Creepers Chapter 12

Chapter 12
Trapped
Calvin was dreaming, he was in the ocean, far from land, the balmy sea was calm. Effortlessly he swam alongside a sleek, white schooner, playful dolphins tagged along. The sun warmed his face. He could not remember a time in his life so filled with tranquility or such a sense of well being. He felt at one with the world. Normally he was a light sleeper, the slightest sound and he was awake, alert and ready for anything, but since Vanessa had began spending the night he had become so content that sleep had been a pleasant parallel journey filled with dreams of flying, swimming, making love, visions of beauty and wonder a reflection of his days with her. Calvin woke with the sun streaming through his bedroom window. Vanessa was snuggled up beside him, asleep, serine and so beautiful that she didn’t seem real. Had he actually made love to her for hours last night? He kissed her forehead gently and drifted off again. He was so relaxed that he didn’t hear the window shatter.
Vanessa did, she shook him from his dreams. “Calvin! Calvin! Wake up!”
Suddenly he was awake, alert, on his feet in an instant ready to protect the woman he loved from the danger he detected in her voice. He saw the window, the glass on the floor and the knot of thorny creepers draped over the sill. He ran to the other window, he looked down to the pasture below and was stunned, everything was covered in ugly twisted green trunks, massive leaves, huge pods and hideous white flowers that filled the air with an overpowering, putrid fragrance. Creepers were coiled around every fence post, tree and structure in site. For a moment he thought he was having a nightmare. Then his heart sank when he saw his prized snow white stallion Ghost, ensnared in creepers. Bloody, the horse kicked feebly, thorn studded cables coiled around its neck, legs and body growing tighter by the second. The horse was several feet off the ground, upside down, obviously near death. Calvin stormed over to his walk in closet and emerged with a 3.06 rifle, chambered a round, smashed the rest of the glass from the window with the butt of the gun, took aim and fired two shoots in quick succession.
Vanessa twitched with each shot, naked, her bare back pressed against the wall, too terrified to speak. She could not imagine what Calvin had just shot.
The first bullet struck the stallion in the head, the second tore through its heart. Calvin felt sick to his stomach, he loved that horse. “Get dressed. We have to get out of here now.”
Vanessa, did not speak, she needed him to be a man, to take control, to protect her.
Calvin threw on jeans, a long sleeved cotton shirt and hiking boots.
Vanessa slipped on a clean pair of white panties pulled up her kakis and grabbed a tee-shirt and trainers.
Calvin tossed her a heavy cotton work shirt. “Put this on. You’ll need something to protect your arms.”
They went downstairs where Calvin methodically tossed supplies into a backpack. He rummaged through a closet until he found an inlaid wooden case containing a samurai sword, presented to him by a martial arts champion he’d befriended while on a wrestling tour in Asia. It was handmade from the finest Japanese steel and literally sharper than a razor. When Chow Lin had presented it to Calvin, he’d claimed the sword had a soul and had insisted on teaching him several fluid, ancient movements, so the weapon would not resent being given to him. He opened the silk lined case and removed sword.
When Calvin tried to open the front door, it wouldn’t budge. It felt like someone with tremendous strength was on the other side holding it shut.
“What’s wrong?” Vanessa asked. She had come down to see what he was doing.
For a moment all He wanted to do was kiss her, any other day he would have taken her back upstairs. “I don’t know. The door’s stuck.” Calvin was not used to being too weak to do things. He put his back into it and managed to open the door a crack, he slipped one hand onto the edge of the door while bracing his foot on the doorframe and heaved.
Vanessa stood back getting more anxious by the minute.
Calvin put his back into it, the door creaked, there was a loud pop and it flew open, he fell back landing hard on his ass.
Vanessa gasped.
Calvin sat staring in disbelief at the three, ten inch sucker pads adhered to the door, their snapped stems twitched like the bodies of severed snakes, dripping yellow sap.
The path from the front door was blocked, blocked by a tightly woven wall of vines. A child could not have squeezed through. Calvin got to his feet, ran to the back of the house threw back the drapes and saw that it was worse. Even the roof of the barn was completely covered every exit from the house was grown over. Red thorns glinted in the morning dawn like bloody knives. From the gutters huge white blossoms hung like Chinese lanterns, oddly they were beautiful. Every inch of his property was now nothing but a jungle of olive green vines, coiled around everything, runners snaked across his lawn, heavy vines lay over the tops of buildings and the creepers were sinking their roots deep into the sandy soil seeking water. It was the same as far as the eye could see in every direction.
Vanessa threw herself into Calvin’s arms and broke down. ”What are we going to do? We’re trapped!”
Calvin stroked her hair, kissed her forehead, held her tight and tried to think as he soothed her. “I will not let anything happen to you. I’ll get us out, I promise.”
He threw open the front door. “OK, stay behind me, but not too close. I don’t want to cut you. All we need to do is make it to that shed next to the stables, see it? It’s only about twenty yards. We can do it.”
“Why?” Vanessa asked.
“Because that’s where my scuba gear is.”
“What?” She blinked her eyes in disbelief.
Calvin didn’t answer he yanked open the front door and confronted a maze of thorns, he plowed forward into a thicket of tangled creepers. He began hacking at the vines with smooth powerful blows, the hammered steel blade sliced through the vines with ease. Calvin was like a machine in swinging the blade in rhythm the sword felt like it was part of his body, still it took them fifteen minutes for him hack a path though to the shed. By the time they got there the thick muscles in Calvin’s arms were pumped and throbbing, he dripped with sweat and blood in the blazing sun.
Once inside the shed he yanked open a grey metal locker and began assembling his scuba gear. He had one air tank, a BC, regulator, weight belt, a dive knife, two masks, one pair of fins and an underwater flashlight. “You know how to dive?”Vanessa shook her head. “No. Why?”He turned to her, confidence etched on his brow. “There is a natural spring about fifty yards beyond that gate in the woods. Florida is honeycombed with underground aquifers they go for miles. We can’t drive or hike out of here and we can’t call for help so we are going to have to swim out.”Vanessa’s eyes widened with fear. “I told you I don’t know how to dive. I’m not even a very good swimmer. No, I can’t, underwater, in the dark, what if there’s no way out.”“But there is: three years ago some scientists from Woods Hole came through here. They were mapping the aquifers and testing the purity of the water. They dropped some sensors into my spring. They drifted with the current for a few miles and popped to the surface on the other side of Immokalee, just four miles north of the prison.”“But what if it’s too narrow for us? Or overgrown with roots underwater?”It was obvious that he had made his decision. “There’s a police station a mile from there, at least we will have a chance of finding help or at the least supplies.”Vanessa dug her cell phone from her hip pocket. “Let me try and get the governor’s office on the phone, maybe they can send a helicopter.” She found the number and pressed dial, nothing happened, then call failed flashed on the screen.Calvin shook his head. “The cell towers are probably overgrown, all it takes is one snapped line and we’re cut off from help. I’ll get us out of here Vanessa. Trust me.” He kicked open the door handed her the fins and masks to carry and secured the tank into the BC and strapped it in. He clipped the ten pound weight belt to his waist because that was the easiest way to carry it. He lifted the sword and turned to her. “OK, stay close.”They made very slow progress through the maze they had to pass by the dead stallion and Vanessa noticed that Calvin’s hacking became more brutal, as if he were trying to kill the thing that had attacked his beloved horse. Blood mixed with the sweat dripped down his wide back soaking his shredded shirt.At last they reached a spot in the overgrown woods were a pool of clear water appeared, looking out of place. Calvin wasted no time. He his muscles throbbed from carrying seventy pounds of scuba gear and hacking his way through the jungle and his skin, sinuses and eyes burned from the pollen and toxic sap but his strength was no where near spent. He had yet to tap into his reserve of will. He turned on the air and heaved the BC onto his back, clipped then tightened the nylon, Velcro straps and put the regulator into his mouth, took a couple of test breaths then removed it.Vanessa thought it made him sound like a machine. The fear in her belly began to swell.Calving dropped the regulator he saw the fear in her eyes. “There is no other way Vanessa. We have to do this.” He held up a second regulator. “This is called an octopus. It’s an emergency regulator, it’s in case your buddy runs out of air. With this two people can breathe off of one tank. The only problem is you cut your air supply in half. On one tank at the depth I’m guessing we’ll be, we might have twenty minutes. You have to try and breathe slow and easy. Our air will last longer that way. Here put this in your mouth and give it a try.”Vanessa put the regulator into her mouth and took a breath, it was cold and tasted of metal but it was not as difficult as she had imagined.“Ok, I’ll go in first.” Calvin took one of the masks from her spit into it, cleaned the inside of the face mask, slipped it on, put the regulator back into his mouth and without hesitation he jumped into the pool feet first. He plunged under water but bobbed back to the surface a moment later. He inflated his BC and leaned back floating. He lifted the mask from his face and looked up at Vanessa. “OK, give me the fins. She did and he put them on and tied his boots by the laces to his weight belt. “Ok, spit into your mask, it will keep it from fogging up and jump in.”
She did as she was told, the water was surprisingly cold for Florida: it was the temperature of cave water: 70 degrees. She was hyperventilating already.
Calvin knew that if Vanessa didn’t get a grip that she would use up too much air and they wouldn’t have a chance. As it was, he thought their chances were slim. But he had told her the truth: there was no other way out. A thick root the diameter of a fire hose hung over the side of the pool and disappeared beneath the surface like a python. Vanessa was clinging to it to keep from sinking. “OK now listen carefully I’m going to do all the swimming. All you have to do is hang on to me and breath as evenly and slowly as possible. If your ears start to hurt from the pressure, pinch your nose in these indentations under your mask and blow. That will equalize the pressure. If you need me to stop or something is wrong, just give me a thump with your fist, OK?
Vanessa nodded but her heart was pounding with fear.
Calvin held up the octopus and she put it into her mouth, took a couple of shaky breaths and pulled her mask down over her face.
“Now hold on to me here.” He put her hand on the BC strap on his right side. No matter what happens don’t let go. OK?”
She nodded, Calvin held the release valve on his BC above his head, pressed the blue button, his BC deflated and together they sank beneath the surface. Instantly everything turned golden as the light from Calvin’s underwater flashlight punched through the darkness. The water had a copper tint due to the tannin dissolved from decaying leaves and other vegetation, though not crystal clear the water was actually drinkable.
It was like sinking in a well, the pool narrowed as they sank and Vanessa’s ear felt like they would rupture at any moment, she began to panic, suddenly the pain was unbearable. She pounded her fist on Calvin’s chest and began to thrash about. He held the light up to her face and she pointed at her ears in desperation. He put his fingers beneath his nose on his mask, reminding her that she had to equalize the pressure. She fumbled for a second, found the indentations and blew, there was a loud pop and an odd sound like air being let out of a tire but instantly the pain and pressure was gone. She calmed down looked into Calvin’s eyes and nodded. Once more they began their decent, every six fathom or so Calvin would stop and they would pop their ears together. Vanessa kept a vice like grip on the strap of Calvin’s BC. Her breathing had slowed and she did her best to relax. Just knowing that he was right there next to her gave her a sense of security.
Roots from the creepers wove their way down into the depths, braided together, but they clung to the sheer limestone side of the pool and did not obstruct their decent. They sank feet first: Calvin knew it was easier to equalize the pressure in your ears that way. He checked his depth gauge, 60 feet. He looked up and all he could se was a tiny dot of light, like a faint star, that was the surface of the pool, then his feet touched bottom and a cloud of mud rose around them. He panned the flashlight in all directions and saw the cloud being drawn out in behind him. He floated down on his belly bringing Vanessa with him and through a small opening they saw a shaft no wider than a drainage pipe that sloped down several feet but they could not see where it led because the aquifer made a sharp left turn at the end. They had no choice, Calvin pointed into the tunnel, held her hand and together they entered. It was barely wide enough and at one point Calvin remove the BC from his back and the regulator from his mouth. He left the gear with Vanessa and swam though a tight opening to the other side then he reached through and pulled Vanessa through, grabbed his regulator and took a couple of breaths before putting the BC back on. They had used precious time and air in the maneuver. Calvin checked his air pressure, the tank was already half empty and they had just reached the bottom of the pool. He swept his light to get his bearing and saw that they were now in a long narrow cavern the size of the Holland tunnel. Roots trees and creepers hung from the roof of the cavern, when he aimed his light down the tunnel he could not see the end. Together they swam into the black abyss.
Vanessa tried to help by kicking her feet but the hiking boots she was wearing her heavy with water and cumbersome. Her body kept floating up buoyed by the air in her lungs she was wasting energy and air trying to keep level with Calvin. He was wearing ten pounds of weight and had emptied the air from his BC so he had zero buoyancy, making it easier to stay centered in the tunnel. He didn’t want to hit the roof or the bottom because that would send up a cloud of mud and make it impossible for them to see. As it was their visibility was only a few feet. He swept the bottom of the cavern with his light, there were sunken logs washed here who knew how long ago during storms and roots, rocks and boulders, some that had fallen form the roof of the cavern. He saw a small rock and dove down and scooped it up. He handed it to Vanessa.
She took it not realizing what she was supposed to do with it. Then she figured it out. The weight of the rock was just enough to keep her from floating up. She held it in her left hand against her belly and nodded.
Calvin gave a few kicks and they moved off into the blackest place either of them had ever been.
After a hundred yards Calvin noticed that the current, before almost unnoticeable had picked up. They were now being drawn into the tunnel, kicking was no longer necessary.
Eighty feet above them, through limestone and sand the weather had changed. A storm had blown in from the Atlantic and it was reaching hurricane force. The rain was coming down in barrels, streets, canals, creeks and rivers were swelling with runoff. And the aquifer below was receiving a massive injection of millions of gallons of water, causing the current below to increase from two knots to twenty in as many minutes. Calvin and Vanessa had no way of knowing what was transpiring above but he effects were dramatic below. The water quickly became clouded with sediment and they could not see more than a few inches in font of their face and to make matters worse the battery in the light was dieing. Calvin tired to maintain control but as strong as he was the raging water was more than his strength could conquer. The current had them in its grasp and they were being swept away like rats in a drain pipe. They spun as they shot down the tunnel with no sense of up or down. They held each other in a bear hug both knowing the end was only moments away, then suddenly they slammed into something. It was a boulder the size of a bus. The flashlight was knocked from Calvin’s hand and quickly disappeared down the shaft, its faint light gone in seconds.