“Oh Brenden,” responded Ms Halford, who immediately felt guilty for still suspecting that the boy wanted to take the opportunity to blame her for what had happened when he ran away.
“I’m sorry, Ms, I knew I shouldn’t have come here,” said Brenden, who interpreted the response of the teacher as confirmation of his impression that Adam’s suggested visit to Ms Halford was a mistake. “You’ve already told me that you think it’s best to return to the world out there rather than to go down to the Tunnels. I’m sorry that I disturbed you.”
Brenden shot up out of his seat and, with his gaze firmly fixed on the ground, made to leave at a brisk pace.
“Brenden, stop. Wait just a moment.”
Despite the boy’s prior prompt following of the teacher’s previous directions, this time Brenden ignored the teacher’s command and quickly exited the room. He managed to march halfway down the corridor, overtaking the slowly moving Arnold on the way, before Ms Halford burst through the wall to catch up with the boy.
“Brenden!” said Ms Halford firmly. “This is no way for a young man to conduct himself. You haven’t even asked a question of me yet, let alone waited to hear what I might have to say about the issue.”
Sheepishly, Brenden tried to make some further excuses, but Ms Halford firmly rejected them and insisted that they return to her classroom to continue the conversation.
“Now,” announced the teacher, after getting Brenden to sit back down behind one of her class’s desks, “where were we? You mentioned something about Adam suggesting that you should come and talk to me?”
“Yes, Miss,” responded Brenden meekly.
“And that it was something to do with the Tunnels?”
“Yes, Miss.”
“So, now that we’re back here in the classroom, and as you have my full attention Brenden, what is it that you wanted to ask?”
“Well,” said Brenden hesitantly, “it’s just that, I don’t know, what’s it like down there?”
Ms Halford was pleased, something which surprised her. She never thought that she would be happy about a student asking about the Tunnels; something which most probably meant that they were seriously considering entering the underground world for the undead. She also recognised that now that Brenden had finally broken his silence on what he wanted to ask, it was no longer necessary to take a firm hand with the boy.
“Ah, Brenden, what can I tell you? It’s been such a long time since I was down there.”
The boy greeted this statement with a look of mild resignation and slumped down ever so slightly in his seat.
“But, do you remember what I told you just before? When we were in the common room? That we aim here at the school to pass on our experiences as best we can. So I endeavour to do just that.”
To compose herself a little and to collect her thoughts together, Ms Halford wandered from where she was standing in front of Brenden over to her desk, which she usually considered to be a most useless object for a ghost such as herself. “It must have been around 80 years ago when I first went down there. For reasons I won’t go into, I came to a point when I believed it would be best for me to retire from the world out there. You see, things are a little different for a spirit; we have no need to feed, no hunger that requires us to find the means to support ourselves. However, there are other things that can drive one away.
“It must have only been a month or so, that I was down there, but it was more than enough. They say that things have changed for the better. Since the last great war, technology for such hidden places has moved on to ensure that even the living can attempt to survive in something apparently close to comfort. However, I fear that some things will still be the same. You see, it was not the dank and the dark, nor the horror of potentially finding oneself in ancient, lost and forgotten regions of tunnels; it was not even the loss of the natural light of the sun. No, the thing that drove me away and led me to go through the difficult process of returning was something I myself did not have to suffer, not directly. It was the horror of having to witness the terrible hunger of those time-worn individuals; the zombies and vampires such as yourself. Though, truly, it only comes in phases, when it reaches its peak, that wretched consuming need is a horror beyond all description. It was much more than I could bear.”
“Is there no blood down there?” asked Brenden, taken aback by the teacher’s description of the subterranean world Adam seemed so keen for people to enter.
“Surely Adam has already covered this matter? It’s not the case that there is no blood, but for most this might as well be so. This is also the case for all poor creatures who must consume something to avoid losing themselves for a time. This is one of the main reasons for the Tunnels. You see, how can I say, the collection and storing of blood - and bodily organs - in a fashion that is not only morally acceptable but which ensures that such things can be kept in a state useful for dead is only a relatively recent development. Previously, if one wanted to avoid having to hide among the living and suffer the existence of what was tantamount to being a monster, it was often necessary to remove oneself to such a place, as barbaric as it was, as the Tunnels.
“But even now, even though we have the ability to acquire and store blood for the vampire community, we never have enough. In a way, those who descend down
