FOES AND WOES

CHAPTER VI: CAVES AND CLIFFS

We walked to the spot where we thought the cave was. We used my flashlight to navigate through the grasslands. After a bit of search, we did find the cave. It was pitch dark and there was no sign of Bruno. The shaft had been shut down and a worker told us that it won't be opening for the next three days. I had my bag with me.

We entered the same cave in which we stood exactly around four hours ago. The cave had an eerie smell in it. We were both silent. It had been a rough day and looking at where we were, we felt it was going to be a long day. I had an unpleasant feeling that inside these shadows how the caves, there was something hidden. These thoughts were however suppressed by the thoughts of whether Lilly was okay.

We reached the intersection where we had original parted our ways. "Left... " I said. Jake went in the tunnel. He carefully tried to walk down but alike Lilly, he eventually slipped and slid down. I followed behind him. I thought it is better to slide rather than try to walk down a near fifty degree drop. The slide was long. Around a hundred metres. I realised how my flashlight and my bag was the only thing I was dependent on (Jake was dependent on me). I reached down and looked that Jake was laying on the ground. He got up and looked at me. I flashed light at his face. He was swearing and sweating.

We were in a tunnel that went a little up. It was not as narrow as the previous tunnel. We walked into it, me first, then Jake. Jake was deliberately holding to my bag and said not a single word. It might be due to the fact that he was not having a flashlight or a torch. As the tunnel ended, we reached into a large room. This room had a higher ceiling from one side while the other side had a lower ceiling. This room was connected with three tunnels. The first tunnel was the one from which we just came in and there were two other tunnels opposite to each other. There was another tunnel but it was in the ceiling. I wondered where it would lead.

Jake and I looked inside the tunnel in the ceiling by flashing the flashlight up. We were able to see that the tunnel ended just after a two metres increase in the height. It was at this moment that we heard some sounds. It was the sound of humans. They were talking (yes, I am pretending to be Non-humane). It was the second tunnel through which the sound was coming. Jake and I stealthily walked into the tunnel. After walking a sharp right, we could here the sounds more clearly.

"...... foolish of them to close it." Said a voice I had heard before.
"Easy for us. We can get the diamonds out easily." Said another voice. It was a much coarser one.

"We should get to the tunnel. Take the sacks." Said the first voice.
The men started to walk towards us. We hurriedly ran towards the room through which we came. Upon reaching there, Jake decided to run to the same tunnel we came through, however, I ran towards the tunnel we hadn't gone into yet. I didn't look back. I had only one thought in my mind which was to run. I ran through that tunnel. My flashlight lighting up the path while my bag on the back. I reached another room. I was surprised to see what was there or to be more precise, WHO was there.

Lilly was kneeling down and her mouth was covered with a cloth. Her legs and hands were tied to each other using a rope. She wasn't struggling. At first I felt she was dead but upon hearing my footsteps, she raised her head.
"Aedean..." she muffled.

"Let me open those ropes." I said. I took my bag and went for the knife had but...... that's when Lilly started to make weird sounds. I turned back and HIT.
A man hit me up hard in the head with a baseball bat. Even though it was a slow hit, I fell down to the ground. My vision faded. Everything seemed distant for once.

I was in another world. My mother was here in this world. "You shall stay home." She said. I ran towards her but she vanished. I turned around confused. It was Mr. Derving. "I am not having enough space at my home to keep you." He said. I kneeled down and joined my hands. He disappeared. "I don't think so we should go there." It was Jake. I said, "Yes, let us go home." But he disappeared. "Can you not stay with me at home? You can film the documentary later." It was Lilly. I felt it awkward but nodded. She too disappeared. "We should stop doing this smuggling thing. We are better of making drinks." It was a voice I had heard before. It too stopped. "Hey, why the hell are you drooling?" It was a voice. It was quite close. "I am not." I mumbled.