Fate of Pandora - Book I

Scared Of The Dark

Finally reunited, the group had escaped one trap and walked forward expecting to fall into another one as they entered the old building. It was a dark place, and Coalt walked slowly ahead of the others, holding a flame in his hand to illuminate the path. Risa stayed behind him to keep an eye out for any dangers.

"Okay, this all happened so fast, but thanks a lot for saving us, Yuko," Luna tried to thank the woman properly, who just dismissed her attempt to be nice.

"So, you're the woman Arika told us about," Risa added.

"Oh, she talked about me?" Yuko turned to look back at the girl.

"Well, she never said much, just that you are also a ring bearer." The girl returned her attention to the corridor, alerting Coalt to watch out for a hole on the floor.

"Why did you never come to meet us before?" asked Jay, her gaze as scary as Yuko's. Unlike the others, Jay wasn't affected by the woman's intimidating glare, because both were equally intimidating. "You know we have a mission to accomplish, right?"

"I know very well, but I work alone and I have my own way of solving this," Yuko dismissed her. All she wanted was for them to hurry up and find Arika quickly.

"Oh, really?" Jay raised an eyebrow, not buying her excuse.

Lukas and Ayame were bringing up the rear. The girl was holding tightly onto the boy's arm, her fear of the dark making her nerves tingle at anything suspicious.

"Just great. We get out of the labyrinth only to arrive in an even scarier place," Aya complained in a whisper, her vision going blurry instead of adjusting to the dark. She was trying her best to ignore it for the good of the team.

As they ventured deeper into the corridors, it was getting harder to concentrate, at least for Ayame. For her, everything was getting fuzzier and she wasn't listening to the group's discussion with Yuko anymore. She kept thinking she felt a presence behind her, but every time she looked back, there was nothing.

"Something wrong?" Lukas asked her.

"No, it's nothing. Let's continue." However, she began to quiver.

Soon, Ayame's vision blurred to the point that everything became black; she wasn't able to see anyone in front of her, or even Lukas, who had been beside her only a second ago.

"Gu-guys?" She felt around in the dark, trying to find someone and fighting to control her panic. Suddenly, two bodies appeared in front of her, both sprawled on the floor. The girl felt her entire body go rigid and cold as she recognized the figures: they were her parents. She remembered that scene; it was her last glimpse of them when she had run for her life away from their house. It was like a vivid memory that made sure to engrave itself into her eyes, because regardless of where she looked, the image would repeat right in front of her.

"What is this?" She was shaking in fear. "This- this is not real. Make it stop. Make it stop!" She covered her eyes with her hands, but she couldn't escape her haunting memories.

Ayame heard the footsteps of someone behind her. He put his hand on her shoulder and asked worriedly, "What's wrong?" But all she heard was a strange noise. The feeling of something touching her and the noise startled the frightened girl. She yelped and stumbled away, falling backward and cowering against the wall.

"What is going on? Where are my friends?"

The moment she asked about her friends, they appeared right in front of her. They all looked perfectly fine and were glad to find her. "Guys!" Ayame ran to them, relieved. When she got close to them, however, the scenario changed in a blink of an eye.