8 chances 1 life

Chapter 3: Trust

RANIA

The cold from outside is unbearable. I have to get to Caitlin though. I still see her standing there. Waiting...
"Caitlin!" I call out to her.
No response. I look back and see Chelsey and Janine both watching me waiting to see what happens next. I look forward and Caitlin is still there. I run up to her and give her a hug and demand her to come inside. As I hug her I feel cold liquid coming from her belly. I look down at my shirt and see its blood... but not mine.

"Caitlin you're bleeding"

I say but no response. I look at her stomach and see its and open gash.
The bones in her legs have been popped out. I let out a scream and run back to chelsey but I'm stopped by the man. He hits me across my face and I drop to the ground. He walks up to Caitlin and removes her from a hook that has been hooked to the back of her neck and wedged into the tree. Her life less body drops to the ground. I try to crawl back inside but he presses his boot over me. He stabs me in the neck with what feels like a needle and injects a substance into my blood stream. I feel the liquid flow through my body. It feels as if the inside of my body is on fire. My eyes begin to clothes and i slowly black out.

CHELSEY

"Noooo!"
"We got to go help her!" I scream and run for the door. Janine grabs my arm and pulls me back.

"Its too late... we've got to go.. Now!!"

We watch as the man walks away from Rania and Caitlins body and heads for the front door. Janine and I begin to run.
Just then Juan sprints from down the stairs.
"Juan!" I scream

"Guys Caitlins dead.... the man killed her we got to get out of this hell hole!"

"We know...so is Rania... guys im so sorry I got you into this mess" Janine says. She looks down to the floor as if she is embarrassed.

"Its not your fault Janine" I say hoping it will cheer her up.
" Lets go find the others"
All of us head for the back door.

LIAM

The three of us still wait in the shed... hoping the others will join us but no one returns from the house.

"We cant just sit around anymore... we've got to keep moving" I say

I begin to look around the shed once more to see if there is anything we could use. I walk along the floor and notice there is a dip in the floor boards. A large red mat covers the dip. I remove the mat and find a handel connected to what looks like a hatch.

"Guys over here!... I think its a way to get out of here"

Lisa and Josh both get up and run towards the handle.

"What are you waiting for? Open it" Lisa says.

"Ok" I say. I bend down and reach for the handle. I only notice now how bad the glass has cut me. The wound continues to bleed and the outer part of the slit has gone purple. I dont feel the pain though. I guess all the fear has made the pain go numb. I open the hatch and dust clouds fly out and cover our faces.

"Nobody has been down here in a while" Josh says.

The three of us look down. Its pitch black. All we can see is the small ladder that connects to the hatch.

"We need to find a torch" Lisa says.
"I've checked this place top and bottom... there is no torch"

I look around and notice a bottle that looks like it might contain fuel.

"We can use that... we just have to find a way to set it a light".

"I actually carry a lighter in my back pocket" Josh says taking out a dark blue lighter thats still full.

"Why didn't you mention that you had a lighter before... or did you just think that it was not important?..we could have used it long ago instead of sitting around here waiting... we could have been out of this place sooner!" Lisa lets out a burst of anger.

"Relax... we can get out of here now... thanks josh". I say

I didnt want any of us to turn on each other. Im finding it hard myself not to get angry at things but I know I'll have to keep it inside. We will need the energy later on. I break off the wooden part of a broom and tear a large piece of material off the mat. I wrap the material around the wooden stick and pour the fuel over it. The second the fire touches the fuel it lets out a burst of flame.

"I'm going down first.... I'll say if its safe". I say

I climb slowly down the ladder. Its not as small as I thought it was. It gets colder and colder the further I go. Eventually it comes to a stop. I shine the light down the long underground passage. Nothing.

"Ok its clear come on down!" I shout to the others.

"Ok!" Both of them shout at the same time.

Josh comes down and Lisa follows.

"Lets go" I say softly

We begin to walk down the passage. The walls are made of dark brown rock. The sides of the walls drip from the outside water. Echoes of screams fill the hallways.

"Do you hear that or am I just going insane" Lisa asks.

"I hear it too" I say reassuring her that she's not crazy.

Liquid fire drips from the torch. The hallway seems as if it never ends.

"Hello! Lisa, Josh.... Liam!"

"Is that... is that Chelsey!" I shout.

"Chelsey! We down here!" Lisa screams.

"We coming back up! Stay there" I shout
The three of us run back in exitment knowing that our friends are still alive.

"Chelsey, Juan, Janine! You guys made it!" Josh shouts and runs up to give them a hug.

"I thought you were dead" Lisa says with tears in her eyes.

"Where's Caitlin and Rania" I ask.
The three of their faces drop. Chelesy begins to tear up and looks away from us.

"They....... they uh... they didn't make it" Juan says. His eyes begin to turn red but he rubs the tears away.

We all stand in silence. We were able to here a pin drop.

"Janine where do these tunnels lead?" I ask, moving back to the plan.

"Um... I dont know. I saw my father use them but I was never allowed to follow" she says with uncertainty.

"Do you think they can get us out of here?" Josh asks.

"Maybe" she says

"Then thats good enough for me" I say. I grab the torch and all of us head back down to the tunnels.

One by one we climb down the ladder
We begin to walk along the dark, damp hallway. Once we all down we here movement from back up.

"Did you hear that?" Juan asks
"Yeah" Lisa says.

It sounds as if something is moving. Like dragging across the floor. It stops directly over the hatch. I quickly climb back up the ladder and push the hatch but it doesn't open.

"Somethings blocking it!" I say
"It wont open!"

The tunnels begin to shake. I fall of the ladder and land on my chest.

"What's happening!" Janine screams

A loud bomb like sound bursts off. Flames shoot at us in each direction. The walls begin to fall apart and the ground beneath us plumits. It was a trap. He knew our plan.