Corrupted Heart - Steven Universe x Reader

Chapter 34

"You guys are so slow!", a voice echoed from the other end of the vent.

"Hurry up, or we're closing the grate on you!".

"I would if someone learnt how to crawl faster!", I retorted tempestuously, eyeing the boy in front of me, "Take your time Steven, we're not in a rush or anything. It's not like there's someone behind you who's trying to get through!".

I caught a glimpse of Steven glancing over his shoulder, "Sorry! I'm moving as fast as I can, but the metal is hurting my legs!".

I understood where he was coming from. My knees felt like they were pulsing from crawling on such a tough exterior and my elbows were starting to mildly throb. Suddenly, I heard a peculiar sound above me. The sound of something right above us falling on top of the vent. It sounded alarming. Like something above us was collapsing in on itself. I paused for a moment, hearing creaks and grates. Goosebumps formed on my arms quicker than I could understand what was happening. Luckily, Steven and I reached the end of the vent shaft before I had any time to properly investigate.

"Did you hear that?", I crawled out of the ventilation, sparing a glance back.

"Hear what?", Jerry asked, unsure of what I was referring to.

"It sounded like something was falling--".

Right when those words left my mouth, the top of the vent came crashing down, filling the shaft with nothing but metal and shambles. The foundation slightly shook beneath us in the most unnerving way. On the spur of the moment, I shut my eyes in the midst of the chaos, hearing the crashes of demolition and destruction caused by the quake. Panic rose amongst us as nobody dared to move until the place had simmered down. Once it had, I began to gradually open my eyes to gawk at what the collision had done. We all came to the realisation that the rubble had blocked our only way out. I could feel the beat of my heart thumping in my ears as I slowly backed away from what used to be our exit. If I had spent a few seconds longer in there, I would've been crushed.

"Oh my gosh, Owen!!", Frankie called out into the rubble.

"Owen's fine!", Steven said, trying to remain calm. Someone had to be calm. "He stayed outside".

More creaking was heard above, sounding even more malicious and threatening before it came to a silent end.

"This place is really unstable", Jerry whispered. "We should try to keep our voices down".

"Someone should call Owen", Frankie muttered, "To make sure he's ok".

Silence filled the room as each person waited for someone else to pick up their phone and make the call. But no one did.

"Jerry, call Owen", I instructed him.

Jerry knitted his brows, "I don't have my phone. I left it with my stuff outside".

"Frankie, call Owen".

"My phone's also with my stuff. I thought you had yours. That's why I left mine", she said.

I shook my head, "No, I left my phone with Owen before crawling inside. You're like super rich, I thought you'd have at least five phones on you right now".

Frankie narrowed her brows, "I am not 'super rich', and why would I have five phones when I can do everything with one phone?".

I turned to Steven, "Let me guess, you don't have your phone either".

Steven's eyes widened, "We were supposed to bring our phones?".

"Great".

So there we were. Stuck inside an abandoned warehouse threatening to collapse at any moment with no way of signalling for help or checking if the destruction did anything to Owen. Despite the fact that I should've been terrified and desperate for a way out, I found a small part of me giddy from adrenaline. There was seriously something wrong with me.