Hospes

part five

Ruth was surrounded in darkness, no light entered into the catacombs.
All she felt was the damp floor beneath her feet.
Ruth started to get goosebumps around her.
Why did she follow some random guy here? She was trapped in pitch darkness. The very place that had killed her mom.
The catacombs sent a chill up Ruth's spin, she hugged herself for warmth.
"Hello?" Ruth called out.
The boy didn't respond.
"Hey? Are you there?" Ruth asked.
No response.
Dread began to settle in, she couldn't be alone in here.
She heard a rock scrap across the wall, then a spark lit up the room.
It was faint at first and died away quickly. It only allowed her to make out part of the catacombs.
She heard another scrap, another spark, then another spark.
Then the spark caught onto a piece of wood.
Light came into the pitch darkness, Ruth could make out her most of her surroundings.
The boy held the torch firm in his hand, he no longer wore his black jacket, it was no wrapped around the piece of the wood he carried, burning bright.
Ruth sighed with relief, her body became less tense.
"You're here." She said. "I was scared, you didn't answer."
The boy looked at her confused.
She stepped forward and pointed to herself. "I'm Ruth, Ruth."
He looked down at her. Ruth started to feel awkward, had he not understood?
He pointed to himself. "Zaían." He said simply.
"Zaían?" Ruth said. She had never heard that name before.
She stuck out her hand. "Hello Zaían."
Zaían looked at her hand confused, he glanced between her face and her hand.
"You've never done a handshake before?" Ruth asked.
She put her hand down to her side. "Well, looks like we're stuck here."
Zaían crouched down to the floor and picked up a stone. He began drawing white lines against the rocky floor. The lines were a faint light, Ruth could barely make them out.
He drew a picture of a house, coming from the house was a bunch of lines interconnecting, like a maze.
"Do you.. like to draw?" Ruth asked.
"Shh." Zaían said, he inspected what he drew and rubbed his chin slightly.
"Oh, sorry. I'll be quiet." Ruth said.
Zaían frowned but it didn't seem to be at Ruth. He concentrated on the images he drew with intensity.
Then he began muttering to himself.
Ruth sat watching him confused. Was he crazy?
Zaían then got up to his feet and started walking, he waved Ruth along.
Ruth quickly got to her feet and started following him.
"You know where we're going?" She asked.
Zaían started walking through the catacombs like he lived here, every turn was deliberate.
Did he really know his way through the catacombs?
That made no sense. He was a foreigner, he didn't even speak her language. How could he possibly know the ins and outs of a place that Ruth didn't even know herself?
But Zaían knew, she could tell by his confidence he knew where he was going.
He walked quickly, Ruth walked behind him. Sometimes he would turn his head to see if Ruth was behind him.
The walls were made up of bones and skulls, it filled Ruth with unease as she passed them. Alot were scattered on the floor, sometimes she couldn't avoid stepping on them. They made a cloud crack once she did.
Was her mom one of these?
No. These people were older, her mom's body was crushed by falling rocks, her body was not here.
Zaían turned his head one more time, this time stopping in his tracks.
He turned around and walked up to Ruth.
He pointed to his head and started saying something.
Ruth looked confused until Zaían pointed to Ruth's head.
Ruth had not idea what he was saying.
Zaían sighed, walked up to her and pulled out a twig from her hair.
He dropped it on top of the bones and continued walking.
"Oh, thanks." Ruth said. She walked up beside him.
Zaían turned another corner, they had been walking for over half an hour.
Sometimes Zaían would stop, draw more lines on the ground and continue walking.
He walked quickly, Ruth somtimes found it hard to keep up.
Ruth didn't know how much longer they would be walking for.
As they turned a corner Ruth tripped on a bone. She landed on the cold damp floor, the entire place had an damp cold smell she couldn't bare.
She managed to get cuts on hers hands, not too deep but they left a faint sting.
Zaían began to ask her questions, there seemed to be slight concern in his voice. Ruth didn't know if she was imagining it.
The bone next to her began to shake, at first Ruth looked at it confused, until the ground beneath her feet began to shake.
It was faint at first but Ruth regonized what it was. She had grown used to it over the passed three years but it still didn't make it easy.
An earthquake was happening, and at the worst possible time.
Before she could comprehend what was happening,. Zaían tackled her to the floor as a large chunk of rock fell to thr ground.
What happened next was a blur, one moment she was in the catacomb tunnels, then she was falling down a hole. It was so dark she had not noticed it before.
It wasn't deep, it could only be around 4 meters deeps but it felt longer.
Zaían landed first and Ruth landed gracelessly on top of him. If they were in any other situation, she would have been embarrassed.
"Sorry." Ruth muttered as she slowly got off his back.
Zaían didn't answer, he got up into a sitting position.
Ruth looked around.
They had landed some place different, it was not like the catacombs. It was made up of concrete. They had landed into a tunnel, unlike the catacombs it was smooth and made well, almost modern.
It was also alot bigger.
That's when Ruth realized that she could see the tunnel.
The torch that Zaían held burned fainting.
On top of the tunnel walls was block lights.
Confusion flooded Ruth.
Electricity? Everyone has left a long time ago, there was no electricity anymore. Why was there power underground and why were there tunnels here?
Zaían stood up behind Ruth, he dusted himself off annoyed. The tunnels didn't seem to faze him.
Once he looked up he didn't look at the electricity, but rather at Ruth's T-shirt.
He made a comment and shoke his head.
Ruth looked down. "Oh yeah, it's stupid."
Zaían shoke his head again and let out a loud sigh.
"This place is weird." Ruth said. Whatever this place was, she didn't like it.
Zaían ignored her, he looked at the hole they came down through.
He walked up to Ruth and gave her the torch before beginning to climb up.
As he started to climb up something appeared through the tunnels Ruth noticed something in her peripheral l vision.
She turned around.
Up ahead, around 15 metered away was child.
The child was a girl no older then 8, she had a large afro with dark brown skin.
She wore a blue jumpsuit, her expression was blank.
She walked towards Ruth both her movements were almost robotic.
But something about the child was familiar, like Ruth had seen her before.
"Uh, Zaían." Ruth said.
Zaían fell back down and looked at Ruth.
She motioned towards the girl walking towards them.
What was she doing here?
Zaían looked at the girl, he looked slightly confused.
"Um hello." Ruth said.
The girl did not answer, she continued to walk towards Ruth, slowly. Her footsteps echoed across the tunnel.
"Do you know where we are?" Ruth asked.
The girl ignored her again.
Zaían said something as well, the girl continued to ignore them.
Once she was 2 meters away she stopped walking.
She turned to face Ruth, Ruth heard Zaían's breath behind her.
"Hi, my names Ruth." She said. "We were just-"
What happened next was something Ruth thought she was imagining.
The girl held up her hand, the ground next to her feet began to shake. Then a large boulder floated from the surface.
A piece of concrete, floated from the surface.
Ruth couldn't comprehend what she was seeing, there was a floating rock.
Ruth continued to stare.
Zaían yelled her name and shoved her to the ground at the rock came towards her.
It hit against the wall with a large crash.
Zaían got off her and ran to the other side of the tunnel.
Ruth could not understand what was happening.
The girl stuck out her arm again, this time a bigger rock floated from the ground.
Ruth knew what would happen next.
She jumped away as another rock crashed beside her.
She quickly got to her feet. "What are you doing?" She yelled.
The girls face remained expressionliss as another set of rocks came flying at her.
Ruth dodged two of them before a piece of rock struck her gut.
She winced, it felt like being punched with metal.
She couldn't focus on her pain for long before another set of rocks flew as her.
Zaían began to run to the girl.
The girl quickly turned around, large rocks flew at him.
Zaían quickly ducked.
The girl turned to face Ruth.
She summoned a large boulder from the ground, she held up her hands with ease.
The boulder began to approach Ruth, she stepped back quickly, this time tripping over nothing. She wanted to punch herself.
Before Ruth could get up the boulder fell to the ground with a harsh thud.
Ruth stood up.
The boulder lay on the floor in front of her, it emitted clouds of dust. Ruth coughed slightly and rubbed her eyes.
Maybe the rock had missed her.
She walked around the boulder ready to face the kid.
What was in front of her was no what she expected.
The girl was now unconscious in Zaían arms. There was no blood or bruises, Ruth didn't know what had happened.
Zaían had obviously found a way to stop her.
She walked up to Zaían that held the girl in his arms.
"What just happened?" She asked, mostly to herself.
Zaían shoke his head. He glanced up at Ruth and began to say something. Ruth couldn't understand.
She knelt down and looked at the girls face. She was feeling all kinds of emotions, fear, confusion but another entered her mind.
As she looked at the girls face a sense of familiarity struck her, she could swear she had seen that girl before.

A/N: Sorry if this is rushed, the original got deleted and I had to write from scratch. I was impatient.