Dark Lord Rob's DarkForce

The Souls Gallery

     I looked at Nathan; he was looking deep into Woodbine's face, trying to read it, to find out if the Brother was serious, or messing with us, or trying to con us. After a moment he shrugged... "Sure. Why not?"
     "Then follow me." Brother Woodbine led us down a long corridor lined with doors. Sort of like a movie theater, complete with ushers; only these weren't, strictly speaking, "ushers" but more on the lines of "guards". We passed through two stations manned with two uniformed "brothers", who looked to be armed. It was a tad disconcerting, and I'm deliberately understating here.
     Since we were with Brother Woodbine, we zipped right through these checkpoints and, rounding a corner, came to a heavy steel door, like in a bank, or maybe a nuke plant. Somebody here had a bug about security...
     "I'm guessing that it wasn't the opera singer who had this installed?" Nathan said, conversationally (to hide the sarcasm).
     Brother Woodbine laughed heartily. "Hardly! No, this is my very own remodeling job. Most people just add a jacuzzi..." He grinned to show that he was kidding, and we laughed obligingly.
     Woodbine punched some keys on a pad at the side of the door, then placed his finger in some sort of laser-scanner device. "We take our security very seriously here, boys... as you may have noticed." We grinned a bit sheepishly and mumbled assent. "Well, there's a good reason for it, a very, very good reason. But first..."
     The there was a whir of tumbling gears and the door popped open, just a crack. Woodbine grabbed ahold of its massive, shiny handle and pulled it fully open.
     We gasped when we saw what was beyond the door; it seemed so incongruous. A tunnel, leading sharply down into the earth, lined with stone. It was like what you'd expect the stairway to the dungeon in Vincent Price's castle to look like; and there was indeed a staircase of cut stone, leading downward into darkness.
     "Pretty cool, huh?" Woodbine said, then shook his head. "Oh no, I didn't build this. It was here when I got here. Follow me, and I'll show you where it leads."
     The tunnel was lit by a series of incandescent torches, built to resemble the real thing... I suspected that this little touch was indeed Woodbine's brainchild, but kept the thought to myself. We stepped carefully down the stairs, which seemed to descend forever. When we finally reached the bottom we stood before another heavy door, this time made of wood. Woodbine rapped on the door in a syncopated rhythm that may well have represented some sort of secret code. The door opened; behind it, holding it open, was another sober-looking member of The Brotherhood.
     "Hello, Gustav," Woodbine said, "How are things?"
     "Quiet, Brother Woodbine," Gustav replied. "Maybe too quiet."
     "You worry too much, my friend," Woodbine said to the tall figure, reassuringly. He then gestured to indicate us.
     "These are some high school journalists," he said to Gustav, "I'd like to show them the Souls Gallery."
     "Of course." Gustav pulled the door wide and we stepped inside.
     Into the Souls Gallery.

Next: Inside the Lantern