A Sickly Sweet Reverie (Leon Kennedy X OC) [BOOK 3]

Chapter 16: Holding on

The wind flurried my hair around me as we raced down the dark tunnel. My thoughts ran wild in my head as I gripped the rusty metal siding of the cart. When's the last time this track was used? What if we're heading straight for a hundred foot drop? Where is Deborah?

I looked behind us, expecting to find her slithering out from the darkness at our backs, yet nothing but inky shadows greeted me. Warmth caressed my hand, making me face forward again. Leon's hand was on top of mine, his attention still focused on the track ahead and the quickly approaching opening.

The cart shot out of the tunnel, following the tracks as they straightened onto a new path. Several more sets of tracks converged on the main monorail, each worn set of iron rails emerging from the darkness. The string of caged light bulbs punctuating the rails, hanging from stone columns and arches that ran along the side of the tracks.

Cool air bit my cheeks as we rushed forward. We were well below the surface now. The system must be massive, the arches and columns providing shelter for a network of tracks that travels for miles. Hell, maybe they even stretched throughout the whole city.

"Hold on to something!" Leon said, making my hand tighten around the safety bar already in my grasp. There were large clumps of stone settled on the rails a few feet ahead. We rammed into the stone, shattering the rock that sent quakes through the metal siding.

I staggered, bumping into Helena's arm. I looked up to her face, finding dried tear tracks cutting through the dirt on her cheeks, but her expression was persistent–angry even. A look that reminded me a lot of myself.

My eyes swung to Ada at the other end of the cart. It was a show of pure resilience stopping me from pushing her over the side and into the darkness lurking beneath us, never to be heard from again. The world would be a better place for it.

I jolted back into the metal siding as the cart slammed into another roadblock, snapping my trail of thought like a toothpick. Vengeance will come, the moment we're out of here, but right now we need to focus on escaping.

Ahead the tracks curled out of sight, and our cart whipped around the sharp angle. I found myself pressed into the corner by the momentum.

"Not a fan of rollercoasters?" Leon asked, looking back at me as I sank further down. No. No, I am not a fan of rollercoasters. The only reply I could muster was sticking my tongue out, eliciting a small smile from him as he turned again. I needed to focus on keeping the contents of my stomach in my stomach.

"Shit!" Helena said, but just as I raised back up to follow her gaze, our cart took a sudden drop. We plunged down a set of steeply angled tracks, gravity tearing at me as my knuckles went white against the safety bar. A yelp escaped me as air pressed against us, pinning me against the back wall.

The track leveled off with a blunt change of direction into another dirt tunnel, sending us all staggering forward. Leon reached out a hand, steadying me before I could fall to the floor. I couldn't summon the words to thank him as I stumbled back into my corner, fighting the nausea swarming me.

I will not throw up. I will not throw up.

I refused to look to Ada's corner, certain she'd be looking at me with a smug smile and taunting eyes. Bitch.

The tunnel around us blinked out, giving way to an open cavern. A waterfall dripped down the jagged wall on the left, green vines devouring the rocky interior and the craggy columns on each side of the tracks. I focused on the gurgle of water, using it to settle my traitorous stomach.

We raced towards another dirt tunnel at the far end, but a tremor slammed through the cart and the short stretch of cavern shook uncontrollably. The wheels clanked and rattled their protest as the cart tipped forward slightly, like a rock fell from the ceiling and threw us off balance. Before I could muster the courage to release the handlebar and venture forward to see what we'd picked up, metal echoed through the hollow. The sound came again and again, like a knife scraping along rust.