A Dare Worse Than Death

Tick-tock, tick-tock...

11:45 pm.

Flynn sat on the makeshift bed, his eyes fixed on the clock's hand, his mind racing. He had to meet the Begger boys by 11:55 pm, prove to those arrogant souls he wasn't a dimwit. The candles had been extinguished, plunging the pub into darkness, except for the moonlight seeping through the cracks of the closed door. As always, the air reeked with ale, something he was sure to get okay with.

Bart had left about an hour ago, entrusting him to lock up. The warning in his mind: 'Don't leave it open, with thefts on the rise, our pub might be next.'

And as for Mr Baggins, Flynn hadn't seen him since their tense parting at the digging site. Before he could reconcile, the man stormed off.

'Definitely angry!' Flynn mused, as he gazed at the Ring, his eyes filled with worry. 'How can I feed this cursed thing?' The weight settled on his chest, and he whispered, 'In Every 24 hours, a liter of my blood would be... gone.'

Flynn sighed.

The odds were against him. 'Even if I find a way to feed the Ring, it's impossible. Soul shards reside in Gates, accessible only to Gatekeepers. And if I somehow enter, survival's uncertain.'

He paused, remembering Fletcher's words; Creatures unlike flesh and blood lurk within the gates.

Accepting his fate, Flynn muttered, 'I'm good as dead. Might as well have one last laugh with the Begger boys... then act all, shocked and scared if the need be... Then, I'll become Two-tooth's slave for life... if I live that long.'

After few minutes on this thought, his gaze fell on the clock: 11:51.

'Okay..'

He jumped up, lit an oil lamp. One last look at the pub, and walked away, the door creaking shut behind him.

--------

The night wasn't so quiet. There were sounds of hooves from distant horses, a calm music from a Traven and distant murmurs.

Flynn walked through the dimly lit streets, gas lamps casting shadows. The air reeked of smoke, coal, and desperation.

According to Bimpky's Memory, St Mary's Hospital was just a stone throw from the church and there was just one way to get there.

The Beggers' line.

As he approached the line, Some Beggers slept, huddled in doorways, some under their makeshift shed, while others watched with pleading eyes, awaiting coins that might never come. His legs carried him through the line, eyes fixed on the road, yet aware of the Beggers' gaze.

Their whispers followed him: "Spare a penny, young man?" "Help a soul, kind gentleman?"

Flynn quickened his pace, He didn't have a spare change and he never actually intended at this moment, dropping a coin... Or two.

As he got closer to the church and approached St Mary's Hospital, lights flickered in the fog, revealing figures. Figures he knew quite well.

Getting closer, one greeted, "Blimey, Bimpky! You're early, ain't ya?."

Flynn rolled his eyes as it came from Two-tooth whose grin showed a mischievous intention, but, when he counted fifteen additional boys who were scattered around, he frowned. "What's the game, Two-tooth?. And why are there a total of twenty-two boys?... I thought this was just for me to deal with... It's not just a game?."

Hearing this, Two-tooth's laughter echoed through the night, but his expression darkened. "Ain't no game, Bimpky! We're here to crush that book-smart brain o' yours, ya hear!?."

Flynn frowned deeply. He watched again the other boys who some had their head lowered, while other posed in a courageous form. However, ever since his legs stepped into the surrounding, he felt something odd.

Not regarding Two-tooth's madness...

Something else was amiss.

As he looked around, his eyes settled ahead, looking at the imposing structure before them. St Mary's Hospital stood and, its Gothic spires on the roof reached high, with the fog covering it's heightened distance. Ivy crawled up crumbling stone walls, as if attempting to reclaim the building. Broken windows stared like empty eyes, their shattered panes reflecting the faint moonlight.

From Bimpky's memories, Flynn could understand there were rumours regarding the closure of the hospital, about fifty years ago. Some said, One fateful night, a creature ravaged the hospital, slaughtering nurses and doctors and ever since then, none would inhabit the place, so it became shut down. Others claimed St Mary's closed due to insurmountable debts, unable to combat the rampant infections and diseases, while there were also as well others which stated about a sudden uprise of disease in Whitechapel, linked to the hospital and it had to close down because of the controversies. Yet, the most unsettling mystery remained – Immediately the hospital closed down. So did the church.

Even with all that. It wasn't about the dark controversies that made the environment chilly. But, something else.

"Alrigh', let's get inside," Two-tooth grinned, then turned to Flynn. "You comin', Bimpky?"

Flynn hesitated, his eyes scanned the surroundings. "Something's off here. We shouldn't be here—"

'Hoot~'

An owl perched on the hospital roof, its unblinking gaze holding the boys captive, then after some minutes, it flew away, leaving some Digger boys in shivers.

"Blimey, I'm outta 'ere!" one boy exclaimed. "This place gives me the heebie-jeebies, it do!"

"Ain't for me, mate," another agreed. "Bimpky's right, let's scarper!"

"Oi, why'd I come 'ere?" a third boy muttered.

Two-tooth scowled. "Any bloke who legs it now'll be me slave, get me? You'll work under me, do extra jobs, an'—"

Before he finished, two boys took off. "Better be a slave than go in that cursed place!" one shouted.

"Yer mad, Two-tooth! We ain't goin' in!."

Two-tooth shook his head as he heard this, "Gorblimey! They call 'emselves boys? Bleedin' idiots!"

He turned to Flynn, "Bimpky, you comin' or what? Or yer gonna leg it an' join me crew o' slave workers, eh?"

Flynn frowned, his heart racing to make a decision. He had to prove himself to Two-tooth, and what did he have to lose? His life was already forfeit.

"Alright, let's get this over with!" Flynn said, steeling himself.

Two-tooth smirked, "Don't piss yer pants, Bimpky! Yer'll stain yer trousers!"

The group erupted into laughter, Two-tooth's henchmen chuckling along.

Nineteen boys entered, and Flynn took a deep breath, scanning the ominous surroundings before stepping inside.

Twenty boys in.

_________

Flynn stepped into the hospital through the surprisingly unlocked door. As he did, his body felt an eerie resistance, like passing through a veil. His lamp illuminated the long hallway, and the boys' giggles echoed off the walls.

"Bimpky, ya comin'?" Two-tooth asked ahead, as Flynn increased his pace.

"Alright!" Flynn replied, eyeing a strange goo on the wall. His eyes narrowed, but he marked this.

Five minutes passed, then ten, and the hallway stretched on. The boys' whispers turned anxious.

"Blimey! No doors, just a bleedin' hallway goin' on forever!" one boy exclaimed.

"Fifteen minutes, an' we're still walkin'!" another fretted.

"The same 'all! 'Ow's that 'appenin'?"

Flynn stopped for a moment. "We're going round in circles!." He said.

The group halted, unease settling in.

"Wha' in the name of 'Eaven?!" Two-tooth stepped closer, eyes blazing. "Bimpky, yer mouth's runnin' wild, ain't it?"

Flynn shook his head. "When we got here, I saw this.... This white goo on the wall..." He pointed. "An' it's still here

Two-tooth scoffed. "Lies—!"

A blood-curdling scream pierced the air, and lamps swung towards the terrified Digger boy.

"Summat's crawled on me!" he shrieked.

Two-tooth dismissed it. "Ain't nothin' 'ere—"

'Suuk~'

Lamps turned towards a faint sound of something rushing on the ground. When the lights got closer, it reflected on an odd creature.

"What—!"

Flynn approached the tiny creature on the ground.

It was a tiny spider, not a necessary tiny spider, as it was a tiny skeleton in the shape of a spider. It seemed unfocused with the lamp's light brought closer, revealing the white bony structure with spaces around it's abdomen producing a faint blue light from within. It's head had tiny black eyes, and it seemed to shield it with it's legs from the light.

"What are—"

"Shuu! bloody abomination!" One of the boys kicked it away, breaking a piece of Its leg, as the spider creature scurried into the darkness.

Flynn frowned, "What's that about?"

The boys scoffed. "Yer must be blind! That were some sort o' deadly critter—"

Before he finished, a silky thread ensnared him, "Gorblimey! 'Elp!" he shrieked.

Flynn grasped for the boy's hand, but he vanished, as his body was yanked upwards.

Minutes passed with tension in set, but it increased, when bones crashed down, with slim around it whole.

"Blimey! 'E's dead!"

"Why'd I come 'ere?" another boy wailed.

A panicked boy rushed Two-tooth. "It's yer fault! Yer brought us 'ere!"

Two-tooth slapped him. "Don't touch me wi' yer grubby 'ands—"

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" Flynn bellowed, as the environment became quiet. Quiet enough for a large black creature to be heard rushing away.

'Swizz~'

The creature sprinted past, drawing their lamps ahead.

'Swizz...~'

It vanished behind them.

Flynn's eyes darted sideways, noting the creature's speed. He thought for a second, then, tossed his lamp forward, breaking it in the process. Oil spilled, flames engulfing the area, illuminating it in the process.

The Digger boys froze, paralyzed by terror, as they discovered the hallway's true nature. It was a cavernous space, as the fire's flickering light shattered the illusion, revealing, walls lined with glowing jasper stones of varying sizes, which reached up, towards a faint white light above, their sole escape route.

But it wasn't the cave's transformation that petrified them, but what stood before them....

A red colossal skeleton-spider, rivaling the height of a three grown man, with six black eyes glinting malevolently, it's Mandibles revealed razor-sharp row of tooth, and then, a blood-curdling screech that sent shivers down their spines.

"Oh no..." Flynn whispered, his eyes widening in surprise after realizing everything, "...We're inside a Gate."