The trip
The wife and I had always wanted a trip to Italy and we had finally made it, and it was so amazing. About the third day in to our three-week trip we decided we would go exploring into old Rome and we had come upon an old run-down shopping center, there was a man handing out discount flyers that were all in Italian, he walked us over to the entrance, and in broken English, he tells us that we will be amazed at what we find inside.
The place looked very old and rundown inside, and it was a bit hard to navigate. Once we started to figure it out there were some unbelievable deals, but you had to open every single door to see what was inside, and go through all these long hallways, and they seemed to stretch on forever. All the shops were kind of dim lit, and musty, the place was a little bit of a dump and it was a real maze.
We started in this one store, and we were looking at a rack of suits, they were top designer names, like Versace and Armani, and others.
I picked out a couple of suits, and I was trying them on, when my wife, she goes and disappears on me. Now I was just guessing, but I figured that she had just wondered off, she went down into the maze of stores to browse something that interested her in another store or something.
When I finished, I asked the clerk if he had seen where my wife had gotten off to, he gave me a strange smirk and said no, but I'm sure you'll find her eventually he says with a little laugh.
I thought, well, okay, that's weird, but then I thanked him and headed out the door and began to try to track down my wife, and as I navigated my way through the maze, I thought I heard my wife whistle softly the way we always do with each other when we are trying to locate each other in a store, it's a little soft high and then low-pitched whistle, and it's our little tracking device.
These old stores must be over a thousand years old and they have no store front windows, you have to open up each door to see what's inside, the doors pretty much look the same with opaque glass with the name of the shop embossed on them in Italian.
I walk down about twenty-five feet or so and opened a door, but I don't see her anywhere, I keep hearing her familiar whistle and I keep trying to follow the sound. I whistled back again and again but she always somehow seems to elude me.
After about ten doors I am starting to get a little frustrated and I hear her say in a happy playful voice;
"I'm over here"
"Come and find me"
I walked around and looked in every direction and then quite a way down and a little far off in the distance, I think I can see her open a door and dart inside.
I say to myself, oh, okay, I think she's messing with me trying to be funny, I'll play along.
As I backtrack down through the hall, I'm thinking to myself;
"How did I miss this door before?"
It's so big, and it's different from the others."
This door is brightly colored red, like a fire door or something, and there is no glass, or name embossed on it; weird.
I open the door, and there is a dimly lit descending spiraling staircase.
Then on the walls of the staircase I notice that there seems to be some kind of engravings, or carvings, but my eyes can't seem to fully focus on them and I can't quite make them out,
"What are they"
"Are my eyes deceiving me,"
"It is so fucking dark in here."
Then I thought I could see the figures on the walls changing shapes, also weird, they seem to be moving and it feels like I am being watched as I climb down the stairs, I am telling myself that it must be an illusion like a hologram or something, I don't know but with next to no light it was a bit creepy.
I keep stepping down deeper and deeper underground and I can hear quick footsteps ahead of me.
I call out;
"Where are you going?"
I hear a faint call back up;
"Just follow me,"
"Come on hurry."
When I finally reach the bottom I go through another big heavy door, only this one is wood and looks even older, it's got a big and heavy sliding metal lock, and when approaching the door, I notice that it is open a bit, so I enter.
On the other side of the door there is what looks like a passage way, it is lit with torches, the air is very thick and still and smells of kerosene, it is silent with the exception of the popping of the torches.
I am thinking;
"Where the hell are we?"
"Where the fuck is she leading me to"
There aren't any shops down here;
"What the fuck!'
I walk forward through the passage; I can barely see with only the flickering light to guide me.
My eyes are trying desperately to focus in this dim light, but now I think I can see the shadow of my wife up ahead, and it looks like she is getting naked.
"No?"
I think she is taking off all her clothes while she is moving ahead and just throwing them on the ground as she jogs;
"What?"
"Why?"
Then I can hear her yelling back;
"Come on!"
"Hurry up!"
I yell out;
"What are you doing?"
And just then, way back, the big door behind me lets out a big clunk as if it's being bolted shut from the other side and I am now feeling pretty uneasy;
"Am I now locked in?"
As I feel a little panic, I start a brisk walk towards her and start to run, but she must be at least 75 to 100 yards away from me. The closer I think I'm getting to her the further away she seems to get.
I start to run faster and then I realize that I can't see her because this passage way has started a steep incline blocking my view.
Where we were going down and it was easy, we are now climbing up a snaking tube that is wearing me out with physical exertion.
The tunnel is getting narrower by the minute and has really turned into a tight, tight passage way with ribs every five to ten feet that help you to pull yourself up and through.
I pause and lay on my belly to catch my breath and then the tunnel goes completely dark, I think I hear a shuffling sound, my heart beats faster, I feel something pulling, tugging and touching me, it's ahead of me, and then behind me too, it's almost molesting me, and now there are very soft whispers saying;
"Just relax"
"It'll be okay"
"This will help you make it through"
The torch light flickers back up to a soft glow lighting my way again, but I realize the tugging was my clothes being removed, but I could not feel them being removed, freaky, and now I realize that I am now completely naked and I don't see a soul anywhere.
"Who? Or what did this, and what happened to my clothes, wallet and passport?"
I'm now pretty freaked the fuck out now and I hear my wife's voice say;
"I'm up hear"
"Keep moving baby"
Alright "Fuck!" so I continue toward the sound of her voice.
I climb through, what now seems to be a tight tubular passage.
As I pull myself through, it gets even more narrow, super tight, like I can barely move it's so fucking tight.