Blamore crept through the darkness, leading the way swiftly through the narrow stone corridor. His spine lengthened making him appear taller than his six-foot-two stature. The way he crouched beneath low, jagged ceiling of the space possibly contributed to the illusion. It was how he maneuvered that made my eyes linger on him like a magnet.
His energy seemed ... different, but I couldn't pinpoint exactly why. Maybe the peculiar feeling was due to illusion too.
He traveled confidently through the darkened space which led us to a smaller room containing three separate pathways. Each pathway was just as narrow and obscure and the others, appearing to be nothing more than an oddly shaped crevice. If any of us had been claustrophobic, this would be the area to fear.
Blamore paused and we all looked at each other with puzzling stares, waiting for him to guide us down the proper path.
"So?" Samuel visually inspected one of the pathways. "Where to now?"
"I don't know." Blamore hesitated, uncertain. I was just as apprehensive, seeing our lights being enveloped by the haunting darkness towards the rear of the fissure.
"Well, isn't this your home?" Samuel shook his head. "Don't you know the way from here." The frightened look in Samuel's dark brown eyes made it apparent that he had hoped to be led through the cave and straight out the other side with little to no effort.
Blamore rubbed his chin. "Don't remember."
Cecil, who had been limping throughout our trek due to a sprain ankle from her unfortunate fall, shifted her weight onto her uninjured foot and anchored herself against Arturo. "Maybe me and Art should stay here. My ankle is killing me, and I will just slow you down." It was obvious she was just as frightened as the rest of us about what lie beyond the darkness. "Besides, the quicker you guys get out of here the quicker you can send back help."
I immediately shook my head at the idea. "I think we should stay together." Memories of her lying unconscious flashed before my eyes and knew I couldn't live with myself if something similar happened again.
Jace's head bobbed as he anxiously rubbed his hands together. "Yes, stick together. Isn't that the first rule when getting lost or trapped?"
"You do watch a lot of horror movies, huh?" Samuel huffed, retrieving a mini flashlight from his pack and handing it to Blamore. "How about this? Me, Brent and Blamore will each check out one of these routes. Whoever sees something promising will call out, okay?"
Brent looked down the middle opening, allowing his helmet light to brighten the close space. "What are we looking for exactly?"
"Something." Samuel squeezed Brent's arm gently, a comforting gesture. "Anything. Just call out. Alright?"
Brent and Blamore nodded and approached an entrance. Blamore chose the one nearest to me, examining the tight crevice.
They each entered at the same time, but before Blamore got too far I reached out and gently squeezed his forearm as Samuel had done to Brent. "Be careful, please."
Caught by surprise, he glanced over his shoulder at me and I caught a glimpse of a half-smile that comforted and reassured me. I instantly felt how much he honored my advice.
Before I could return a heartwarming smile, an abrupt tug of my hand yanked me around and I pivoted on my heels to face Jace and his frightened eyes. "We should talk."
I sighed, not in the mood to rehash the same old argument we've had every time we were in close proximity. "Jace, there's nothing more to say."
"Please, listen." He clasped both hands around mine. "As soon as I walked in here something strange took over me. It's like a different me is inside wanting to come out. The real me."
"What are you trying to say?" I pursed my lips but prevented myself from rolling my eyes. "Just spit it out already."
"I'm scared." His fearful gaze pierced through me and at that moment I knew he was exposing his heart. "I'm scared, Max. I feel like I was given one chance to fix things between us and I blew it. I knew it as soon as I walked into this place. It's so strange. I knew I had to get Blamore out of this place before all this happened, but I was too late. I don't know how to explain it, but somehow I just knew."
I gulped at his sincerity and dropped my sights to our entangled grasp. "So ...?"
"I need your forgiveness." He squeezed my hand. "Please forgive me for hurting you. You were my best friend and I know I blew it. I made a mistake and I'm learning from it. Didn't you used to say all things happen for a reason? Even bad things happen for us to learn from the experience, right?"
A part of me wanted to forgive him and move on with my life, but the pained and bitter part of me wouldn't allow it. How fair was it that I would go on cold-hearted and distrusting because of his actions, yet all he needed to peacefully function was my forgiveness?
Just imagining what was once exclusively mine—his body, his heart, his love—and him freely handing them over to someone else behind my back and before my eyes made me full of anger and hate.
Now, I could never trust again.
I raised my gaze and pulled my hand away. "No."
His jaw dropped and he stared, gawking in disbelief.
I turned, placing my back to him. "I need more time." I couldn't face him and witness the pain I had just now caused, even though I thought inflicting it would lessen mine. I was wrong. I focused on the three paths, waiting and listening for good news, while desperately trying to ignore the hollow pit in my gut.
To my surprise, Jace didn't say a thing. He didn't object or reiterate. Not a word escaped his lips.
Out of the awkward silence, Arturo cleared his throat. "I forgive you, man."
I glanced back just in time to see Cecil slap Arturo's shoulder she was leaning on. "Really, Art?"
Arturo shrugged. "The guy's seeking forgiveness from condemnation." His Hispanic accent was clear. "Where I come from, forgiveness is the least you could do." He gave me a look, one that sent goosebumps over my flesh.
"Here!" The words echoed from the path nearest me. "It's here."
"Is it safe?" I called.
"True," Blamore called back.
I turned to the others. "You guys go first, I will wait for Samuel and Brent."
Cecil nodded and Arturo wrapped an arm around her waist to assisted her through the darkness toward Blamore. However, Jace refused to budge.
"I don't know what's down there." He leaned against the cave wall, avoiding eye contact. "It doesn't feel right."
What happened to the courageous hero who stormed into an unknown cave to save a stranger? What happened to sticking together?
"Fine, you can stay here for all I care." I wasn't going to play his game. In fact, a part of me was infuriated that he had ruined my opportunity to vent, yell and curse at him by refusing to argue.
Thankfully, Brent emerged. "It's just nothing but darkness down there. It seems to go on forever."
Samuel soon followed, stepping out from the tight space and together they followed Cecil and Arturo. I took one last look at Jace and bid a silent farewell before following Samuel into the darkness.
My shoulders bumped and scrapped against the rock the further we went. And as we shuffled along for what seemed like a few minutes, the sound of Cecil whimpering caught my attention.
"What's wrong?" I called out ahead of me.
"It really narrows up here," Samuel said. "You're gonna have to remove your pack and turn to your side."
Really? I unlatched the pack's straps from my chest and struggled to remove it. I kept the pack in front of me as I maneuvered through the cramped space. Finally, I reached the area where sliding sideways was required. My back scraped against the uneven wall and my breath barely escaped my lips before ricocheting off the wall before me.
A light lit up the empty, dark space to my left. I turned my head to see Jace's helmet light slowly approaching along with his grunts and labored breaths.
"Decided to come to your senses after all?"
"I'm not staying there by myself." He huffed, making his way closer. "Plus, we gotta stick together."
Even though a sense of relief hit me seeing Jace take his own advice, I tried to ignore it and push on. More noises from ahead alerted me and someone shouted, "There's some kind of a leak up here. The walls are wet."
"Wet?" Upon hearing the word, panic rushed me, hitting me like a sledgehammer to the gut. All I could think of was my disturbing vision of chaos and wet palms.
Samuel called to me, "Max. You're gonna have to remove your helmet. It gets even tighter."
Memories of that vision flooded my mind. Unstable grounds, wet hands, a bloody helmet. "We have to move, guys!" My breathing grew rapid and for a split second, I believed I couldn't breathe. I shut the thought out and inhaled deeply to remind myself I was capable. "Jace, move it. Now!"
"What's wrong?" His voice shook with worry. "What's happening, Max?"
"I just need you to move your ass." I shimmied against the walls, scraping my palms and back against the hard stone until my helmet snagged and caught. I removed it and pushed it through at an angle along with my pack. "Come on, Jace. Take your helmet off so you can move faster."
"Why? What's going on?" He removed his helmet, aiming the light above us. "Tell me."
There was no use in giving voice to my thoughts. Instead I called ahead, "Is anyone through yet?"
"Almost," Samuel yelled back.
Small cuts and nicks on my hands stung but I continued moving along. And then I felt it. The cold, wet moisture on the skin of my palms. I was breathing so fast and hard, I knew I would hyperventilate if I didn't control myself. However, as much as I tried, I couldn't regulate my growing fear.
Suddenly, a loud rumble echoed throughout the chamber and the stone shifted. "Oh, what the ..."
"Not again," Jace cried. "Fuck!"
"Move, move, move." Samuel's voice quivered with fear. "We're almost through. Keep moving."
Another rumble and the stone shifted again. This time the pressure of the shift was felt in my chest and I knew the walls were moving closer together. The world quaked around me and in a panic I screamed.
"Come on." Samuel's light shined in my eyes, blinding me. "You're almost out. Take me hand. You're almost here."
I closed my eyes and extended my arm until I felt his fingertips on mine.
"Max!" Cecil cried. "Please, hurry."
I held my breath and allowed Samuel to pull me, letting the wetness of the walls act as a glide. My bag disappeared as they pulled it free from the crevice. The shifting beneath my feet caused the jagged parts of the wall to bump against my knees and I imagined the walls slowly crushing me. Out of instinct, I pushed and surprisingly the wall seemed to move against my force.
"Push, push," I ordered and the heavy stone budged, creating a couple inches of space. Samuel pulled me through and into another small space with the others.
I turned to see Jace mere feet from emerging, but as Samuel pulled Jace's bag out of the space the wall shifted again, narrowing the gap.
"No—" his cry was stunted as he reached his hand out to me. I grabbed it and yanked, pulling until his forearm emerged from the crevice.
"Come on, Jacent!" I screamed, tugging with all my might. "Please. You're so close."
"No . . . It hurts." His face twisted in agony and our eyes met. "Max—" Another quake and his bright blue eyes turned bloodshot as his screams were snuffed out by the sound of bone crunching and snapping between two slabs of stone.
"No..." I turned my head away from the gruesome sight and screamed until my lungs burned. Still, I held his hand, feeling the warmth drain from it with every passing millisecond. I couldn't bear to witness what was left of him. So, instead I peered down at his yellow helmet stained with red splatters.
How has this chapter left you feeling? What eerie encounters do you think lies ahead for the crowd?
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