"Guys?!" Mara called out as she creeped down the cold pathway. "Where are you?!"
Mara felt a little shake, and she stabilized herself to keep from falling over. Then, the house shook with even more of an impact, making her lean against the wall. Dust began falling from the ceiling.
She thought about turning back, but she still had the others to get. She moved quickly, hoping to find them in time.
The atmosphere grew darker and darker, and Mara continued down her straight path faster and faster. She was coming to an intersection, and once she reached it, she ran into Fabian who slowed both of them down in the impact by holding onto Mara's arms until it was fine to release.
"Fabian! Where are the others?" Mara asked.
"I don't know; we were all split up," Fabian explained. "It seems like these tunnels are changing. They're so different from the last time I was here."
"Well, just go into the cellar for safety. I'll find the others."
"No!" Fabian rejected. "You go back to safety; I'll find the others. Or, we can both look."
"We can't risk losing more people. Fabian, I'm the Chosen One. I can handle myself...You get back that way." Mara pointed down the path she'd just come from.
Mara went left, and Fabian paused for a moment. Then he went back to safety like he was instructed. He went into the cellar and went up the stairs, trying to open the door, but it was locked. It wouldn't budge.
~~~~~
Meanwhile, Eddie and Nina were on the main floor, Eddie anticipating what would happen next. They were at the moment where Set would come out the kitchen.
And he did. He took long, slow steps, facing Eddie and Nina, his hands clasped behind his back.
"You seem outraged, Osirion, and at the same time, scared. And you, Osirion/Chosen One, or as you should be called the Bridge, you just seem scared. How intimidating am I to make you so doubtful in yourselves?"
"It's not you who we're scared of," Nina responded. "We just don't want to hurt Jerome."
"Oh, then your time is ticking, because every moment I'm in Jerome's body, he's getting hurt more and more and you'd hate to lose another, wouldn't you?"
Nina and Eddie were distracted by a loud whip noise in the stairs, which was really a crack that had gone down them.
"Everyone in this house is in danger," Set claimed. "And you've lost two people, so how could bear to lose all those down in the tunnels-the ones most in danger? You know, one thing I've learned from battle, is that you never win without losing something. So, think about it-if you won, could you really live with yourselves knowing you lost so much? Honestly, sometimes it is easier giving up, especially when you're the weaker force."
"Then you should've given up by now," Eddie smiled.
He took Nina's hand before she reached hers out, and an orange light glowed from their hands. It grew brighter and brighter, stronger and stronger.
~~~~~
During this time, Mara was still searching, and she occasionally heard footsteps, but she hadn't found anyone else yet. She was walking down a pathway when a chunk of the ceiling had fallen about two inches in front of her. She froze in place. She peered up through where it had fallen, but there was still some cement there. She gazed straightforward, deciding whether or not she should continue. Suddenly, Patricia and Amber had come from around the corner, and all of them spotted eachother.
"Mara!" Amber called out.
Patricia and Amber raced over to Mara, stepping over the chuck of ceiling that had fallen.
"We don't know where the others are," Patricia told her.
"I'm looking for them. Just head back-" Mara turned around, noticing the path came to a dead end from where she just came.
Fabian was right. The paths were changing.
"Everything is changing," Mara spoke to herself aloud. She faced back towards Patricia and Amber, now directing her dialogue towards them. "The tunnels are changing."
"Haven't we had enough for one day?" Amber sighed.
"Come with me. I already found Fabian, and he should be safe out of the tunnels, but now we need KT, Mick, Joy, and Willow," Mara explained.
They'd gone to the intersection, which wasn't really an intersection anymore because the paths on either side had closed off. The three of them continued straight.
~~~~~
Eddie and Nina's connected hands were producing even brighter light, and Set was determined to stop it. He raced forward, placing his hands on their wrists to pull them apart.
~~~~~
Yes, this story has officially ended in a cliffhanger. The story is now over. Goodbye.
Ha, ha, just kidding. I won't be that mean to you. But you do have to wait for the next chapter to know what happens next. Hope you're enjoying this!