I watched Andie activate her all-purpose mask and dive hastily into the still, icy waters. The rest of the team looked at me, once again shocked by her actions, but I had no time to think. I don't care how mad Andie is at me but she was certainly not going into that water on her own. Especially when she's upset and won't think clearly.
"Drew, no-" Jacob started.
Drew YES! I thought. I want that on a t-shirt.
"I'm sorry Jacob. But I'm not losing Andie."
I pressed the hidden button in my suit on the right part of my neck (near my sternocleidomastoid) and a glass began to form fit onto my face. My nose and mouth had an oxygen filter attached to it and stats began feeding into my SmartMask.
Location... (1.744044, 128.041523)
Oxygen levels... (90%)
Temperature... (10 Celsius... unusually cold)
Pressure... (normal)
My fins extended from my dark gray and black suit shoes and the ice-like temperatures hit me like a truck. This felt like those polar-bear swims that literally no one likes. My lungs briefly constricted and my legs powered me deeper, following Andie's light. I could switch into a shark, but I need my SmartMask stats to affirm that a), I'm still following Andie, and b), where she's going is safe.
Temperature... (unusually cold)
Thermal measures activated.
Approaching object! WARNING! WARNING!
I panicked, my mask flashing red as I turned around. Thankfully, I only saw the warm and concerned faces of my team.
Incoming message from JACOB JOUBERT: We're following you.
Incoming message from BRYN OLIVEIRA: Go get your girl, Drew.
I blushed a little, and felt a sense of pride. "Your girl"... My girl. Andie.
My orb helped guide me father down, and my ears began to feel a little pressure, even though we were already miles beneath the surface. I guess I'm cool like that.
[ANDIE LOST SIGNAL]
I abruptly turned around to the group and they had the same confused and alarmed faces as I did. I held down a digital yellow circle on my FBI watch and spoke through my mask as an unseen microphone picked up my words.
"Andie? Come in Andie. Andie Myeong, report to Drew Vasiliev immediately after receiving this message."
Silence.
"Andie?" I started with a softer tone. "Andie we really need you to come in, I have to make sure you're okay."
WARNING. WARNING. TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. CAVE FALL IN APPROXIMATELY ¼ MILE FROM LOCATION. UNKNOWN IF SURROUNDING AREA IS SAFE.
сыр и крекеры. Andie.
"SmartMask, track location of fall in."
Tracking... COORDINATES FOUND. Would you like directions to the fall in?
"Yes."
Incoming message from BENJAMIN TREMBLAY: No sweat Drew, we're still on your tail. Swim as fast as you can. If we lose sight of you, we have your tracker.
I swam as fast as I could, my legs burning and my heart pounding, trying to see through the pitch black water. When I finally made it to the coordinates, I had no idea what I was looking at at first.
"Ember, I need help. Can you find weak rock? There was already a fall in, and it looks to be internal since we can't see an opening, but Andie has at least turned into a nurse shark. Who knows if the cave was open and is currently blocked."
Incoming message from EMBER MARTINI: Yes. Look at that weird trapezoid shaped rock right there. That's a weak link. I'm going to move it and you need to see if you can get in there.
"Okay."
True to her words, she guided the rock up and to the left, making sure that if she somehow lost control it wouldn't fall on me or the precariously balanced rocks. I swam over and found a large hole big enough to fit me, a 6'4" Russian male horizontally, and it looked stable enough to be widened for everyone to get into.
"I'm going to go in, and then you can widen the hole and allow the boat to go through. Make sure Ember, Connor, and Sam have their powers ready in case the rocks fall in. I'll also get a head start on finding Andie if she's not within eyesight."
Incoming message from EMBER MARTINI: Okay, thank you. Be safe.
I swam through the hole and found that the water tapered onto land and the cave was already well lit.
[ANDIE REGAINED SIGNAL]
I frantically looked around, trying to see if I could find her as a shark. But instead, she was in her human form, on the ground hugging her knees while shaking in a corner. I ran over and deactivated my SmartMask, the musky smell of saltwater and rock mixing with her favorite perfume, a subtle hint of clove, cinnamon, and wood.
"Andie! I'm so glad you're okay, what happ-"
She slowly looked up, her eyes a little puffy from crying. I can tell it hadn't been long, but it had happened.
"Andie, what happened? You've been really off today, and you really scared me swimming off like that."
Andie looked like she wanted to talk but didn't know how, so I tried another encouraging word.
"I can't have мой мармелад upset," I whispered.
"내 젤리 빈," She faintly responded. However, as soon as the boat came tumbling over the waves into the cave, she became cold again. "We'll talk about this later."
"Andie, no. We have to get this sorted out now because you're going to get h-"
"Later." She snapped. After a few seconds of silence, she gave me a weak smile, I guess to pacify the ice, but I didn't even know there was ice. Why is there ice? WHY IS THERE ICE???!!!
"ANDIE!" The remaining crew said at once, in different surprised and relieved tones. Surprised that she actually stayed where we could find her, and relieved she wasn't gone, hurt, or dead.
The girls began to rush over, and tried their best not to clamor over me, but somehow a bunch of five foot girls are really powerful. To be honest, it wasn't really worth getting pushed out of the way for because she gave absolutely no answers to them either. Even Bryn and Ember, who really know how to weasel information out of people. If we had a spy/stalk squad, they'd be on it.
Their confused and vaguely hurt faces matched mine, and they eventually backed away, giving us space. The boys didn't really know what to do, because while she was their teammate, if the girls and I couldn't get information out, they'd have no fighting chance.
Sam began to walk around the walls with Ember, looking for something that could be a weak rock or tunnel out. There ended up being many, so we found. But most led to dead ends (key word: most). We eventually culminated everyone to follow down one path, which didn't lead to a dead end for at least 500 meters, so we figured it led somewhere. Sam and Ember were in the lead, followed closely by Bryn and Connor. Cam and Ben stayed in the middle, and Jacob and Noel were meant to bring up the rear, following Andie and I. We don't really have a set order, but if we're adventuring into unknown territory, it's usually Sam, since he has gravity, and whoever controls the element we're in. In this case, it's Ember, since we're in a cave, but Bryn and Connor are close behind to allow support with blocking water and providing light, assuming the already well lit cave somehow becomes dark.
Speaking of well lit caves, we didn't know how it was well lit. There were no torches, or electric wiring. We were far enough under (twilight zone at best) to prevent natural light. However, there was heat. I suspected it could've been volcanic activity or hot water vents, but that still didn't explain the light.
"Andie," I called out, walking towards her. "We're going to explore this tunnel and we kinda need to take you with us."
"I'll watch the ship," She replied, emotionless.
"The ship is fine," Jacob called out. "Ember blockaded us in, so no one should steal it, especially this far underwater."
Andie let out a sigh.
"Come, please?" I whispered, outstretching my hand. If she didn't want to talk, that was fine, but I at least needed to keep her in my sight. She's so tough, but I would have never forgiven myself if I didn't give my fighting breath to protect her.
She took my hand, and I pulled her up, kissing the back of her hand lightly as a peace offering and walking behind her slightly as we caught up with the group. We decided to walk Andie and Noel behind Cam and Ben, and then Jacob and I, so Andie wouldn't feel pressured to talk to me. We walked down the rocky, enclosed path in silence until we got far enough spaced out that Jacob and I could talk.
"Hey, what's going on?" Jacob asked, using his Leadership Voice. I laughed dryly.
"I don't know. I really don't," I said, exasperated, running my fingers through my blond hair. "You've seen her the past few days, she's been somewhat fine. It's literally only after we got on the boat that things got worse, but I figured she was just anxious about the split. I didn't think she'd actually want it to happen."
"Yea, man, I don't know either. I know Andie like a sister, but if you and the girls can't crack her I don't know what can."
Scenarios ran through my head, searching, trying to find anything I did wrong the past few days.
"Jacob," I whispered, looking down, and then back up at him, desperate. "You don't think she's... tired of me?"
"Nononono. Hardly. I really don't think it's you. You've been together for what, 3 years? And friends for 8-9? I don't think she could abruptly end a relationship that fast."
"She's really really good at keeping her feelings down. I'm scared that she's been considering this for a while and... faking it-" I felt a surge of emotion up my chest and stopped myself. Jacob stopped, grabbed me by the shoulders, and looked me in the eye. His kind, deep green eyes helped me relax.
"Drew, it's going to be okay. You have every right to feel the way you feel, but you can't let it consume you when we have to stay focused, alright? She just needs a little space to sort out her feelings."
We began to walk again.
"When you got there before us, what was your conversation? Did she talk at all?"
"Yea, she talked. It was brief but she gave me something. And she was crying, but she wouldn't let on why."
"Anything else?"
"I called her my jelly bean, мой мармелад, and she responded the same in Korean."
"That's a good sign, I feel. She doesn't want to completely ignore you. Maybe she does just need space."
"I don't wanna leave her alone in this situation though..."
"Drew, you've done the best you can. Don't keep beating a dead horse, yea?"
"Yea, I guess you're right. I'll see how she feels before bed."
"I guess?" He then proceeded to make a remark in Bantu, probably along the lines of 'what do you mean I guess, Russian boy?'
"Haha, Jacob, if only you could compete with the Drew Package."
"Ha! As if! You-"
Just as Jacob was insulting my wondrous features that were sung to fame by me, Drew Vasiliev, Sam and Ember stopped up front, and everyone fell silent. We rushed to their sides, and were filled with wonder and fear at what lay ahead of us.
Outside of the rock archway that we were currently standing under, the first thing we saw was a very large skull. It looked about the size of a hill you would climb to have a picnic on a Sunday afternoon, wedged into more rock. Tropical vegetation was flourishing everywhere there wasn't rock- hanging off of the lips in the wall, even. The rock-skull-hill was surrounded by water that resembled stained glass, different shades of pastel green, blue, and white reflecting everything in the cavern. There was a single rowboat, tethered with a worn rope at whatever dock you would call this. It looked to be the only wood in here. Waterfalls, causing lots of mist, were scattered throughout, so it looked like we were in the bottom of one of those cool things you put in your house that just cycle the essential oil mist back through.
"Whoa."
"You could say that again, Cam." Ben whispered. This would be so romantic if it weren't for the skull and the creepy aura.
"What do we do?" Noel asked.
"I guess we explore. We don't want to risk encountering that weird skeleton man again, so I think this option's safer."
"Fair enough," I offered. "But Jacob, there's only one boat. Do you want everyone in one...? Or...?"
"Connor is hydrokinetic, so he can push the boat, and Drew and Andie can turn into some sort of marine life. Jacob's air control gives him the ability to breathe in virtually any medium, and Ember can fly above or sit on Connor's shoulder as a bird to provide more space in the boat."
"Sam and I can turn into mammals, which includes aquatic ones."
"Yea, and Ben and I can be turtles or another water reptile."
"Fair enough. The only person left is Noel, and I assume if we just don't use the boat all together, she can hitch a ride as a frog on Ember and Connor, if she chooses not to freeze over a patch or swim."
"Sweet! So the whole squad's boujee!" Connor remarked.
"How do we know if the pH is safe for the water?"
"Oh, good point Noel. I forgot about that," Bryn mused. "I guess there are perks to taking APES, huh?"
"Like always carrying water testing supplies in our mission bag? Oh yeah!"
"Alright. While you guys test the water, Ember and Connor can fly over and see if there's suitable land for the 10 of us to fit. If not, we can have a rep from each pair."
Ember and Connor turned into some ultra-specific species of waterfowl and flew off, hovering first over the island and then exploring the rest of the cavern, up into crevices where we couldn't see. Bryn and Noel were testing the pH, and while waiting, explaining the significance to anyone who would listen. It was more important for Jacob, since he's a team leader, but Sam and Ben felt like they should learn too, since Learning Opportunities are frequent on missions, and sometimes can help in a life or death situation. To be honest, they look like dads standing around watching a football game or trying to figure out what's wrong with a car, but we're not stereotyping here.
Cam was over on the right a few meters behind me sitting on the damp, uneven rock, trying her best to comfort Andie. Cam is really sweet, and a great listener, so if anyone, I think she'd have the patience to wait for Andie to open up. She was rubbing her back while Andie muttered words, some in Korean and some in English, and occasionally gave her a tissue to wipe away stray tears. While I yearned so badly to go over and envelop her into a hug and just make everything okay, Jacob was right. She needed space. So I went over to look at how the pH level-ing was going.
"...and if it's too acidic or basic, we can't survive for very long in it." Noel finished explaining.
"Because acid erodes the skin right?"
"Right! And anything organic, depending on how acidic it is and how much is used."
"Kinda freaky... maybe Thanos caused everyone to erode with acid."
"SAM!"
"Hey, I don't feel bad about making those jokes since I learned you have a thing for Tom Holland."
"It's never going to happen! I'm dating you!"
"Yea, you say that until we become world class heroes and they ask you in an interview, 'oOh bRyN wHo's YoUR cELebRItY cRusH?' and then you're going to answer 'tOm hOLlAnd' and he's going to come snatch you away."
"Sam, if you think about it, you could be sister-wives."
"HAHAH! What would you even call that? Brother-husbands?"
"Psh, I don't know. ¿Qué ve un niño blanco cuando puede tener una hermosa marrón como yo?"
Bryn rolled her eyes and laughed.
"Ah, não sei, alguém que vai prestar atenção em mim?" She responded, pretending to be sad.
"¡Te presto atención!" Sam said, hurt.
"I know, I know, commere." She opened her arms and he bent down to hug her, almost scooping her up but she swatted at him. "Sam, I'm still waiting on the pH stuff so no PDA please."
He rolled his eyes, smiling, giving her a quick peck before standing back up to lean against the rock again.
"Simp," Jacob whispered.
"Hey now, who was the one who got acrylics done with Noel the other day? Oh yea, I know, it was you."
"Sam if you want acrylics, my door is always open..."
"Oh! Look at the time! There's Connor and Ember!"
The two flew in and landed perfectly, transforming as soon as their webbed feet hit the rock. It reminded me of Swan Lake, where Odette transforms immediately to dance with the prince.
"There is definitely enough space for us to explore and stand up there without it just being sloping rock. It levels out behind the back of the skull," Ember said.
"Yea, and there's some wicked cool waterfalls too. Some of them have little ledges behind them where Ember and I-"
"Did nothing. Anyway, how's the pH?" She asked, leaning down to look at the strips. Her face began to turn a bright pink, and she tried very hard to hide it.
"Looks good to me," Bryn said. "It's floating around 8.1, so it's pretty brackish. You have to be careful which animals you all change into, because there are only a few types of fish that can survive in brackish water."
"Why?" I asked.
"Most freshwater animals can't survive in saltwater, and vice versa. There is a freshwater reservoir somewhere, and it's mixing with the ocean water- the result is this mixed level of salinity here, which Bryn found as around 200ppm. The bigger question we need to ask is... where are the wildlife?"
At this statement, we looked around. Sure, we could hear the trickling waterfalls and the occasional lapping of the water, but there were no obvious signs of life. No birds singing, no frogs or crickets, nothing. It was eerily silent.
"Um... maybe we should take the boat." Ember whispered.
"I thought the pH and salinity were fine, we just had limited options on the animals we morphed into," Cam asked.
"Yea, but think about it. No wildlife means this is either unnatural and/or uninhabitable. We're also ignoring the elephant in the room, the giant skull, which appears to be human and paranormal to me."
"I don't know. That boat doesn't look too sturdy to fit all 8 of us, or do any round trips."
"You can always turn into something small and just ride with us," Connor said.
"True. I think that's our best bet," Noel affirmed. "Okay, how big of birds can you turn into and what is the heaviest amount you can carry?"
"Wait."
We all looked behind us to Andie, who has been quiet this whole trip. We were slightly relieved to hear her speak, since none of us had initiated conversation in an attempt to let her cool off.
"What's up?" Jacob asked.
"How will Drew and I get there? We can't swim, and our whole thing is "fish". You can't even be those pelicans from Finding Nemo that scooped the fish into their beaks because we don't know how safe anything is."
"You raise a good point, but the skull isn't that far off. As long as Ember and Connor fly quickly, you as fish shouldn't lose much air." Noel said.
"What about Sam's gravity?"
"Can't. I am afraid of what impact it would have on the cave since it's already fallen in once."
There was a weird silence after that. No affirmation from Andie or anything. The nine of us looked at each other, and back at Andie, who was mindlessly kicking rocks and avoiding eye contact.
"Okay, so let's get started!" Ember said, breaking the tension. They both turned into Andean condors, the largest bird of prey, weighing in at 15kg, or 33 pounds. To be honest, they freak me the heck out, even as Ember and Connor. The two picked up the first to go, Cam and Ben, who were now bearded dragons. After dropping them off and showing them where to put their mission bags, they came back for the mice, Bryn and Sam. Then it was Andie and I's turn.
"Okay, any suggestions? How about a piranha? Brings back old memories, eh?" I joked, striking some heroic swimming poses. A stone cold look showed vague weakness.
"How about a guppy?" She shot back.
"I don't know, I'm feeling very Angelfish today, since, y'know, I'm an angel."
"Ha."
Thankfully, we ended up switching into angelfish and as soon as we did, I was picked up by Connor's talons and Andie by Ember. I began to hold my breath, watching the still, pretty, and compelling waters to distract myself, and then all of a sudden this wonderful music began to play...
The sound filled my head like warm molasses. I saw pretty mermaids swimming, waving, and calling out to me. I wiggled to get out of Connor's talons, which caught him off guard, but I didn't care. He was standing in between me, oxygen, and those wonderfully enticing people. I eventually wiggled so much Connor accidentally dropped me, and I free fell, into the tempting blue green waters. It was warm, and I was able to breathe again. But when I looked around, and the haze in my head cleared, there was no pretty music, or fish, or even mermaids. There were skeletons. And they were alive.
I swam as fast as I could to the surface, and turned into a human to thrash around and get their attention.
"HELP! HELP!' I screamed. Connor was already making a nose dive towards the water, and Ember practically threw fish Andie onto shore to come back for me. "ПОМОГИТЕ! ПОМОГИТЕ!" My native language returned, more panicked than before, because I felt boney hands wrap around my feet, then work their way up to calves, pulling me down. I tried resisting, but as strong of a swimmer I am, there were too many working against me. Right before my eyes went under, Connor released his condor transformation, and as soon as he touched the water it split like the Red Sea. Suddenly I was standing on the dry sea floor, pond floor, reservoir floor, WHATEVER floor. I was shaking.
"Turn into a fish!" Connor yelled, keeping a dry circle for us to stand, the water walls piling high.
"Um, NO! Did you see what happened last time?!"
"Drew, if you value your life at all, I would suggest you turn into a fish right freaking now!" He then yelled angry Jamaican words at the water, which was quickly advancing on us as more skeletons began to surround the divide. I did what I was told, and Ember swooped down and grabbed me, flying me up and out of the middle of the reservoir thing. She dropped me off, and I turned back into a human, gasping for air on the ground. That was the most horrifying thing I have ever experienced in my life, and I've been through a lot.
The two circled back to grab Noel and Jacob, and as soon as they were over on the skull hill, Connor and Ember collapsed.
"Drew, what the f-"
"FAJITAS were you thinking?! What happened?!" Bryn said, standing over me.
"I don't know," I said, gasping. Bryn held her hand to her lips, her fingers together and thumb tucked in, and I mimicked it. Breathing against a force requires me to take deep breaths to get oxygen. After a few seconds, my heaving chest began to slow. "So you're telling me that none of you heard that music?"
"What music?" Noel asked dubiously.
"I heard music, and it filled my head making my mind hazy. All I wanted to do was jump into the water to breathe ."
"Music? Did you see anything?" Cam asked, walking down from the spot Ben and her were claiming. We didn't exactly feel like walking up from the shore right now.
"Yea, mermaids, but I thought it was maybe a hallucination because-"
"You were low on oxygen. Hypoxia. But that doesn't explain the mermaids, unless-" Bryn started.
"Unless what?"
"Unless everything is on the table." Andie said, looking over. "So far today, we've seen two or three paranormal things."
"We could argue against the skeleton one, the vacuum, but not this giant skull hill. Or, those mermaids and hypoxic episode Drew just had." Ben said.
"Are they sirens?" Ember said, finally having the motivation to speak (and done collecting herself). "The way you were describing that music, and mermaids... and you were being pulled down..."
"Those were definitely not mermaids," Connor stated, sitting up. "Those were skeletons, fighting against my water wall. There were so many of them."
"Wait, skeletons, mermaids, and sirens? Drew, when you saw the mermaids, were they above or below water?" Cam asked.
"I only saw mermaids that had bodies above water. Their tails were only visible if they curved and came up, breaking the surface."
"Hang on, let me try something. Bryn, I need you and that med bag close to me," Cam said. "Connor, when I give you the signal, you need to encapsulate whatever I'm looking at in a bubble." She then began to hold her breath, and after about 45 seconds I saw her eyes start to glaze over. When I followed her gaze, I saw her. A mermaid, with dark, gleaming skin and long, spiraled hair began to rise above the water, singing to me. My brain started to fog up again. I wanted to go see her, but out of the corner of my eye, something caught me off guard.. Cam threw her arm out toward Connor, and the mermaid was enclosed in a bubble- a clear, freshwater one.
"WHAT. IS THAT." Ben screamed.
The haziness immediately wore off, and I saw a grimey, algae covered skeleton with a menacing glare swimming around in its tiny cage above the reservoir water.
"LOOK! If you lower the bubble, or give her air, she turns into flesh again!"
Connor did as he was told, and sure enough, her neck up was flesh and the rest of her body was bones, floating in the water. She opened her mouth to sing and Connor put her back under.
"Okay this is not normal."
"I'll tell you what Sherlock. You are quite the detective."
"Is the water brackish and pretty and enticing so we can't see in it? Because when the girls were testing the pH they saw nothing in the water, it was pure reflection and the paper virtually disappeared when it was placed under." Sam asked.
"I don't know and to be honest, I'm a little scared to find out. Put her back in and take note- do not go near or touch the water. And partner up. Because if the singing begins to happen because someone is holding their breath, I don't want a dead body on my hands. Especially not you all." Noel said, sharply.
"Fair enough," Connor said, and threw his arms down abruptly. The siren screamed, and made a splash. "That'll teach her."
We all gathered up our belongings, mine sopping wet, and made a short hike up to the designated grassy area. Jacob blow dried me with his wind, and my hair was fluffy again. My mission suit and shoes were dry and my bag was as well.
"Okay y'all, let's talk about this. This is definitely paranormal, but what can we do? We can't exactly call the government and be like 'ayo we're stuck in a cavern under this tiny island in Indonesia, we have 48 hours of food per person with us, and oh by the way these creepy skeletons are trying to kill us,'" I said.
"What can the government do? They're not exactly on the best terms with us right now, considering we're still being split up in 14 days." Ben agreed.
"How do we know if that skull right there isn't real?" Noel asked.
"I'd say it's not attached to a body, but there are literally no rules to this crazy cavern." Cam said, laughing nervously.
"Does anyone have any really spiritual family members, or perhaps a pope we can get in contact with?" Jacob asked jokingly.
"Sam and I both have really religious families," Bryn offered.
"I speak the same language as the Pope!" Ember exclaimed. "I mean, I don't know him personally, but it wouldn't hurt to call him."
"Hmm... okay. Let's explore around a little more and see if we find anything else weird before we sit down and get attacked. We're definitely not splitting up though- we need all hands on deck in case we have another close call."
We began walking towards the skull, tramping down plants and trying not to touch anything, lest it's poisonous. Noel and Bryn say that based on the shape, and since they look like the Indonesian tropical plants by our house, we should be fine, but you can't be overly cautious here.
After a few minutes of dodging the plants and trying not to fall down the steep, rocky incline down to the shore, the ten of us reached the occipital part of the skull and found that if we wanted to look in it, we'd have to dig down to where the cervical bones would go in, or climb around and enter into one of the orifices.
"Okay guys, which do you think is easier, climbing around the skull and climbing into its mouth or eye holes or making Ember clear the rock?" Connor asked.
"To be honest, the first is easier but I don't want to get chomped or anger whatever spiritual thing that might live here," Cam said uneasily.
"Yea, I think I'd rather risk taking away the rock and causing a minor landslide rather than anger a bone-spirit thing." Ember affirmed. "Okay, everyone behind me." She spread the earth out, tracing around the skull so it was still hooked in the hill, but we could access the hole. She also added in divots for us to put our feet on when we climbed down into it.
"Alright, all done. How are we going to go in?"
"I think the order that we had last time works. Sam, you can go first just in case the rocks or skull falls in, and then Ember, Bryn, Connor, Cam, Ben, Andie, Noel, Drew, and I."
"Do you want me to be ahead of or behind Ember, since I have light?"
"Um, I think behind should be okay. It seems pretty well lit right now."
"Okay, sounds good."
Sam began his descent, and then was followed by the order Jacob listed previously.
"Hey, nice job on the ladder Ember!" Sam yelled.
"Um, I didn't make a ladder..."
"Well, there's one bolted to this rock, so... somebody did."
"That's so odd," I whispered.
When it was my turn, I turned to face Jacob and slowly put my feet down, holding the ledges that I had previously stepped on when I got deep enough into the rock. As soon as I touched the ground, I turned around and looked up, a large hole to the opening of the skull with a metal ladder bolted on it was awaiting me. So I climbed up it, and looked around.
"Hey, is this what my brain feels like? There's so much room in here!" I laughed, stretching my arms out and spinning around.
"Well, it's usually filled with, y'know, organs, Drew. But maybe you don't have a brain," Andie snapped.
"Okay, little miss snapping turtle. We all know Drew is an airhead," Bryn winked, "but he doesn't have the brain capacity to understand that." She then gave me a smile and tried to talk to Andie again, and I saw Andie return the smile weakly a few times at her continuous positive attitude, but her mood remained stagnant. Finally, Jacob came up and broke the quiet chatter between people.
"Did you guys find anything yet?"
"I mean not really, but we wanted to wait for you before we started actually looking."
"Fair enough. Okay everyone, go ahead and spread out!"
You would think that maybe a skull would be relatively small, but this one was around the size of a basketball court. So we looked up and down, and a few people climbed up ladders to look for things.
"Hey, I found something!" Ember shouted.
"Can you pick it up? And bring it down?"
"No, it's too heavy. I have to use both hands."
"Pick it up with one, and right as you let go, grab it and fall back. I'll catch you."
"This seems a little risky Connor... I'm really far up..."
"I'll catch you. I promise."
"I'll be on standby," Sam said. While we all love playing around with Sam's gravity (it makes in person Among Us more fun), he's always cautious about using it on missions when we're in particularly weird areas. The same goes for Ben's magnetic fields.
"Pinky promise?"
"Pinky promise."
She let go of the ladder and pulled the box down with her, falling straight into Connor's arms. All those times that Bryn made us practice cheer were totally worth it.
"I guess you fell for me, huh?" He asked, smirking.
"Oh 100%." She giggled, and gave him a kiss.
"Ew, stop the PDA, simps," Ben teased.
"Nah, anything to make you feel uncomfortable Ben."
Connor put her down and then helped Ember move the large, flat box to the center of the room. We all sat down around it and looked at the scribbled writing on the top. Para los niños del FBI.
"This is kinda suspicious..."
"Just open it!"
Jacob and I lifted the cover up, and Ben pulled out a large, wood game board that looked antique. Cam reached in behind him and grabbed a large cloth bag, which we assumed held the game pieces, and laid them all out. They were spirit animal figurines, each one corresponding with our actual spirit animals. Two poison dart frogs, a red hawk, a snowy owl, a komodo dragon, a leatherback sea turtle, a jaguar, an arctic wolf, a great white shark, and a nurse shark. After taking our icons, we looked at the game board. It only had 5 slots to land on, and then 5 circles where you're supposed to choose your team. We all looked at each other and shrugged. Connor and Ember put theirs in a circle, and the board hissed and spat it back off.
"WHOA!"
"Is that an ouija board?!"
"What in the name of..."
"I guess try a different combo? And try not to get eaten?!"
"Um, let me try me and Sam?"
He placed the two in the first circle and it lit up, turned green, and the wood began to engrave itself above the circle. EL HALCÓN Y EL JAGUAR.
"Is it by gender? There's not enough to evenly split!"
"Umm, Ember, why don't you try?"
She took her figurine with Bryn's and it spat them back out. She repeated it again with the rest of the girls, and was utterly confused.
"Try a guy?"
It worked with Jacob. LA RANA Y EL BÚHO.
After much trial and error, Cam and Bryn were paired, LA TORTUGA Y EL LOBO, and Noel and Ben were paired too, EL DRAGÓN Y LA RANA.
That only left Andie and I. I gave her a weak smile as I placed ours in the circle. LOS TIBURONES. She buried her face in her hands, and I looked to everyone else for help. Nothing.
"I guess we're playing this now...?"
"If anything paranormal happens, stick with your partner. I'm begging you. And someone will come find you."
"Okay, it looks like Sam and Connor are up for rolling... where's the die?"
"Here, but it only has five sides marked. The other one is blank."
"Okay, let's roll." Connor shook the die, a one was rolled, and the two figurines landed on a cactus. "Wow, that was anticlimactic."
Everyone laughed in relief, and the rest of us rolled. Bryn and Cam landed on a mill, Noel and Ben a lemur, Ember and Jacob a volcano, and Andie and I a mountain.
"Now what? There's only five spaces total and they're all occupied by our figurines."
"I'll roll this time, maybe more spaces are unlocked?"
"Okay Sam, go ahead."
He rolled, and it was blank.
"That's weird. Are we supposed to-"
Everyone's square began to open like the doors in Maze Runner, slowly. One by one, the figurines caught fire and disintegrated, and we watched them.
"What's down there? It's so dark..?" Cam asked.
I then felt a strong push, like someone pushed me, but out of my peripherals I saw everyone fall at the same time.
I heard multiple people screaming, and then Andie and I were alone in a loudly quiet dark, wind whipping around us, and we were falling, for what felt like forever.
And then we hit the ground.