Somber stars speckled the dark veil overhead, watching the whimsical winds dance through our clothes. Undaunted by whatever adumbral entity he supposedly saw before, Harris awkwardly got down on hands and knees, and began his long process of squeezing through the gap. Beckoning us to hurry was an expression of futility, for by the time we had sauntered over, his legs were still wiggling their way in; once within, his voice faltered in confidence, sounding timid.

Handing Alice the shotgun, I crawled through quickly, received the weapon back and helped her off the floor. Harris illuminated the room, heading to the left and shining his torch in every corner. Inside the walls were filthy, affected by some type of damp that formed large dark blotches everywhere. Another room, much the same as this one, was joined to ours by a doorway in the far right corner - Harris was heading to the opposite side.

"I think there's stairs here," he called back to us, before shouting, "Billy. Come 'ere boy. Come on Billy."

Fluttering sounds, suddenly echoing up from down the stairs, startled us, and we all ducked our heads instinctively. Were it not for Alice's indomitable spirit, displayed in the laughter she let out quietly through sniggers, I would not have been able to muster the courage to remain there any longer; let alone approach, and begin down that narrow, concrete staircase, into the Box Hill Fort's bleak basement. But when her all consuming eyes fell upon mine, we started our descent.

Down there the mouldy walls were so afflicted by the damp, you could not see the original colour underneath; certain areas were cordoned off with long plastic sheeting fastened to the ground, ceiling and walls, where they were treating the damp. Unable to work the tall yellow floodlights, we continued to observe whatever Harris trailed his torch across, when another fluttering sound came from behind a thin plastic sheet on one of the walls, catching us all off-guard again.

Stating cheerfully, "Billy must be in the central room!" Harris, with much gusto, tore the plastic sheeting off, revealing another door, which he heaved open.

Following quickly behind him, lest we be left standing in the pitch black, we entered a large, empty room. Only in here we could hear something peculiar above our heads - as if there was a a hundred rats resting on the ceiling. Jerking his light quickly up, Harris revealed an army of bats, which were frightened from their slumber by the loud guttural sound that escaped his throat as he recoiled backwards. Some bats swarmed down, scaring Alice, whom awoke more; so, in fear, I began shouting at the bats. Soon we were wildly flaying our arms around, trying to defend against the mass of bats filling most of this room and biting us, while screaming like mad-people; Harris's torch smashed, I let off two shots, and the ground gave way beneath our feet.

Falling amongst the thin layers of concrete flooring, I let go of the shotgun to pull Alice closer, so that I might wrap my arms around her waist for the final time, and tell her of my love. Harris's whimpers were the only sign of his presence, for we could see nothing. Into what dank recess's we descended there was no telling, but we all knew that when we did touch the earth again, it would mean our death. Smelling her hair one last time, I found my nostrils being assaulted by some foul stench below, before we collided with something soft - the impact splitting Alice and I apart, and rendering me unconscious.

* * *

"Tobias! Tobias!" Alice shouted jovially, letting me know my toast was burning, when something struck my body, dragging me unhappily from pleasant dreams. "Where are you Tobias?"

"Is that you lad?" Harris questioned nervously - no longer sounding drunk - prodding me with his shoeless foot and waking me completely.

"Yes, stop kicking me!" I declared frustratedly, before staring into the perpetual darkness encompassing - had Harris taken two steps anywhere I would have lost sight of him. "Alice! Alice!" I began to shout frantically, becoming worse when my voice echoed endlessly into the space surrounding. Wanting not to stand incase I ran off the edge of some precipice, I crawled, feeling the soft, spongey earth in front and calling her name. Harris stayed close behind, kicking my foot with his every step.

"Tobias, where are you? I can't see anything!" Alice cried out desperately in reply. "My phone is gone - use the torch on yours'."

"I'm with Harris, head towards my voice," I cried out, running my fingers over the shotgun's barrel and moving faster, "I have lost mine as well, so just be careful, we do not know where we are or what kind of teri-" Our hands bumped into each others, and I leapt forward, embracing her; tears streamed uninhibited and words could not express my jubilation. Our faces floated inches apart, so that even in this dense darkness we might see the others.

"I think there's something over there," Harris declared with an unsure tone, "in that direction." Squinting to where he pointed, we were also somewhat dubious to whether that strange, tiny blemish in the dark was anything.

Standing, I pulled Alice up, when she spun around, and pressing against me asked apprehensively, "What was that?"

"What?" I asked yanking her closer.

"I thought I heard somebody running towards me." She replied, "Sounded like they stopped a few feet behind."

"Place is so dark, you wouldn't be able to see if someone was there," Harris added holding the shotgun, before stepping right up to my back and peering over my shoulder.

"Alright, lets find our way out of here - it's just a cave network," I broke the growing silence by turning Alice towards the blemish, so she was between myself and Harris, "and seeing as it is this large, there must be some way out."

Every step rebounded off some distant wall, returning back after several moments, only to flee once more - were someone following we would no longer be able to distinguish there footsteps from our own. The rancid stench, exuded from the spongy earth, invaded ones mouth, so that you even tasted that disgusting odour. If we could see, surely we would see our breaths with every exhalation, for the cold air made us shiver. Alice walked very close to me, and I became eternally grateful for the body heat produced by my lover. Slowly that small blur grew larger, and becoming more distinct, took on a rough rectangular shape; a tunnel twice any of our height but not wide enough for two people to walk abreast.

Discovering that the walls forming this long tunnel were akin to the description of the thing which snatched Billy, was terribly chilling; even in this bitter, bleak blackness, the walls were dark enough to stand out in the darkness. Alice's hands found mine, which squeezed back in reciprocation to her tightening grip. Wrapping one arm around her shoulder, I pushed passed Harris and started confidently into the tall tunnel. Two empty shell casings struck the earth lightly, as Harris reloaded his shotgun and followed closely.

Since nothing could be seen of the tunnels' centre, the walls, running far into the distance, gave the appearance of narrowing into a dead end. Yet for what must have been hours, we marched wearily forward, never reaching anywhere. No-one spoke, we conserved what energy remained for simple walking. Being that we traipsed along the same path, Harris fell a few steps back - though his gun's barrel would occasionally bump into my shoulder. After a little while I felt his finger prodding me repeatedly, in some lazy attempt to gain my attention. Growing frustrated, I let go of Alice and spun around to angrily address him, when a dog began barking and growling viciously.

"Billy, it's Billy!" Harris exclaimed excitedly, forgetting himself momentarily, "Don't worry Billy I'm here! Daddies gonna save ya!"

Darting passed Alice and I, he ran a few steps ahead, then mysteriously turned left; taking Alice's hand I hurried forward, finding to my surprise, we were at a crossroads. Heedless of anything else, I trailed after his fading footsteps, dismayed that the tunnels were becoming ever more complicated, with various directions to choose from, curves, rises and descents. Eventually we could no longer hear Harris, or his hound, and were hurrying without any actual heading through the maddening maze. Alice's suspicions of the ceilings' decline was verified when I stretched and touched it with my fingertips.

Overwhelmed with the helplessness of our situation I stopped running, cuddled Alice close, and shut my eyes to the harsh surroundings. Her heavy breathing warmed my neck, whilst I focused on the frantic beating of her heart against my chest. Laying my cheek atop her head, I breathed easy, feeling myself quickly calming. She placed her arms around my waist, and hugging me tightly, whispered something unintelligible. Regaining what composure I could muster - more-so for her then myself - I opened my eyes to find only darkness stood before me, cold and inanimate; with my forehead against the corner of a wall, and arms squeezing the walls running off this point. She was gone.


"Alice!" I called anxiously, walking briskly. "Alice!" I shouted fearfully, running endlessly. "Alice!" I cried out with hoarse voice, sweating profusely and catching my breath.

When had I lost her? When Harris provoked me with his prodding? When I stretched to touch the ceiling? Or what if it had never been Alice whom I found in the dark? No. Befuddled, I found myself questioning these things aloud, walking hastily in any direction. Peculiarities, beginning with approaching footsteps that quickly receded, and hands scratching the walls, were signs of hope; for maybe the others were also searching - though whenever I called out to what sounded like someone coming forth, they would casually retreat.

Listening intently, I was positive that people were whispering somewhere nearby, yet no matter how much I ran, those voices never varied in volume, nor came within sight. Convinced I could see the frames of people within the dark slinking around corners, and hear there chatter, I began asking if they would return Alice. Then I demanded furiously. Before breaking down into tears, falling onto my knees, and pleading in the earth that she be brought back. Sure that they were all laughing mockingly at my state of dismay, I picked myself up quickly, wiped my eyes, and looking around, found there was nothing to be seen or heard anywhere.

Bang! ... Bang!

Harris's weapon was discharged somewhere in the distance, causing two short flashes of light to spilt the darkness in twain momentarily. Seeing one of these find there way around a corner in the far distance, I lifted my leg to run but tripped over something and clashed with the cold floor. Squinting hard, I started feeling the ground, attempting to discover the cause of my fall. Hitting something spongey with my fingertips, I outlined the object which blended into its' surrounding, realising to my horror that I was touching somebodies foot. Startled, I sprung backwards, stopping against the opposite wall, and staring into the darkness terrified as the dark scurried away.

"Tobias! Tobias!" A mocking voice called out, croaky and vile sounding, "Where are you Tobias?"

"Alice! Alice!" Another voice, rather raspy, replied, "Come to my voice!"

Noticing the darkness was moving closer, obscuring the strange walls, I hastily clambered up, turned the nearest corner, and sprinted off in a frenzied manner. Even the ceilings' gradual descent, forcing me to crawl, slowed me not. Nor did I think twice when my tunnel ended at a thin shaft dropping further down into demonic depths, to dive in head first - squirming through with the aid of gravity. Only when I fell through the ceiling of another tunnel, that was not tall enough to stand in, did I pause to breath and collect myself.

Heaving lungs, exhaling and inhaling, creaked and groaned, announcing the presence of someone else; spinning quickly around I spied a body laying in the tunnel. Appearing to be unaware of my arrival, I began to quietly crawl backwards, focusing entirely on what I believed to be its' face. Too scared to turn my head away, I did not see how the wall curved behind me and scuffed my shoe against the stony bend. Awaking the creature.

How could it be right, that the philandering starlight which - traversing the dreary universe - lights up our skies, be compared to those eyes? Without a doubt I knew this was Alice, and hurried forward, wanting nothing more then to hold her close again. Her eyes did not lose contact with mine as I pulled her close, discovering that her limbs were limp; bruised and bloodied. Yet under the following tears she smiled. My lips parted in speech, when a hand reached out of the dark and clasped her leg.

End Of Part Three