's a good thing? I have no idea, honestly.
     Hey, I pinned a piece of paper to this page with a poem I made during my time here. I don't care who reads it. Just get this shit over with. End the first. Please. I need justice for my family and all the bite victims.

Page 16

He locked her in— What the fuck, he thinks, as he glances down at the bottom half of the page. There was a folded piece of page taped to it. He takes it off and unfolds it. A tarot card falls out of the folded paper. Great, now I got two of these things from a fuckin' journal, he thinks as he flips it over.

TAROT CARD FOUND
11 OF ??
THE HERMIT

The car had crashed. His father had his head ripped off by the White Wolf. His best friend had been unconscious and the impact from the car crashing had killed him. He struggles to pull himself out of the shattered back window. Glass scrapes his skin as he climbs out, collapsing onto the wet pavement. From the other side of the car, he watches the blonde struggle to crawl toward the shotgun that lay discarded in the road. The White Wolf was near and it lunges toward her before she can pick it up.

He watches in utter silence, too filled with shock to react to the blonde suffering a terrible fate. He had to get out of here. He wouldn't be able to save the White Wolf from the curse. Not today.

With werewolf blood still coating his face, he struggles to stand, nearly falling face-first on the ground. Once up, he limps away from the scene.

Sighing in annoyance, he puts the card into his pocket. How many of these damn things are there? His question is a simple thought as he frowns, looking back down at the unfolded paper and starts reading the poem.

Kill the First

When the full moon above shines first, the beast internal shall outward burst, one by one, leads lambs to slaughter, it stalks your breath but shuns clear water. And should you yourself be cursed, armed with silver, end the first, when moon is full before its wane, rend the beast that cursed you slain, no longer shall you face your blight or fear the dread of full moon's light... And if it's a bite with which you're faced, cleave limb from torso with great haste, perchance you'll save your cursed soul, before infection takes its toll.

He flips to another page.

     I was losing my mind in the Hacketts' basement when I wrote that poem. Also, my own poem is wrong. I've figured it out a long time ago, but never had a chance to put an end to the curse. It is not just about killing the first werewolf. You must make a serum and inject it into the first surviving victim of the bite. It will cure them all.

     For the cure, you must take five milliliters of blood from the first werewolf, mix it with one gram of powdered silver, one sprig of the Wolfsbane plant, and two milliliters of fresh water. Put that mixture into a syringe and you'll be good to go. Then inject that shit into the first survivor of the curse on a full moon. The cure will take effect immediately. All others bitten will also be cured.

Page 27

"Shit," Cassidy mutters, staring at the pages of the journal. "What the fuck..."

"What happened?" Laura questions.

"Nothin'. It's none of your business," Cassidy says quickly, slamming the journal shut and placing it back into his pocket. He turns off his flashlight and puts his phone into his other pocket.

He slows to a stop. The full moon was shining brightly above a what you could say was a mansion. Several feet ahead of them were the high security chain link fences surrounding Hackett House.

"There it is," Ryan says. "Hackett House."

"So, he lives in some redneck mansion with his redneck family in the ass crack of the woods? Look at this place!" Laura says.

"No, but... it's where his mom lives, I think," Ryan replies, and unsure look crossing his features. "I've never been there but... if we're looking for answers, it's probably the best place to start."

"To answer your question, yes, Laura," Cassidy butts in, looking at the blonde. "And honestly, I ain't sure how any of us even survived in this fuckin' place. It's... It's whatever the fuck it is at this point. I hate it with my entire soul."

"So... uh— wait—" Laura takes a moment to glance around in confusion before turning to face the two of them. "How do we get there?"

"What do you mean?" Ryan spoke up, confused at Laura's question.

"How. Do we get. To the house?"

"That fence is a security fence. We have an alarm system attached to the gate over there," Cassidy gestures toward a locked gate off to the right side of the fence, "so that no trespassers can get in. Climbin' the fence is also out of the question 'cos of those razor wires up on top. So..."

"Are you sure there's no other way to get there?" Laura questions, glancing toward the fence.

"You know, maybe we just don't," Ryan interjects.

The two of them start bickering back and forth from there on out. It was hard for Cassidy to block them out considering how annoying their little argument was. Ryan didn't want Laura to kill Chris, and honestly, Cassidy didn't want her to either. But Laura had insisted she had to do something, no matter what.

Ryan turns around and heads off in a different direction, away from the other two.

"Where are you going?" Laura asks him as she and Cassidy follow him.

"You're on a timer, remember?" Ryan answers, tapping his wrist as he turns to face her. "There must be another way across somewhere."

"We ain't even supposed to be here on this part of the property— Well, you two ain't. I can, 'cos, you know, I live here. The excavation site is below this entire area," Cassidy gestures with a hand, motioning towards their surroundings. "It's off limits to—"

The wooden planks beneath the trio's feet start to creak and shift under their weight. Cassidy glances down, pupils widening in alarm as the wood starts the crack. He had no idea this was there.

Laura quickly reaches out and grabs onto their arms to help steady them.

"I got you guys!"

"Careful! It's gonna go!"

As soon as that last word was spoken by Ryan, the wooden planks give out, collapsing as they snap in sections and splinter, pieces of wood flying everywhere.

The three of them fall into the darkness below, the moon still shining brightly above them. With a loud splash, they land in the cold water below.

Cassidy resurfaces first, gasping as he hurries to get out of the water. He's shivering when he reaches the ledge, climbing out and staring up at the gigantic hole above to see the moon taunting him. He rolls over onto his stomach and pushes himself up to sit. Feeling around his pockets, he takes everything out, only to realize that the tarot cards and journal, and his earphones were no good anymore, but his phone was wet and the shotgun shells seemed to be all right, "Goddammit..."

He hears the water moving and looks over to see Ryan make his way toward the ledge.

"Holy shit..." Ryan mutters. "Are you okay?"

"I think so, yeah. The stuff in my pockets? Not so much," the Hackett boy answers, nodding. The paper items were already too damaged to be saved. His phone might be all right if he gets it dry immediately, and it didn't seem like water had leaked into the shells. He discards the tarot cards on the ground before glancing around in confusion. "Where's Laura?"

"Laura?!" Ryan calls out, looking around for the blonde.

A few seconds later, Laura's head breaks the surface of the water and she's rushing to get out, hurrying over to the ledge as a breathless gasp leaves her lips. She climbs out, breathing heavily as she glances between the two boys before glancing toward the water. "The water... It stalks your breath but shuns clear water. Great..." she mutters under her breath as Ryan climbs out.

"Oh, my God, Laura—" Ryan exclaims, pointing to the blonde's arm. The gash from before was no longer there, seeming to be healed. But her veins are dark and visible, showing up black. "Jesus, Mary and Jazzhands..."

"Laura, your wounds... Holy shit..." Cassidy says, reaching for her eyepatch. "That must mean your eye—"

"What are you doing?" Laura asks, backing up quickly.

"Shut up. Look," Cassidy replies, removing her eyepatch from her face. "Just as I suspected."

"What big eyes you have, grandma," Ryan chuckles.

Laura, confused, raises her left arm to see if she could see it with her left eye. "No shit!" she exclaims, grinning. "Can you see yellow? In my eyes?" she asks them next, stepping closer to the two boys.

"Define 'yellow'," Ryan says.

"Shit. We don't have much time," Laura states, glancing around the area. "Where the hell even are we?"

"Like I was saying before we fell down here, this is the excavation site for the quarry mines," Cassidy explains. He furrows his brows as he sees Laura head off in another direction. "Where are you going?"

"There's something..." she opens up what looked to be an old tin lunchbox. Reaching inside, she pulls out a letter. "This must be part of the old working quarry," she notes, to which Ryan replies with a makes sense as she puts the letter back into the lunchbox, before standing back up.

Cassidy heads over to the lunchbox, looking through it. He finds nothing at first, until he picks up the lunchbox, checking to see if maybe something was under it. A tarot card was resting on the ground beneath the piece of metal. He picks up the card and flips it over as he sets the lunchbox back down on the ground.

TAROT CARD FOUND
12 OF ??
JUSTICE

He watches the blonde raise the shotgun and aim it at the sleeping White Wolf. Her finger is resting on the trigger, and she pulls it. A pained cry comes from the White Wolf before going silent, body falling limp.

Silas was dead. The curse was gone.

"Hey! I found some old mining tools."

Laura's voice breaks him out of his thoughts. Cassidy puts the card into his wet pocket—hopefully it was dry enough to not ruin this card—and walks over to where the blonde was crouched in front of some rusty tools.

"These must've been from the quarry days," she says as she squats down to take a look at the old tools.

"No duh..." Ryan replies.

"No one's been down here for years," Laura looks up at them as she stands up.

"Not since the thirties," Cassidy says, glancing around. He spots a set of old, rusty metal stairs. "This way."

They start to ascend the stairs and each step creaks under their weight. Cassidy glances down at the steps nervously, hoping they don't give out, but he soon dismisses it as they climb the three flights.

"Silas!"

"Did you hear that too?" Laura asks both of them.

"It's her..." Ryan says quietly.

"Who?"

"The Hag of Hackett's Quarry," Cassidy replies, saying still as he listens for the voice again.

"It's like she's warning us off," Ryan replies.

"Or guiding us..." Laura says quietly in response before turning around and leading the two boys further along the path.

They head up another flight of stairs, walking along the catwalk. One of the bars of the railing come loose, hitting the catwalk and rolling off, clattering on the ground, the loud noise echoing through the mine.

"You think anyone heard that?" Ryan questions as he glances between the two of them.

"No," Laura shakes her head as she answers. "They can't have done."

"This place is not up to code," Ryan mutters as he peers over the edge of the catwalk, looking down at where they had just been moments ago.

"I mean, if the code is 'literally crumbling to the ground', then I think it's doing fine."

Cassidy smiles at that, shaking his head. It was funny, but they were in a serious situation right now and already forgot he was supposed to be hating Laura.

"Let's just... keep moving."

"Yeah."

They continue onward, and as they are about to leave the metal catwalk, Laura shoves Ryan forward, causing a look of panic to appear on the Erzahler boy's face. He glares at her as she quickly places a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

"Careful... Jeez," Laura laughs.

They continue on, following the glowing yellow lamps attached to the stone walls, before taking a left and heading up a smaller flight of stairs. They continue over another catwalk before reaching a bigger set of stairs.

"Just look on this place..." Ryan says as they walk up the steps. The rusty stairs creaked below them and as Ryan set foot on the last flight, it loosens. "Oh shit!" He throws his arms out to the side to steady himself and not lose his balance, before jumping to the other side. Turning around, he reaches toward the other two.

Cassidy grabs onto his arm and Ryan pulls him up just as the stairs fall away, crashing to the ground below. He steadies himself just as he lands up on the catwalk next to Ryan, turning around to look at Laura.

He reaches a hand out and she grabs onto it, palm in palm, and he pulls her up onto the platform, stepping back to allow her space beside him and Ryan.

"I could really do with a hamburger right about now," Laura says, slightly out of breath as she grins at the two boys.

"And she's hungry..." Cassidy mutters, shaking his head. "Dear Lord help me..."

"Stop being weird," Ryan says pushing Laura away from Cassidy as he starts leading them again.

They head up a few more flights of stairs before ending up on a longer and bigger platform. The area up here had so many turns and corners and it was giving Cassidy a headache.

"Oh, boy, this is high..." Ryan breathes out, looking around with furrowed brows. "Whoa..."

Laura goes on ahead and reaches down to pick up something from off of the ground. It makes a weird squish noise in her hand and Cassidy scrunches up his nose as he stares at it. It was a piece scarred flesh.

"Why would you pick that up?" Cassidy says wuietly, feeling nauseous as he stared at the piece of flesh. What made it worse was that there were several strands of hair stuck to it.

"To inspect it up close, why else?" Laura answers, before looking between the two of them. "So, uh, do you think, actually, something is in here with us?"

"Either that, or this route isn't as disused as we thought," Ryan replies, looking away in disgust.

Laura drops the scarred flesh on the ground and steps over it, continuing down the path. She leads the way this time, taking the boys across even more catwalks and up more sets of stairs. "A long way down..." she sighs, looking over the edge. It dropped so far down and she couldn't see the bottom.

There was a wooden sign ahead of them resting on some rocks. In black paint, the words on it read CAVE IN! DO NOT ENTER.

"Well..." Ryan starts, glancing between the two, "where's 'cave out'?"

"Look who's finding their funny bone!" Laura replies, grinning.

Cassidy just shakes his head, a light laugh leaving his lips.

"So, what's your deal, then?" Laura questions as they continue on to another catwalk. This one was narrower and they had to walk in a single file line in order to cross.

"What do you mean?" Ryan asks her.

"The whole mysterious brooding loner thing..." she says as she turns around to face him, "it doesn't quite fit with the 'I love my camp leader' vibe..."

"It's called Ryan spends too much time with my cousins that he's stolen their personalities. He's like a leech feedin' on their blood," Cassidy says dramatically, a mischievous grin on his face.

"That analogy makes zero sense, Cass," Ryan frowns, crossing his arms.

"Shut up, Ryan," Cassidy mutters. "It makes sense, you're just too stupid to understand."

"Oh, my God, shut up."

Once across, they near the entrance of a rundown mineshaft illuminated by glowing yellow lamps affixed to the old and crumbling stone walls.

"This way. I see a light," Laura informs them, looking down the tunnel leading into the mineshaft. There were damp, rotting wooden boards nailed down to the entrance of the tunnel, blocking the way.

"Yeah..." Ryan says unsurely, gazing into the tunnel.

"I don't think it's creepy," Cassidy says, shrugging as he glances toward Ryan. "Just think of Minecraft. No, shit, sorry, I meant think of the caves and mines in Pokémon, you know, where you find Ground, Rock, some Fighting, and some dual Flying/other types."

"How do you mix up— You know what, I'm not even gonna ask." Ryan mutters, turning to Laura. "Um..."

"Or you can just hang out here," Laura comments, shrugging. "Up to you."

She grabs onto the wood, feeling it held down securely by the old rusty nails. She tugs on it, prying it off. With a resounding crack, the wood comes apart and she turns around, hauling it over the edge of the railing where it falls all the way down to the ground.

"Someone's been eating their spinach," Ryan says.

"So..." Laura starts as she turns to face Ryan and Cassidy, "do either of you want to go into the collapsing nightmare tunnel first or shall I?"

Cassidy nods, heading through first as he leads the way. Laura and Ryan follow close behind. Rotted wood planks lined the walls on either side of the tunnel of the mineshaft. Wood barrels and discarded wagon wheels lined the left wall. An oil lamp sat on top of one of the barrels. He looks at them momentarily, not thinking anything of it until he sees a paper card beside the lamp. He quickly picks it up and turns it over in his hand as he walks.

TAROT CARD FOUND
13 OF ??
THE MOON

He was tied to a chair in the room, the ropes pulled tightly around him. There was a werewolf in front of him, snarling. It was loose and he wasn't.

It draws closer, red eyes boring into his soul, before lunging. It knocks the chair over as it pins him to the floor. A scream leaves his throat as it bites down on his shoulder, a searing hot pain traveling through his arm. Black stuff starts to form on, in, and around the bite wound, spreading rather quickly. A gunshot rings out and the werewolf yelps in pain, before leaving the room, busting out the window.

He remains on the floor, convulsing in pain as tears stream down his face. His father comes over and inspects his shoulder as he helps him up from the floor. Wrapping an arm around his son, he helps him out of the room.

He was infected.

"Why am I still collectin' these damn things?" he mutters quickly to himself as he puts it into his pocket with the other one he collected while they were down in the mines. He looks behind him to see if the other two had heard him and were looking at him suspiciously, but neither of them were. They were just walking silently as they followed him through the mineshaft.

They soon reach the end of the tunnel and enter a dimly lit room. Cobwebs covered the corners and one of the walls. It smelled of mold and mildew. Random metal shelves were against the walls, as well as old wooden desks. Broken rocks and ores lay discarded on the ground beneath their feet.

"Looks promising," Laura comments, taking a quick look around.

A bit of moonlight was shining in through somewhere. There were more oil lamps, but most of them weren't lit. The one in the back corner on one of the desks alwas the only lamp lit up.

They continue onward, reaching a backroom whose walls were lined with many shelves, crates, boxes, jars, and bottles. They seemed to be old alcohol containers, possibly containing rum, moonshine, and beer. Laura, walking over to one of the crates, reaches for the lid.

"Careful," Ryan warns. "Splinters."

"Thanks. I'm fine," Laura says to him as he rips off the lid.

"Guess we found the party."

"Alcohol. From prohibition," Laura states as she reaches into the crate and takes out one of the bottles. Turning it around in her hands, she looks around the room. "These are rum-running tunnels."

"That would make that liquor almost a hundred years old," Ryan informs. "Probably still good."

"Good?" Laura questions as she raises an eyebrow at Ryan. "Try vintage!"

"Who knows? Maybe all the alcohol we drink is this old," Cassidy comments, shrugging.

"Well, I guess the Hacketts were bootleggers."

"Makes sense," Ryan replies, glancing toward the crate before looking around the room. "I guess when the quarry shut down, they branched out."

"Come on," Laura says as she sets the bottle back in the crate. "You two can time travel later."

She turns around and heads over to the other side of the room, stopping in front of a closed door. It was almost hidden with the way it was in the shadows.

"You think this is it?" Laura asks the two of them.

"Uh..." Ryans tares at the door, "beats me. I'm pretty much completely lost."

"Yeah. Me too."

"There's nowhere else to go. It must be this way," Cassidy replies. "Has to be."

Laura looks to them both and gives them a small nod. "Shall we?"

They nod.

Laura steps forward and grabs the handle of the door, pushing it open carefully. The creaks on its hinges as it swings open slowly.

As she starts to head through, Ryan and Cassidy follow her into the room on the other side. Once in the hallway-like area on the other side of the door, they stop in their tracks, glancing down either end of the hallways with suspicion.

"I know where we are now. Makes sense for why the mines are connected to it," Cassidy says, glancing toward all the barrels on the shelves.

"Where?" both Ryan and Laura ask him.

He looks back at them, a slight frown upturning the corners of his lips.

"The basement of my house."

author's note
hm... 🤔

I LOVE WRITING
LONG CHAPTERS
FOR THIS BOOK

sorry for all the
tarot cards in this
chapter. i prewrote
a whole bunch of
scenes for them in
my notes and i was
like "lemme add
four of 'em to this
chapter"

i did that only because
you can find four cards
in chapter eight and
four cards in chapter
nine in the game and
every other chapter
either has one or two
cards

08.04.22