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In the Labyrinth underneath Griffith Park, a lone flashlight beam shone. Jasper jogged solo along the dark stone passages, heading back towards his haven. Eva was waiting for him there, and he had promised her that he would be home before dawn. He was cutting it close. His phone told him it was only two hours until sun up.
Jasper’s path took him alongside a wide hole in the ground, like an open well without a wall around it. It was roughly six feet in diameter. Jasper had never felt the need to see what was inside it. He knew there was water at the bottom, and that was it. Until now, that had been enough for him to know that and ignore the hole.
Except…
As Jasper passed the hole, thinking of nothing but going home, seeing Eva, and hopefully getting to feed before sleep, a strange little intrusive thought wormed his way into his brain.
“Hey…. what’s in that hole?” Jasper’s Beast whispered.
Jasper paused. He turned his flashlight beam towards the pit. He stepped to the edge and looked down. Just darkness. He sniffed, and could only smell stagnant water and wet stone.
Nothing. Nothing was down there.
“Or is there? We’ve never been down there. What if there’s a secret?”
Jasper growled to himself. This was stupid. There was nothing down there.
“But what if there is! What if…. What if… And there’s only one way to find out.”
Jasper’s grip on the flashlight tightened. Maybe… there could be something…
“Yes… we have to go check.”
There wasn’t a lot of time to check, though. Dawn was coming, and Eva was waiting. He should wait and come back later-
“NO! CHECK IT NOW! It’ll be quick!”
Jasper growled again, trying to push down the Beast, to stop the compulsion rising like bile within him. He had spent a lot of Vitae in his explorations that night. Probably too much. The Beast was loud, insistent.
“GO DOWN THERE AND LOOK! No one else has been down there before! We’ll be the first! WE HAVE TO KNOW WHAT’S DOWN THERE!”
Jasper couldn't help it. He had just enough mindfulness to drop his bag and light at the rim of the hole. He stepped over into the abyss and fell.
It took longer than he thought it would to hit the stagnant water. The water was deeper than he thought too. He started to sink into the putrid, pitch black murk. After a minute, his boots hit the bottom. Nothing down there but a few bones from long-dead rats, and some slime from God only knew what. That was it.
Jasper felt his mind come back to himself and regretted this decision immensely. Damnit, he hated it when this happened. That cryptophilia that pulled at his blood was going to destroy him one of these nights. He kicked for the surface, his water-logged clothes weighing his body down. He had done a lot of stupid things in his unlife, but this was probably the worst. He was glad that he didn’t need to breathe. Had he been mortal, he would have drowned for certain.
At the surface, Jasper peeled his sodden hood off his head to clear the fabric from his eyes. He could see his flashlight, still lit, shining just a little against the surface of the hole he was in. Otherwise, Jasper was stuck in blinding darkness. He felt the sheer stone walls, slippery with slime and mould. He had no choice but to try to climb out.
Jasper dug his fingers into the wall, trying to get purchase, cursing and growling. Now would have been a good time to have Clinging of the Insect, or the ability to fly, or any of the other powers his coterie had that might be useful to help him get out of this, but he didn’t. Jasper lost his grip and slid back down into the water, his quiet roar of frustration muffled by the splash. He tried again, with the same result. Claw, slip, splash.
Jasper felt like an idiot. Why the hell did he think it was a good idea to check out this hole! He already knew there was nothing down here but water!
“No, we didn’t, but now we do,” hissed a loathsome but satisfied voice inside him.
Jasper snarled, threatening his Beast to try to shut it up. There was nothing he could threaten it with though. Nothing he could really follow up on.
Jasper knew he was losing time. Straight climbing up the side wasn't going to do it. He had to be smarter than that. He strained, stretching his long body across the length of the pit. Jasper braced his legs against the other side. Slowly, carefully, he began to edge his way up, planking his body face down across the diameter. He dug his fingers into what small crevasses he could find purchase on, breaking nails whenever he slipped. His clothing dripped stinking water back down into the pit below. Inch by agonizing inch, Jasper climbed his way upwards. He tried to take his time so as not to fuck up and fall, but time was not on Jasper's side. He didn’t know how long he had been down there, but he doubted now that he'd be able to make it back to his haven before daybreak.
The rim of the pit was almost within reach when Jasper felt himself slipping again. With a snarl of pain and effort, he made a grasp for it. The grip his boots had against the wall gave way just as his fingers closed over the edge. His body crashed forwards into the wall as his feet fell. He scrambled, feeling more nails breaking, his knees banging against the stones. He was only holding onto the edge with one hand.
Almost… there…!
Jasper reached up, gripping the edge with both hands. He heaved, pulling the rest of his body up and over the edge. He got a knee up, and flopped over onto the flat stone, growling and grunting. He’d done it!
“That was so fucking stupid,” Jasper mumbled to himself. He got to his feet, feeling a little shaky, and limped to his bag. He was thankful he didn’t take it down into the pit with him. Jasper checked his phone. There were two missed calls from Eva, and several texts wondering where he was and if he was okay. It was only ten minutes until dawn.
Feeling like the worst vampire partner ever, Jasper knew that he didn’t have enough time to get home now. His fingers were bleeding from their abuse against the stone walls of the pit, leaving streaks of Vitae on his phone screen.
‘Sorry,’ Jasper texted. ‘I’ll have to explain tomorrow. I did something really stupid. I’m okay. Won’t make it home though. Sorry again.’
He waited while Eva replied to the text. ‘OK please keep safe’
Jasper tried to wipe his phone off and returned it to his bag. He leaned heavily against a wall of his labyrinth. The lean turned into a slide as he sunk to the ground. The pull of sleep was upon him now. His soaking wet clothing continued to drip, forming a puddle on the stones around him.
Jasper turned off his flashlight with painful fingers and closed his eyes. He hoped he wouldn’t wake up hungry tomorrow night.