The further we got away from that hallway, the more easy I felt. I know, that creature most likely has unbelievable strength that it can use to pry that wall up, but considering it didn't do so immediately gave me hope that we at least had some chance of getting distance.
Alex seemed to be thinking the same way, as originally he kept checking behind us every 5 seconds before slowing down to 30 seconds, to a minute, and then eventually not checking at all.
Alex started chuckling all of a sudden, which made me jump a little.
"I take my word back. The coast wasn't clear." Alex said, chuckling
I turned around and gave him a 'I told you so look'.
"I thought I was a goner. Thank you for that…"
"Well I didn't want to be alone here..so yeah." I said jokingly.
"Right. My well being comes before that." He chuckled
Now he was lucky that I was there. My thought sprung up .
"Say..how did you know that thing was sensitive to the light?" Alex questioned.
"I didn't. I panicked as it was about to charge at me, and I covered my face".
I imitated what I did to the creature to Alex, showing how my flashlight aimed right at its face.
"Well, now we know if we run up to that thing again, we at least have some kind of defense..right?"
I could tell Alex was in thought of that question, and my thoughts chimed in as well.
Until you run out of battery life.
I shook my head and looked back at Alex.
"Yeah don't worry, we'll be fine. I doubt we'll run into that thing again with the wall closed down on it."
That's a lie.
…
A few minutes of walking down a dark hallway went uneventful thankfully. The most that happened during that is my leg had a little spasm and I tripped up.
"Looks like you lost your bones during the chase." Alex said laughing.
"Shush, I was running for my life. Literally."
We both laughed for a moment before coming across another red lit room. When we entered, we noticed how big this room was, and all of the different branching paths that it offered.
Well sweetheart, pick your choice, each one will probably lead to death anyways.
"Isn't this just great. There must be a million different ways to go, but we don't know which way will lead up!" Alex said, throwing his arms up.
"Maybe I can shine my flashlight down each hall and see where they lead. Anything interesting we could take." I stated, shrugging at the idea.
"Well I was gonna say maybe we split up and check quickly..?" Alex questioned, more to himself than to me.
"You think this is scooby doo? To hell you think I'd agree with that!"
I lightly flicked his forehead after the comment, to which he brushed off.
"Didn't expect nothing less." He chuckled
"Besides, we'd have a better chance sticking together." I pointed out
"I guess you have a point there. Alright, you look around then." Alex stated, urging me on.
"Aaand if I get killed, I get to haunt you." I said chuckling
"Agreed." he smirked.
I wondered around for about a few minutes, panning down each hallway, seeing if there was anything interesting to see. Most of the hallways were generic and led straight ahead. Most of them seemed long enough where I couldn't see the end. Some hallways had the same lit symbols as the one we just escaped from.
Other hallways were just no luck. They were either dead end or they led straight down deeper, and that isn't what we want, to go deeper.
"Anne, check this hall out!" Alex called out.
I walked over and saw what he was pointing at, and when I shined my flashlight at it, it seemed to lead upwards.
"Aha! Good eye. Let's go down here tho."
"Wait, before we do that…look at the wall." Alex pointed.
I shined my light towards where he was pointing, and a sign was revealed from the dark. On the sign, there was writing, that was in a dark red color.
"Is that...b-blood?" I asked, slowly pointing up.
Alex nodded, while reading along:
'This way is a dangerous path to get through. Only strong ones can get by.'"
"What does that mean?" Alex questioned.
"I don't know..? I would want to say it's a warning, but what is it suppose to be warning us?" I asked.
I thought about it for the moment. If someone has been down here already, and had written this, wouldn't they still be here? Maybe they managed to get out this way. Maybe the thing they were referring to was the creature.
"I don't know, but what else do we got to go on? It's going upwards after all." I said to Alex, and he seemed hesitant at first, but then nodded along.
"Well, you're the one with the light, you do the blinding." He said with a smirk, but I could see he was still weary about it.
Nothing eventful happened when we starting climbing the stairs upwards in the hall. No symbols lit up, nothing was heard within, and the creature was nowhere in sight, although we did take our time checking around, making sure we wouldn't get caught off guard by anything.
Alex was the first to reach the top of the stairs and point out that the hallway continued straight. No turns or other places to walk in, just a straight line to another room.
"Hmm, seems sketchy.." Alex said, concerned about how simple the hallway looked.
I reached the top of the stairs, not hearing Alex's concerned, and stepped forward. I noticed that the floor felt much softer...too soft. As I noticed this, the floor disappeared below me, and once again, I was falling.
"ANNE!"
I remember seeing Alex's face before blacking out…
...I woke up facing upwards. I saw a low light surrounded by darkness, and at first I thought I was seeing the Great Beyond, but then I saw something moving up above.
"Anne!...you okay?"
I remembered that I fell through the floor. Once my vision cleared up, I noticed that it seems like I didn't fall too far, and that I must've been out for a second.
"Alex..?"
I saw Alex moving his hand towards his chest and exhaling a breath.
"Good to hear you talking. I'm gonna find a way to get down there. Just stay put alright?"
I gave him a thumbs up, and I saw Alex disappear from the hole. I was alone once again, and I felt my nerves rise up.
I lifted my arm and realized I still had my flashlight in my hand. I turned it on and realized that I was in a hallway. I looked back and forth with the flashlight, but all I saw was a black void from both sides.
This isn't looking good Anne. You're by yourself and in a pitch black hallway...anything could happen.
My heart rate picked up, as I slowly got to my feet and looked back and forth constantly. My mind was going wild, visualizing many things. I imagine seeing the creature coming from the darkness. I imagine it smacking the flashlight out of my hand, and I saw myself get picked up the same was Alex was.
I was shaking so much from the thoughts, and all of my breaths were ragged and rough. I was sweating so much it felt hot compared to how cool it was before.
I don't want to be alone. I need to find Alex again.
"I agree...I'm too vulnerable here...I got to find him…" I said to my own thoughts.
I started heading the same direction that Alex went moments ago. I kept my flashlight off so I could conserve battery, but I would flash it on every now and then just to see where I was going.
"God...this hallway is so long...I don't even know where I'm go-
I felt my foot slowly sink down within the ground, and then suddenly stop, along hearing a metal click beneath me.
"Oh no.."
I pushed another button, but I didn't hear any walls closing on me. In fact I didn't hear anything. I thought it was just a faulty or dummy button. I chuckled at the thought, and took a breather to calm myself.
But the air was thicker.
I choked on my own breath for a second and tried gasping for another one, but my throat dried up quickly, and refused to let any air in.
Gas.
I realized what I had activated now. I was in a death trap. I immediately tried running through the hallway, as fast as I could. I needed to get out, and find Alex and find a way to get OUT. My legs were burning, but I kept pushing.
My vision became blurred and little specks started flashing within my vision. I knew I wasn't gonna make it, but I kept going. My running slowed down. My arms felt heavy. My breathing was nothing more than a croak, and my eyes were practically glued shut.
Looks like I'm done for now. Are you happy?
...
Are you happy?
The last thing I remember is falling on the ground, and feeling the cold sensation of the metal before losing grip to reality.
...
I woke up, and it seemed like it was all a dream. The ruin. Meeting Alex. Seeing the creature. I was back home. I just woke up in my bed, shaking. I don't recall what I did for the next 5 minutes, but I know I didn't budge from my bed. I looked over at my computer, and remember the research I did on the ruin the night before. I slowly got up, and clicked on the computer.
All the tabs restored and I saw images, and articles and videos and all this other stuff on the place. I then looked over, and saw a list of things I was gonna do today.
Drive to the ruin.
Take a few photos.
Explore the area.
Tell it to my friends that nothing was weird.
I chuckled at the last one, and remembered my friends.
"Oh they would love to hear the dream I just had!"
I picked up my phone, and was happy it wasn't in pieces. I opened up my contact menu and saw a list of my friends.
I think Samantha would love to hear this dream!
I clicked on her contact and called her. It took a few seconds to ring and after what felt like ever, she answered.
"Hello?"
"Samantha! Oh I'm glad to hear you again!"
"Uh...yeah, cool. What's up..?" She said, rather dull
"I just had the wildest dream about the ruins. Remember what I told you? Well I had a dream where I was there, and then after exploring I fell and got trapped, and then there was this creature that nearly killed me, but this guy saved me and-"
"Woah woah, Anne! Slow down! You're going too fas-
"But then I saved him and we found these leading tunnels, and then we were chased and-"
"Anne, slo-"
"And I fell down this hole from the hallway and-"
"SHUT UP!!"
…
My voice quickly shut up as I heard Samantha yell at me through the phone. It was so loud in my ear it felt like she was yelling right next to me.
…
"...remember what I told you the other night?"
"..told me what..?" I asked, confused.
"I don't care about you going to this ruin."
"Oh...right, I'm sor-"
"NONE of us do. Caleb, Simon, Carl, Jess, Anthony-NO ONE CARES" Samantha stated, her temper rising up.
"..but-"
"Look Anne, you're a cool girl, but you're really annoying with this crap."
…
"...I am..?"
"What do you think? That you're the most interesting and funny girl you are?"
Samantha started laughing from the other line.
"Oh please, as far as we're concerned. You being trapped underground would be doing all of us a favor."
"...Samantha-"
"Just shut up Anne. For the love of god, shut your god damn mouth for once. Unless you have something actually interesting, don't call us back. Thanks."
….beep.
I felt the world spin around me. My emotions tingling like sparkling water. My phone remaining by my ear, even after hearing the call end. I was broken. I couldn't understand if what I just heard was real..it couldn't be...could it..?
"....I'd be better off trapped underground…?"
I felt my eyes fill with tears, and I shut them tightly, denying what I just heard, but there was no denying it. They don't care about me. And I'm finally seeing it for myself.
I opened my eyes and was shocked to see that i'm actually in a black void now. I couldn't see anything. Even the phone that was once in my hand was gone. I looked around, trying to see anything. I then noticed a dark silhouette to the right of me, and every time I blinked, it got closer.
It startled me for a second, until I noticed the shape it was. The outline of a tank top and shorts, the medium sized hair, and the same tearful eyes as me.
It was me.
She sported an angry expression, but she still had tears in her eyes. She never blinked once, and never took her eyes off me. It eventually got me uncomfortable. I've seen that look before.
Samantha has given me that same hateful stare.
"What do you want…?" I asked, tears streaming down my face.
She didn't say anything, she just kept staring at me. Hate filling my core so much it felt like I was being stoned. I couldn't handle it. I fell on my knees, broken down, shaking violently.
"What do you want?!" I screamed, tears dropping everywhere.
Eventually, she keeled down next to me, and smiled.
You can stop denying yourself now. Your friends were never worried. They never even wanted you in the first place. You're only in this ruin just to see if you can impress them that way.
I shook my head, trying to deny it, but she spoke the truth, and it hurt more than I could ever imagine.
It's okay. It's not like they were wrong. You're not gonna survive out here.
I stared at the ground, too broken to even look at my other half. The hate that I have of myself. She eventually placed her hand on my shoulder, while chuckling.
It's good to know that you realize that.
After that, I saw the darkness turn to light, shining so bright that even in this twisted dream I was having, I had to squint. I saw my other half one last time before disappearing.
You drove them away, because of your annoying personality. Are you happy?
...are you happy?
...
The next thing I knew, I saw Alex once again, and I never thought I'd be more happy to be in this nightmare than to be facing the truth of my harsh reality.
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