Before I Leave

Impact

"I can't see," Madeline complained somewhere to the left of Luke.

"Is there a light switch around here?" Willow spoke fast and her voice was shaky.

"I'm not sure. Feel around on the walls," Luke ordered calmly.

Luke ran his hands over the cold, bumpy wall. Poorly painted....Concrete? His fingers crossed over onto a surface much rougher than the last. Then his palm caught something smooth. Metal? He traced the object. A doorknob, maybe.

A dusty light glimmered in the, now clearly visible, bronze object. Luke looked away from it and glanced behind him. The light flickered a bit and then remained steady at a ghost like setting. Madeline stood on the opposite side of the room by a switch. "Found it."

The basement was compact. Its walls exactly as Luke had predicted. Three of them were coated poorly with yellow paint that was cracked and bumpy. The other wall (that Luke stood by) was completely concrete. Its wooden door had a bronze knob and nails sticking out of it. On it was a HAZARDOUS sign.

Luke bared his teeth into grin and then turned his attention back to the door knob.

"What do you think is behind there?" Willow asked while standing by the manhole they climbed down through.

"Only one way to find out."

Luke slowly stretched his sweaty arm to the door knob. His heart jumped with each inch he came closer to grabbing it. Quickly, he latched onto the door before he could back out.

Willow screamed, "Luke, wait!"

Luke stopped himself from twisting the knob. "What?" He asked.

"Don't you smell that?" She crinkled her nose and coughed with volgur.

Luke inhaled the air. Immediately he regretted it. A vile stench erupted into his nostrils and flowed over every nerve. He recoiled back and clamped his hand over his nose. "Oh my gosh!" He mumbled into his sweaty palms.

Madeline clenched her stomach. "What is that?" She gagged.

The room reeked of decay and roadkill. Luke shot a glance at the door. What were you up to Bill......

His hands locked onto the knob and twisted.

He pulled.

~~~~~~~~~~

              It was over, there was no turning back now. You had switched positions in air. Now your body took on a hang glider shape; arms and legs spread and body flat.  Before you made contact, you threw your arms up to protect your head in a criss-cross position. Your body hit hard. The impact ripped open your shirt a bit to reviel chest and a bit of your abdomen. Ripples sliced through your stomach, leg, and breast skin. You were lucky not to be cut in half or be pulverized by any sharp rocks.

      Water vaccumed into your lungs and choaked you. Your chest burned and that heart rate was out of control. A swirling vortex of grey liquid swooshed around your ears and up your nose. The fimiliar feeling of drowning was being tossed about in your head. Which way is up? Oh, God, where is the surface? God must have heard you, becuase sunlight shot down into the water and collided with your arm. You looked up and began to kick your legs toward the light's shimmer.

Your head burst through the surface. Gasping for air, you felt the burning in your lungs give a little. Hair intertwined with the water and fell over your face. You pulled it away, while keeping yourself afloat. Splashing and treding the water violently with your arms and legs, you swam forward. You twisted around in every direction, trying to see land.