Her Curse

Chapter 19 - Unearthed

   We walked for hours in the dark. I held onto Lucas' arm so that way I wouldn't fall like I had an hour earlier. In the dark, I could barely see the backs of Kiel, Teotwawki, and Damien. Teotwawki kept walking ahead. I couldn't tell if his movements were like he was under some kind of spell or if he was just walking like one would walk through a memory. I held onto Lucas' arm tighter and felt him place one of his hands over mine.

"Don't worry, you won't fall. I'll catch you." Lucas promised. I believe him, I believe everything he says.

   We walked a few more miles before Teotwawki came to a sudden stop. I saw Kiel's silhouette look at Teotwawki's silhouette. "We're here. It's right down there." I heard Teotwawki say. In a second, Teotwawki's silhouette moved forward before disappearing into the ground. Lucas and I ran over to where Teotwawki had disappeared. I lost my footing and fell into the hole, hitting some jagged rocks on my way down before landing on my side. A painful sting ran up and down the right side of my body and I groaned in pain, my head was spinning from the wind being knocked out of me and the fact that the fall also made me hit my head when I landed.

   "Adelina! Adelina, are you okay?" I heard Lucas' frantic voice say somewhere above me. When I was finally able to breathe again, I slowly sat up and rubbed my right shoulder. "I-I'm okay, just be careful on your way down." I said and I got a response from Kiel: "You don't gotta tell us twice, I don't think any of us wanna take a tumble like you did, pup." I scoffed to myself and looked around to see nothing but darkness. I stood up, ignoring the pain I felt.

   "Teotwawki? Where are you?" I called out. I took careful steps around, listening for anything to tell me where Teotwawki was. But I heard nothing but distant drips of water. A couple of minutes later, I heard something land in the cave several feet away from me. Then something else. And one more thing entered the cave. "Guys? Is that you?" I asked the darkness. "It's us, don't worry yourself." Kiel said.

   "Yeah, we're not some kind of random cave monster," Damien joked, to which I heard a skin to skin contact - a light slap, I think. "Don't joke about that, we live in a world full of monsters. That could very well be what's down here," Lucas said. I reached out with my good arm and waved it around a bit before I felt something warm.

   "Um, Adelina? That's my face." Damien said before moving my hand away from him and to another warm area. I felt a hand gently grab my outstretched hand and I knew it was Lucas. "You okay, babes?" Lucas asked me. I stepped closer to him, "So much for not letting me fall, huh?" I joked. I heard Lucas give a short chuckle, "I said nothing about holes in the ground." Then, I felt him kiss my cheek.

   "Teotwawki?" Kiel called out. After a few seconds, a bright light blinded us. I covered my eyes and blinked a bit, trying to get my eyes to adjust. "There you four are! I was looking for this flashlight that I left here the first time I found this place. Follow me," Teotwawki instructed. He turned around and walked deeper into the cave, his flashlight showing different carvings and illustrations on the walls. We followed close behind him.

   "Woah, look at all of those carvings! They're so detailed." Lucas' voice echoed through the cave. I looked at the cave walls, then at him. "Oi, keep it down. We still don't know if we're the only ones down here," Kiel demanded. "Sorry," Lucas smiled a sheepish and apologetic smile. It made me laugh a bit. Teotwawki didn't say anything, he just kept walking ahead, moving the flashlight around slightly to look at everything on the walls. Finally, we came to a large opening that was blocked by what looked like a heavy iron door. Except, it didn't have the same color as iron. It was a different kind of metal. "Look around, there's a switch around here somewhere." Teotwawki said as he put the flashlight on the ground and walked to the left side of the doorway. I walked to a wall near the door and felt around the wall. Damien, Kiel, and Lucas looked at the walls and on the ground.