"Kay, maybe we should turn back," Austin says. As usual, I'm not listening, because I want to win. The path is pitch-dark but Austin's entire body is glowing faintly, a trick I unfortunately didn't inherit, and he keeps looking around nervously like he's expecting any minute something will jump out at us.
"We can't go back empty-handed," I argue, but before I can even finish he whips around, and I start to lose my balance and grab onto his arm to steady myself. "What?"
"I heard something."
"It was probably just another team. Come on," I say, even though I'm not at all confident in what I'm saying. Why do I have a bad feeling all of a sudden?
"We're heading back," he says, and I decide not to argue this time. We awkwardly make our way back the way we came. Austin had a growth spurt earlier this year and is a lot taller than me now. I think I have done a great job pretending this doesn't deeply annoy me. It's eerily quiet down here. I pull the strings of my hoodie tighter and try to think about anything but what might be hiding just out of our line of sight.
It happens too fast. Someone screams and I know it's me but I don't feel it come out, I just hear it and it won't stop and now my head hurts. I reach for my brother but he's not there and it feels like someone else is grabbing me, and I'm panicking because now I'm seven years old again, and he won't let me go. I try to scream again but something is blocking my mouth and stars are dancing in my vision, and they're multiplying more and more by the second, and I finally pass out.
