Declan - pt. 9

I overslept, if you could call that sleeping. But I had meant to be at the old Court House before people began their work day. Still, I’m not too far and leave for the Court House, conveniently located on Court Street. It’s a museum now. I’m not there to partake in history. I’m searching for something far older, more ancient. I hate hills and running down one isn’t so bad, but now I’m running up and getting out of breath, and I’m soaking wet from rain. I slow up as I’m passing Kid Zany’s Children’s Store and think “This is no place for children,” and keep walking. I overshot my mark and have to circle back down Court Street. So much has been built up and abandoned since I’ve been here.
*
Approaching the Court House, it’s a bit different than when I last saw it. It has a more modern revitalized look about it. The building is not what concerns me. What’s under the building is. I hope it still resides there. Far underneath, even further underneath than most current townspeople can recall. The manhole cover nearby is my goal, and I loath to go there. There’s still little traffic this early, but the sun has already risen on this winter/summer morning. The manhole releases quite easily. Either humans have been accessing the tunnels recently or this entrance has been used by them very recently or quite often. I slip into the hole in the ground and pull the cover over. Thankfully it’s not a sewage pipeline or the smell would be worse. It’s a pipe that leads to a maintenance shaft for several different pipelines. This one eventually leads to the river, though I’m not heading in that direction. I’m heading north on the pipeline to where Court Street and Main Street converge to become Rivermont Avenue. At that nexus I will find the entrance marker that only a few have a key. But first I need to find the angled pipeline that takes me to the nexus. And that means I need to drop down into the mucky water, get filthy and feel my way along the slimy walls, praying that I don’t run into any of god’s creatures along the way. *I’m getting very tired of being wet.*
*
My fingers slide over the algae covered walls until I find the opening. Pulling myself inside, I raise up out of the water for my first breath of non-fresh air in about 5 minutes. The first of the symbols is at eye level. It’s the same as the one on my hand. It resembles an hourglass turned on its side. Sort of ironic, because I’m off to find those that most of time has forgotten. Able to travel faster, I soon reach the nexus and begin searching for the rune symbol. It is not in plane sight so that humans would not persist on its importance. As I recall, I must look under to find what resides underneath. With my hand palm-up underneath the water level, trying to find a place to insert my hand. I find an opening about the size of a shoebox and put my hand inside. Yes, the familiar jelly that surrounds my hand and begins to feel warm. The device reads my rune of transformation, then releases. As I’m preparing for the next…
*
I drop.