Gradually the light receded and darknessswallowed them. And as the light fell, so did the fires withinthem. With one final, quaking orgasm, they both collapsed in utterexhaustion on the cold floor, hardly more than sweat-slicked pilesof naked and quivering flesh, and slipped into weary sleep.

Chapter 10

As he awoke, Albert was first aware of thedarkness. It baffled him, confused him the same way that the coldfeel of the hard floor under him and the chilly air on his dampskin confused him. For a moment he could not remember where he was,but his memories swam back to him as surely as did consciousness.He remembered Brandy and the room with the stone orgy and the thingthey’d done together as though the very sight of those statues wasenough to fling them into furious, sexual wanting. He rememberedthe sex and the confusion. He remembered something else, too,something he’d seen while in the throes of an orgasm that wouldn’tsatisfy him: a shadowy shape moving among the statues. Suddenly itdawned on him that it was dark and terror burst from every fiber ofhis being.

He scrambled to his feet and then stoodthere, naked and shivering, listening to the darkness, trying tohear the breathing of an invisible intruder. But there was not asound but his and Brandy’s breathing and the thudding of his ownheart. The silence was as eerie as the darkness, but it was alsocomforting. They were at least alone. He thought about wakingBrandy, but he knew that if he could find the flashlights first,then she might be less afraid when she awoke. He turned, trying tofind his bearings, and a piece of stone struck him in the corner ofhis eye, sending a flash of pain through his already throbbinghead.

He cursed and stumbled away, only to bejabbed in the back by something else. Solid stone statuessurrounded him. Although they looked as soft as real flesh, theywere definitely not. He stopped and stood for a moment, wonderingwhat to do, and as he blinked away tears of pain from his stingingeye he became aware that he could see, although only barely. Therewas a dim glow from beyond the next door.

He made his way toward the light, feelingaround the statues with his arms held up in front of his face,waiting for another rogue limb to jab him, perhaps putting out aneye way down here in the darkness. As he crept through the crowdedstone orgy, he found that he could see the outline of the doorway.The light was slightly brighter in the next room.

Rectangular, about ten feet across byfifteen feet wide, this next room was empty. The intruder wasn’there. Neither were there any statues, pornographic or otherwise. Hecould make out two corridors. One was on the far right side of theopposite wall, leading forward. The other led left from the farcorner. The light was coming from this direction.

Quickly, and without looking back, he movedtoward the lighted corridor and peered down it. About twelve feetinto the passage another corridor branched off to the right. Aboutfour feet beyond that was a sharp right turn. There, at that rightturn, the light was brighter still.

He began to walk toward the light, desperateto get his flashlight back, but as he approached the first passage,his bare foot struck something and he froze. Around him, the tunnelwas filled with the soft sound of light metal skidding acrosssmooth stone. For a moment he stood there, unable to move, certainthat something dark and malicious must have heard the noise andwould soon come rushing toward him. But no such horror could beseen.

After a moment, he let go his held breathand began forward again. He bent and picked up the object he’dkicked, puzzled. How did Brandy’s glasses get way out here?

Same way the flashlight left theroom.

He glanced back over his shoulder at theroom he was leaving behind. He hoped Brandy would be safe until hereturned. He didn’t realize the light was so far away. Perhaps heshouldn’t have left her alone, but it was too late now. He might aswell get the flashlight first.

He crept on, his bare body shivering withfearful anticipation. He wished he could see better than he could,but with each step his vision improved. He peered up the firstcorridor as he passed, but could see only darkness. His fleshtingled with fear. He could too easily imagine someone standing inthat darkness, watching him, calculating his movements, waiting forhis guard to drop.

He made the turn at the end of the corridorand gazed ahead. The tunnel went on out of sight into the darkness.About twenty feet ahead, the tunnel branched to the left. The lightwas strong there, but there was something ominous about thedarkness beyond that turn.

What the hell was he thinking coming downhere? He’d actually been willing to come here alone! What wouldhave happened then? What would have become of him? He hurried on,trembling with anxiousness, bracing himself against whatever horrorwas certain to come charging out of that darkness beyond thelight.

But nothing came after him. He turned left,into the light, and there was his flashlight. It was lyingmotionless on the ground. Beside it, another passage went right.Beyond it, about fifteen feet away, the corridor broke into a teeand went both left and right.

He rushed to the flashlight and snatched itoff the ground. He half expected a trap, but he could no longerstand not having it in his hand.

He gazed up the tunnel to the right. Therewere no more passages to be seen in that direction for as far asthe light would reach.

All these corridors… This was some kind ofmaze. And the flashlight seemed to be leading him towardthis passage.

A part of him wanted badly to see where thatpassage led, despite the fear he felt, but he could do no suchthing. He needed to get back to Brandy.

He made his way back to the previouspassage, gave the tunnel to the left a brief glimpse with theflashlight and then continued back the way he’d come. He did notlike this at all. The whole idea of not being alone gave him chillsall the way to his soul. The fact that this presence managed tosteal his flashlight intensified that chill until his whole bodytrembled with anxious anticipation.

“Albert?”

He heard her voice as he rounded the turn inthe corridor. She’d awakened before he could return after all.

“Albert? Where are you?” Therewas panic in her voice, and he could hardly blame her. He shouldnot have left her back there.

“I’m here, Brandy.” He broke into a sprintand hurried back to the room where he’d left her.

Brandy froze in the flashlight beam like adeer in headlights. She was on all fours, crawling around on thecold floor, searching for her clothes and her glasses and of coursefor him. She was still stark naked, her golden hair dangling aroundher startled face, her blue eyes wide and frightened, tearsstreaming down her cheeks. Beside her was the flashlight she’d beencarrying. The lens was broken and it offered no light. Albertvaguely remembered the sound of it hitting the ground when shethrew herself at him.

Not a stitch of their clothing could beseen.

“Albert?”

He was staring at her there amid thestatues, her naked breasts accented by gravity, her nipples erectfrom the chill, her bare buttocks up in the air, her whole bodycovered in gooseflesh, and again he was stricken with that bizarreand fierce arousal, that animal lust.

He closed his eyes, squeezing them hardagainst the strange urges he felt, and in just a moment he felthimself calming. What the hell was wrong with him?

“Albert, is that you?”

Again he opened his eyes. Brandy was gettingto her feet now, modestly covering her breasts but not that otherpart. That part of her was fair and golden, a small tuft of lovelyblonde, a place forbidden to his eyes, but unlocked in a moment ofstrange lust. Suddenly he was aroused again, as stiff as the lastpair of sentinels in the previous room.