Kade’s anger mounts – TROY, get back here now! He shouts, hovering towards him at speed. Suddenly the sight of both guys hovering towards the entrance of the unknown tunnel fills me with dread and I scream, “Kade, Troy, get back here, going anywhere near that place without planning is an epic fail!”
Kade immediately stops and reverses back to me. I appeal to Troy with a less aggressive tone, “Come back Troy, please.” He stops, tantalizingly close to the entrance whilst the voices continue to softly plead, “Help us,” in their myriad languages. Troy looks back at us, “I have to go in. You see, I recognize many of these voices from my time here. I can hear my math tutor and my personal trainer, to name just a few – I must try and save them if I can.
Then a voice addresses him directly, “Yes, it’s me Troy, Pierre, your Personal Trainer. I was preparing you for your wedding to Tanya, before she escaped and everything changed. Please help us, we don’t have much time left – I beg you!”
Ignore it Troy, “It’s a trap, we’re being manipulated,” says Kade.
I’m hit with a bolt of recognition, “NO, Kade.” He looks at me, concern showing in his swollen eyes. “What do you mean, no? He can’t go in there, and you know that!” Says Kade, assertively. I look at him, “I recognize that voice, too. Pierre was my trainer when I lived here, we went jogging together everyday. He’s a good guy.”
Kade shakes his head, “Tan – see sense. You know what’s happening here.”
I lower my voice, “Let Troy go take a look. He’s well armed, he can check out if it’s the real deal in there – then we can make a decision based on his findings,” I say.
“And what if there’s no way out?” He asks, with a lowered voice.
I lower my head, “Well, then at least we’ll know.
Suddenly guilt engulfs me as Kade says what I’m thinking, “Tan, you’re almost asking Troy to sacrifice himself for us,” he says. I hang my head, “Yeah, that’s pretty low, I don’t know what came over me,” I say, looking up to see Troy hovering at the entrance to the Sacrificial Sanctuary. I take a breath and shout, “Troy, get back here – NOW!”
But my words simply follow him as he disappears inside the tunnel.
Kade and I look at each other, then up. Our hearts sink in tandem as we realize that while we’ve been distracted by Troy, a glass cover has created a roof above us. We look back to see a thick wall of glass has descended behind us. Kade states the obvious, “We can’t go back, or fly up.” He looks at me, “Where’s our way out of this place?” He asks.
We watch as words appear, projection like onto the glass floor. Words that seem to answer Kade’s question: There’s only ONE DIRECTION. The words are followed by an arrow pointing to the entrance of the Sacrificial Sanctuary. Kade’s voice carries a sad resignation, “We’ve walked, or should I say, flown right into their trap. How could we be so stupid?” I try to be positive, “We don’t know that for sure, not until we get in there.” My voice can’t hide my creeping despair. Kade hovers close and embraces me, “If we’re gonna die in there, at least we’ll die together. I guess we should be grateful for small mercies.”
.....
Hand in hand we hover towards the unknown.
We stop and hover by the entrance.
The darkness is dense and impenetrable.
A cold breeze penetrates our protective suits, causing me to shiver and shudder with a foreboding anticipation.
“Troy, what’s in there?” Hollers Kade – his words echo back at us.
The silence adds to the ominous and I know Kade is thinking the same as me: is our end near?
