CARTER – The Chamber
The Chronicles of Samuel Carter – Chapter Three
Foreword
This is the third of seven chapters of Part One of The Chronicles of Samuel Carter, in which our main protagonist, Samuel, discovers a secret burial chamber.
I hope you enjoy The Chronicles of Samuel Carter. If you do and know anyone who would, too, please share.
Part One
1 The Call | 2 The Expedition | 3 The Chamber | 4 The Nightmare | 5 The Invitation | 6 The Staff | 7 The Cage
The Chamber
“Sam! Stop!”
Samuel stepped forward into the chamber, and Jackie dove right after him. With a loud, rumbling thump, a solid slab of rock sealed them in.
Two giant statues were carved into the wall on either side, their unmoving, watchful eyes gazing at a black block of stone in the centre. Scratching noises came from within. Two shafts of light fell in from narrow slits in the ceiling. Dust and dirt particles rose from the smooth surface, dancing along the light shafts, and the air crackled with static.
“Look out!” Samuel cried.
With a final discharge of arcing blue bolts zig-zagging across the onyx stone, a million hairy spiders, purring and hissing, swarmed from under the altar towards them.
“Seriously?” Jackie rolled her eyes, grabbed a torch on the wall and ignited it with a quick flip of her lighter, waving it at the menacing swarm, setting the hairy beasts ablaze, and in a shrieking cacophony of terror, they scurried off into the safety of dark cracks and crevices; all but one. The fattest, meanest, hairiest monster stared at Jackie with its eight beady eyes, its frisky feelers shaking in anticipation. With a final hiss, it leapt. Jackie swung the torch like a bat. The spider splattered against the wall with a satisfying crunch followed by a deflating ooze.
“Spider traps…” Jackie frowned. “What’s next? Snakes?”
Samuel looked at her dumbfounded, shrugged his shoulders and moved towards the middle.
“Listen.” He was kneeling next to the altar.
“What’s that hum?” Jackie eyed the corners for lingering arachnids.
Tiny blue sparks tickled Samuel's hand as he touched the altar, intensifying as he moved along the surface.
“Ouch.” He yanked his hand back. “Fascinating. The electricity must have driven them out. Could have been anything in there, like… worms.”
“Worms? Oh, I see, super-fast crawling monster worms. What the hell? I told you to stop.”
“There are markings here.” Samuel took the torch and held it close to the surface.
“I’ll be damned.” Jackie leaned closer, inspecting the symbols. “The AR lenses are still offline. Can you decipher them?”
“Yes. Yes, yes. Hmm, curious. Most peculiar.” Samuel continued to follow the markings.
“What do they say?”
“Not good… Hmm, not good at all,” mumbled Samuel.
“Well?” Jackie stared at him.
“This here warns of another trap. I can’t make out what it is. The rest of the symbols are on the inside.”
“We need to find a way out of here before any of your monster worms come out to play.”
“There is no other way,” Samuel traced the symbols along the surface, drawing a pattern with his fingers.
“There’s always—” a clicking noise interrupted her. “What did you do now?”
“I opened it.”
With a grinding noise, the top of the altar split in two, and a smooth onyx pillar emerged. Above it, floating in mid-air, hovered a long, silvery, cylindrical tube. Silence engulfed the chamber. They both stared at the altar.
“Boss? Hello? You there?” Aziz’s voice thundered through Jackie’s comm. She flinched and took a step back.
Samuel’s eyes were fixated on the tube. The AR overlay from his contact lens came back online.
“Aziz! Yes, we can hear you. You’re the best. In the nick of time, too. We’re trapped.” Jackie replied.
“Trapped? Again? Not funny, your joke, Boss.”
“Not funny at all, I know. Before you rescue us, again, we have to catalogue this here first, and I need you to make sure all the data is transferred fully to our system. Can you do that, Aziz?”
“Yes, Boss. Will come right after.”
“Good, good, we won’t be going anywhere. I will let you know when we are done.” She tapped her comm, and the AR view appeared before her. She let out a whistle. “Jackpot, baby. Worth it, isn’t it?” Jackie patted Samuel on the shoulder, coughing from the dust on his jacket.
Samuel mumbled an inaudible agreement, engrossed in the information his lens was displaying, gesturing with his hand and soon swiping panels left and right, up and down, uttering intermittent “Ahs” and “Ohs” mixed with occasional grunts, conducting a silent symphony with his index finger, enthralled by the stream of data flowing before him. The interface rendered details about the container’s location, structure, surface composition and markings. The glyphs zoomed by as they were scanned and analysed. When he was done, all he saw hovering in orange letters was: Origin Unknown.
“Well, that much I could have told you myself,” Samuel grumbled.
“Isn’t that exciting? We did it. This must be the staff of Amun-Ra!” Jackie scanned the markings on the altar.
“Something doesn’t add up.” He stumbled. “I don’t feel so good.”
“Sam?”
“Poison.”
“Poison? How?”
“Symbols were laced, I think… the antidote…” He held up his reddened fingers.
“Antidote? In the tube?”
Samuel shook his head, profuse perspiration, pupils dilated.
“No? Where?”
“You are so… beautiful. Will you marry me?”
“Uh, but I’m married, Sam. Focus! Where is the antidote?”
“Where’s your hubby? Marry me…”
“You will join him if you don’t help me, Sam!”
Samuel gasped, eyes wide. “I think I left the kettle on.”
“What? The antidote, Sam. Sam?”
Samuel did not respond. The poison had rendered him unconscious.
« Previous Chapter | Next Chapter »
Next time on TFTD
Tune in next week when Doctor Carter is visited by an old crone who disapproves of his pink slippers.
TFTD Community
Thank you for reading, and to all new subscribers, welcome and thank you for joining! Please leave a comment and say Hi in the chat or on Discord or drop me a line via email. I am always happy to hear from you.
If you liked reading this, feel free to click the ❤️ button on this post so more people can discover it on Substack. 🙏
Share Tales from the Defrag. You'll get credit for new subscribers when you use the referral link below or the “Share” button on any post. Simply send the link in a text or email, or share it on social media with friends.
You'll receive special benefits when more friends use your referral link to subscribe (free or paid).
Get a 1-month comp for 3 referrals
Get a 3-month comp for 5 referrals
Get a 6-month comp for 25 referrals
It looks like I'm caught up with Dr. Samuel's adventures in Egypt. I'm getting major Indiana Jones vibes. :)
Though I must say that I am distracted by the fact that the lines of dialogue are not attributed to characters. With so much dialogue I am really losing track fast.
Not more 🕷️ !?! You had me laughing at the symphony reference. Makes me think of all the people on a Bluetooth call walking around, gesturing like the person is in front of them. Always makes me wonder if they’re having a mental health crisis or just on a Bluetooth.