.₊꒰ 🪓 ꒱:⩩┆( 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙬𝙣 )⊹.*
𝑆𝐼𝑋. ☠︎︎ 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡
⸝⸝ ʚ 🪓 ! ⌗ °• ━━━━━━━━━ ❞𝑴𝑰𝑲𝑬, 𝑼𝑷 𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑬!❞ 𝑴𝑨𝑹𝑳𝑶𝑾𝑬 𝑭𝑶𝑳𝑳𝑶𝑾𝑬𝑫 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑶𝑼𝑵𝑫 𝑶𝑭 𝑨𝑵 𝑬𝑪𝑯𝑶𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑺𝑪𝑹𝑬𝑬𝑪𝑯 𝑰𝑵 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑴𝑰𝑵𝑬𝑺. Mike stopped looking everywhere for the sound and looked where the short girl was pointing. His rifle was on standby as he raised it to eye-level, looking through the scope to get a better look at whoever was up at the top of the elevator.
Blocking her ears, Marlowe watched as Mike's finger pulled at the trigger, firing at whoever it was. She removed her hands from her ears as she stared wide eyed at Mike. Whatever was happening, it was real. And she couldn't believe her eyes.
"Come on, we need to go!" Mike yanked on Marlowe's bare arm with his free hand, carrying the rifle in his other. The metal beneath their feet creaked with instability as their heavy footsteps were determination filled.
The path was mostly clear of any obstacles, a hole or two here and there in the metal from past damage. Eventually they reached a set of stairs, going up on flight at a rapid pace, and keeping up that same pace for the second flight. Mike came to an abrupt stop, his grip tightening on Marlowe's hand as he looked below them. A large break in the path.
"I hope you can jump as well as you can run," Mike released his grip and made the jump, successfully landing on his feet without any difficulty.
Marlowe walked backwards, but careful not to fall off the edge behind her as there was a lack of a guard rail. Deep breath in, deep breath out, she told herself before sprinting along the minimum metal that remained in front of her. She leaped at the last moment and had landed on her feet before collapsing to a single knee. Mike grabbed a hold of her shoulder and pulled her back up on her feet. It had been a while since the girl last partook in any such excruciating activities, she was feeling a little rusty.
The path had now ended, no metal platforms left to take them to the top on the broken elevator. All that they had left was the vertical climb. "Just like rock climbing, huh? I'll go first."
Mike grabbed her wrist as she stepped forward to the wall of loose scrap metal, "it's not safe. At least let me go first to check it out."
"I'll be fine, Michael," Marlowe took her wrist back and placed both of her hands securely on the scrap metal that had been bolted down the the structure. She kicked off of the ground and began her climb, a mostly simple one until she got around halfway. She stopped for a moment.
The man below was catching up to her slowly as she calculated her plan of action, "Lo, you good?"
"Yeah! Yeah, I'm good. It's just a bit more fucked up here," she held her breath before making a leap, her fingers almost slipping off of the structure she had grabbed on to. Mike's eyes had widened at the sight, knowing he was next.
Climbing the rest of the way was a breeze in Marlowe's mind until she got to the top, where the climb had ended. All that was left was one simple jump... well, simple wasn't how the girl would put it at all. A single glance below her feet was enough to force her to press her back against the metal structure. Mike made his way to stand beside her.
"Oh shit," he looked below, then to the platform they needed to be on, and then to Marlowe, "okay, Lo, you just need to jump to the other side, okay? You'll be alright."
"Michael Munroe, I am a track runner. I don't do fucking parkour," Marlowe hissed, and the man rolled his eyes at the girls hostility. He chose to take the lead instead and leaped across the deathly gap.
"Hey, look at me," Mike told the scared girl, and she did, "don't look down. Just jump. I'll catch you, I promise. I have your back. You can make it."
Marlowe leapt for it, closing her eyes when she got about halfway as she was scared of the result. She waited for the deathly fall but felt hands grab and shake her instead.
"Told you that you'd make it." Mike smiled and followed down the darkness of the tunnel in front of them. "We're close. I can feel it. We're close to finding whoever the fuck did this to Jess."
A mere few seconds passed with Mike holding his gun with pride, like a child that had found their new favourite toy.
The pair spotted a man walking, his back turned from them, as he disappeared further down the tunnel.
"Holy shit... we found the guy!" Marlowe slapped Mike's bare biceps, finding them to be surprisingly warm despite the cold environment. Her face twisted with confusion as Mike brought up the gun from his side, preparing to shoot the man. But, he was long gone. "Seriously, you were gonna kill someone, Mike?!"
"He killed Jess! What else are we supposed to do? Come on!" He chased after the unknown man through the tunnel and Marlowe was close behind. There was a part of Marlowe that doubted that this was the killer they were after. How was a man able to drag a poor girl so far out into the wilderness, in the cold, and at such an incredible speed. Mike finally scored the perfect opportunity to shoot the figure of the killer, placing the gun in the position, he pulled the trigger. Marlowe covered her ears like she had previously, but the loud blast never followed, just an empty click of nothing.
No more bullets.
He cursed and threw the gun on the ground of the mines, his hands on his sides as he walked around in a circle. They had lost the man, or so he thought.
Her eyes widened and Marlowe was paying full attention since the incident. "Mike! Come on!" She pulled on his bare arm as she dragged him to the mechanical door that was beginning the slide shut. That was their golden ticket to finding that man again. She released his arm once Mike was finally on board with what was happening.
Marlowe was far faster than he, already at the door by the time it was nearly closed. She could follow pursuit through there now if she so wished. But she let Mike catch up and stayed on the side of the closed gate with him.
"Ah, shit... missed it..." Mike pressed his hand to his forehead, "you could have slid under and made it, Lo."
She loosely grabbed his hand and dragged him off to the side, "and risk your dumbass being on your own... that would be far too cruel a fate, Michael. Besides, there's another way 'round."
Marlowe crouched to observe the crawling space. A small cave tunnel with a glossy interior.
"Here," Mike threw her the lighter, "might help."
"Thanks."
It took a few attempts, but when the flame caught on, Marlowe could finally make out the path in front of her. The light emitting from the lighter was dull, not doing much to help other than emphasising the situation they were in. Regardless, Marlowe pursued through the cave, Mike close on her trail.
"Take it easy, okay?" Mike encouraged her, but the sudden voice among the silence caused her to flinch.
Marlowe sighed, "you can't just randomly speak words of encouragement when- AHH!"
Mike's face fell as the light vanished and so did the girl in front of him, "LO!"
"I'm okay! I'm okay... shit..." Marlowe picked the lighter from the wet and misty ground, igniting the flame once again. She spun to look at the area... of course there had been a ledge. "Just watch out for the drop."
Marlowe could just make out Mike's shadow before seeing him in full as he dropped to her level. His hands gently caressed hers before he took the lighter.
"I'll be in front, you stay behind me," Mike took charge as they began making their way down the dark passage, cave walls plastered with wooden planks in the hopes of preventing any sorts of rock fall.
"You know the person that's at the back is more likely to die," Marlowe observed.
Mike halted almost immediately, forcing Marlowe's face to plaster into mans stiff back. He turned, keeping the lighter in the middle of the both of them so that way they could properly see each other.
His hand reached out to brush the hair that stuck to her cheek after the fall, along with the atrocious state that her microbangs were in, "I wouldn't let that happen."
With brown eyes wide open, Marlowe snapped her head away from the mans rough hands, "isn't there a killer on the loose somewhere? We should probably hurry instead of letting him get away."
The orange light moved from her face and toward the exit of cave's path they had taken after a couple moments of hesitation.
Upon taking the longer path, the man they were after could no longer be seen ahead of them, but they were now on the other side of the metal gate.
The pair shared a single glance before Mike reached for a lantern that was on a nearby rusted work bench. His hands fiddled with the lighter for a while as he attempted to ignite a flame within the lantern to create a new burst of light within the mine. Marlowe still struggled to see, but a little light was better than none at all and it was far better than just the lighter itself.
"What now?" Marlowe questioned, her eyes taking in everything around her. The sudden cold breeze hit both of them, and the girl concluded that they must be getting close to an exit of sorts outside.
Mike used the lantern to point in the direction they were going to go, "this way. Guessing there's an exit over there." His free hand found the girls, interlocking each finger with the others. Something to bring them comfort in such a hellhole. He lead the way as the harsh wind and freezing temperatures began to increase.
Flakes of snow fell against their exposed skin, forcing them into blizzard conditions. The both of them were turning paler by the second, left in only tank tops. It was hard to see in front of them, but there were a few lights in the distance. Mike held up the lantern so the duo could see through at least a feet of the rapidly falling snow. They squinted at the sight.
A vague shape of a building. "Jesus! The fuck is that place?"
Marlowe gripped tighter onto Mike's hand in attempt to comfort herself rather than him as they shook in each others hands. "I don't think I wanna know..."
⸝⸝ ʚ 🪓 ! ⌗ °• ━━━━━━━━━ 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑻𝑾𝑶 𝑻𝑬𝑬𝑵𝑨𝑮𝑬𝑹𝑺 𝑯𝑨𝑫 𝑪𝑳𝑰𝑴𝑩𝑬𝑫 𝑻𝑯𝑹𝑶𝑼𝑮𝑯 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑵𝑶𝑾 𝑭𝑶𝑹 𝑾𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑯𝑨𝑫 𝑭𝑬𝑳𝑻 𝑳𝑰𝑲𝑬 𝑯𝑶𝑼𝑹𝑺, 𝑩𝑼𝑻 𝑻𝑯𝑬𝒀 𝑯𝑨𝑫 𝑴𝑨𝑫𝑬 𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑮𝑹𝑬𝑺𝑺. Now on the outskirts of the mysterious, run down building, the pair peaked over the brick wall that surrounded the strange location, watching for where the potential murderer could have gone.
"Shit," Mike slapped Marlowe's arm with an attention grabbing intent, and he pointed nearly the entry of the building, but just to the side of the entrance doors, "that's not good."
The man they had been following for quite some time walked along side the building with what Marlowe could make out as animals... dogs? No. Wolves. Agressive teeth bared to protect their owner. They came in a pair, the only thing keeping them different was the contrast of their fur, one light grey and the other black.
"No. No we should just go back, Michael. This fucker has wolves."
Mike ignored whatever she had said and kept his eyes on the man and his beloved pets. His eyes followed as the stranger ducked into the building, allowing the wolved to follow after him before closing the door, leaving it slightly ajar as he disappeared from their sight.
"Alright, let's go get a closer look." Mike propped the lantered onto the surrounding brick wall, kicking his legs over to get onto the other side. His hand outstretched toward the girl.
Marlowe looked around and back at the man, "how about... lets not?" She suggested before sighing, knowing Mike would not give up on this hunt. She took his hand and allowed him to assist her.
They surveryed the outskirts of the building, searching for something that could be useful. Marlowe took the opportunity to split away from Mike, stumbling across another object just like the one that Chris had found in the lodge during their search. Her delicate, yet now rough, hands took the object from its place in the snow, looking through the butterfly shaped hole.
𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘂𝗺
𝗉𝗈𝗎𝗇𝖽𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖽𝗈𝗈𝗋 𝗌𝖼𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗆𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗆𝗂𝗄𝖾'𝗌 𝗇𝖺𝗆𝖾, 𝗆𝖺𝗋𝗅𝗈𝗐𝖾 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗊𝗎𝗂𝖼𝗄𝗅𝗒 𝖽𝗋𝖺𝗀𝗀𝖾𝖽 𝖺𝗐𝖺𝗒 𝖻𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗎𝗋𝖾 - 𝖼𝖺𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗈 𝗅𝗈𝗌𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗀𝗋𝗂𝗉 𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗀𝗎𝗇 𝗌𝗁𝖾 𝗈𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝗁𝖾𝗅𝖽. "𝗆𝗂𝖼𝗁𝖺𝖾𝗅! 𝗀𝖾𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖿𝗎𝖼𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗀𝗎𝗇!" 𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗁𝖾𝗌𝗂𝗍𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗅𝖾𝖺𝗏𝖾𝗌 𝗂𝗍 𝗍𝗈𝗈 𝗅𝖺𝗍𝖾 𝖺𝗌 𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝖺𝗍𝖼𝗁𝖾𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖻𝗅𝗈𝗈𝖽 𝗌𝖾𝖾𝗉 𝗂𝗇𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝗇𝗈𝗐.
"You find somethin'?" Mike came alongside her to glance at what was in her hands, but she let it fall back to its original position in the snow.
She shook her head while the rest of her body shook from the cold, "nothing special. Just one of those totems that are around the mountain. It's weird though, I never saw any when I was a kid, even when I went hunting for them. Now, I've seen two of them in one night."
"Maybe it's a sign that we will be okay." Mike smiled sadly, "now, come on. Let's get out of the cold."
He made a head start for the building while Marlowe lingered behind, her eyes remaining on the totem laying among the snow and twigs. She brushed off the unusual feeling that crept through her veins and followed after Mike. The door easily opened, something that left Mike surprised considering how big the door was compared to them.
The building was run down, collapsed walls and destroyed furniture. Things were torn apart from their original state, and the damage from collapsed pillars and walls caused an uneven footing for Marlowe as they treaded silently. What a lovely place to call home, Marlowe thought to herself. Mike peeped through the gap that was in the door in front of them, his face twisting into disgust as he watched the man feed his wolves a bone each. He attempted to turn the handle of the door, having no success. Marlowe pointed toward the sign beside the door.
'Chapel security pass required.'
"Right. Guess we gotta get this thing before we get in there. And by the time we do that, he will probably be gone again," Marlowe mumbled, searching for some kind of door, before laying her eyes on yet another sign above a door way that read 'ADMIN.'
Mike followed her gaze and took her hand before rushing toward the door. It felt like he was dragging a ragdoll around, but it brought him comfort to hold her hand. Because although he felt alone, it helped him to know that he wasn't.
They searched around the room, making sure to stay side by side while they explored the unknown. Mike plied open a safe with a piece of wood he had found nearby of the ground, taking a handful of stacked paper. Marlowe peered over his shoulder, "clocking in cards?"
"Yeah," Mike raised his eyebrows before placing it down where he got it from, "guess this place actually used to operate."
The room beside the previous one contained many medical notes and news paper articles, something which they weren't too interested in reading for the moment.
The flight of stairs lead them down to another area, where Mike beamed at the sight of something reflecting just slightly under the minimal light. A machete. Marlowe considered it to be a bad omen, but a crow stood by the machete, its eyes training on Mike as he attempted to shoo it off. When it left the area to perch above and watch them, he took the opportunity to take the weapon, disgusted by the amount of blood that covered it.
A hospital wing welcomed them, with bed frames turned upside down, mattresses torn and shoved into a corner of the room, and other hospital items shoved into the corner of the room along with the debris that came with it.
Marlowe laid her eyes on a white curtain, slightly stained with red residue, before she pulled it aside and covered her mouth and nose, "what the fuck, man..." she cursed as her eyes observed the restraining chair that was covered in blood and a family of roaches.
"What the fuck happened here..." Mike pulled the curtain to cover the chair they had just seen, not interested in looking at it for too long. They quickly turned back around the way they came and went to the other side of the hospital wing.
It was too silent, something that they both knew was unusual. Marlowe's eyes caught sight of an animal's shadow casted against the peeling walls. "Let's go that way..." She pointed toward the other door that wouldn't lead them to what they just saw. Mike listened and allowed here to stand by the door as he went through the papers and medical history left behind.
"Come on, Lo. We have to go through there," Mike took her hand once more while she checked behind them for the wolf that could probably sniff them out.
"I don't like this place, Michael," Marlowe grumbled, along with her stomach. Her free hand rested against that area as she craved something to eat.
"Let's see what other shit is in this paradise."
⸝⸝ ʚ 🪓 ! ⌗ °• ━━━ '' - «🕸»‧₊˚𓍯 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚
╰┈➤ HAHAHAHA I DIDNT DIE YALL. just needed a cheeky year to get inspiration. but i'm back. for how long, idk. i just really want to finish this story, and i watched bones and all for the millionth time and finished watching the first season of yellow jackets, so my inspo came back.
my writing might be rusty 😞 so for that i apologise, i'll go back and edit when i finish publishing the story!