GENESIS (GODS CHAIN) (60 page)

Stuck inside the guts of this building, the hot environment
became
increasingly noisy.
More gurgling noises and the sound of something new, something massive and heavy
and
in motion
caught her attention.
A loud rushing sound or a sliding away noise, up and down it went
...
ascending quickly upwards behind the wall and beyond
,
high above her current position
,
and
then back down somewhere underneath.

Pipes surrounded her, hot and cold, large and small,
in
diameters of all colours; this place was just a total burrow.

Who is looking after this place? No doubt
the
Estates
.
She passed
a stone brick ledge in the wall
,
where some old light bulbs were sitting on their own
,
completely covered with
the
dirt and grime
of
years.

Nobody has been down here for quite some time,
surmised the technician
,
believing herself to be on a fourth level somewhere
.
H
er mind was also keeping a keen eye on the increasing number of precarious and ragged metal holes in the floor
that
weaken
ed
the walkway!

The girl sens
ed
more danger
than
she could see through one of the holes in the floor,
however—
upwards about two floors
,
she
spotted a familiar
sigh
t
.
It was that of
the
communications cable runs
that
extend
ed
the Vatican data network throughout the old city; they stretched up through mid
-
air
,
hanging between floor levels!

Relief came over her face and Francesca’s heart immediately lifted, she knew that it would be only just a question of time
,
and soon she would escape this filthy place.
Then it came again
...
that periodic roar and sudden rush
from
somewhere behind the solid wall
.
I
t seemed now more like thunder, going up and then down
.

That must be on the other side, it’s a lift shaft
or something
.
T
he technician listened and follow
ed
the sound, tracking
it
with x-ray eyes
...
.

Francesca again felt the floor become springy
beneath
her footsteps and then saw to her dismay another large gaping hole
in the centre of the corridor
.
The closer she moved towards the precarious precipice
,
the more like a trampoline
the floor
became
.

It was a long way down.
There was no other way to go
,
and
back was not an option.
Francesca would have to jump
—and
i
t was about four
feet
to clear the gap!

This would be more difficult
than
any leap she’d ever tried
.
At the approach
,
her balance
would
not be good for
jumping
,
because of the springboard effect
of the floor
.
The jump would be m
ore dangerous the closer to the verge
she
got
, but she could only jump so far...
.
It was going to be very close!

Fucking
h
ell
..
she snorted,
viewing her immediate and apparent peril, testing
the ground
a little and rebounding precariously
from the hole,
judging the risk
s
while balancing on the edge
.
The floor
squeaked uncannily on the bounce
...
.

C
ome on
,
girl
,
you can do it,
she bolstered her courage.
The light was not good here
—
she was looking down through the large hole when something slow underneath caught her eye
.

It seemed to be a sluggish and deliberate movement which attracted her attention
,
far
a
way
and
near the bottom level
.
W
hat is that?
She f
ix
ed
her eyes onto
the
object
—i
t was slight and almost indistinguishable
. She
anchor
ed
her view to a movement far below
,
narrowing her eyes and refocusing, readjusting her viewpoint.

Eh?
Francesca tried to focus
on
something impossible to differentiate.
Just as she began to get a clearer view
,
some of the lights in the lower levels clicked off!

They’re p
robably on a timer
,
she thought
.
I
t was no good trying to figure it out, even with her excellent eyesight.
It bothered the girl because there was something down
there,
hanging on the ladders below
...
I didn’t pass anything like that down there, it must be something new
....

It was
a dark brown or black sack. The material seemed to be attached onto one of the metal rungs of the ladder
.
She
stepped
a little closer to the ledge
. H
ad it moved?

Did it move?
Surely not
....
Since
she’d
first seen it, the object appeared to have changed shape, a little at a time; Francesca narrowed her keen eyes as the platform bounced perilously.

Si!
There it is again, it is fucking moving
!
Failing to comprehend exactly what she was seeing, her nightmare continued.
Everything
that had occurred
since she entered the dungeons was totally unbelievable!
Maybe it was a nightmare, a dream
that
she would awaken from? She had completely lost her mind, yes that was the answer!

Whatever that thing was
,
it did not have a definitive surface
.
It
slowly and continually chang
ed
its contour
—
at the moment it resembled a dark sack.
Had it moved little since she last looked?
Leaning a
bit closer, Francesca was not sure
...
.

             
‘Mmm
...
what is that, that
...
thing?
It’s like a large potato sack or an old cloth?
Maybe it has fallen down from somewhere and latched onto the ladder somehow
....
The hot air eddies wafting in this place, that might do it
,
’
she
tri
ed
to make
sense
of the illogical
.
‘I’ve been down here far too long, I’m losing it
,
’
she insisted.
I
t can’t be moving
,
not really
...
stupid
...
it
’
s all in your imagination
,
girl! There is no other explanation.
The
sack
twisted again
.
A
nd yet it’s higher than halfway up the ladder
, now.
It looks nearer
....
Doubt crep
t
back in
to her mind
...
.

‘Shit, it’s fucking moving al
l
right!’
Francesca continued to stare hypnotically at the strange object for what seemed like two or three minutes more
until
it seemed to sit about two
-
thirds
of the way
up the ladder
.
J
ust when her mind seemed to be relaxing,
the bag
moved again!