Defeated and dejected, we decided to continue what we set out to do. We went back to the passage. The door had been closed. The cackling started in a far corner of the hallway. Slowly and steadily it grew until it was coming from everywhere at once. We were surrounded by a deep and dark maniacal laughter. There seemed to be no source. Resolvedly, Ricky tilted the bust back and the painting slid once more to reveal the passage.

We stepped through in a single-file line. My cousin and I, the ones with relics, took the lead and the tail. No sooner did we start down the hall, the door slammed shut behind us. I went back to the door. It was no use. The door would not open from the inside. We looked for a trigger of some sort in the hall near the door or even further down the hall but there was nothing we could find. There had to be another way out and that must lay ahead of us.

Onward we marched, soldiers drafted in an other-worldly war. An invisible talon clawed at Shelly, leaving three distinct marks across her back. The welts were deep enough to draw blood. Ricky and I looked at each other, horrified. We never considered the possibility of a bodiless, mercurial assailant. We thought only of Luke.

The tunnel was comprised of steep steps and sharp turns. It went down quickly and the passage was narrow. The wall was barely thicker than normal for the time and the passage was crammed into the wall, almost as an afterthought. As we would down the steep and uncomfortable spiral, the air grew heavier. The journey seemed endless and we had no idea where it would end.

Finally, we broke free from the confines of the tarnal downward spiral. In front of us there was a door. It was thick and heavy. Far thicker and heavier than any others in the house. Approaching the door cautiously, my cousin reached for the door.

With the force of many, it was slammed open. Luke knocked Ricky to the floor with one swipe of his arm. My boyfriend then climbed past Ricky and went straight for Shelly, the only unarmed member of the group. Without thinking, I tried to get between them. He reached her before I did. I grabbed the locket and closed my fist around it. With strength far beyond what I was normally capable of, I struck him. He howled in pain at the touch of the relic.

We helped Shelly up and dashed through the door. It was the only way to go. I had just cleared the door and he was up again. Sparks flew as he drug his claws along the walls of the corridor. The walls were no longer wood but carved out of rock. We were underground. He was close behind bellowing curses in tongues I could not understand.

As suddenly as the attack began, all was quiet. He was no longer behind us. We slowed to a walk and continued walking through the tunnel. There was an intersecting tunnel off to the right. Briefly, we debated. Continue straight or go to the right? Peering harder into the darkness, we realized there was light coming in straight ahead. Desperate to get out of this subterranean hell, we unanimously decided to go straight. The tunnel abruptly ended with only a ladder leading up to a hatch. There wasn't much daylight coming in but any daylight was welcome at this point.

Ricky started up the ladder. The hatch was thrown open and Luke sneered down at us, eyes glowing red. This was clearly not a good sign. My cousin jumped from the ladder. We scrambled to keep Shelly between us as we ran back to the intersection we saw earlier.

We veered off the main tunnel and ran with the speed of adrenalized fear. The tunnel seemed to begin a slight ascent. We might escape relatively unscathed, after all. The earth under our feet gave way to wooden planking. Rock walls transitioned to wooden structure. The salty smell of the sea grew stronger and stronger.

Before we knew it we were outside in the daylight. We stood on the dock on the oceanic side of the island. We all fell to the ground and breathed deeply as the salted air cleared our lungs and our minds.