Note to readers: “2200 Blues” is a novel in progress, and each chapter is an early draft in its unfolding journey. Your thoughts and reactions are invaluable, guiding its evolution and refinement. 2200 Blues © 2024 by G.R. Nanda. All rights reserved.
“Come on!” husked Nickel’s companion, tugging at his wrists, letting go to trot away. Nickel followed, and they snaked around the crowd and threw an alley in-between two stone huts. They climbed up boulders at the end of the alley, moving behind a building carved out of the rock. They crawled through a niche in the rock that was slightly depressed.
The niche darkened as they scooted further into it on their butts. The din quieted as they sunk into the cool darkness of the niche.
Nickel’s feet nearly hit the man as he stopped. Nickel splayed his feet out against the sides of the tunnel and pressed hard against their surfaces with his hands, to keep them in place from ramming into his guide.
“Wait,” muttered the Thraíha. A clattering sounded dully against the rock as Theren’s feet dropped through. He gracefully slid through the opening in the floor. He let the lower half of his body disappear through the hole, holding his torso above the hole with his hands he used to push against the floor of the tunnel next to the hole. He craned his neck to look around at Nickel, not appearing strained at all.
“Be careful,” he said, “don’t land too hard on your way down.”
“How far down is the bottom?” asked Nickel.
“Ahh, you made it down here,” came a voice from inside the cellar.
Nickel’s eyes widened and he frowned at Theren.
Theren shook his head.
“Don’t worry,” he said, “not bad company.”
“Are you standing on the bottom?” Nickel asked.
“Yeah, just hop down,” he said. “But we can’t stay long to talk or look around,” he added. “This is a short cut to get you back to the eastern quarters and your hut back in time.”
“Hey, watch where you’re coming!” bellowed a voice from below, within the underbelly. Theren froze. A gentle trickling emanated from the room below. “If you don’t come down here with a good reason—.” The voice was a loud baritone like that of an old man “—then, you’re coming down here to pay!”
“Don’t mind him,” Theren muttered under his breath. Nickel wanted to ask him who that man was, but felt paralyzed by a fear he couldn’t understand.
“The evil spirits are calling me!” crooned the old man. His voice warbled as he spoke, sounding like a moan. “If you come down, they’ll come through me! To you!”
A sharp squeal of swiveling hinges cut through the room below the cavern floor, the noise sounding flat against the stone floor. Dead silence followed; the old man’s voice muted completely. Only the faint dripping resumed, quieted by long and slow intervals.
Nickel choked on his questions and fear, unable to voice them.
“Just follow me,” Theren said, shaking his head and signaling at the stone floor. “I forgot about him. I haven’t been down here in a long time. I honestly don’t know what it’ll look like down there……………but my legs are still standing on the ground below, so that’s a good sign.” He chuckled, turning his head slightly as to wait for Nickel to react.
Nickel said nothing, finding himself unable to lighten up. He didn’t know if Theren was serious or not. But his nonchalance and forced dry brittle cackling of forced laughter seemed to tell him otherwise.
Theren gave a soft grunt, heaving himself on his hands, sliding them outwards as he allowed more of his torso to slip through the opening. His feet patted the floor of the room below in dull thumps, muffled by the barrier of the tunnel, but sharply sounding amidst the rendered silence of the room below.
“Stay close by my side,” Theren wheezed as he slid his chest down through the hole. “Don’t stare at anything too long,” he added. “And you’ll be fine—”
“Why can’t we just go through the courtyard above ground?” complained Nickel. “This place gives me the creeps.”
“The other Thraíha are on to you Nickel,” Theren said. “Looks like the fighting up there is because we have a Cast-out in our midst.”
“A Cast-out?” said Nickel.
“The visitor—or intruder,” Theren said. “They’re going to look at you the same way until they sort it out. I can’t be seen with you either so this is the only way I can get out too. Just hurry up and follow me!”
Theren slipped out through the hole entirely. Nickel put his legs through after him, extended them on the floor to slide out along his back.
G.R. Nanda 