The Blackwood Curse

Three Hours Until Dawn (part one)

Something grabs me arm and yanks me out of my hiding spot.
"Get off me, you-!"
"Shh! You want every Wendigo in here to hear ya?" The man growls irritably. Emily suddenly flies at him out of nowhere and starts attacking him.
"Get off of her!" She screams, clawing at him.
"Be quiet!" He orders us. Emily takes no notice, continuing to hurl insults and curses at him viciously.
An ear-piercing screech echoes down the tunnel. I watch in horror as a deformed shape unfurls from the shadows. The man shoves us back, towards the wooden board walls.
"Get back! Get back!" Em yells. Kicking through the boards behind us, he shoves us with all his might, a grunt of effort muffled by his mask. I stumble backwards before falling over; and I keep falling. The man shouts something and chucks a bag down the hole after as we both tumble down a wooden shaft. I hear the flamethrower roar faintly just before I land on top of Emily in a tangled heap at the bottom of the drop, the bag bouncing off of my back and onto the floor. We both scramble to our feet, swearing under our breath.
"What? What just happened?"
"I don't know, but we need to get out of here. Now" I explain urgently. She pales slightly, but bends down and picks up the bag, opening it.
"Flares?" I frown.
"Who cares? I'll take anything right now" Em twists the top, igniting the red sparks that erupt from it. I take the satchel that the flare came from and sling it over my shoulder. We make our way down the tunnel purposefully, Emily leading with the flare and me close behind. It's darker and dustier down here, and everything stinks of must and damp. The flare doesn't so much light our way as illuminate the fog, but it's better than nothing. There's movement nearby, accompanied by a growl. I rush forwards and grab her arm.
"Em be careful!" I hiss, warning her. She rolls her eyes as if to make a snarky remark, but then sees my expression and shuts her mouth again. We edge forwards, seeing that the only way out of the tunnel is a narrow gap in the wall. We start shuffling through, sucking our bodies in as tight as possible.
A gnarled hand bursts through the wooden wall in front of us, grabbing at us with clawed fingers. We both shriek and burst into a flat-out sprint. It's all an adrenaline-fuelled blur. The red of the flare, the endless grey of the tunnel walls. I just run, glancing off walls and corners in my clumsy haste. Another hand swiping at us from the gloom, and I have to duck to avoid the razor-sharp claws slicing into my head. Up onto a bridge, over a gap. Emily lands, the flare slipping out of her hand, and she bends and scoops it up in one smooth movement. There is a screech right behind us. It's so close I can practically feel it's breath on my neck.
A fork in the path, that's just what we need. I grab Em's wrist and yank her to the left just as the creature scrambles along the right hand wall, reaching for her with its filthy talons. The elevator is right there. We stumble in and practically pull the lever off trying to get it to start. As it judders to a start and begins to ascend, we both pant heavily cling to each other.
"Come on...breathe out...breathe in. Oh God...oh god. Okay, okay...snap out of it Em" Emily rambles to herself while we go up and up. I close my eyes and just focus on breathing slowly, imagining Josh, Ashley, Sam and all the others. We're gonna make it. We're gonna make it.
The lift stops suddenly, making us wobble unsteadily. It rocks again, more violently this time. I press my back to the wall, and the smell of the creature's breath reaches me. The smell of rotting flesh. Emily and I stand paralysed with fear as claws and milky white eyes appear in the gaps in the elevator's walls. Completely still, not moving a single muscle. The lift shifts, groans and is thrown around by every single movement the creature makes.
Come on. I squeeze my eyes shut and think about Josh. Only him. Think about our first kiss. Think about the Pizza Hut incident. Think about anything but this.
Finally, the creature goes. As soon as it leaves, we both dart out of the lift and run. Just run. Emily yanks on a chain dangling from the ceiling in desperation, sending a pile of rocks cascading to the floor. The creature screeches as the boulders block its path. Seeing a barrel of lighter fluid ahead, I kick it over and snatch the flare from Emily, throwing on the ground and sending tongues of flame rising into the air. We both jump down and dash over to a conveyer belt, no doubt used by the miners to transport heavy objects. Em flips the switch and we jump on, slipping as it jerks forwards. We both crawl desperately up the steep slope, the ice making it near impossible to keep hold. We get near the top, and I hear the clunking and groaning of machinery just ahead.
"What the hell is that?" I ask, shortly before I am given a bird-eye view of the grinder at the end of the belt. In an instinctive reaction, I jump over the gap. I make it, but to my horror I see that Emily doesn't. She screams as she slips, holding on to the edge of the chute by just her fingertips. I scramble forwards and catch her arms, leaning backwards with all my strength. We fall to safety on the other side, but it's not over yet. We get to a shed at the end of the walkway, but it's a dead end. We turn and see the creature galloping towards us in all its deformed, grotesque glory. Emily desperately pulls open the side door and drags me through, closing the latch behind her. Panting, she leans against the door and sighs heavily.
The creature bursts through the door, sending splinters flying everywhere. It sinks it's teeth into her shoulder, making her scream in agony. She breaks away, stumbling forwards. There's a bar attached to a wire, just across a small gap. We jump at the same time, but Emily is just one split second late.
Mid-air, the creature snatches her in its claws and drags her back. I skid as I land on the other side, watching on in terror.
The creature holds her up in front of its face, examining her like a hunter looking at their kill. Emily wriggles and squirms as a worm would on the end of a hook. Then it slams her to the ground, and in one deft movement jams its claws into her eyes.
"No!" I cry out in sorrow, tears springing to my eyes as I reach out for her in vain. She screams, but the sound fades out in her throat as the creature's claws enter her brain. Blood pours from her eye sockets and her body goes slack, and I watch the life draining out of her.
"Emily!"
The creature tosses her corpse aside like a useless doll. With a predatory snarl, it turns to me. I grab the bar and jump, but I still can't take my eyes off Emily until she disappears from sight. Tears fall uncontrollably from my eyes as I speed down the wire, the bar swinging precariously.
She's dead. I can't believe she's dead. She can't be dead. This has to be some sort of nightmare. This can't be real.
The squeal of the wire gets more and more high-pitched as it gains momentum, sparks flying above me. A pole appears in front of me, and I know this is the end of the line. I brace for the impact as the bar slams into it and breaks, sending me plunging to the snowy ground below.