Separated in the Phantoms

Chapter 19

“I’m sorry Faith, but I have to agree with Torin. We have to act fast and we have no time to lose. We have to explore every hall and we can do that way faster when we’re alone than when we’re together.” I said. I could see Faith’s face. She was even more scared than before. I felt really bad, but I knew this was the best decision. I quickly moved on.
“I’ll take the one on the right.” I said.
“I’ll take the middle I guess….” Faith said. She sighed.
“Then I’ll take the left.” Torin sounded brave and ready for action. We all said our ‘goodbyes’ and each entered our hall. I couldn’t see, hear or know what was going on with the others, but I was certain they would be okay.
My passage was all twists and curves. Go left, go right, go up and down. It felt like a freaking rollercoaster rail. I still heard those ghostly noises. I tried to block them out, but the further I went, the louder they got. I didn’t know if that was good or bad. I held my head high and kept on walking. Out of nowhere, I heard a loud thud and saw a shadow running past me. I didn’t think twice and followed it. I ran as fast as I could. The shadow was getting closer and closer, but also more see through. Once I almost reached it, it vanished. I stopped running and took a moment to take a breath. I looked around. Nothing had changed. I looked more careful and noticed I was at the same place. I also soon realised I wasn’t out of breath at all. I never ran after a shadow. I was always standing here. The cave was already messing with my mind. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths in an attempt to close up my mind for the crazy shit that was going on inside the cave. When I opened my eyes, I was met with a pair of pitch black eyes, very close to my face. I breathed very still and tried not to make any sudden movement. The eyes weren’t hungry, angry, evil or anything like that. They were curious. I was too frightened to look at the rest of the entity. Suddenly, the eyes disappeared. I then noticed that at some point, I had stopped breathing. I took a deep breath and kept on walking. It was clear to me that it was impossible to close my mind for the cave.
A few miles further, I suddenly heard a scream. A very real scream. It was Faith’s scream. I turned around and ran back as fast as I could. Once I exited my hall, I saw Torin coming out of his. We walked to each other.
“Did you hear that!?” I exclaimed. Torin nodded.
“Aye. Sounded like Faith was screamin’. What the bloody hell is going on with this cave?” He said. I turned to the middle passage.
“I don’t know, but we have no time to lose. I’m going in.” I said and ran into Faith’s hallway. I heard Torin yell something behind me, but I was in too much of a haze to listen. I turned my head and saw Torin running behind me. Good. I kept on running. I ran and I ran, but I never saw Faith. Eventually, I reached a dead end. I turned around towards Torin. I was panicking.
“This is it. The end of the hallway. No sight of Faith. Where the hell is she!?” I exclaimed.
“Hey, calm down. We’ll find her. No worries.” Torin said.
“I should’ve known this would happen! I should’ve never let her enter alone!” I said, not paying attention to what Torin was saying. Torin suddenly pulled me into a hug.
“It’s alright, Ruby. We will find her. I swear.”