Chapter 20: The Voice in the Darkness

The voice seemed to come from all around him. At first it seemed to come from behind him but it echoed so that Jim couldn't be sure. "Why are you following Vintner?" the voice asked. It was calm and emotionless.

"Who are you?" Jim asked, turning around to try to face the voice. As Jim turned, the voice seemed to move.

"Why are you following Vintner?" it asked again, this time more forcefully. The voice now seemed to be coming from Jim's right, from only a few feet away. Still, Jim didn't dare move from the spot where he stood, fearing that a step in any direct would send him careening off into nothingness.

"Where are you?" Jim asked, trying again to turn toward the voice. "Stand still!" And then there was light. It was just the light from a small flashlight but to Jim it was like stumbling upon water after days in the desert. The man with the flashlight pointed the light up towards his own face so that Jim could see him. It was difficult to make out the man's features through the shadows but Jim knew that it wasn't the man with the box. It was a taller man, a younger man. The man was very thin, his cheeks sunken and his eyes large.

"Why are you following Vintner?" he said again, this time more slowly, more softly.

"I'm not following anyone," Jim lied. "I got lost in the tunnels and thought I saw somebody so I was hoping they could help me get out."

"Do you want to get out," the man with the flashlight asked, "of the tunnels?"

"Yes," Jim answered. He was afraid, more afraid than he'd ever been in his life.

"Then you might want to tell me why you were following Vintner." The man turned and pointed the flashlight at Jim, leaning in to get a closer look at him. The light hurt Jim's eyes, paralyzing him for a moment. He placed his hands in front of his face to block the light.

"Okay," Jim replied. "I'm a private detective. Someone paid me to find a gorilla that was stolen from the San Diego zoo about a week and a half ago." 

The man with the flashlight laughed. "And that brought you here?" he asked.

"Yes," Jim replied, suddenly realizing how crazy that was. "Are you going to help me get out of here?" Jim asked.

"Vintner wants me too," the man replied, almost wistfully. "I told him I thought it was a bad idea. But he said, make him promise to stop following me, make him promise to stop coming down into the tunnels, and then help him get out." 

There was silence.

"So, do you?" the man asked Jim.

"Do I what?" Jim responded. 

"Do you promise to stop following Vintner? Do you promise never to come back here again? If you do, I promised Vintner I would help you get back to the surface."

Jim began to breathe again. "I promise," he said. He would have promised anything in exchange for the hope of seeing daylight again. 

"Okay, then follow me." The man with the flashlight started walking away. He held the flashlight in his right hand, pointing it straight forward. The light ended before the tunnels did. Jim quickly followed behind the strange man.

"Who are you?" Jim asked as stepped closer to the man.

"I'm Vintner's friend," the man answered. His voice had a high pitch to it, caught somewhere between a man's voice and boy's. 

"What's your name?" Jim asked.

"Vintner calls me Virgil," the man replied. Jim followed closely behind him, not wanting the man to get more than a few feet away from him, not wanting the man to be able to run from him too easily, not wanting the light to be able to get away from him.

"But what's your name?" Jim asked again.

The lanky man turned back toward Jim and looked at him with a look that burned itself inside Jim's brain. "I don't remember," the man replied.

They continued to walk. Jim started to feel the air change again as the two of them rose closer to the surface. Jim took deep breaths, drinking in the new air. They weren't taking the same route that Jim had taken to get down to where they were. This route was much quicker, much more direct. Jim realized that there must have been a million ways to get anywhere in this dark labyrinth. He didn't dare fall more than a few feet behind Virgil. The tunnels were still void of any light but the man's flashlight. Jim watched Virgil, looking to see any sign that Virgil might change his pace or suddenly try to run. Then, suddenly, Jim recognized him.

"You were there too," Jim said, before stopping to think about the potential ramifications of his words. The words just fell out of him.

"What?" Virgil answered. He stopped walking but didn't turn around.

"You were in San Diego too," Jim said. "I saw you in the video. I recognize how you walk. You were there. The gorilla was drawn to this Vintner guy, but you were there too. You were with him." Jim paused, trying to think of all the questions he wanted answered but only one came to mind. "Why?" he asked. 

"I suggest you drop it," Virgil responded, and then continued walking. Jim took two quick steps toward him and grabbed his shoulder.

"I just want to know why?" he said but Virgil slipped away from his grasp. Then Jim was swallowed by the darkness again. Virgil had turned off the flashlight. The darkness wasn't as shocking to Jim this time, but it was just as complete. Jim became afraid that if he opened his mouth the darkness would begin to eat him from the inside but he had no choice. "I just want to know why," Jim repeated.

"You'll have to talk to Vintner," the man replied, Jim couldn't get a bearing on which direction the voice was coming from. 

"But you were there too," Jim said. "You can tell me."

"You'll have to talk to Vintner. Only Vintner can answer your questions," Virgil replied again. 

"So take me to him," Jim replied. He was frightened by his own words. He wanted so much to get out of the tunnel, to see the sky again but still, he was willing to sacrifice that, to risk never seeing the sky again to get his questions answered.

"No," Virgil replied out of the darkness. "If he wants to talk to you, he will come to you."

Jim thought for a moment. He told himself to keep his wits about him. "Fine," he finally replied in no particular direction. "But tell your friend Vintner this. Tell him that if he comes to see me, he'll be safe. Tell him that if he answers my questions, I won't tell anyone what I know, not even the person who hired me." Jim wasn't sure if this was the truth or not. "But if he doesn't come to see me, I will have to report everything I've learned." Jim hoped he hadn't overplayed his cards, bluffing before he was even out of the tunnels, but Jim didn't know when he'd get another chance.

Virgil turned the light back on. "I'll give him the message," he said. Then he began to walk again. Jim took a deep breath in relief. Then he followed silently behind Virgil, afraid to speak again before he could see light. They took a few more turns through the darkness when suddenly, cracks of light began to find their way into the tunnel. Jim wasn't sure from where, but there was light. Jim looked at his watch. It was after seven o'clock. Some daylight was still left. Virgil turned to Jim. "Up ahead," Virgil said, pointing in front of them, his fingers were long and slender like the legs of a spider, "you'll find a ladder. That ladder leads to a subway tunnel. Follow the tunnel in either direction and you'll get to a station. Be careful of the trains. They come quickly." Virgil warned him.

"You're not coming with me?" Jim asked, hoping that his escort would lead him all the way to the surface.

"No," Virgil replied. He smiled slightly. For the first time, in the new light, Jim could see his whole face. He couldn't have been more than twenty-five years old. He was thin and Jim had never seen anyone so pale. 

"But you'll give Vintner my message," Jim asked. He told Virgil the hotel he was staying at and gave Virgil his room number. 

"I will give him the message," Virgil replied. "If he wants to talk to you, he will find you." Then Virgil flicked off the flashlight and disappeared back into the darkness. 

Jim followed Virgil's directions. He walked another fifty feet in the direction Virgil had pointed and found iron rungs of a ladder bolted into the concrete wall. He climbed up the rungs and found himself on another set of subway tracks. He had to dodge one train as he walked, ducking into a side tunnel-it was a number 6 train-before he saw a subway platform. Once he neared the platform he found a spot where he could wait for another train to go by so that the crowd on the platform would clear out. Then he climbed up on to the now empty platform. He was somewhere beneath Grand Central Station. He was dirty and his pants had ripped when he dodged the F Train hours ago. He climbed the stairs through the train station and followed the exit signs. When he eventually stepped out of the train station through wide doors, he stepped into the fading sunlight. For a moment, it was glorious. Then Jim's legs collapsed beneath him and fell to the ground. His equilibrium had turned on him. He thought he might throw up. Jim sat down on the sidewalk for a moment, trying to regain his balance. The people walking by simply parted and walked around him. No one stopped to offer him any help. No one stopped to ask him if he was okay. He was able to keep his stomach down. After a few moments, he stood up again. This time he was able to stay on his feet.