Work Text:
Checking on her sleeping child once again, Abigail Henson gave a deep sigh. The illness that was plaguing her small town was ruthless. Rich, poor, young, old, all had fallen to it. Her husband was slowly recovering, only to have her son laid low by it.
She was tired. She was beyond tired. Worry, grief for her fallen neighbors and kin, and the sheer burden of being healthy dragged her to the edges of her endurance and beyond.
“Seth, I’m going to take a walk,” she said to her husband. He was sitting in a rocking chair by the fire. It seemed odd to have a fire this late in the season, but he still had a touch of chills upon him. She kissed his clammy forehead and squeezed his shoulder gently. Her great strong husband was just skin and bones now.
Plucking her shawl from a peg by the door, she wrapped it around her shoulders and stepped out into the June night.
It was muggy and still. Insects joined with frogs to drone their songs to the moon. Abigail took a deep breath and sighed yet again. So tired but too tired to sleep, she wandered down the cobblestone path to the tunnel. It cut through the side of the hill, an engineering feat, to be sure, and it trimmed a good twenty minutes off their wagon journey into town each week.
She entered the tunnel and the air temperature dropped several degrees. After being too hot all day, this was a blessing. It felt so good to stand in the cool darkness of the tunnel and just be. She walked deep into it and relished the sensation of a shiver.
Something brushed up against her face and she brushed it away without a second thought. It was the time for all manner of winged insects. God must have a plan and she would never question it, but she could do without quite so many.
She struck a match and held it up. Immediately, another bug hit her arm hard enough to make her jump. In the flickering light, she could make out a black shape.
“Shoo, June bug, hurry home,” she said, plucking it from her skin. Its feet were prickly and she shuddered. She tried not to pass judgments on any creature, but these bugs were big and black and reminded her of Satan.
Abigail tossed the insect aside, but it took wing and flew back towards her, honing in on the flame. In a panic, Abigail turned, heading towards the entrance. In front of her was a large black mass. At first she thought it was another person come to seek refuge in the tunnel‘s cool interior, but it moved like no person.
It seemed to surge and hover, then come straight for her just as her match burned out. With a cry, she turned and ran, tripping over her petticoat. Dropping to the ground, she attempted to get back up, but a horrible weight descended upon her and the sensation of a thousand needles simultaneously piercing her skin made her scream.
She screamed until her mouth was filled with writhing, twisting bodies, choking her to oblivion. And Abigail Henson was no more…
ALL IRREGULARITIES WILL BE HANDLED BY THE FORCES CONTROLLING EACH DIMENSION; TRANSURANIC HEAVY METAL MAY NOT BE USED WHERE THERE IS LIFE. MEDIUM ATOMIC WEIGHTS ARE AVAILABLE: GOLD, LEAD, COPPER, JET, DIAMOND, RADIUM, SAPPHIRE, SILVER AND STEEL. SAPPHIRE AND STEEL HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED.
Steel picked his way slowly through the underbrush and waved his hand in front of his face. Thousands of tiny bugs swarmed in front of him.
They are called gnats.
“I would prefer they not.” He spit one of the tiny insects from his mouth.
Steel, you made a joke.
“I don’t make jokes.” He set his suit right and searched for her. Finally, he spotted a flash of light blue against the dark green of the undergrowth and headed in that direction.
Sapphire sat, her legs tucked neatly beneath her, holding a daisy in her hand. “It’s very restful here. And, yes, you do. You have a very finely honed sense of humor.”
“That’s one way to describe it.” He reached out and helped her to her feet. “Where are we, Sapphire?”
“We are in Ontario, Canada just west from the Queen Elizabeth Way in Niagara Falls.” She tipped her head back and smiled into the setting sun.
“Where are we?” Steel kept a wary lookout for any more gnats. This planet suffered from an over-abundance of life in his opinion.
“We are just south of a place called the Screaming Tunnel.”
“How quaint. Do they struggle long and hard to come up with these picturesque names or merely pull them from a hat?”
“You are in a mood today. Are you unwell?”
“No, Sapphire, but I am tired.”
“I thought you didn’t get sleepy.”
“Not that sort of tired. I am weary. No matter how hard we try, these humans, they never seem to learn.”
“It’s job security, Steel.” She walked through the tall grass, letting her hand brush the tips of the blades. “It is what we do.”
“I know.” He followed after her, impatient. “What is our assignment?”
“Many years ago there was a large farm house at the top of a hill. One night, a fire broke out and a young girl was trapped in the house. Her only option of escape was through the flames, so the girl covered her face with her arms and ran through them. Her hair and clothes were smoldering as she ran from the house. When the night air struck her clothing, it burst into flames, enveloping the girl in a raging inferno. She girl screamed in agony and ran blindly down the hill. She staggered into the tunnel under the train tracks, her screams echoing and re-echoing through the night. Overcome by the flames, she rolled ground inside the tunnel, trying to douse the flames, but her efforts were weak and ineffective. She was quickly overcome, and burned to death in the tunnel. Another version has the father setting fire to the girl and she took refuge in the tunnel, dying there in a similar manner. The rumor is that after that night, anyone that dares strike a match in the tunnel under the tracks will hear the agonized death screams of the burning girl and a ghostly wind will instantly blow out the match.”*
“And, again, fanciful but not helpful.” They came to a stop in front of a large cement tunnel. It was overgrown with weeds and water dripped from deep inside it. Steel reached out and rested his hand against the cool stone. He felt nothing. He heard nothing. “What really happened, Sapphire?”
“We aren’t certain. A young woman did indeed disappear. It was during a flu epidemic. Her husband and child were recuperating and she went for a walk. She never returned. An investigation the next morning revealed her clothes on the floor of the tunnel, but there was no sign of her.”
“Perhaps she’d grown weary of being a caregiver and left.”
“Naked?” Sapphire hid her smile. “That would be progressive even in this age.”
“A young woman vanished. It happens, but we are not brought usually in on missing persons cases.”
“Do you have any matches?” Sapphire asked abruptly.
“Why would I have matches?” He patted his pockets nonetheless. He frowned and pulled a teething ring from his jacket pocket along with several pieces of cereal. The other pocket revealed a pacifier, a bib and a crumbled tissue. He held the mess out to her. “Would any of this do?”
“One thing to be said for having a toddler, you find the most interesting things in your pockets.”
A young couple approached and the woman held up a hand. “Hi. Are you here to test the rumors, too?”
“We were going to, except someone forgot matches.” Sapphire’s comment was disapproving and Steel scowled at her.
“I didn’t know…”
“It’s okay. We have several.” The man dug into his day pack and pulled out several books of matches. “Here you go.”
“Come on, Dillon!” The girl tugged at his hand, her face glowing in the last bit of sunlight.
“That’s most kind of you,” Sapphire said. “Good luck.”
“Thanks!” He waved and as they moved, he began to speak into a small tape recorder. “Okay, it’s exactly 6:41 and we are entering the west entrance of the Screaming Tunnel. Sarah, get ready.”
“Sapphire, why are we here?” Steel snapped and Sapphire studied him.
“They believe there is a rip here,” she finally murmured.
“Here?” Steel looked around.
“In the tunnel. They theorize that the tear is allowing something to come from the corridor and snatch victims. Our job…”
Dillon jogged passed them, almost bumping into Steel. “Sorry, forgot the damn camera. It’s gotta be this place. It makes you forgetful.”
The young man was halfway back to the car when suddenly, there was a scream. Sapphire gasped as they looked towards the tunnel.
“The ghost?” Steel’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “It sounds amazing lifelike.”
“Sarah!” Dillon raced past them and into the tunnel and Sapphire started to move, but Steel grabbed her arm.
“Stay here.”
“But...”
“Stay here!” Steel ran after the young man, tripping over rocks and detritus that littered the ground. Their footsteps splashed and Dillon pulled out a flashlight, shining the beam ahead. They raced out the other side and both men looked around.
“Sarah?” Dillon screamed and ran out a few feet into the field.
Steel, what is happening?
The young woman, did she come out your end?
No, there has been no one. Do you need--?
No, stay there! Steel turned to the obviously distraught man. “Let me have your flashlight.”
“What? Oh…” He passed the item over and Steel clicked in on. “Stay here until you hear otherwise from me.”
“Do you think…?”
“Just stay here.” Steel’s voice was firm with no room for argument. He attempted a smile and let his voice soften just a bit. “Just keep looking on this end.”
“Okay…”
Steel stepped back into the cave, the beam on the wet slick surface of the floor. About halfway through, he spotted something crumpled and still. Going to it, he knelt, ignoring the wet as water socking through the knee of his trousers. He had seen this out of the corner of his eye as they’d raced through, but he’d dismissed it as too small for a body.
He lifted the edge of the clothing and winced at the sight of the bone, still with bits of tissue clinging to it.
I have found her, Sapphire.
Is she all…?
No, she is deceased. Steel stood and froze at an odd scrabbling sound. The fact that animals lived in the tunnel wasn’t odd, it provided both shelter and water, but this was different. This was…
He shone the light onto the wall of the tunnel and for a moment it was as if the tunnel was alive, breathing, then nothing.
Steel?
Stay there. I am coming to you. He walked quickly from the tunnel and looked over his shoulder, again shining the light over the walls.
“Steel, what is it?”
“For a moment… Sapphire, do you think me a fanciful man?”
“Steel, you are one of the least fanciful men I know. Why?”
“I could have sworn that the walls were moving, as if the tunnel was breathing.”
“That is a stretch for you. Did you find the young lady?”
“She is inside the tunnel about halfway in or, rather, her skeleton is. What could have done that, Sapphire? She was only in there a matter of a few seconds.”
“Piranhas can, but unless there’s a substantial river running through it, I don’t think that is our culprit.”
“What did you say about the rumors of the tunnel?”
“That if you strike a match, it will immediately go out and you will hear the screaming of the ghost.”
Steel stepped into the mouth of the tunnel and struck a match. It flared and instantly went out. He tried twice more with a similar result.
“Are you in a breeze?” Sapphire had joined him.
“I don’t feel one.” He handed her the match. “Here you try.” He stood close to her to shelter the match from the tunnel, but it didn’t help. “How bizarre.”
“That’s why everyone comes here.” Both Elements jumped at the voice. Dillon was standing there, Sarah’s bloody garments in his hands. “She’s gone… I told her this was stupid, but she’s been fixated on this tunnel forever.” He fell to his knees, not noticing as gravel tore into his flesh. “Ever since…“
“Ever since what, Dillon?” Sapphire knelt beside him, stroking his face kindly. Her eyes flashed briefly, almost too fast for anyone to notice. “What did she learn?”
“A shared link to Abigail Henson. She was going through the family bible and found it.”
“Who?”
“The woman who first died in the cave. Her great, great grandfather was Sarah’s son. Now it’s taken another Henson.”
“What do you mean another one?”
“Three other women have vanished from here. Each one of them could be traced back to Abigail in some fashion. I told Sarah it was dangerous. She laughed at me and told me to put my grown up panties on. She was always laughing at me.” He dropped the clothes. “She’s not going to be laughing anymore… I told her not to… she wouldn’t listen to me… not even to me.”
There was movement in the stained garments and Steel had his arm around Sapphire in a breath. In another breath, he’d tucked her behind him and dragged Dillon to his feet.
A large dark brown bug crawled free of the fabric and rattled its wings in preparation for flight.
“That’s the sound I heard before… in the tunnel just after I found her.” Steel murmured softly to Sapphire. She came from behind him and looked down at the insect. “What is that?”
Sapphire’s eyes glowed and she spoke mechanically. “June beetle, a blackish or mahogany-colored beetle of the scarab family. Its classification is phylum arthropoda, class Insecta, order Coleoptera, family Scarabaeidae. It is also known as June bug, although true bugs belong to a different insect order. The adults may swarm in great numbers in early summer, are attracted to lights. It is distributed in North America and especially abundant in the NE United States and the adjacent parts of Canada.”
“Yeah, a June bug,” Dillon repeated, staring at her. “They are all over the place.”
Sapphire?
Yes, Steel?
Scarabs eat flesh, do they not?
Yes, but these beetles eat leaves.
What if this is a specialized version?
Then why isn’t it bothering us? The beetle flew into the night.
“Perhaps they are attracted to light?” Steel said out loud.
“Really attracted. They say like a moth to a flame, but June Bugs are twice as bad.” Dillon brushed off his clothes as if trying to rid himself of invisible bugs. He shuddered and took another step away from the tunnel. “I had a cousin die once. The car she was riding in suddenly had a swarm of June bugs fly into it. She went off the road and she died in the crash.”
“Why didn’t they attack you in the tunnel then?” Sapphire asked, crossing her arms to ward off the coolness of the encroaching night.
“I was using a flashlight. Perhaps it emits a different frequency.” He arched an eyebrow. “Or perhaps I’m not human enough for them to bother with me.”
“They also seem to really like girls. It’s pheromones or something like that. I remember my uncle telling me that once upon a time.”
Sapphire looked at Steel and took out a match.
“No, Sapphire.”
“Steel, we must test the theory. If it is indeed based upon pheromones then I will be safe.”
“And if it isn’t? I’m not willing to take the chance.” He cupped her hand in his. “Nor is Astra.”
She smiled sweetly and shook her head. “I have a feeling I will be fine.”
“Then I’m coming.”
“That might disrupt the delicate balance.”
Without another word, she walked quickly into the tunnel and struck a match. There was a brief flash and it went out. She tried again. She could hear noise, an anxious skittering, but she pressed on. After a third and fourth attempt, she walked from the tunnel.
“You’re okay!” Dillon seemed more excited than she did. The young man took a step towards the tunnel and Sapphire caught his hand, holding him back.
“I think perhaps it would be wise to pause and consider your next actions.”
“Her body is in there. I have to bring it out. I have to take her home.”
“No, that would be most unwise!”
“Get off,” Dillon shouted and pushed past her.
“We must stop him, Steel.”
“Why?”
There was a sudden small flare of light and a scream that froze both Elements. Steel took a step, but Sapphire caught his arm. “It’s too late. They have him.”
“But why?”
“Because he was also a twin.
“What?”
“When I touched him, I read him and he showed similar DNA to that of the dead woman. If you add that to the fact that he had his sister’s blood on him as well as also bleeding himself, it was more than they could bear.”
“What are they, Sapphire?”
“Very old and very patient. They wait until just the right smell comes along, just the right trigger and then with a spark of light, they attack.”
“But why wouldn’t the match light for you?”
“I wasn’t right. A burst of breeze from their wing is all it takes to keep the match from lighting.”
“And the scream?”
“It’s only heard when the match is successful. We must destroy this tunnel, Steel. Take it down to the ground.”
Steel nodded and took off his jacket.
****
“Hey, did you hear what happened last night?”
“Yeah, the tunnel came down.”
“They found two bodies in the rubble. There wasn’t anything but skeletons. They don’t know how long they’d been there.”
Sapphire looked from the group of excited chattering teens back to Steel. It had been a long night and her partner looked tired, especially around his eyes. Sapphire suspected he would not argue when she suggested they sleep upon their return.
“At least that’s the end of them,” she murmured and squeezed Steel’s hand. “Let go home.”
As they faded from view, a June bug landed on a leaf and rattled its wing in defiance, the rattle not unlike that of a dying man’s breath. After all, they were legion, for they were many.
*http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2010/07/the_screaming_tunnel.html