Chapter #2The Diamond Mines. by: Unknown "...make me happy this season, or y'all're gonna be workin' the strip clubs there fer a long time, and not as a waiter. Got it?"
The phone's plastic cracked softly as my fist tensed around the neck. "Yes, Miss Holmes. I will."
...and in a rare sight around the resort, I could hear Miss Holmes let out a soft chuckle before the call was hung up.
.....
"Thanks for the lift, Kate."
The heavyset kitsune nodded once, which'd be the most the two of us'd come to a talk on our ride. The most there was to hear on the trip to the mines was the minecart grinding along the tracks, but I could still hear a distinctly christmas-themed soundtrack playing over the speakers in the grotto where the tunnel's narrow walls spontaneously vanished into gigantic reaches of dark space, washing the two of us with fresh air.
Deep under the resort's ground floors, the Diamond Mines had the style and foundation of a gigantic, gaping cavity drilled in a ring through the mountain's earth, with walkways built or carved along the rockface walls that were sporadically linked by metal bridges arching over the mining tracks. A significant amount of the caverns were bathed in shadow, despite a line of small bulbs glowing along the roof, but enough light came free to see all the intricate networks of the mall from the signs and windows of shops, salons, or restaurants that seemed to spout from inside the walls like gems hidden underground, shining with either the sterile white walls of overly modernized shopping boutiques or colorful neon displays from the more lustful or stylishly dingy hideaways.
The minecart's tracks needled straight through the center of the tunnel on wooden supports, with switches occasionally curving off the main line to stop in front of some of the mall's strips. Without a warning, Katrina silently hit a button on the control panel only a second before our stop's route came up, and I was jarred around slightly without a chance to brace myself as we swerved onto the other track.
"...oh, sorry about that." She said quietly, noticing me rock around in my seat.
"Don't worry about it. We're coming up close, though, so get ready."
She nodded, and her hand went for the brake valve, this time pulling it gently to let our speed slowly dwindle. I could see my stop coming from a vertical sign hanging over the door, and by the time we'd made it to the walkway, Katrina'd slowed us down enough that she could come to smooth, yet complete stop, opening the doorway with a flick of the switch.
"Thanks. See you around!" I beckoned as I stepped onto the earthen walkway, and she nodded back before shutting the hatch behind me, her attention turning back on the track ahead as she set off. I watched her travel away for some seconds before looking ahead myself, walking towards the doorway of...  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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