Fate of Pandora - Book I

The Ice Cave

Kairi suddenly woke up with a bad feeling. Even at night she was always alert, yet now she was feeling strangely drowsy, like she had been affected by something.

"Aya?" She soon realized that Ayame wasn't sleeping in her tent; something was wrong. "Ayame!"

The cat meowed aloud many times, waking everybody up from their deep dreams. She hissed as she turned in the direction of the cave, her fur rising on her back. By the time they had left their tents, Kairi was already transformed.

"What is going on?" Risa asked, still half-asleep. Luna helped Jasmet to not stumble on her own feet as Lukas and Coalt joined them. Arika rubbed her eyes, but the sight of the nekomata made her worry.

"What's wrong? Is everyone okay?"

"No. It's Ayame - I can't sense her!" Once everyone was awake, the cat ran toward the cave and they rushed to keep up with her. "The last time I felt her, she was here."

"Inside the cave, on her own? Are you sure? She would never do something like this." Lukas doubted her, and Kairi hissed at him in return.

The cat moved further into the dark cave while the teenagers hesitated just outside the entrance.

"I can smell something," she said, and they lost sight of her for a moment. Shortly after, Kairi returned holding a lantern. "It has her scent,"–she then narrowed her eyes at Coalt– "and yours, too."

"That's the lantern I gave Ayame," Coalt explained. "If it's here then... maybe she has really gone inside."

"But without any light? It's too dark in there!" Arika found this all very strange; Ayame wasn't one to play mean tricks on them like this. But if it wasn't a prank, then something must have happened to her...

"Aya! Are you there? Are you hurt?" Lukas shouted into the cave. They waited for an answer, but there was no reply. "She's not answering... What if there's been an accident? She could have slipped and hit her head!"

"Oh no, what should we do?" asked Jasmet. She was scared, and didn't want to go in there in the middle of the night. But in the blink of an eye, she suddenly gained composure and began to assess the situation.

"Judging from the supernatural events surrounding us lately, we can't rule out the possibility that our enemies may be behind this. Something might have happened. We don't have much of an option; let's go inside!"

Not waiting to hear any arguments, Jay led them into the darkness. Everybody wished they would find Ayame somewhere near the entrance, but they doubted it would be that simple.

A few steps inside the cave, they came to a passage descending under the ground. It was too dark to see here, and so the group went back to retrieve flashlights and coats before they could venture any further. The flashlights illuminated the path and walls as they searched for Ayame. Whenever they were not calling for the girl, tiny drops of water made their presence known.

Irck... Irck...

Another sound echoed up the stone ceiling, and the girls and Lukas froze in their places, staring around frantically. Luna and Coalt, on the other hand, kept walking; they were well aware of what that sound was.

"Those sounds are bats. Just ignore them and keep moving," the young blonde woman told them, unperturbed.

"Oh, no! Blood-sucking bats?" Risa raised her flashlight to check the ceiling.

"No! Don't do that!" Coalt warned her, too late. The light startled the bats and a swarm of them flew right above their heads. The girls and Lukas screamed, covering their heads while the bats zoomed past them and into the night sky.