Her hands were trembling.
She couldn't look away.
She just couldn't.
Not when... Not when this was in front of her...
Not like that...
The emergency door stood open, revealing the long climb ahead of them.
But it wasn't the darkness of the staircase or the journey ahead of them...
It was bodies...
Hundreds of bodies...
All helplessly climbing the staircase in their final moments.
"W-what? H-how could they just..." Laine mumbled in her ear, but she didn't answer.
Women.
Men.
Children.
All were climbing.
Some statues were huddling together, preparing for the impact.
Some were already laying down, trampled and broken by the crowd.
But perhaps the most heartbreaking was the tiny figure right by the door.
A little girl... Perhaps a boy... Reed couldn't tell by the frame alone.
It was standing right beside the door... A lone child amidst the crowd looking up at her.
What was left of its face was a mask of horror... A hysterical cry only a child was capable of.
Innocent.
Terrified.
Not understanding what was happening.
"Fuck..." Reed mumbled.
"Maybe there is another way..." Laine suggested shyly but Reed shook her head.
"There is no other way..." she whispered, eyes glued to the child-like figure.
Reed inhaled deeply.
Don't look at them...
Keep walking...
Just... Just please keep walking...
She took a hesitant step forward.
"Are you serious?" Laine muttered.
"You can't be serious..." He added.
"There is no other way..." Reed repeated, sounding as if it wasn't Laine she was trying to convince.
She carefully sidestepped one of the tendrils connecting the child with the closest statue.
The only sound echoing down the stairway was the quiet tapping of her footsteps, muffled by the murky water. She watched her feet, feeling her gut twist at every hand and leg that came into view.
Don't look at them.
But how could one ignore such a thing?
How could one simply look away?
Keep your eyes on your feet.
Don't step on the roots.
But it didn't take more than twenty steps before her eyes began to wander.
She looked up, narrowly avoiding looking one of the statues right in the face while she scanned the walls.
The big black arrow pointed upwards, a number one neatly positioned just above it.
YOU ARE READING
Deep Dark Blues
HorrorDefeated. Discredited. Forgotten. But whatever they say, Rowan Reed is not a quitter. Life hadn't treated Rowan kindly but with a sudden opportunity to research an oceanic anomaly, she takes a leap of faith into the cold depths of the Atlantic to re...
