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Jul-6-2015 11:19

New York, 1938
St. Regis Hotel
Rooftop Nightclub

"So there I was, staring down a barrel INCHES from death...and I told the man, 'darling REALLY, if you simply must shoot me do allow me to remove my earrings. They are Cartier, you know." Molly Maltese paused to take a sip of her Red Snapper, popping the olive neatly between her cherub lips before gnashing it to a pulp. "And the man was quite flummoxed, he said- I say, is that Riza Hawkeye?"

She rose, the group of rapt men in tuxedos and women in glittering dresses and furs murmuring their protests as she wended through their knees. But the apparition she was quite sure had been Riza Hawkeye had vanished in the crowd of New York socialites populating the exclusive terrace.

"Well, this place is a bit ritzy for Riza." she murmured, fairly certain her old acquaintance didn't make a habit of populating social-climbing fetes. And she reasoned, any time Riza had appeared before it was hardly ever for a pleasant cause. Well, maybe that was unfair. It just seemed she was more the swirl-of-furs-and-stiletto-daggers type than a frothy socializer like Molly herself.

Peering around, Molly saw nothing but the shadowed faces of revelers partially cloaked in the smoky haze. She had just been about to give up and go back to her companions when the most shocking hubbub began. Over on the north part of the terrace, she could distinctly hear the shouts of men and panicked screeching of females. Moving forward, she could just make out..

"Did you see... The Ambassador... who could have... murder! Someone has pushed the Ambassador off the building!" Molly picked up speed, expertly weaving through the crowd of panicked voices. Sirens already began to sound twenty stories below. Just as she grasped the ledge and looked over, an all too familiar voice sounded in her left ear.

"Oh hello there, old friend. Lovely breeze out today."

Before her stood Riza Hawkeye herself, looking utterly unruffled as several ladies fainted behind her.

Oct-8-2015 21:37

Molly barely had time to utter a yelp before she, Zeo and Vulkie were swooshing down into darkness. Her stomach raced with butterflies- a feeling she simply HATED. However, she didn't have much time to dwell on this as suddenly they were free-falling--

WHUMP! Molly landed on her side flat across a warm body (Zeo's, she presumed) and promptly lost all the air in her lungs with a whoosh. With a solid thud, Vulkie landed on top of her in a tangle of limbs. She heard a sickening snap but didn't have time to register this as she desperately punted Vulkie off of her, rolled to her hands and knees and vomited piteously. Pain ripped through her stomach where someones elbow had firmly jabbed her, and she became presently aware of a throbbing pain in her left ankle. Groans in the pitch black told her the other two were suffering similar discomforts.

"Does anyone have a match?" she mewled, clutching her stomach and feeling her purse strap dig into her shoulder with the movement.

There was a shuffling sound, and a long slender hand presently felt along her arm, pressing a matchbook into her hand. Zeo.

"Thank you." she said in no direction in particular, and with shaking fingers she flipped open the matchbook. Lord it smelled awful in here. She counted only three match heads brushing against her fingers.

"This will hardly last us." She chewed her lip, thinking. "Yes.. one or two for light... in time to make... yes that should work." Cautiously, she felt around blindly until her hand connected with Zeo's side. She felt along blindly until his hand met hers- a question in the dark.

"I need you to strike a match- I need light to see by." She whispered, unsure why she felt the need. She fervently hoped no one else was in this space, wherever it was, to overhear them. "There are only three, so I must work quickly."

With a quiet groan, she heard Joseph straighten up and his other hand felt cautiously for her shoulder, trying to paint a picture that they could not see.

Oct-8-2015 21:48

Presently they had situated themselves in front of one another, and Molly handed back the matches, bidding Zeo to wait until she was ready. Resting her purse directly in front of her, Molly groped through the contents until she had in her left hand a cotton handkerchief, a tub of exclusive animal-fat lip balm sold only in the chintziest of Paris salons and with some trepidation, the long slender tube of Chanel.

"Strike the first match, Joseph." She asked, and Joseph obligingly emitted rustling in the dark. A small bright flame emerged between them and though Molly's eyes reflexively watered she quickly knotted the handkerchief in a bundle around the top of the tube. The match sputtered out.

Using a finger, she began scooping along the edges of the balm, loosening the contents. "Another match." She whispered, and a few seconds later the second spark of light appeared. She blinked and plopped the lip balm unceremoniously on the cotton handkerchief, thoroughly rubbing it in as the second flame sputtered out.

"Well, don't say I never tried anything." Molly said, taking a deep breath. "The last match please, and try to light the handkerchief on fire."

She raised it as Zeo lit the final match and they stared breathlessly, willing the tiny flame to light the fattened handkerchief. It sputtered, danced away, and then unexpectedly whooshed into a merry light. Molly uttered a sigh of relief.

"That was brilliant thinking." Joseph eyed her appreciatively, his dark eyes glowing in the flame.

"It should be, after all that lip balm cost me more than Vulkie's life is worth." Molly said, but couldn't muster more than a half-hearted jab. She knew as well as Zeo that they were in dire straits indeed.

Cautiously, she swiveled the small torch to look at her left ankle and emitted a low moan of devastation. Her beautiful heels- ruined! The heel was splintered off her white polka dot pumps, and encrusted with grime to boot. Her ankle was already swelling and turning purple.

Oct-8-2015 21:57

"It's ruined." She said sadly, eyes huge in the flamelight.

"Your ankle?" Joseph asked, craning for a closer look. With a sigh, Molly swiped at her face as an exhausted child might. "No, silly. My beautiful Jean Val Buscot heels. Will this day never end?" she lamented.

Joseph snorted, and then motioned for the torch. As he swung it around, they couldn't help but wrinkle their noses in distaste. They were in a dark, dungeonlike area with cold stone floors. Dark patches of unmentionable slime covered the floor, filling the space with a heady odor not unlike waste.

"Where do you think we are?" Molly asked. "And more importantly, do you hear that?"

The detectives craned to hear, and slowly became aware of a rushing sound.

"It sounds like running water." Joseph admitted. "Do you think we're near a stream or river?"

"I don't think we're near it..." Vulkie suddenly spoke. "I think we're about to be in it."

'Vulkie really you do say the oddest things." Molly said crossly. "That doesn't even make any kind of sens--- you have got to be kidding me."

She was looking at Vulkie's outstretched finger- no, beyond it- where a murky pool of sewage water was spreading across the floor. As the detectives watched, the stream began to move faster and faster, until water was pouring across the floor, soaking the detectives even as they tried to stand. Before they knew it, it was over their ankles, nearly to their knees and the flow didn't seem to be slowing.

"You have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Molly started to scream. "GET US OUT OF HERE! I WILL NOT BE DROWNED IN MUCK, CAN YOU IMAGINE THE PRESS- GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE! ED! EEEEEDDD!"

Abruptly Vulkie slapped her across the cheek, dazing Molly into silence. "Pull yourself together, screaming wont help anything." The murky water rose to mid-thigh. She was right. Screaming certainly wouldn't help- but then again, would anything?

Oct-9-2015 20:05

The torches on the walls were already lit, giving light to see. The stairs spiraled down into what seemed like an endless pit. For what seemed like miles, the three detectives followed the stairs until they finally came to an end. At the end of the stair case, there was a wooden door. Marc slowly pushed it open.

Jasper entered first, then Riza, and finally, Marc. As soon as the door shut behind him, torches on all the walls lit the room automatically, revealing just how massive the room was. Several rows of marble stepping stones filled the ground from one end of the wall to the other. On the other side of the room was yet, another door.

They took a step forward. The only way to the door was across the stones. "Wait," Marc said as he looked around. "It's too easy."

He took a step on the first stone. It sank down an inch and locked in place with a loud "click". Symbols appearsed on every stone almost immediately, followed by the torches on the walls now blowing out. "You've gotta be kidding me." Jasper said, as he looked around.

The symbol were Greek letters, just like the bricks that opened the trap doors. "It's a puzzle," Riza said.

"Any ideas what they mean?" Jasper asked.

"Some of the letters here match the ones on the bricks up stairs." Riza replied. "Marc step on that one to your left."

Marc stepped to his left. The letter disappeared. He waited for something to happen, but nothing came. He took another step on another stone with a familiar letter. Just like the first one, the letter disappeared. Riza continued to recall the correct letters directing Marc where to go. He finally made it to the other side.

Jasper followed Marc's steps, making it across fairly quickly. Almost as quickly as Jasper made it to the other side, the stones as lit back up and the letters changed.

Oct-9-2015 20:07

Riza was now stuck on the other side. Marc looked around, searching for similar letters. He and Riza found one simultaneously, and Riza stepped down on the stone. Then again to one on her left then forward two more. Another to her right.

She made it to the last stone and took a step. The stone immediately crumbled and disappeared beneath her weight. Three stones around it also crumbled and fell into the massive abyss beneath them. Marc reached and grabbed Riza as she started to fall with the crumbling rocks. He pulled her to the other side as she started to lose her balance.

"You okay?" He asked as he held on to her.

Riza nodded. "Yes, thank you."

Marc and Jasper waited as she took a moment to regain her composure before walking to the now open door. One by one, they made their way into the darkened hallway.

Oct-9-2015 20:45

The group made their way down the darkened hallway, half-blind and feeling their way along the walls. Marc pulled out his lighter, and with a single flick a tiny orange flame sprang to life. There was no light ahead, and the light behind was slowly fading. The air was thicker here, making it hard to breathe.

Suddenly, a woman’s high-pitched scream echoed through the space. Three heads rose in alarm, and they looked at each other. That scream was familiar, and it sounded close. But within this cavernous space, perhaps it wasn’t that close at all. The lighter flame flickered, illuminating a matching trio of grim faces.

“Let’s keep moving,” Riza said. The group continued down the hallway at a faster pace than before, thoughts bent toward the fates of their other friends. Worry gnawed at Riza’s insides; it was an extremely unpleasant feeling.

“OOF!” Jasper exclaimed, stopping suddenly. Marc almost ran into him.

“What’s the matter?” Riza asked.

Jasper indicated a short yet solid wooden lever jutting out of the wall. He sucked air through his teeth as he massaged his side. “Terrible damn design. Who would put this here?”

“More importantly, what does it do?” Riza queried. Upon closer inspection, she couldn’t see anything special about it. It was just a plain old lever. She gripped it and pushed downward. It wouldn’t budge. “Marc, give me a hand.”

Marc walked over, placed both hands on the lever, and wrenched it downward with a mighty heave. The sound creaking metal echoed through the space, followed by the distant sound of rushing water.

Oddly, nothing seemed to happen to the group. Riza was expecting to feel that water she heard, or simply for a door to open. Anything. But there was nothing. Thus, the group continued down the passageway. They had only taken about a dozen paces forward when Marc stuck out an arm. “Do you guys hear that?”

Oct-9-2015 20:46

“Hear what?” Jasper asked. “I don’t hear any--” The next second, something heavy fell from above and Jasper crumpled to the ground.

“Jasper!” Marc and Riza exclaimed simultaneously. Riza reached out a hand, but then froze. She squinted in the darkness. Whatever had fallen seemed to be moving on top of Jasper. It groaned.

“It’s Ed!” Riza said, grabbing the man and lifting him off Jasper. “What are you doing here?” she asked, incredulous.

Ed blinked, as though he were unsure of what he was seeing. “M-Molly. I heard Molly scream, so I ran. Was going down the stairs when--ugh.” He twisted his neck to the side with a crack. “Fell,” he exhaled.

“Today is not my day,” Jasper muttered as he dragged himself upright and dusted himself off.

Riza grabbed Marc’s lighter and lifted it up, surveying the hole that Ed had clearly fallen through. It was pitch black. There was no light at the end of that tunnel. Hopefully there would be one at the end of theirs.

Oct-10-2015 09:17

"Think, Vulkie, THINK!". Those were the words that repeated in her head, as Vulkie started to look carefully around the room. The only few things she could think of were either the door or the hatch they came through.

But the hatch was shut tight and far out of their reach. So she threw that option away immediately.

"Molly, give Joseph the torch. I need some light," Vulkie ordered and Molly nodded, before handing the torch over. They waded through the water towards the door. As Vulkie observed it closely, she could see there was no lock on it; it could only be opened by ways of a mechanism. Looking closer, she could spot the hinges were rusty.

"Got an idea. Stand back everyone!" Vulkie shouted, as she grabbed her Colt 1911 and aimed at the upper hinge. Gently squeezing the trigger, a shot was fired and it deflected; no damage was done to it.

"I was sure that was going to work," Vulkie sighed and started to think again. Maybe she could use something to break the hinges off... something that would fit behind it.

Molly came over and started to think out loud as well. "We could force those hinges with something small... a nail file or something?"

Vulkie immediately began to rummage through her purse and presented a nail file. Joseph's eyes beamed with happiness, as Vulkie gave a shy smile. He immediately began to work the hinges, but it was no use; they wouldn't budge at all.

The water didn't stop rising and they were running out of time. Vulkie looked over to her friends. Joseph was supporting Molly and helping her keep her head above water; she couldn't swim properly due to her broken ankle.

Looking at her Colt 1911, a macabre thought ran through Vulkie's head; they were going to drown and there was nothing they could do about it... except...

"Guys... I'm sorry for all I've done. I guess we'll need to take Marc's words literally; we'll see him, on the other side," Vulkie cried, as she placed her gun on the right side of her head.

Oct-10-2015 09:21

Vulkie gently started to squeeze the trigger... and then a metal click could be heard; the water was draining away faster than it had poured into the room.

As all the water was drained away, Vulkie sat on her knees and eyed the gun, as Molly and Joseph looked at her. She started to laugh and cry hysterically, lying down on the ground and curling up.

Both the detectives looked at the lady who was their longtime friend; they exchanged looks with eachother and Joseph shook his head; it was best to not interrupt her for now. She needed to get over the traumatic experience by herself...

Oct-10-2015 22:28

Joseph couldn't wade through the murky water fast enough to stop Vulkie from her foolish act, but then the water simply just receded. Was this sewage pool of death just a ruse, or was someone helping them? Joseph had no idea. As Vulkie curled up, needing the moment to regain her senses, Joseph looked around. Everything was soaked to the bones in sewage water, except for the torch. He almost gave up on the light while helping Molly but was glad he held onto it.

Nevertheless they were still stuck in this chamber and the dampness wasn't helping. Both ladies were on the brink of insanity but the scent didn't bother Joseph as much. Nothing ever did after after his episode with narcotics when his dwelling dilapidated beyond sewage conditions. Joseph returned to the metal door and tested it. Now with more time perhaps they could get it open...