The Conclave

Jim didn't mean to be looking. It's just that he was standing, being a good gentleman, and she had taken his seat on the subway, so she was, you know, kind of in front of him. It's not his fault that she opened her phone right in front of him.

And where else was he supposed to be looking? The front of the subway car was filled with the same working stiffs and miscreants as every other subway car. Besides, she was attractive, even beautiful; blond with high cheekbones and full lips, she had a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose and her eyes were brilliantly, sparklingly blue.

Jim wasn't even looking at her phone when the photo popped up. It wasn't until he saw the look of shock on her face that he realized he was staring. He tried to avert his eyes, but she seemed to sense his stare and locked eyes with him.

Her face took on a look of anger and Jim forced his eyes down. Why did he choose to look down? It always made him feel like he came across as submissive, but he never felt like he was trying to be a pushover. Maybe looking down just seemed the easiest way to avoid confrontation.

But the image was still on her phone when he looked down and what he saw made his eyes go wide. Parts of the picture he could recognize, certainly he could see her in it, but other parts of the photo he couldn't comprehend.

He couldn't pretend to know this girl, woman, lady, whatever the proper term was anymore. But how does anyone get into a situation like that? Should Jim try to ask her? Maybe tell someone?

Before Jim could finish these thoughts, the subway car slowed and the woman stood up, abruptly throwing her phone in the pocket of her coat and grabbing Jim's elbow.

Standing upright, she was only a few inches below Jim's five foot ten. Her strong grip gave away her years of physical training. Jim never considered himself to be weak or submissive, but something in the woman's voice told him he shouldn't raise questions.

“Come with me. I know we've never met, but now that you've seen that, you're involved in something deeper than you've ever imagined.” Her voice reminded him of someone he'd heard before, maybe in a movie or on TV. His mind felt scattered as he tried to place her voice, and follow her lead.

She led him across the platform, but instead of taking the stairs, they entered a door marked “SERVICE ENTRANCE - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY”. It was only after the door closed behind him that Jim came to his senses and pulled his arm away.

“Wait, I'm sorry, but who are you? And why are you taking me to…”he finished his question by holding out his arms to indicate the seemingly distant unknown at the end of the hallway they had entered.

The woman turned to face him, her face still set with anger hidden by authority. “You can call me Beth. It's not my name, so it's safe. I don't need to know your name, yet, and I don't want to. Tell me what you saw on the phone when you were looking down at me on the subway.”

“Beth, it's nice to meet you. My name is Jim.” Jim purposefully spoke just a touch slower than he normally would. He wasn't sure why, but he supposed he was trying to hold onto control of the conversation, since everything else seemed to have suddenly fallen out of his control.

“I'm not sure what you mean about the phone. I wasn't really looking at your phone when you grabbed me and pulled me in here. But since we're here, I think I deserve a little explanation.”

She cast a dismissive eye at him as he tried to rebuke her claim that he had seen her phone. “You can try to deny it, but the others won't believe you any more than I do. So, ‘fess up, Jim.” She emphasized his name, just to make the point that she was already irritated with this game.

Jim’s mouth tightened, as he looked down. He caught himself, thinking, “Why am I looking down again? Be stronger, Jim.” As if to reassure himself, he answered her, “All I could make out was you in the picture. I didn't see anything else. And who are ‘they’ supposed to be? What is even going on? All this over a picture?”

“‘They’ are some of the craziest people that you've ever imagined. They'll come after you because you've seen the picture. They'll come after you because you're with me.”

This made Jim shake his head. None of this was helping to explain anything. “Why do they care so much? And who are you to them?”

Beth, or whoever she really was, turned and started walking down the service hallway as she answered him, “I can't answer all your questions here. But we need to keep going.”

When Jim didn't immediately follow her, she turned her head back. “You can take your chances here, but you know what you saw in that picture. Do you really want to risk them finding you?”

Jim stared hard at her, then glanced back to the door they had come through. Couldn't he just go home and act like none of this had happened? Write it up to another crazy person on the subway and tell the story to his friends at the bar later?

Her voice broke into his thoughts with sudden urgency, as the door back to the subway platform opened. “Jim. Now!”

A person, Jim assumed a man, just from the stature, entered the doorway. Dressed in a neutral brown jacket with the hood pulled over a baseball cap, with leather gloves, full length cargo pants and high top boots, the person radiated malice.

Jim turned and ran. Without thinking, he turned and ran. Down the hallway, following Beth through doorways and down staircases. He lost track of the turns in his panic, but just kept her in his sights, as he followed her through a maze of passages, leading deeper and deeper underground.

Finally, bursting through a heavy door, Beth and Jim found themselves in the sewer drainage tunnel. Jim slammed the door behind him and saw that the door could be locked with a heavy bar. He threw the bar across, then stepped back, panting, with his hands on his knees.

A few seconds later, they heard heavy footsteps run past the other side of the door. Jim looked over at Beth, noting that she was hardly breathing heavily. Jim felt tightness in his chest and his legs were burning, as he looked around and tried to get his bearings.

The passageway, tunnel, really, was dark, dimly lit by a distant bulb in one direction and apparently a grate far in the distance the other way. The floor and walls were wet and dripping with condensation and the air was stagnant, but cool. Jim decided they were the first people to have come in here for several years.

It was difficult to see Beth's face in the darkness, she was simply a silhouette against the dim background. When she spoke, her voice sounded softer, almost apologetic.

“Jim, are you married? Do you have any family?”

“What a strange question to ask at a time like this,” thought Jim. He answered, rather hesitantly, “I'm not married. Not seeing anyone, particularly. I have family, like my brother and parents, if that's what you mean.”

He took a breath and she tried to speak, but he cut her off. “But really, what are we doing? Who was that guy? Who are you? Where are you taking me, because you apparently know this place pretty well. What exactly are you getting me into?”

Beth placed her hand on Jim's shoulder and stood close. “I'm sorry to get you involved. There are people, groups in this world that work for special purposes. They are trying to bring around their version of the world and think they can manipulate events to make the rest of the world see their cause.”

Jim just stared at her form in the darkness, still unsure of what to think. He waited for her to give more answers.

“I'm involved because I wanted to get out. I thought I knew what I was getting into and thought I knew what was involved, but I was wrong. That picture was a warning, that they knew where I was and what I was doing. They would have seen you with me and they won't stop until they're sure you either agree with them, or…” she let the silence finish her sentence.

“Or what,” Jim returned, testily. “Are they going to kill me? Do things like in that picture? Will they go after my family? What's to stop me from just going home and trying to live my life?”

Beth made a snide laugh. “If you can lead yourself out of here, maybe you are smart enough to get past them. But if you want help, we have to keep going.”

“Going where?” Jim's voice was rising and echoed down the tunnel.

Beth put her hand up and said, “Easy, Jim. I can take you out of here, maybe find some people that have been helping me since I left The Conclave. Maybe they can help you, too.”

“Maybe they can all go to the police and get put in the Looney bin,” thought Jim. But weighing his options, Jim had to admit, he was utterly lost down here. If she knew a way out, maybe it was best to play along and follow her.

“Ok,” answered Jim, trying to sound calm. “If you can get us out of here, I'll tag along with you.”

With that, Beth patted his shoulder, then turned and led him down the tunnel ,towards the distant dim lightbulb.

They had walked for several hundred feet, far on the other side of the light,stepping over puddles of murky water and piles of rubble. The dripping from the ceiling came sporadically and occasionally hit them on the head, giving Jim the shivers and making the chill even more pronounced.

There were no signs or markings, nothing to give a sense of direction. Jim couldn't decide if they were heading the right way, he just knew the farther from the light they walked, the more anxious he was getting.

Beth had been silent since taking the lead down the tunnel. It was getting dark enough that she had to put her hand on the wall to guide her. Suddenly they came to another door, heavy and ironclad.

“Here we go,” she said, with a hint of optimism. “Can you help me lift the bar?”

Jim stood next to her at the door frame and grasped the damp, rough bar that had fallen across to hold the door in place. He tensed his shoulders and turned his hips to leverage his body against the rusty weight.

Slowly, with a loud creaking sound that echoed and stung his ears, the bar lifted and the door was released. Beth pushed the door open on equally rusty hinges and stepped in.

Jim followed, taking several steps in, believing Beth to be ahead of him. “Beth, I can't see a thing anymore.”

There was no answer. Jim took several more steps, then stopped. “Beth,” he called into the darkness.

There was still no answer. Jim listened for footsteps, but heard nothing. There were no echoes, even, just the sound of his breathing and his now pounding heart. Jim turned around and reached out in the darkness for the door, or a wall, or anything solid to steady himself with.

“Beth!” Jim called out again, panic rising in his voice.

His answer was a loud bang, as the door he was searching for closed. He could hear echoes from the other side of the door, but the sound coming towards him seemed constrained. There was a sudden dull, yellow light behind him.

The new light illuminated Beth standing at the door. The walls from the door extended to show shoddy drapery, tattered and stained. Jim turned and looked around, finding himself in a room, made of concrete walls, the same dismal drapery hanging around the room.

Suddenly, Jim knew where he was. He had seen this room before, only for a moment, but he remembered, he knew what had happened in here. It was all in a splash on a phone screen, held in front of him by the same woman now standing at the doorway. Jim looked up at the back wall. Standing at attention were 5 people, Jim had to assume men, dressed in the same neutral brown clothing as the man who had chased them through the passages.

Scattered through the room were display cases, like you would see in a jewelry store, filled with instruments and devices that Jim couldn't guess the purpose of. Jim didn't want to guess the purpose of.

Jim turned back to have Beth at the door. He opened his mouth, but she spoke first.

“I told you. They won't stop until they find you. They're very determined people.” Beth started to take off her coat, keeping her eyes locked on Jim's, revealing the apparent machinations of the devices and people in the room. They were marked across her body, buried in her flesh. Jim's mind flashed back to the picture on her phone and everything snapped into place. Jim knew where he was. Jim knew why he was here.

Beth walked towards Jim, almost seductively, in stark contrast to the bizarre effigies of science displayed on her body. Jim couldn't break his eyes off of her, as she approached. Suddenly, he was held by the shoulders from behind. Beth reached up and ran her finger down his chest, sucking in her breath, as she ran her eyes down his body.

Jim shuddered, so panicked he was almost catatonic. The last thing Jim remembered, was

Beth, looking back up at him, meeting her bright, glittering blue eyes, as she said, “Welcome to The Conclave, Jim.”