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Chapter 1
Tastes Like Pork – A Gruesome Gully Novel
Chapter 2
“Sign here please. In blood.” Silas pointed to her name in the book as the women drew closer, his voice raspy from lack of use.
Ms. Albright’s green eyes widened and her hands shook. “In blood?” She looked at the desk, as if looking for a pen. “I don’t…understand. How –”
Beth reached around to pick up the sharp fountain pen Silas had set beside the ledger. “Here,” she held it out to Ms. Albright. “Use the tip to puncture your finger.”
Albright took the pen, looked at the tip, and then raised her eyebrows. She held her left index finger out and poked the tip with the pen. It didn’t work the first time, and she looked up, first at Beth, then Silas. They waited silently. It was her responsibility to complete the task, and they’d helped as much as they could.
When she finally drew blood and managed to sign her name with it, she put the pen down and gave Silas a confused look.
“I guess I expected some sort of magic to happen when I did that,” she said. A nervous giggle escaped her lips, and Silas knew they’d be hearing that giggle a lot when she was established in The Gully. Inhabitants tended to go a little crazy, especially during the first six months or so.
He stood and nodded to Beth, who returned the gesture and left without so much as a backward glance.
Albright watched her go, and then turned back to Silas. “So that’s it, then.”
“Follow me.” Stepping out from behind the desk he walked to the back wall of the cavern. It appeared smooth from a distance, but once closer an opening in the stone became apparent, just wide enough for a person to walk through. The passage was dark, and smelled earthy and wet. Their footsteps squished through the thin layer of moisture on the floor. Water dripped at random intervals, a not-quite-steady sound that Silas found soothing, but others tended to find disconcerting.
There was a small gasp behind him, and Silas imagined she’d probably touched a wall trying to keep up. It was pretty slimy and and had a slick, unappealing texture in most areas. In others, it was sharp enough to cut fingertips.
The passage was narrow and disquieting by design, and the average person would have turned back long before the sounds of the Gully became discernible. The occasional shrieks and screams were just punctuation for the near constant moaning, whining, and general muttering that made up the hum of Gully life.
Silas could feel Ms. Albright slowing behind him. Most of them did at this point, thinking that maybe in the dark they could run back to freedom before he could catch them. She followed in their footsteps, literally, running for her life, as it were.
He didn’t bother going after her. This served as a good lesson in what it meant to sign a contract in blood. He stood quietly, listening for the inevitable.
Soon there was a sharp cry of pain, and he knew she had hit the boundary where they’d entered the passage through the cavern wall. He waited again, until he heard footsteps coming up behind him. Perhaps a bit of a limp this time, also a common occurrence.
“Signing your name in blood sealed the contract you made to be remanded to this place. You will not be able to breach the boundaries until you are formally released.”
“You could have told me that from the start.” Her voice was quieter more subdued.
“Some lessons are better learned on your own. Now come. It’s not far now.”
Silas continued down the dark passageway, the sounds getting louder as they drew closer. There were shouts and murmurs, cheers, and screams. The first time he’d heard it, it had been very unnerving. He could feel the anxiety wafting off their newest occupant as they grew closer to the cacophony, and the sulfur smell became more pronounced.
They rounded a corner, and were immediately at the mouth of the Gully portal. They stepped onto a curved ledge big enough for four people that hung out over what looked like a whole other world steeping in an orange red glow that permeated the entire space. Stalagmites and other large rock formations dotted the massive cavern floor, and there were actual houses tucked here and there into the otherworldly landscape on either side of what appeared to be a river of lava. Sulfur wasn’t the only nasty smell wafting up from below, and the waves of heat rising up and over the ledge was almost visible, shimmering on the air
Ms. Albright’s came to the edge and stared over into her new home, her jaw dropping open, and then quickly closing again.
“Wow.” She pulled the collar of her shirt up over her mouth and nose. “That is beautiful and horrifying all at once. People actually live there?”
“If you call it living.” Rachel, Silas’s sister, had come up to stand beside Ms. Albright as the woman was gawking over her new home.
Albright jumped, turning to Rachel with a gasp at the new voice. “Oh! I didn’t see you there.”
Rachel wore a long robe matching the one that Silas wore. The hood was up and partially obscured her face, so that only her nose and mouth were truly visible.
“Listen carefully, Ms. Albright.” Rachel’s voice was low and earthy. “While you are here, you cannot die. You can, however, feel pain. And you will. There are no rules of conduct in Gruesome Gully, and it bears that name for good reason. The other inhabitants can do what they like to you and you in turn can do whatever you’d like to them. This means you can lose limbs or appendages, with the exception that no one can take your head. Each day you will wake up as you are now, with all parts intact.
On the day you are released, you will have 24 hours to enjoy your freedom. Then Silas will hunt you down and take your life. Do you understand what I’ve told you?”
Ms. Albright nodded as she stared into the cavern, and the blank expression on her face told Silas that the severity of her fate was finally sinking in.
Rachel tapped her on the shoulder. “Answer verbally, please. Do you understand the rules I’ve laid out for you?”
The woman nodded. “Sorry – yes. I understand.”
“Good. Thank you.” Rachel centered one hand at Ms. Albright’s back, and pushed her off the ledge.
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