The First Clue

The First Clue
Viv's heart pounded as she ran through the dark streets. Rain poured down, making it hard to see. She had gotten a strange text message just ten minutes ago.

"Help me. I don't know where I am."

The message came from Sarah's phone. Sarah had been lost for two weeks.

Viv turned the corner and skidded to a stop. A woman stood in the middle of the empty street. She wore dirty clothes and looked confused. Her hair was a knotted mess.

"Sarah?" Viv called out.

The woman turned slowly. Her eyes were wide with fear.

"Sarah, it's me, Viv!" she said, walking closer. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"

Sarah didn't seem to recognize her. She backed away, shaking.

Viv pulled out her phone and called Damien. "I found her! Near Oak Street and 10th. Hurry!"

She put her phone away and approached Sarah carefully. "It's okay. You're safe now. Do you remember me?"

Sarah looked at her with empty eyes. "Who's Sarah?"

A chill ran down Viv's spine that had nothing to do with the rain. "You are. You're Sarah Wilson. You disappeared two weeks ago."

"I don't remember," Sarah whispered. "I don't remember anything."

Viv reached out to touch Sarah's arm to comfort her. The moment her fingers touched Sarah's skin, Viv's vision went dark.

Flash! A dark cave with glowing figures on the walls.

Flash! People in long black robes standing in a group.

Flash! Sarah strapped to a stone table, screaming.

Viv pulled her hand away with a gasp. Her whole body shook.

"What happened?" Sarah asked, looking worried. "Are you okay?"

Before Viv could answer, headlights lit up the street. Damien's car screeched to a stop beside them.

He jumped out. "Sarah! Oh my god, you found her!"

"Something's wrong," Viv said quietly as Damien neared. "She doesn't remember who she is."

Damien looked at Sarah closely. "Hey, Sarah. It's Damien. Remember me?"

Sarah shook her head. "Everyone keeps calling me Sarah."

"Let's get her somewhere dry," Damien said. "We can figure this out."

They led Sarah to Damien's car. She moved like a robot, not fighting but not helping either.

In the car, Viv leaned close to Damien and whispered, "When I touched her, I saw things."

"What things?" Damien asked, starting the engine.

"A cave. People in robes. And Sarah..." Viv couldn't finish the sentence.

Damien's face went serious. "Like a vision? You've never had visions before."

"I know. But it felt so real." Viv looked back at Sarah, who was looking out the window. "Something terrible happened to her."

"And maybe to the other missing people too," Damien said. "Where should we take her? The hospital?"

Viv thought for a moment. "No. If I tell them I had a vision, they'll think I'm crazy. And Sarah needs help remembering. The police would just scare her more."

"My apartment then," Damien said, taking a turn.

At Damien's place, they sat Sarah on the couch and gave her dry clothes and hot tea. She looked better but still didn't remember anything.

"Sarah," Viv said gently. "Can you tell us the last thing you do remember?"

Sarah's hands shook as she held her cup. "Darkness. Cold. Voices chanting something I couldn't understand."

Viv and Damien traded looks.

"Anything else?" Damien asked.

"There was water dripping. It echoed." Sarah closed her eyes. "And it smelled like dirt and old things."

"Like a cave," Viv whispered.

Sarah's eyes flew open. "Yes! How did you know?"

Viv didn't answer. Instead, she asked, "Do you remember how you got out?"

"I remember walking for a long time in tunnels. Then stairs. Then I was on the street," Sarah said.

"Tunnels?" Damien leaned forward. "Like the old tunnels under the city?"

The city had been built on top of an older city over a hundred years ago. There were stories of tunnels that joined different parts of the underground.

"Maybe," Sarah said. She suddenly grabbed Viv's hand. "There were others there! I wasn't alone!"

As soon as Sarah touched her, Viv's view went dark again.

Flash! A tube with branches going in different directions.

Flash! A wall with a strange symbol that looked like a spiral with three lines going through it.

Flash! A steel door with the same sign.

Viv pulled her hand away, gasping.

"You saw something again, didn't you?" Damien asked.

Viv nodded and grabbed a piece of paper. She quickly drew the spiral sign with three lines. "I saw this. It was on a wall in the tunnels, and then on a door."

Sarah stared at the sign. Her face went pale. "That's it. That's the door they took us through."

"They? Who are they?" Damien asked.

"I don't remember faces. Just the robes." Sarah's voice shook. "But I can find that door again. I know I can."

"You want to go back?" Viv couldn't believe it.

"The others are still there," Sarah said. Her eyes were clear for the first time. "I left them behind. We have to help them."

Damien rubbed his face. "This is crazy. We should call the police."

"With what evidence?" Viv asked. "A symbol I saw in a vision and Sarah's memories that keep coming and going? They'll never believe us."

"So we just go into the tunnels ourselves? That's dangerous!" Damien protested.

"More dangerous than leaving innocent people down there?" Sarah suddenly stood up. "I'm going. With or without you."

Viv stood too. "I'm coming with you."

Damien sighed. "Fine. But we need flashlights, water, and I'm bringing my baseball bat."

An hour later, they found an opening to the tunnels through an old maintenance door in the park. The rusty door creaked open to show stone steps leading down into darkness.

Viv turned on her flashlight. "Sarah, are you sure about this?"

Sarah nodded. "I came up through a different way, but these all connect. I can feel it."

They descended into the darkness. The air grew colder with each step. Their flashlights made dancing shadows on the wet stone walls.

After walking for twenty minutes through winding tunnels, they came to a fork in the tunnel.

"Which way?" Damien asked.

Sarah looked confused. "I...I don't know."

Viv shined her light on both routes. Something caught her eye on the left wall—a faint sign. She moved closer.

"Look! It's the symbol!" Viv pointed at a small spiral with three lines carved into the stone.

"This is the right way," Sarah said, walking toward the left entrance.

They followed the dark tunnel for what seemed like forever. The tunnel got narrower, the roof lower. They had to walk single file, with Sarah leading the way.

Suddenly, Sarah stopped. "I hear something."

They all froze, listening. Faint sounds echoed in the distance—voices chanting.

"It's them," Sarah whispered, her face filled with fear.

"We need to be careful," Damien said quietly. "Let's get closer but stay hidden."

They moved forward slowly, turning off two of the flashlights to be less noticeable. The shouting grew louder.

The tunnel opened into a larger area ahead. Viv could see flickering light—torches or lights.

"That's it," Sarah whispered. "That's where they kept us."

They crept forward until they could peek around the corner.

What they saw made Viv's blood run cold.

A huge cave spread out before them, lit by torches on the walls. In the center was a stone table—just like in her vision. Around it stood at least twenty people in black robes, their faces hidden by hoods. They were singing in a language Viv didn't recognize.

And tied to the stone table was a woman Viv recognized from the missing persons reports—Julie Chen, who had disappeared three days ago.

One of the robed figures raised a bent knife above Julie.

"We have to do something!" Viv whispered frantically.

"There are too many of them," Damien said.

Sarah stepped back and accidentally kicked a small rock. The sound echoed in the cave.

The chanting stopped.

All the hooded heads turned toward the tunnel where they were hidden.

"Intruders!" one of them shouted.

"Run!" Damien yelled.

They turned to run, but a robed figure suddenly appeared in the tunnel behind them, blocking their escape.

"You shouldn't have come back, Sarah," the figure said in a deep voice. "And you definitely shouldn't have brought friends."

The hood fell back, showing a face that made Sarah scream.

"No! It can't be you!" she cried.

Viv stared in shock as she recognized the face too—someone they trusted, someone who had been helping them search for the lost people all along.

The figure smiled coldly and raised a hand. More robed people appeared behind him.

"Take them," he ordered. "All three of them. The Master will be pleased."