"AN HOUR OF ENIGMA"
He let out a scream of horror as the red hot iron bar touched his skin, with the sensation of pain that never seemed to end…
PROLOGUE
He let out a scream of horror as the red hot iron bar touched his skin, with the sensation of pain that never seemed to end…
His eyes were wide open, wanting to communicate the pain that flowed through his senses…
Suffering… That was the worst…
“Do not worry, my friend,” spoke a stern voice, “You are with me…”
***
Leona stared at the mess all over the living room. She knew something was wrong, but all she was worried about was the degree of the trouble.
Almost five minutes ago, they had heard a scream, and they had to smash the window to get inside. Dr. Smith was missing, and all that was left was silence…
Where did he go?
Dylan was busy searching around the scrambled room. Everything in the room was at sixes and sevens.
“I got something…” said Dylan, “And I guess it’s not Dr. Smith’s…”
Everyone turned to him, as he raised his hand to claim the article…
A ring…
“I am damn sure it is gonna help us somehow…” said Leona softly, as her eyes beamed at the burnt half of the ring…
***
“So, what do you say, Doctor? Are you going to tell me or…”
The victim groaned in pain as it travelled to his senses… “I am not going to tell you the location… My research is of more value to humanity than my life… You are not going to get the answer, even if you kill me…”
“Death is not your destiny… Suffering is…”
***
“This ring is not an ordinary ring… It has some symbol on it,” said Julia.
The periphery of the ring contained two snakes, surmounted by wings and rolling over each other in a helical fashion…
Wait a second…
“This symbol!!! We have seen it… in the NHS Ambulance Services in England! It’s there on the ambulances!” said Leona.
“Yes!” cracked Dan, “The Rod of Asclepius! You are right!!! It is a common medical symbol… But –”
“But what?”
“It has only one snake round a staff… We have two snakes here…”
Dylan rushed out of the room, searching for something. In a minute, he came back with a laptop. “Let’s Google it out… Two serpents…”
As he hit the enter key, several results popped up on the screen…
“Caduceus? Wikipedia says it… There’s also a reference to the Rod of Asclepius… Let me see it… It is a staff carried by Greek God, Hermes… The Messenger of Gods…”
Leona was not so sure of the connection. “How does it help us? What has Hermes to do with the ring?”
Suddenly, something struck Dan… “Just a sec… We have seen this symbol – Oh Yes! It’s engraved on the entrance of the Olympus!”
“S**t yes! The palace in the city?” asked Julia.
“Yes! Yes, yes…”
*
“Hello? Mr. Sean? It’s Julia… We have an emergency! Dr. Smith is missing…”
Leona shuddered as the cab rushed past the woods, cutting the wind ferociously in its way…
What could have happened to Dr. Smith? Who could have done this?
Dr. Aaron Smith was a fatherly figure to all the four children. He and their dads had been best friends. While all the other friends got married, he remained a bachelor, dedicating his entire life to philosophy. He had made some stunning principles and laws that could shake the world altogether. His entire endeavour resided in a secret location – which only he himself knew…
Eight forty seven p.m. The cab screeched to a halt right outside the Olympus. The magnificent palace, also called the “Abode of Gods”, was right in front, spread out in sixty thousand square meters. There, at the top of the palace sat Zeus on a massive throne and holding the bolt of lightning in his left hand. His other hand pointed towards the city, as if ordering the subjects…
The king of Gods…
Mr. Sean was already there, waiting for them. He had been on his archaeological project for quite a few months now, and so had special access to the palace.
Sean and Aaron had become friends only lately, when Sean moved into the city. He was then jobless and that was when Aaron helped him to find a job by contacting his acquaintances. Since then, they had been great friends, meeting each other almost weekly…
*
As the doors opened up, moist air flew outwards, and darkness showed up… “I am sorry, but this palace is still under renovation… So, I don’t think there would be any lights in here… You better grab some flame torches…” said Sean.
This is spooky…
“This palace is very large, because it contains a room for almost every major Greek God… We better split up and look for Aaron…”
Saying this, he moved on and vanished in the darkness…
*
As he moved on, searching for any possible signs of footprints or similar clues, Dan suddenly felt a gust of wind behind his back. He turned around in a quick motion, when all of a sudden; a strong hand gripped his neck…
He struggled to free himself, but the grip started getting stronger… Before he could think of anything else, the hand started twisting his neck…
He started feeling suffocated, the air from his lungs getting empty. His lungs yearned for air, and with each passing second, the yearning grew stronger and stronger…
Blood started to come out from his nostrils, and in another second, his neck twisted more and more … No resistance could overcome the force…
The suffocation grew with each second, till there was a click…
Then there was calm…
*
Julia felt the fright intensifying in her nerves… She was still not able to locate the Hall of Hermes…
As she paced ahead in a quick motion, she tripped over something.
She brought the flame close to the object only to let out a scream of horror…
A head covered in blood, and rolled on with mud was lying inverted near her feet.
A chill of deep horror passed through her spine…
As she turned the head with her feet, she was flabbergasted…
Trepidation in every degree passed through her nerves as she discovered that it was the head of Dan!
She vomited at the very moment, now trembling on seeing his face smeared with the red colloid, and eyes wide open, as if shouting for help…
As she turned her eyes away from the face, she shivered with horrendousness…
“You were waiting for me, weren’t you?”
***
“You would be pleased to see something that I’ve brought for you, Dr. Smith…” said the man.
He took out a video tape from his pocket and inserted it in the player.
What came up on the screen totally shocked Aaron out of his wits…
The man brutally choked Dan to death and twisted his neck to break it off from his body as he struggled to get free like a sheep in butcher’s hands. All the time, blood ran off from his nose and a river of red water flew as the neck broke off the rest of the body…
“Please!” shouted Aaron, “Stop! Why? Why did you kill him? What was his fault? Why are you harming my children?”
“You know the answer my friend… You know what you need to do to save them…”
“I will tell you… I will… But please, don’t harm the children! I beg in front of you… Please…”
“You will? Okay then, speak up…”
As he moved his lips to utter, sudden pain rushed through his body…
“The basement… The Olympus…”
He fell down, losing his consciousness…
*
Leona hurried across the Hall of Ares, with care not to extinguish the flame… As she looked at the giant statue of Ares holding a spear and wearing a helmet, she stopped for a moment…
The God of War…
Her flame suddenly went out, and she felt something dripping down on her.Water?
She quickly dashed towards the statue to grab another flame, and as she came down to the place to look up, she was horrified!
The liquid was blood…
There on the ceiling, with the help of an arrow driven into the stomach, hung the body of Julia with blood raining down to the floor!
A dry scream came out from her mouth….
Her lips were sealed and her voice was jammed. She was speechless, and degree of terror rose to the highest level… She felt a sudden pain running through her legs and her mind went numb…
“Julia!” she screamed…
***
The man in black overalls stood inside the Basement of the Olympus… They had never even known of a secret passage to the basement… Surrounded by a library of books and journals, he smiled and then burst out in laughter…
He was the winner… He was the ultimate…
***
The killer now moved on towards Leona in the dark hallway… With every step, terror gripped Leona, reaching to her pale face, and restricting her movement. Even in the darkness of the unlit room, she could see the shine of the dagger in his hand.
“You will be a great target…”
Leona remained silent. She thought of crouching in a dark corner to hide and take the advantage of the darkness.
Trying to control her breath, she sat down with horror in her brown eyes, and heart beating faster than ever…
Her adrenaline was high and images of Julia still moved across in her mind.
I am going to die…
As she let the tears out of her eyes, she found the ground beneath her vibrating, and vibrations escalating every second.
Before she could figure out, the man was standing right in front of her, giving a wicked smile in the shine of the dagger…
In a swift motion, the man plunged the dagger through her body. But, she dodged it, quickly moving to a side. “Dylan!!!” screamed she, running across the hallway, to escape…
As she reached the door, terror gripped her…
The door was locked from outside!
The man, now running ferociously like an animal, dashed towards Leona.
As he approached her, the door opened suddenly, and Dylan pulled Leona out in a second. The killer fell down in an attempt to reduce his speed.
“Dylan… Julia is dead!” sobbed Leona, as she ran out with Dylan…
“But… Dan is also…” he could speak no more.
***
As they hurried towards the exit, they heard screams… Someone was in danger at the first floor…
“Dr. Smith!”
“Follow the sound!” shouted Dylan as he ran down the stairs… There, guarded by magnificent iron doors, rested a room…
“Hall of Hermes!” shouted Dylan, as he rushed into the hall.
A horrific sight caught their notice, and a chill passed through their bodies…
Right in front of the statue of Hermes, Dr. Smith hung at the centre of a giant cobweb, with millions of spiders motioning towards him, in an attempt to bite…
His clothes were torn apart, the burn marks clearly visible on his body…
As the spiders moved towards their prey, Dylan quickly started untying the ropes with which he was hung. He suddenly felt the temperature rising in the hall…
The hall was on fire!
*
“You will not stop, will you?” said the killer…
As he moved forward in the visible light, everyone was aghast…
Sean!
“You?” asked Leona.
“Yes… Me… I did surprise you, didn’t I?”
“I was never your friend, Aaron… And when I discovered about your research, I was already trying to steal it. When I came to know of it, I made a plan to get to the goal… Your game is over… Good luck in Hell!”
As he motioned towards the door, Leona grabbed a chair and threw towards him. He fell down in the fire…
“Aaaargh!!!”
As he tried to budge away, Dylan tied him to the statue. Blisters covered his skin as it burned in fire…
As they held Dr. Smith and threw kerosene on him, the only thing Aaron could say was, “Good luck in Hell, my friend!”
__END__
SOURCE BY-VIVEK MEHTA
PUBLISHED BY-OURHELLO.COM
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