Chapter 2.20 – Madness

David and Kacey arrive at the mine entrance and can hear Reid laboring inside.
Kacy is still spooked by the feeling of dread that is hovering around her and she clings to David as they make make their way carefully into the maze of broken beams and fallen rubble. David can see a light ahead through gaps in the fallen boulders. A rhythmic clanking sound echoes through the impossibly narrow entrance. Reid seems to be chipping away at the already unstable cavern walls. Their careful navigation in almost total darkness takes quite awhile as they try to avoid disturbing the creaking wooden supports that hold the ceiling in place.
They emerge to find Reid swinging a pick-axe, smashing away at a rock-slide that is blocking a narrow opening on the floor. The decrepit wooden platform surrounding it suggests it was once some kind of makeshift mine shaft. David hesitates for a moment. Reid has not spotted them, and David does not want to upset him any further by startling him. Sensing the movement behind him, Reid flashes a wicked smile and welcomes David to his “world”. Reid drops the pick-axe and tells them to follow him. They both hesitate, unsure now about anything Reid says or does. Reid stops and asks David whether or not he wants to see what his ancestors had been looking for all those years.
David and Kacey exchange nervous glances. He takes her hand, following Reid into another chamber beyond the pile of rocks he had been attempting to smash. They enter into what looks like some kind of workshop. Most of the tables, chairs, and mining equipment have been completely destroyed with age, but there are a number of artifacts still intact that have been set aside. Lanterns give the room a dim and eerie lighting. Kacey is nearly hyperventilating now, and David tries to comfort her while keeping an eye on Reid.
David suggests that they all head back to Reid’s house to talk about it, and so Kacey can calm down. Reid snarls at David and begins to scream obscenities at him. Kacey backs away into a corner and is helpless to do anything but watch. Reid gloats that Kacey belongs to him, and he is not going let David take her for himself. David eyes him in an expression of alarm and confusion. He reaches out to Reid and suggests again that they talk about it back at his house.
But Reid grabs the nearest object available, an old, broken pick-axe handle, and begins to savagely beat David with it. Kacey screams at Reid to stop, but by the time she is able to intervene, David has been badly hurt. He lay bleeding in a heap on the floor at Reid’s feet.
Kacey begs Reid not to kill David. Trembling with fear, she tells him that she will do anything that he asks. Reid looks down at his old “friend”, and again back at Kacey. Acting as though he had not heard her, he continues on his insane rant that he has found what David’s ancestors were searching for. And it was here, in this cavern, somewhere at the bottom of the mine shaft nearly three-hundred feet below them. David’s ancestors had recorded it in their writings, and he luckily found the information before David. 
Reid then seems to drift back into reality, as if  suddenly registering what she had said to him moments ago. He suggests that they discuss the details of her generous offer. She manages to hold back her nausea and disgust to look Reid in the eyes. She tells him in slow, even words that David needs to get to the hospital or he will die. Reid nods and adds, mocking her slow and even tone that she will also die unless she proves her loyalty by devoting herself completely and willingly to him; in mind …and in body.
Realizing that he has been totally consumed by his delusional madness, she senses her immediate survival requires that she comply with Reid’s request. Gagging from the bile that threatens to erupt from her insides, she promises to devote herself completely to him. When he demands that his new “queen” submit to him, David lifts his bloodied head in a feeble attempt to stop Reid. But Reid kicks him hard in the gut, amid Kacey’s angry pleas for him to stop.
Kacey can see David’s condition getting worse as he loses more blood. He needs a doctor, and fast. She takes out her cell phone and begins to dial the police. But Reid strikes out instantly, nearly breaking her hand with the bloody club he is holding. She watches as her cell phone flies across the room and lands hard in a pile of rocks. She is caught completely unaware when his knuckles connect with the side of her face. She is sent sprawling to the ground, her cheek quickly swelling from the blow. Reid warns her that he will kill her if she does not cooperate.
She gets up and feels lost. Reid hefts the pick-axe and begins to swing it’s sharp point dangerously close to her head. He instructs her to drag David to the edge of the shaft while he clears enough of the rubble blocking it to push him over. Reid is watching her too closely for her to try to get her phone. She gently drags David over to where Reid is working. His eyes are rolling in their sockets as he tries to reach out to her. She stifles her terrified sobs, as she feels the foul hand of death reaching for him.
Nearly out of options, she has one final opportunity to stop Reid. Gathering her remaining courage, she gussies up and manages to conjure her seductive side. She compliments her brother’s clever idea, and while containing her revulsion, she presses herself close to him. She whispers that she promises to reward his hard work right here in the cave, as soon as David is gone. Reid’s eyes glaze over with lust as he begins to furiously chop away at the rocks.
Her window of opportunity is narrow. The opening is big enough, now, for him to be pushed in. She lunges at him with the same bloody tool used to beat David. She nearly loses her balance as Reid topples headlong into the dark hole he had just cleared. The sound of the pick-axes clattering down the three-hundred foot drop serve only to accentuate his screams. Then silence.

6 thoughts on “Chapter 2.20 – Madness

  1. Fantastic legacy! I just went through and read these all yesterday and I am hooked. You are a great writer! You also inspired me to actually play the Sims yesterday, the first time in months. I can’t wait for more!


  2. Wow…that was indeed an intense chapter. I was so enthralled by it I had to read it over twice. Very well written and an amazing turn of events! Reid has indeed lost his mind, Im happy that Kacey finds the strength to do what was needed at the moment!


  3. Is Reid an evil, insane genius? What a scary mix! I’m glad Kacey managed to find some strength in the evening’s events, but will David make it?


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