Final original part! Vote if you managed to get this far! Thank you so much for taking the time to read and if you comment, I <3 you so much!
Echoes, distant, glimmer and hope. She shines, she's free, she loves. Who is she? It's me... what is this place? Am I dead? A light turns on, the room flashes bright then fills with colors, hundreds of colors, thousands of colors. I'm in awe; she's in awe. I look around the vast expanse of the room, absorbing the ten thousand hues which reflect off glass walls. There's a huge lamp in the center, it's the focus of all light and where everything seems to come from.
I'm happy; she's happy. With a huge grin, I look up at a person standing next to the light. He teasingly casts his shadow in front of the lamp to transform the angles and thus the colors. It's Chase, the big hulk of a man I've come to love. He has this grin on his face from ear to ear. His soft eyes look kindly at me as he runs a hand through his hair, allowing the short blond ends to sway to one side.
All this, for me. He looks happy, very happy like he just opened Pandora's Box and ten million butterflies flew out. I take two or three large strides and leap at him in excitement. This is the most beautiful place I've ever seen in the world. It's utterly wonderful. He takes a step forward, he catches me midair. I wrap my legs around his waist and lower my face close to his.
I kiss, that's probably what he wants as payment for showing me one of the hidden wonders of the world, and that's entirely what he deserves too. I'm ready to lose myself to him, to lose everything in this delightful place. What is this place? Is it heaven? Is it paradise? Is this place a dream? A thought? No, I know what this place is. It's a memory. A memory I'm remembering now. Why am I remembering it now? Why is this memory coming back to me right now when all hope is lost? What sick, twisted joke is my mind playing on me. What sick, twisted joke...
I snap myself back to reality. Dreaming of the good times at a moment like this, what am I thinking? I squeeze my hands tight around Chase's arm as if letting him go now would mean I'd never get him back. We've walked a distance up the mineshaft, making sure to steer clear of the hanging limbs, bones, and other generally terrifying things roped to the rafters.
After falling into a pile of bodies, I feel I'm inches away from just snapping. The only thing still holding me together is Chase. It's his sudden braveness that's keeping me whole. If I lose him, everything would be lost.
I'd be left to my own devices and my own devices are telling me to dream about the good times, to get sucked into a world that no longer exists, to indulge in the good and become entirely numb to reality. My mind is telling me to forget what's real and what's not. But I can't. Chase is real, he's right here and he needs me.
"It opens up," he says between short low breaths. The air down here has gotten musty and humid and it's grown incredibly hotter since we first fell down the pit.
Gears, we hear gears again, turning and cranking, but this time we don't see bars, we can just hear the gears—spinning. I point the light forward as best as I can, trying my best to ignore the blasting noise. In front of us is some kind of room. I see a wooden floor and a table. It looks like there is rotten meat on the table. I slowly move the light around. That's when I see a lantern hanging from one of the beams right next to us. The gears stop cranking again.
I take a slow, deep breath and reach up, catching the lantern between my fingers. It feels old, but there's a switch. I assume the switch would do nothing, that we'd need to light it, but I flick it anyways. The lamp is electric. It's bright, very bright. A room lights up. It looks just like a cabin.
I gasp in air slowly as I stiffen up and tighten my hold on Chase's arm. He's just as frightened and I feel him lift his arm up to wrap it around my body. I'm not entirely sure if his hand around me is security for me or comfort for him, but it makes me feel safe either way.
