A Fault in the Code

Chapter 17

I take a deep breath and swim towards the sound. After a few seconds, the sound completely surrounds me and I can feel myself start to spin around and around, faster and faster. I know what's going on. I am stuck in a whirlpool.

For a brief moment I think about what would happen if I died now. Would I go to Heaven? Would I wake up to find this whole thing is a dream? Would I just die and that'd be it? No afterlife, no nothing?

I long to see Jeff. To see my family. My friends. And if I die now, I have no idea if I will see them again or not.

Then I am sucked under. I hold my breath and keep my eyes closed as I am yanked deeper into the water, left and right, by what seems to be an invisible hand. I feel the cold water move past me as I sink down. I am running out of breath.

If I don't get air soon, I'm going to die.

My hands, feet, and head are internally covered in ice. My hands and feet are numb, and my head feels like a thousand brain freezes at the same time, and it is extremely painful. My lungs burn as they try to keep the air inside them a little longer.

I cannot take it anymore. I let the air out of my lungs and cough. I beg them not to, but my lungs attempt to inflate with more oxygen, only to find that the only oxygen here is in water's chemical formula, which I cannot use. I cough as my lungs fill with more water. I am very far away from the surface of the water now, so even if I could manage to escape the grasp of the water pulling me under, I wouldn't make it up in time.

My mind starts slipping out of conciousness, and my lungs keep trying to help me. But they're not. I want to tell them to stop. But they won't. The pain in my chest is unbearable. But the pain starts to subside as I fall into sleep...

But at that very moment, I hear a rumbling sound. I try to keep my mind awake for a little bit longer. Through my eyelids, I can see a faint light. And then, I am falling. And I can breathe. Then I hit something hard. I roll over onto my stomach, get on my hands and knees, then cough as hard as I can. I gag and vomit as water exits my chest and stomach and onto the floor.

I do this for several minutes, then roll back onto my back. I lay there for a while with my eyes closed as water from my clothes and hair forms a puddle around me.

When I open my eyes, they hurt. After being in darkness for so long, the light burns my eyes. I take a moment to adjust, then look around to see where I am.

It is a plain room made of what looks like stone bricks, with 3 torches on the wall and a small doorway on the right. There is nothing else in the room except a table with a book on it. It looks like the book that Jeff and I used.

I aproach the table and pick up the book. I slowly open up the front cover, then read the text on the first page.

You have made it this far.
Well done.

And that is all it says. I turn the page. Blank. Next page. Blank. I flip through every page, but they are all blank.

I put the book in my soggy backpack, grab a torch, and head through the doorway. My stomach growels. When was the last time I ate?

Eating will have to wait. I am in another dark place, but luckily the torch lights up the place enough for me to see the two walls at both my sides. It's just a hallway. A one-way street. I don't see how it can be possible to get lost in here.

I start to walk, but after a very short time, I can see something reflective off in the distance. I start to run toward it, and find that it is an iron door, like the doors in Herobrine's lab. There is no button or lever to open it. I take off my back pack to see if by any chance I may have something to use for it, and somehow, I have a button.

As I pull out the button from my backpack, the book I collected from the room I was in prior to this hallway starts to vibrate, harder and harder as in screaming, "READ ME! READ ME NOW!" it reminds my a bit of a cell phone. I put the button in the palm of my torch holding hand, then pull out the book with the other. I flip it open.

I don't know how it happens, but when I flip to the next page of the book, there are all of Jeff's sides of our past conversations. But the book is still vibrating. I flip the pages until I get to the very end of the conversations, but then, there's a new one.

I hope Rocky's okay.

It's Jeff. He's alive and he's worrying about me! Does he know that his book sends messages to mine? I write back.

I'm fine.

I wait a couple seconds. Then the book vibrates, and letters appear on the page below my writing.

Rocky! How did you... never mind. I just need to warn you. When you find an iron door, PREPARE YOURSELF. Make sure you have a weapon in your hand! You're walking into danger.

I write back.

What kind of danger?

He writes:

I don't think I'm supposed to tell you, bu

And then it stops. Mid-word. Then he writes again.

Nevermind, everything is going to be just fine. Go through the door. Just do it.