OF THE NIGHT ∘ Seth Gecko

08 | The Beginning

The next one to leave is me. I feel bad about leaving Frost here, but he is a stubborn man that made up his mind and there is only so much we can do. I come to a stand in front of him and smile sadly at him. Leaving him feels worse than leaving Ranger Gonzalez did; Frost is stuck deep in the temple and has been through a lot of mental suffering. I truly that he'll get out.

"Thank you. Stay safe," I tell him, before walking past him.

After a few seconds, I hear Jacob and Kate following me and the hidden door to the storage room closing. We're alone in the dark hallways again and a part of me misses the safety of Frost's hiding place.

This part of the maze we're in seems darker and I tighten the hold on my weapons just in case. It's quiet again and I just hope that if danger will come our way, we'll hear it before we'll see it, so that we'll have a chance to figure out what to do, like earlier.

The same silence makes it easy for me to hear Kate and Jacob's voices, but I don't pay much attention to them. I focus on watching my step with the flashlight that I got and staying alert. However, when I hear Jacob talking to Kate in a panicked voice, I can't help but turn around to see what's wrong.

"Kate, what's wrong?" Jacob asks as I notice how distant and freaked out his daughter seems. "Kate! Kate!"

Worried as well, I start walking closer to Kate, who seems to be staring at nothing. Frost has warned us that this place will play with our minds, I just hope that she'll be able to snap out of it. I faintly hear Seth asking what's wrong behind me, when someone appears in front of us and grabs Kate, before disappearing into the darkness of the hallway's ceiling with her.

Jacob yells as Seth, Tanner and I hurry towards him. The three of us don't say anything but we all stare at the last place where we saw the girl. The Culebras have another advantage — this is their home and they know it much better than we do. My heart beats quickly in my chest as Kate's screams echo between the walls around us.

"We have to find her," I say to no one in particular.

A silent agreement seems to pass between the three men next to me before Jacob takes the lead. He is still slow with his movements, but I can notice the urgency in them. Seth's gaze meets mine before I look to where the preacher is heading. I really hope we will find Kate, not only for Jacob.

"Go ahead," Seth tells me and gestures for me to follow the other two men. "I'm right behind you, July."

We both join Tanner and Jacob. We continue our journey for the darkness and I make myself a mental note to pay attention to whatever's above us from now on. Kate's screams continue and it makes it easier for us to make our way through the maze until her voice seems to be close by and we hurry towards it.

Jacob leads us into a medium sized room, where Kate lying on an altar with her legs and hand tied. She's surrounded by a group of about five Culebras, who come to stand in front us, blocking our way to her. They look at us dangerously and I try to draw as little attention to me as possible as I make sure I still have a wooden stake on me.

Coming forward, Seth hold up his weapon and says, "Okay, She-nans!"

"It's Chanan," Tanner corrects him.

"Okay, Chanans!" the Gecko goes again.

To my annoyance, Tanner is still unsatisfied with Seth's pronunciation and he says, "No, it's a long—"

My gaze moves momentarily from the Culebras to the professor as I snap. "Not now!"

Fortunately, Seth doesn't waste any more time and says. "Professor, you go right. Jacob, go left."