The Sweep 2

Chapter 4

We end up in a cavern after going through the last door which leads us to an impasse. There is a dark path to our left and right with no clue where we need to go to. I check my Iris but there was no clue. Ana and Kyira decide to play Rock Paper Scissors to see where we go. Kyira is right and Ana is left. They keep  getting a tie so Tiff and I start looking at the walls and floor for any clues.

While trying to find any arrows or words scratched into rocks or in the dirt, I notice that the color of dirt is different on a patch of the ground on the right side. I stepped on it already and tried to move the top layer of dirt but I find nothing. If Lance wants me to meet him and the guys here, he wouldn't have created this elaborate puzzle that involves digging.

I regroup with the three girls and see that Ana had won. Kyira protests for a best out of five. Tiff interjects, "it would be better if we split up. We could cover more ground and message each other if we found anything."

Kyira looks at Tiff, "isn't that how people die? In every horror movie, people who split up are easier to kill off."

"Are we in a horror movie?" Tiff crosses her arms.

"No, but," Kyira was cut off.

"Ok, then we split up." Tiff grabs Kyira by the arm and they walk to the right side and turn to look at us. Ana nods her head to me and agrees to this. We talk about a game plan to leave behind something of ours if we need to mark our turns if it strays off again.

I try to message Lance but for some reason he had left the group chats and personal chat I had with him. Did he block me? This better not be an elaborate prank on me.

Kyira and Tiff turn to go and take one step forward into the patch of different colored dirt and the earth opens up beneath them. Ana and I scream their names as they fall. Their screams get far away as they get farther from us. I look down the hole and can only see blackness. Even with the flashlight on my Iris I can't see anything.

Ana stands up and looks around trying to think of what to do. I message their devices on our group chat and after a few moments, they reply back saying they fell into water. They're trying to dry off and luckily their suitcases didn't get soaked enough to make their clothes inside damp. They are going to explore the undergrounds and we will follow the original plan.

Ana and I take the left passage and she uses her devices flashlight as well. We walk for a while into the dark tunnel and it starts to get colder. I tell Ana about not being able to contact Lance and she doesn't respond. I turn to look at her as we keep walking, "you've been acting strange since last night. Even with the weird messages from an unknown number I've been getting you have been off. There's not something you know that I don't, right?"

She sighs and shakes her head, "I just find this whole situation very strange and planned. There's no way my brother would have let our friends fall like that so I know he's not in on it. I doubt Lance would do that either and it's hard to imagine Roldan or Kado doing that either so I'm thinking we are being set up by someone else." She stops walking and I look over to what she's looking at. A dead end.

I grumble from the situation, not wanting to go back and risk falling into the hole like the others did just to try the right path. Ana texts her brother, Jeon, and he doesn't respond either. We look around for any clues and end up seeing an indentation on a rock. I press it and the rock goes into the wall, unlocking some secret corridor. A door shaped passage opens up and leads to more darkness.

Ana and I look at each other for a moment before stepping in. I take off my necklace to leave it behind so we can mark our spot but Ana stops me, "isn't that the necklace with the tracker in it?"

I nod and she says to keep it on just in case. She throws her bracelet of the ground right by the opening and we go in. Another while of walking goes by and we reach another division. Ana shakes her head, "no way are we splitting up. We will just pick one way and go together."