Fears 3 - Journeys

Chapter 16.5 - Pen

I still had not a clue as to why we were supposed to go to this place. I got a bad vibe from the place in general, as I felt a presence always near me that was neither my friends nor Jinn. I got a sense that something or someone was watching us at all times. Although it made me uneasy, I knew it was just me being a baby like Tree, and I didn't want to be associated with that, so I shut up and continued toward the building.

The temple was a large building which I estimated to be about 200 feet tall and many more feet wide. The entrance was a large sliding door that needed a passcode to be inputted in order to enter the temple. The temple was also rather large on both sides, looking to be at least double the height of the structure.

Jinn stepped in front of us and looked around the building for a clue as to what the passcode was. He searched around until he saw something in the sand. It was a rock with the numbers for the passcode etched into the surface. The numbers were crude, but Jinn had no problem reading them, as he quickly put the numbers into the temple. He had to do this by using an elaborate system that only a madman could set up. The numbers were inputted via a button in the stone wall.

We knew it was the right code since the sliding door slid open faster than I could blink, Jinn walked in first and turned his flashlight on. He scanned the room with his flashlight and checked for traps. While he did this, I did nothing but stare at how thick the door was. It had to be at least 4 feet thick. Whatever this place was had high security, meaning there was a chance there was something valueable residing here.

We all followed behind Jinn like a bunch of scared children. Jinn was focused. He was searching the place with every ounce of attention he had. It paid off. In front of us was a tripwire. Jinn found it due to the light's reflection off the ceiling that illuminated the wire. Although it was dark in here, there were some windows that were high up on the walls. I was surprised Jinn was this good at shit like this.

After observing the wire for a short while, Jinn went back outside and picked the rock up from outside. He proceeded to throw the rock at the tripwire, effectively triggering an elaborate trap. The ground opened up, revealing a pit of acid. The gap was at least 10 feet wide, rendering us unable to cross.

The rock got eaten by the acid within a couple of seconds. This shit wasn't something to trifle with.

"How are we going to cross?" Remote asked.

"I have an idea," Jinn scratched his head.

Jinn proceeded to start kicking some sand into the pit.

"What are you doing?" Liy raised an eyebrow.

"Trust me. This should work."

Jinn shoveled sand into the pit until the acid was absorbed in a section of the pit. He wasn't done yet, however, we still couldn't cross the pit due to its depth.

"Hm, perhaps we can try using my rope in my bag, but there's nothing to latch it to," Jinn contemplated.

Jinn took the rope out of his bag and proceeded to throw the end of it to the other side. However, the end of the rope slipped into the acid, melting off one of the ends.

Jinn reeled the rope back in and I heard him curse to himself. However, this was short-lived and replaced with realization that he had found a solution to the problem. The end of the rope became sticky after the end fell into the acid. I didn't know what the acid did to the rope, but it did something strange, like it changed the molecular structure of the ingredients of the rope.

Jinn threw the rope at the wall, sticking it to the wall about 6 feet over the pit. He then took his backpack off and tied it to one end of the rope. He threw the backpack down while pulling on the rope to see if the rope could hold his weight.

"Surprisingly this worked," Jinn nodded to himself.

Before I knew it, Jinn jumped off the edge of the pit and clung to the rope he had just suspended. He jumped over four feet off a wall to the other side and stuck the landing easily. There was something up with this guy for sure. Nobody normal could do something like that.

After he made the jump, he reeled his backpack back up and tied the other end of the rope to a window on the other side. He tugged on the rope to see if it could support his weight and it held up easily. Although Jinn looked to be about the same age as us, he was slightly lighter than some of us, so it couldn't be fully trusted.

"Guys, it's safe to cross," Jinn pointed to the rope.

"I don't know about that... Only a rope secured by glue is going to hold us?" Liy asked.

"It was able to hold me on its own, so it's only common sense that it can hold you guys too."

"You're lighter than us," Tree shook his head.

"Which is why I attached my backpack to the bottom to simulate that extra weight," Jinn smiled.

"Damn, this guy is good," Tree scolded himself. "So, who's going first?"

"Let me try this shit..." I bluntly stated.

I jumped onto the rope and grabbed the rope with all of my strength. Jinn held the other end just in case and I made it over safely. Jinn patted me on the back like a proud dad and gave me a little smile.

"See, always trust Jinn. He knows what he's doing," I smiled at the others.

After I went, Lightning, Bottle, Remote, and Liy followed in that order. The rope was able to hold all of them up and it was now only Tree on the other side.

"Tree, you got this," I smiled as I looked over the edge.

"I'm scared. What if I fall into that shit you call acid?" Tree asked in fear.

"We all made it over just fine. Plus, you're like the lightest out of all of us, so you should make it over just fine," I explained to Tree.

"I can do this. I can do this." Tree psyched himself up before jumping.

Tree grabbed the rope with one hand but his other hand missed. He dangled from the rope by one hand. Upon seeing this, Jinn came to the rescue. He jumped on the rope and told Tree to grab onto him.

"TREE! GRAB ON!" Jinn yelled, fearing that Tree would fall.

"ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THIS?"

"I'VE NEVER BEEN MORE SURE IN MY LIFE!" JUST COME WITH ME IF YOU WANNA LIVE!"

Tree nodded and grabbed onto Jinn, who carried him over the rope and successfully took him to the other side of the pit. We were now all across successfully. Tree had a close call, but beside that, things went smoothly.

"See, Tree, that's why you always listen to Jinn. He obviously knows what he's doing," I smiled.

"Oh please, it was nothing. Running from a sandstorm is more tiring than that, so if I'm able to do that with ease, I can definitely save you."

"I gotta thank you man. You saved my life," Tree thanked Jinn.

Jinn did nothing but chuckle as we continued into the temple.

The next room looked very different from the last. There was no sand on the ground, rather a concrete floor with gold plated walls. There was a shovel, a whip, and an old vase on the ground.

"These could come in handy," Remote picked up the shovel and whip.

"How is a whip going to help us?" Bottle asked.

"Dunno."

We all shared a chuckle for a while as we continued through the door in front of us. However, as we went through the door, something caught my eye. It was a sign.

ANYBODY PAST THIS POINT = DEATH

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Hello everybody! I apologize for such a short chapter today! AP exams suck and I didn't have much time to write. I'll make it up to you guys next chapter! I swear. Anyway, thanks for reading, and have a damn good day/night! :D

Chapter 17: Publishing 05/21/24