To the Hole

Underneath the city was the sewer system and the ancient catacombs that intertwined. In one of the tunnels of the oldest parts of the catacombs lay a strange secret. This secret rested deeper in the earth, bellow the  catacombs. Such a secret was only known to those who dwell in the catacombs when it was first constructed. Now the secret was nothing more than myth. For centuries this secret lay hidden, and undiscovered. Whatever this secret was it was not known even to the current inhabitants of the catacombs.

Some rumors spread of there being a tunnel to the many hells. Others say of a secret passage to the underworld that fills the children's ears at bedtime when they are told scary stories. A few other tales insist this one secret may even lead to a gateway to another world. No one tried to see if these were true. There was not a single soul willing to check the catacombs in search of this secret. However, there were those children who would go missing, or runaway from home.

Little Nelson wandered through the tunnels of this ancient catacombs with his backpack on. He held his flashlight in his hands, and had a lantern dangling on his pack. Nelson wore his hiking boots, because they were the most enduring clothing item he could wear for this. For two years he searched for this secret that he heard about so much. On days he was off from school Nelson would get out of the house. From the house he would go into the streets in search of the entrances to the catacombs where he began his search for this secret. His boots hit the floor  of the catacombs as he leapt from a ledge to the lower level. As he illuminated the path before Nelson found strange markings on the floor. Out of curiosity he followed the markings further down the tunnel. 

Nelson followed the trail of markings that appeared more like runes, and ancient scripture. Not paying attention to the path ahead Nelson blindly kept following these strange runes until something caught his attention. He looked up from the runes, and saw a large hole in the floor. It held the shape of a swirling vortex made from bricks, stones, earth, and slabs. Some kind of energy and smoke emerged from the hole. Just the way it formed made it appear like the hole was moving. Nelson gazed at the hole when a voice caught him by surprise. 

"Are going inside that tunnel or are you going to return home?" The voice asked Nelson. 

He looked up and flashed his lights on whoever was speaking. On the other side of the hole crouched a large bony looking demon with rams horns on his head. His head was large and held an old man's face that did not age since he was fifty. This demonic looking being wore nothing but rags, and a tattered cloak over his hunched body. Behind this creature were other skinny, and bony looking figures. All of them were wrapped in cloth just like mummies. All of them had their gaze on Nelson as if expecting him to jump into the hole.