Tom stared into the darkness at the lone beam of Sam's flashlight. It felt like someone had pulled the plug on him and his energy started seeping out into the rock floor under him. The rock floor that had taken Angie into the black void. What was he supposed to do now? What if Angie really was dead?
Cold slithered through his veins, freezing his blood, his breath, his brain. He'd been so angry with her for so long. Such a waste of time. Of time he could've spent loving her, showing her how much she'd changed his life, how much she'd changed him. Because before he met her, he hadn't been a hero, hadn't been selfless, hadn't been. She made everything brighter with her smile, her energy, the way she managed to push his buttons, make him feel things he'd never felt.
All that could be over. And it wasn't fair. He was the one who almost died, not her. Never her.
"Hey! Did you get that?" Billy yelled.
Tom shook his head and looked at the floor above. "What?"
"Jerry said to tell Sam that the last tunnel ends in a rock wall."
Well, shit. Could things get any worse? Yes, yes they could. And Angie was a lot more important than a stupid dead end. Sam needed to focus on her. They'd figure out what to do about their whereabouts later.
What was taking Sam so long anyway? He could have at least called out to tell him if she was alive. Or not. But he couldn't ask, so he stayed silent, listening to the echoes of Jerry and Billy's voices. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but he didn't care. For him, the whole world was dark and cold like the cave they were in, and he couldn't care less what was going to happen, Not now, and if Angie had died, not ever. He wished he could be down there with Sam, but his twin was right. He didn't want to see what was left of Angie.
"...tell Sam already!" Billy suddenly yelled.
"I didn't get that," Tom yelled back. Well, shocking, he could still talk.
"Jerry thinks you should tell Sam already," Billy repeated.
"No! I'll tell Sam when he comes up. I don't want to worry him with it. It's not important right now..." He wanted to continue exposing his theory how it was the most unimportant thing in the world at that precise moment and how Angie needed Sam's undivided attention, but his voice cracked.
The following moment both Billy and Jimmy scrambled down the rope and landed next to Tom. Billy hugged Tom tightly. He still couldn't move. Talking had drained his last ounce of energy, so he could do nothing but breathe.
Jimmy squeezed his shoulder. "She's going to be all right. She's strong and you know it."
"What if she doesn't make it?" Tom asked, turning to Jimmy.
Jimmy pursed his lips, and took in a deep breath. "If she doesn't make it... I just hope you're as strong as she is and that you'll find the strength to keep functioning for a while. And then move on."
"Don't say that," Jerry said. "Angie's going to be fine."
Tom jumped and turned to him. Everyone had come down and gathered around him, but Tom couldn't say anything. He wasn't sure why he was so numb; he should be hysterical or at least try to get to Sam, because no one would stop him. But the fear of what might be down there kept him pinned to the ground.
"Did I hear Jerry up there? Marvelous," Sam said. "Get him down here, maybe we'll get this over with faster."
Jerry immediately climbed down the last rope. Tom looking down after him, the weight in his chest lessening the tiniest bit. Because Sam's voice had been normal, even a little joyful. He didn't sound desperate, scared, worried. Which meant that Angie could be fine.
Silence fell again, disturbed only by Sam's muttered indications to Jerry. What seemed like moments later, Sam called out to them and told them all to come down. Tom didn't even bother with the rope. He jumped through the hole in the floor and landed next to Sam. Angie lay at his feet, bruised and bandaged, but otherwise okay. Jerry knelt next to her, disinfecting some scratches on her arms.
"Nothing seems to be broken. She learned how to fall before coming on this mission. She's just bruised and scratched and unconscious." Sam smiled to Tom as Jerry stood up too, wiping his hands on a towel.
Tom could finally smile back and sighed relieved. He knelt next to Angie and pulled her in his arms, squeezing her against him. His whole body ached and all he wanted to do was curl up with Angie and sleep. But he knew he couldn't. He knew they were lost and still had work to do. But if he could just stay there for one more minute...
"Tom, you're bleeding," Jerry said carefully. "Are you all right? Maybe you should let me get a good look at that cut, strap it up."
Tom rubbed his forehead and looker at his hand. There was definitely blood on it. He hadn't even felt it. That cut above his eye had probably opened up again. "Yeah, okay."
Jerry seemed satisfied as he pulled out more bandages and disinfectant.
"What are we going to do now?" Tom asked turning to Sam.
"Yeah, how are we going to get back up?" Billy asked.
"We're not. Don't you find it weird that this room is round and has a lot of tunnels going out of it?" Sam said waving his hand.
Tom looked around, but couldn't really make out much. The cave they were currently in was enormous.
This makes no sense," Jim said.
"Yes it does," Sam disagreed. "A lot of tunnels seem to be going around in circles, but they don't. I figured it out when Angie fell through so many floors. The center was obviously not above since the only tunnel we haven't explored lead to a dead end. Which meant that the center had to be on the bottom floor. Here. This is where we've been trying to get. We have to thank Angie for bringing us here."
"You're welcome," Angie said weakly causing all eyes to turn to her.
Tom immediately squeezed her tighter. She winced and pushed him away a little. It was his turn to wince. The whole thing made him laugh. They were a right pair.
"Good thing I had that bulletproof vest on," she mumbled, rubbing her side. "It sort of broke my fall."
"Does anything hurt in particular?" Jerry asked, kneeling next to them. "We checked, and nothing seems to be broken, but I'm not sure..."
She raised a hand to silence him. "I'll live. It looks like we've made it. Finally!"
Sam nodded and sat down too. The others followed suit while Sam started searching his backpack and finally pulled out paper and pencils. He then started drawing, leaving the others to randomly shine their flashlights around the cave. It was enormous. The beam wouldn't reach the walls. After a few minutes, they gave up and turned off all the lights except the one Sam was using to draw.
"Can we eat?" Billy suddenly asked, making all of them jump.
"Sure, I'm hungry, too," Sam agreed, still drawing.
Tom couldn't remember the last time he ate. He wasn't even sure he could hold anything down. His body was burning so badly and combined with the shock of Angie's fall, it was hard to feel anything else. He wasn't even tired anymore. It was all just pain and relief.
"We can't eat, our luggage is outside, remember?" Jerry said, annoyed. "Why did we have to hurry into this thing?"
"Jerry, don't overreact," Tom said. "We're almost done with this quest anyway."
"I'm just hungry, too, and who knows when Kyle and William will get here and if they even met up and... Sam where's the diamond?" Jerry broke off.
Sam looked at them a little worried and at that moment it became obvious that he'd been skirting around that information. Though Tom had no idea why Jerry thought Sam should know. He had the same information as the rest of them. Sam hesitated for a few seconds, still looking on his map, but that fact that Jerry gave a very Freider-ish 'hem, hem' seemed to snap him out of his devious plan of avoiding the question.
"Around here somewhere," he finally answered.
"Around here where?" Jerry asked, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at Sam menacingly, his resemblance to their father striking.
"Your guess is as good as mine. What information did Herrison give us anyway? It's in the caves. Well, here we are in the mother of all caves. Maybe it's here, maybe it's somewhere else. Maybe there's no diamond at all." Sam picked up a rock off the floor and threw it randomly into the darkness.
The splashing of water broke through the silence.
"What the?" Tom let go of Angie and got to his feet. It hurt a lot more, but he pushed it down because he could finally feel something else. Confusion, hope. Fear.
They all stood and took careful steps towards what turned out to be a huge underground lake. It occupied most of the cave, and in the center, there was a swirling whirlpool. And the location of the diamond suddenly became very clear. Except none of them could swim.
"We need Kyle," Sam mumbled.
💠💠💠
Well, we're almost done. Just two chapters left. I hope you're still enjoying the ride. And some people need to learn how to swim.
Did you like the chapter? Do you think the diamond is under the lake?
Thanks for reading and don't forget to vote and comment!