Silence Falls

Cris shrugged at Bam’s question about what Bert was doing running his hands over the padded walls of the room #405 where their friend Otep had been held. He glanced shortly at Bam standing beside him before returning his blue eyes to observe Bert who was now on his knees and running his hands over the bottom of the padded wall where it met the padded floor, his fingers pushing itself down in between the crevice between the paddings. Behind him, Cris and Bam witnessed Bert slowly stand back up, his head hanging low as he appeared to be looking down at something in his hands.

“She's in the chapel.” Bert finally spoke up softly in a dazed voice, before lifting his head and glancing over his shoulder at the two blue eyed boys patiently waiting. This time he allowed the smile he had been holding back to stretch across his face. “C’mon, you guys, let’s go! We need to find her, now!”

“Wait, hold on! How the fuck do you even know where she is all of a sudden?” Bam demanded to know, not sure of how Bert could suddenly know the location of Otep unless he just magically became psychic two seconds ago. To show evidence of his answer, Bert held up a piece of torn white fabric for his eyes to see before he quickly deposited it into Cris's hand as he strode past them and out the doorway in a fast pace. They both watched Bert disappear around the corner and down the hall before they both huddled close to peer down at the torn fabric. Written in blood was a single word, ‘Chapel’. Deciding that was enough, Cris and Bam hurried quick to catch up to Bert and soon stood beside him as they all stood outside the ancient rusted door that read, ‘Chapel’ in an orange rusty sign that was hanging on the door by one last weak nail clinging to life.

“This door looks like it hadn’t been open in a billion years, Bert.” Cris pointed out in a fearful whisper, his blue eyes darting over the door. “As in I don’t think Otep had even gone through it.”

Bert shook his head, not wanting to believe Cris’s believable statement because he didn’t want to lose hope on finding Otep alive in there. “She’s in there, Cris, trust me.” And to prove it to not only them but to himself, Bert stepped forward to grab ahold of the rough rusted hand of the door and turned the knob…or at least tried. The handle wouldn’t give at first, and so it some strength to finally give way with several loud squeaks that echoed down the hall. Letting out a sigh of relief mixed with anxiety, Bert pushed the Chapel’s rusted door open after once again having to use his strength to do so. Cris and Bam decided to join in and together they all leaned into the door until it finally opened with a loud screech. The boys wanted to believe that they had nothing to worry about with all the loud noises there were making echoing down the hallway because the guard was nowhere close enough to waking up anytime soon from his deep sleep. In fact, they never questioned that belief.

Bert pulled out the flashlight Cris had given him before as the small group carefully ushered into the chapel behind him. The Chapel had a smaller entrance room with huge dusty glass stained double doors that led into the actual Chapel. Bert used the flashlight to take a quick scan of the full beautifully stained glass art that the two double doors made together when closed, and he got the idea that it was humans being guided by the angels and god himself from above to chase a demon or maybe the devil himself back to hell…only it didn’t look like hell to him. It looked like they were chasing the horrid creature into a whole in the ground. There was no flames or nothing to really give the idea that hell was even down in that hole at all. Forgetting the stained glass on the doors, Bert moved on by pushing open one door while Cris did the others. They all stepped into the Chapel which turned out the bed the biggest room Bert had ever seen on any of the floors which was odd to him because it clearly wasn’t being used anymore for any purpose at all. Hell, in the past Bert had never heard a single word being mentioned about this Chapel room, not once since he’s been stuck down here.

"Otep, are you in here?" Chris whispered softly, earning nothing but silence in return in that neglected dusty place.

The room was pitch black except for what the flashlight illuminated. From what they could all gather, there was six pews, most of them broken straight through by some heavy force. Papers belonging from the pages of the bible were scattered over the floor like a sea of carpet, some pages older than others. The candle stands were either knocked to the floor, or leaning against the marble pillars. The candles were of no use, the candles having died out a long time ago. The now off white heavy velvet drapes were littered with rips and holes. The room looked as if a hurricane of dust swept through there several times a year. The floor beneath the bible sheets was old wood and creaked from time to time from the added weight of their bodies. Huge portraits of holy beings and angels scattered the walls. At the front of the pews stood huge statues of women in layers of robes and their palms pressed together in eternal prayer. When Bert's flashlight swept across them, Bam noted that their faces were completely gone, as if someone had purposely destroyed their faces.

“Whoa, check out the cross up there, man. Its seriously fucking creepy as hell.” Bert whispered from behind them, his blues eyes glued to the large size cross of Jesus Christ. The cross wasn't different in shape and position from any of the other crosses around the world, except for the man on this cross eerily realistic. The kind of realistic art that would scare even Jesus’s most devoted believers. All three of the young men felt a cold chill go up their spine at the sight of it. It's was too damn scary it literally gave you the feeling that you were there when it had happened, when Jesus Christ was put on the cross.

“Jesus Christ.” Bam spoke softly to himself, staring up in horror. That crossed was so wrong, and so disgusting it was somehow blatantly insulting in the most disrespectful of ways!

“You said it.” Bert agreed heartily, before drifting his flashlight away so they wouldn’t have to look at it anymore. The light slowly dipped down over the cross to land on the puddle of…dried blood? Whatever it was it had been dripping under the cross once upon a time as if that realistic Jesus on the cross had literally bled there before.

“I don't feel so good.” Cris mumbled behind his hand as he placed his other over his belly. His complexion was now pale and sickly from the terrifying sight he’d just seen. More than anything he just wanted to find Otep and get out of that room as fast as possible.

Yeah, man, I-I don't think your friend is in here." Bam stuttered, wanting nothing more than to run to his own room and hide under his bed like a scared 2-year-old running from the boogeyman. He didn’t go to church often but this alone was the scariest religious place he’s ever set foot in in his entire life, and he would have gone on happily living that life had he never had to see that scene ever again.

Bert lowered his head in defeat, but something in him refused to give up. Shaking his head defiantly, Bert lifted his chin and turned around to face them both. He had to reassure him that everything would be fine as long as they kept going. “No, you guys! We can’t just give up now. She has to be here somewhere, I just know it! We just need to kee-”

“Damnit, can’t you see you fucking idiot!? Your Otep clearly isn’t here! This is a chapel with no other exits but the one we just came in through, okay!? There is no fucking way she could still be in here when we’ve already looked all over this creepy ass place! They must have got her somewhere else man, cause the bitch is NOT here!” Bam yelled at Bert, finally standing up to him, and sizing him up. He purposely trapped him into a dangerous glare that he hoped would prompt Bert to put up his fists and fight because he was itching for one right now. Cris stepped back as both Bert and Bam fought a battle full of angry shouts filled with threats, insults and profanity. Meanwhile he looked around the Chapel, hoping he'd spot Otep’s platinum blonde hair poking out from around any of the many corners so that the fighting could stop, but sadly there was just dust and darkness surrounding them…and a sound…a faint screeching sound that was getting louder and louder. The others couldn’t heart it, but Cris could, only he was too frozen with horror to say anything.

In seconds, the argument came to a complete and utter stop when all of them simultaneously slammed their hands over their ears and ducked down behind a few remaining pews. The loud screeching sound of old metal being scraped against old metal screamed like a police siren and echoed throughout the room. The boys had already fallen to their knees behind a pew and were huddled close together, making sure to keep their heads down out of harm’s way. The piercing sound lasted only 15-20 minutes before it too came to a complete stop. Bert was the first to lift his head, then Bam and Cris. Carefully, they lifted their heads up from behind the pews to steal a peek on what creation had made that ear bleeding sound. The cross that was on the wall had changed. Instead of hanging a little off the floor on the wall like it was before, it was now perfectly split in half down the middle, revealing an open entryway. Bert stared in amazement, as well as the rest of them. “What the fuck?”

“I-Is that…an elevator?” Cris asked them softly, before both he and Bam glanced at Bert for an answer.

“I have no idea.” Bert admitted to them, shrugging his shoulders as he looked beside him at the two blue eyes boys. “I seriously haven’t been here in ages to be honest. To me it looked just like an ordinary chapel room, so I never really thought that there was any reason to explore it any further before.” Cris gave him a nod of understanding, but Bam was giving him a look of pure suspicion. Choosing to ignore him, Bert looked back towards the open entryway. “Well we better check it out, right, and see what it’s about?” He stood up and began to walk over to the elevator, his pace decreasing when he had to pass through the split cross to get inside because even split in half the man on the cross was terrifying. Unlike every elevator in this underground prison, this elevator looked incredibly ancient and neglected of any type of maintenance. The whole inside was covered in a severe case of rust, so severe in fact you’d be certain if you stepped inside you’d fall right through the floor and down the elevator shaft. The elevator even had different size holes in it which gave you the serious feeling of falling through it if you weren’t stubbornly believing you would before. Bert shivered in terror.

“Bert, this doesn’t feel like a safe mode of transportation, if you get my drift.” Cris whispered to him outside the elevator entryway. Bert nodded in agreement even though he was already standing in the elevator, but before he could voice his understanding out loud, that same damn piercing sound came out of nowhere again making them jump in the air and cover their ears in order to prevent their ear drums from rupturing. The elevator door slammed shut until after Cris felt a force shove him from behind and into the elevator, and Bam was swept right off of his feet and somehow dragged into as well, knocking everyone over, and onto the floor. They then felt their lives fly right out of their body as the elevator literally dropped and began falling down the elevator shaft. The boys simultaneously screamed for their lives!