Chapter 9: Darkness of Past and Present

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Air flew up past me as I fell

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Air flew up past me as I fell. I landed hard and sprained my ankle. I cried at the pain, but no one was coming. I was alone.

...

I shook my head to clear the memory of my 9-year old self as I fell. Suddenly, I landed in cold water with a splash.

I shivered and the cold kept me going. I saw Grunt B a couple feet away from me, unconsience. I grabbed him and swam forward to where I saw dry land. I hauled Grunt B onto the stone surface and climbed out of the water.

Grunt B awoke and began coughing up water. I looked around to see we were in a dark, barely lit cavern. The only light came from above from Verdant Cavern.

I looked to my left and saw the other grunt in the darkness with Nebby circling him.

Upon seeing me, Nebby cried, "PEW!" And floated towards me.

I rubbed her squishy head and turned to Grunt B who had stopped coughing up water. "Are you okay?"

"Ye-*cough-yeah." He said, coughing.

The other grunt walked up to us. "Where are we homie?"

I glared at him. "I ain't your homie."

He backed up. "Sorry hom- yo."

I looked around again, noticing Nebby gave off some light. Besides that and the faint light from Verdant Cavern, we were in the dark.

...

I limped across a stone tunnel. I couldn't see and I could hear sounds from up ahead. I could only hope it was friendly.

Suddenly a huge roar filled the tunnel. I tried to run back the way I came, but I banged my hurt ankle against the stone wall next to me.

I collapsed, howling in pain, hoping that whatever was coming would kill me as painless as possible.

...

I had taken off my backpack and had begun rifling through the stuff Alex had got me, Hau, and Robert at the mall. I pulled out a flashlight and flicked it on. The light illuminated the darkness and I settled the beam on a dark opening 30 feet away.

I motioned for the grunts to follow me as Nebby and I went over to the opening in the wall. "Hey Skull Boys. C'mon. I'm getting us out of here."

They followed, but one of them complained behind me. "Who put you in charge yo?"

I turned to face them. "Because I can keep my cool in situations like this."

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