Art & Randomness 3

Death

I am way to lazy to draw the next few scenes so this chapter is gonna have it in words

(Hope u have the time to read this)

Ace's POV
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I slowly opened my eyes, regaining consciousness. Everything was blurry and distorted as I sat up, my forehead pulsed with pain and my hand shot towards my face. I screamed in agony as excruciating pain spread up my arm. It was probably broken.

"What... What happened...?" I mumbled, "T-Tom...?" Just as I said my brothers name that image flashed in my head. "TOM!" I shrieked.

I tried my best not the lean on my broken arm whilst standing up, I tried to support it with my right arm for the time being. The pain was still present but at least it hurt a little less. I didn't have my glasses, they'd most likely been shattered from the drop anyway, so everything wasn't as clear as I was use to and it was pitch black.

I stumbled forward into the darkness only to trip on something, on reflex I held out my hands to stop the fall which resulted in the pain in my left arm to become unbearable. Tears filled my eyes and I began trembling, whimpers escaped from my mouth as I curled up and hugged my knees. Stones rolled underneath my shoes and made a weird humming sound, I looked down to see tiny distorted glimmers of pale blue light.

The light faded out and I put my hand down, supporting my broken arm with my legs, I shuffled my hand around the floor in hopes of making more rocks glow. Tiny pebbles started to hum and shine, it sounded like wind chimes. Suddenly my fingers connected with something bigger and a deep hum reverberated throughout the cave, I slid my hand up the object, it felt like a rock... My fingers met a cold sticky liquid. I stood up and kicked the rock as hard as I could, it started humming louder and the entire thing lit up.

From what I could make out the rock was covered in blood, Tom laid upon the top. Tears streamed down my face like rivers as I stared at my brothers limp body...

"Tom...?" I choked. My tears mixed in with blood coming from my forehead, I must've hit my head.

I rested my hand upon his chest, I couldn't see if he was breathing so I tried to feel his heartbeat. Nothing...

I wasn't giving up, I laid my head down where his heart was. At first I didn't hear anything but then there was something, I heard it! The faint sound of his heart pumping, it was slow but at least it was there... At least there was hope that he would live.

"I'm not leaving you here Tom..." I whispered, "YOU HEAR ME? IM NOT LEAVING YOU!"

His back looked broken from the impact of the fall, how was even still alive? How was I alive? "Hehe... Who cares! At least our hearts are still pumping!" I yelled.

I did my best to create a makeshift sling out of my sweater and managed to haul my brother onto my shoulders, he was so heavy. My gosh.

I picked up the biggest rock I could find and held it in my hand, shaking it around to make it glow and hum. I started to walk, I didn't know where to exactly but I walked... Honestly I didn't care where I went I just hoped it led to a way out. It was kinda cool to see a trail of rocks light up and fade out behind me, but it also led me to wonder... How was this possible? We should have died from that fall... How did these rocks work? I'd never heard of anything like this before... Dads probably worried about us, how long have we been down here? I'm so hungry... So thirsty...

Every now and then I would hear screeches through the tunnels, I would just assume it was bats or maybe my mind playing tricks on me. Occasionally I heard scurrying too and I wouldn't notice tiny pebbles lighting up, probably rats or some kind of cave dwelling creature. But then a new sound caught my attention, bubbling... Could that be a way out? I shook the stone and sped up as much as I could, my arm ached a little but the thought of escaping this place flooded my thoughts and drowned out most of the pain.

The bubbling sound got louder and I turned a corner, there it was... A potential escape. The cave expanded out in all directions and in the centre was a circular pool, large markings Even I could see had been carved into the outside and they made a creamy white pattern. It was incredible. The water in the pool was glowing the same colour as the stones and bubbled up from the centre like an underground spa, I stumbled towards the edge and looked down into it. I couldn't see the bottom.

I laid Tom down and cupped my right hand the best I could, I scooped up the water and brought it to my mouth... My joy faded as I realised it was salt water. Might as well wash this blood off while I'm here anyway I thought, I leaned down and splashed the water on my face and started washing away the blood sweat and tears... It stung. Then I pulled Tom over to the edge and rubbed the water across his back and face.

"We're getting out of here Tom... Even if I have to swim" I said to his unconscious body. You see, I wasn't a very good swimmer... But he was, he was always at the beach... Even if it was storming. I never really considered swimming but I loved the ocean, all the creatures fascinated me.

I heard more of the screeching and scratching, it was getting louder. A bad feeling swirled in my stomach... We weren't alone. I pulled Tom closer to me and I sat on the edge of the bubbling pool, ready to jump if I needed to escape. Shadows flickered on the walls and the shrieks of some kind of creature echoed throughout the caverns. I dragged Tom into the pool and held underneath his chin so he was floating, the smell of rotting flesh invaded my nose.

The sounds were deafening now. I didn't wanna wait to find out what was making them so I leaped into the pool with Tom, just and I got below the surface with my brother beside me I twisted upwards to see humanoid silhouettes looming over the pool. They sent shivers down my spine as they looked down into the water... I'm glad I jumped when I did.

I turned around only to be blinded even more by a white light...

Everything went black as I lost consciousness once again...