if i die tomorrow - permanent hiatus

light

     I plunged into the darkness, hating the tilt to my steps. My hand was clenched tight on Sadie's arm.

     She didn't complain, even though I was fairly sure I was cutting off circulation. She let me lean on her even as she battled a faint sense of claustrophobia herself, and fear at what was to come. 

     How many tons of rock hovered just above my head? 

     I pushed down a shiver and lowered my eyes to the faintly glowing rocks beneath my feet, forcing air into my lungs. 

     I can. I can. I can.

     I have to.

     Picture after picture was flashing behind my eyes, splashes of blurry colour. My mind was too jammed, the idea of trying to untangle them unfathomable. Chills were running down my spine, not just because of the bite of the mountain. 

     I could hear my heart thudding like frantic footsteps. 

     Suddenly Sadie's arm shot out. I crashed right into it, nearly toppling over.

     I waited, my pulse pounding through my veins. Sadie never sent false alarms.

     "Can you see it?" She whispered, fear and a dim sense of wonder humming in her voice. "Is it real?!"

     "See what?" I whispered back, scouring the tunnel. It seemed normal to me.

     "The light." She said, breathing fast.

     "What light?" It was dark, chokingly dark. 

     "No, that's not light. It looks like... lasers."

     I was on the edge of panic. "Why can't I see it?"

     She shrugged, her eyes fixed on a point somewhere in the distance. Tension was evident in her every plane. "Stay behind me. I'm going to take a look."

     I fell into step at her back as she ventured closer, a bright light like a Guardian beam I couldn't see dancing in her glassy eyes.

     My mouth was dry. An irrational fear aside from everything else I was struggling with was slowly rising to the surface.

     Why? Why couldn't I see it?

     Sadie's hand was outstretched, spellbound. Then suddenly, she leapt back as though something in empty space burnt her.

     "I can't go any further." She breathed, sweeping her hand down vertically on some sort of transparent wall spanning over empty air. The entire "invisible" thing was starting to truly scare me.

     Then her eyes found me.

     "Aha." She murmured. "Link, come here."

     I obeyed.

     She ran her fingers through where the barrier must have been. "The light is beyond here. I wonder if... Put your hand here."

     I placed my palm beside her. I felt no barrier, just the rush of cool air against my skin.

     "Can you go through?"

     I took a breath. My fingers met no resistance as I pushed them forwards.

     Sadie laughed. "What a cruel, cruel bunch we're contending with."

     "What?" I felt light-headed, as though I was going to fall any moment.

     She pointed to somewhere in the distance. "You'll have to get past those lights and turn off some sort of switch or another so I can get through. You can't touch even one of those lasers, or else you'll probably fail. The thing is, you can't see them. And you are the only one that can get through this barrier."