“I’m worried about Divya, she has been acting a little strange ever since we found the key.” said Anita. Both Anabeth and Anita were having breakfast before their long flight to Cape Matapan.

“I agree,” said Anabeth, “she sleeps all day and stays up all night, staring at the key.” Divya was still asleep and they had planned to wake her up when it was time to go.

Read the first chapter : Goddess Hecate’s Curse – The Secret Key

When it was time to go, they went in Divya’s room to wake her up. To their surprise, she was up already and ready to go. She looked joyful and she had a weird excited energy in her eyes that scared Anita. “Let’s go girls, Hecate’s waiting for us!” said Divya.

The girls hailed a cab and reached the airport where Joanelle was waiting for them. She asked, “Did you girls bring the key?”

“Yes ma’am!” said Divya and showed her the key.

“Awesome, I’ll keep it in my bag with the other finds!”

“I think I should keep it with me. I’d like to study it a bit more. It might help in getting into the grove.” said Divya, refusing to part with the key. This scared the other two girls even more.

They had an economy flight to the dig location as the budget for the research was tight. All of them boarded the flight to Cape Matapan. Divya’s erratic behavior continued on the flight. She kept itching her right forearm for the entire flight. When they landed, her forearm was red with deep scratches.

The Final Destination

They had decided to setup a camp near the dig site so all of them took a taxi to the final destination. “All of us are jet lagged”, said Joanelle, “We’ll analyze the entryway bright and early tomorrow. Let us all get a good night’s sleep.” Everyone went into their own tents and fell asleep. Divya couldn’t sleep. She kept staring the key.

Before the archaeological survey, the girls had planned to have breakfast together. All of them except Divya assembled in the dining camp. “Where’s Divya?” asked Joanelle.

“She must be still sleeping”, said Anita.

“I’ll go wake her up.” Anabeth started walking towards Divya’s tent. After a couple of minutes, she ran back to the dining camp.

“DIVYA IS NOT IN THE TENT AND SHE TOOK THE KEY!!”

“WHAT!!!” both Joanelle and Anita shouted in disbelief.

“Are you serious? ” asked Anita.

“Yes!”

“I knew there was something wrong with that girl. Ever since she found the key, she has been acting crazy. I bet she went to the entryway on her own. We should go check on her.”

“I guess that’s the best lead we have. Lets do that.” said Joanelle. All of them packed up their tools and walked towards the dig site.

The Passage of Perpetual Darkness

The actual cave that leads to the underworld is yet to be found but Joanelle’s research had narrowed down a precise location. This cave was underwater and diving equipment was needed to get to it. When they reached the diving point, they saw Divya’s leftover clothing items. All of them were sure now that she went ahead on her own.

The ladies put on their diving equipment and the students followed Joanelle’s lead under water. They saw a small crevice that had air bubbles coming out. Joanelle signaled the girls to follow her into the crevice. The crevice slowly started pivoting and going deeper into the ground. After a long swim, the crevice stopped going down and started going straight. It resembled the shape of a tunnel and the group couldn’t see the end. The entire tunnel was pitch dark with no sign of light. Thankfully, the group had lights on their gear which allowed limited visibility. The tunnel was only wide enough for two swimmers at a time so Joanelle and Anabeth took the lead and Anita followed. They had no idea about the horrors that awaited them in the passage of perpetual darkness.

Continued in third chapter, Goddess Hecate’s Curse – Two Torches.