Hidden through time

15. The Dark Hole

Written 2015 by VeGirl ©

"Where are you taking me?" I hissed when Quin's stance told me that we were out of immediate danger.

He held me in a firm grip around the upper arm and was hauling me away. "You heard Ty, I'm doing my best to keep you safe." The charming flirtatious tone of voice had vanished and he was a hair's breadth from snapping at me. "The closest safehouse around here is my home," he revealed in a friendlier tone. "So that's where we're going." He eased the grip on my arm.

My inner was in turmoil. In a mere few days Ty had come to mean a lot to me and now I was numb; numb and screaming internally at the same time. I trotted next to Quin in silence for a considerable amount of time while I worried about what had happened to Ty. Had they in fact killed him, or was he held prisoner somewhere? None of those possibilities were bearable to think about. The urge to simply ignore my own safety and go after them was overwhelming and I had to use my common sense to stop myself from acting like a headless chicken.

"We'll get him back." Quin took my hand instead and squeezed it reassuringly but I was startled. Had he read my thoughts or something? I started to believe anything was possible in this place.

The scenery around us had gradually changed and first now I noticed that it was filled with hills and cliffs. It reminded me of the beautiful nature in Scotland and I thought about how topsy-turvy my life had become since that trip. At that time I had been in the end of my life and now I was in the beginning; walking here in a reality that was too unlikely to be real.

Perhaps this was nothing but a dream?

That thought gripped around my heart like an iron hand and filled me with sorrow. No, this was my great adventure and if it had been nothing but a dream, surely I had been able to keep the gorgeous Ty by my side.

Quin turned by a bush with long thorns. "Be careful." He still held my hand and led me around a fierce looking bush that stood against the grey cliff. Suddenly he ducked into a crevasse that was barely wide enough to allow his wide shoulders through and I halted abruptly. Quin kept my hand in a tight grip and exhorted me to keep moving. "Come on, it's bigger inside." His smiling face reassured me from the cleft and I took a deep breath. My fear of tight spaces was being challenged here and with dread I held my breath as I squeezed through the crevasse.

Inside it was truly bigger and looked like a path inside the cliff. The word spelunker sprung to mind as I wondered what I had gotten myself into. We walked along a tunnel that gradually became wider.

Two tall men stood there inside the tunnel and when they noticed Quin and me they straightened their posture defensively. When they looked closer, they recognized Quin and bowed deeply.

"You're a courteous race," I murmured and Quin smiled wryly.

They said something in what sounded like the language I had heard Ty and Quin speak to each other earlier. I looked curiously at the darkhaired and pale men who were unusually handsome with sharp edged faces. Their curiosity towards me was easily detected and even deeper than my own.

I was uneasy at once. Inside a cave with three tall darkhaired and intimidating men, I was suddenly asking myself what I had gotten myself into. Bereft of Ty's easygoing company, I wanted to snap at less than nothing. The distance between sadness and anger was just as small as it had been when I was pregnant. Microscopical.

The guards let us pass with welcoming gestures and an even wider tunnel became visible ahead as Quin and I continued our trip. Gradually the tunnel inside this mountain changed into a hallway and I was mesmerized to find a staircase that led us downwards. This turned out to be the best distraction ever. After the initial long straight stair carved from the mountain, we continued along another stairway that changed gradually.