Beast Soul

"Do you think they figured out how to open the secret door?" Linda asked Henry with a look of concern on her face, and Henry shrugged his shoulders in response. "I don't know, Linda. But maybe we'll be able to figure it out once we open it."

One of the men walked towards the mirror right above the sink and lifted it up, revealing the hidden switch underneath it. The man flipped the switch up, and all of a sudden, the walls of the bathroom began to shake violently. 

The crowd of people, however, didn't seem to even care about the trembling underneath their feet. Instead, their gazes were focused on the wall of the bathroom, which was now being separated into two sections, slowly moving away from each other, revealing the secret passageway.

"Let's head inside, people!" Henry said as he turned around to face the rest of the crowd, who all now had their gazes focused on him. "And remember, be extremely careful! We don't know who else might be hiding inside the cavern."

"Yes, Chief!" The crowd yelled out in unison, and Chief Henry nodded his head. He then turned to his side and looked at a muscular man who seemed to be thirty years of age, and he grabbed the man's shoulders, making him flinch and widen his eyes with surprise.

"Ch- Chief?" The man asked with a shocked and surprised expression on his face, stuttering as he spoke his words. 

"Garry, I'm going to have to ask you to take the lead today," Chief Henry said with conviction in his voice, his blue eyes staring right into the eyes of the thirty year old man, Garry. "I'm too old, and I don't think I'll be able to defend well if a surprise attack comes from the front! That's why, I'm going to have to ask you to take the lead."

"Ch- Chief! If- If you're not feeling well, then I highly suggest that you.. you take some rest." Garry spoke with a flustered expression on his face. He was still nervous, completely butchering his sentences as though he was currently speaking his second language. "Maybe… maybe you should just stay back at the house if it's really that big of a deal-"

"Don't worry about me too much, Garry.." Garry's words were cut off by the rough and coarse voice of Chief Henry, who said with a small chuckle, and Garry, who had realized his mistake, immediately bowed his head in response. "I- I apologize, Chief! I overstepped my boundaries. I made a mistake, and I shouldn't have done that!"

Beads of sweat had already begun to form on his face as Garry bowed his head down, and his hands were trembling. He clearly was afraid of the consequences of his actions. 

"It's alright, Garry…" Chief Henry said as he once again placed his hand on Garry's shoulder, and Garry lifted his head up, his eyes now staring right at Henry's face. "You don't have to apologize for something as trivial as that. But I am going to need you to step up and take the lead for today. I hope you're fine with that?"

"Fine? Of- Of course, I'm totally fine with that!" Garry said loudly, still nervous about standing in front of the chief. "I'll gladly take over from you, Chief!"

"Good, good.. I'm glad to hear that!" Chief Henry said with a smile on his face as he patted Garry on his back, and he then moved backwards and blended in with the second row of the crowd, as Garry stepped forward and took the reigns from him.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

The group entered the secret tunnel, and the entire pathway had been dimly lit with candles that were bright just enough to see the steps beneath their feet, but not bright enough to see what's a few metres in front of them.

"Why are the candles all lit today?" Linda asked with her eyebrows raised, a confused expression present on her face as she spoke. "Did Carrick do that? Why on earth would he do that today?"

"I don't know what goes on inside Carrick's head, Linda." Henry said as he focused his gaze in front, staring right at the dark pathway as he continued his words. "Don't ask questions that you know I don't have the answers to, and focus on the task at hand. We don't want you getting distracted in a place were you know enemies are hiding. That's a disaster that's waiting to happen."

"I- I apologize, Chief!" Linda said with a flustered voice. She initially waved her hands around in the air, unsure of what to do before bowing her head down and yelling out her apology. It appears that this was her first time being scolded by the Chief himself, which might've made her confused and uncertain of what the right procedure was. "I made a mistake."

"It's alright. Just don't lose your focus, and you'll be fine, Linda." The Chief replied, but he still didn't turn his head around to look at Linda. 

Peter, who was standing to the right of Henry, let out a snort as he stared at Linda with an expression that was a mixture of disdain and anger on his face, before following Henry close behind.

Peter didn't know, but Linda had caught a glance of Peter's expression from before, and her eyes flashed with resentment evident in her gaze.

The group made their way through the long and dimly lit pathway and reached the enormous cavern. 

Although the cavern, which was huge and tall enough to disguise the fact that it was actually underground, was a sight that would amaze almost anyone who was seeing it for the first time, the small crowd under Chief Henry didn't seem impressed by the surroundings in the slightest. They didn't even look at it for even a complete second. It seemed as though they had already seen the cavern before. 

"Where to, Chief Henry?" Garry, who was the one in front of the crowd, turned his head around and glanced at Henry as he asked, and Henry pointed his finger straight at one of the many pathways that they could see in front. "We'll head towards the trophy room first. And then, we can head towards the sacrificial chamber."

"Yes Chief!" The crowd chanted loudly in unison, and Garry nodded his head before turning around and heading forward. 

The group moved through a narrow pathway and reached another area within the cavern. This place was a bit more narrower and smaller than the other area with the countless eggs that were lined up. 

"Thank goodness.." Henry let out a sigh of relief as he stared at the area in front of him with a beaming smile on his face. "It's all still intact." The crowd began to murmur among themselves, with almost everyone letting out sighs of relief in response. "

In front of the small crowd of people was the giant pile of bones and skulls that Alphonso and Max had seen before. The bones and skulls were placed on top of one another to create a terrifying and ominous looking pyramid structure.

The number of skulls that one could count had already gone past a dozen and that was only the number at the bottom part of just one of the pyramids.

The pyramid structures were a bit taller than a normal person, with its height probably reaching around two to two and a half meters.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Chief Henry slowly walked up to one of the pyramid structures and looked up and down at the structure with devotion in his eyes. 

He then lightly pressed his fingers across the pyramid structure, feeling the roughness of the skulls and the bones with his hands, and he took a deep breath as he did so. The crowd watched Chief Henry's actions without making a single noise. It was as though time had stopped. No one was moving except for the Chief.

"My fellow followers! Do ingrain the image of this sacred place into your minds this instant!" Chief Henry turned around and yelled out loudly, and the crowd immediately closed their eyes shut. 

"And then, think about the intruders and how their reckless actions might have destroyed these beautiful structures that we so adore.." Chief Henry began to mutter under his breath in a hushed tone as he leaned forward, his face right next to one of the skulls on the pyramid, staring at it as though he was completely obsessed with it. 

"It doesn't matter who they are…" Chief Henry pulled his upper body back as he spoke. "It doesn't matter what their intentions were.." He narrowed his eyes and turned around, facing the crowd with a serious expression and continued, "To enter into the sacred space as an outsider is the same as desecration of the space. These people have disrespected our sacred beliefs, and they will pay for it.. with their blood!"

"Blood! Blood! Blood!" The crowd roared loudly as soon as Chief Henry finished his words, their eyes burning with anger and hatred!