Midnight Playground

Chapter 23

"Where am I?" Cassie asked herself, gazing around her dark surroundings. Her voice echoed against the stoned walls, vibrating in her ear. She numbly began to shuffle her feet, feeling a tickle of wetness spray against her toes. Darkness ensnared her from all sides, so much so that she could barely see anything in front of her face, other than the vague outline of a looming structure a few feet away from her. She swallowed, the sound strong in her ears as she gently touched her foot upon the water below her. The frightening chill left much to be desired and she quickly hiked her knees up to her chest and hoped that soon, her eyes would adjust to the blackness. Until then, she had no choice but to sit and wonder.

"Helloooo?" She called out, not in the hope that someone would reply but so that could try to decipher just how far her voice could travel. She was actually pretty relieved that no one hadn't actually responded to her call, confirming that she was either alone or that the other person didn't want to be found. Still it worried her little since by the time she was able to spy another figure in the darkness, she would probably be on the cusp of death anyway.

"Speaking of which, is this it? Is this death?" After a minute or so , her voice finally disappeared into the atmosphere, giving the thought a moment of silence. Finally, it seemed as though her eyes were beginning to shed some light onto the situation and she was now able to make out the ripples of water circling the large boulder she was sat upon in the middle of what appeared to be a vast pool of black. She assumed that it was probably just water and that the shadows around her helped to paint it black. She remained quiet as she carefully moved to stand, her height now giving her a better view of ahead.

"It's a cave?" She thought to herself in puzzlement, her stare following the collected water, a small stream filling the gaps between the rocks. Now stood upright, she could feel the hefty roof of the cave above her head, stone locking her in from both sides of the pool. She couldn't see a way out this way and she wasn't going to either if she remained standing there forever. With that thought and little else, she stepped into the freezing water, without any regards for it depths. She sucked in a breath but she was surprized to find that the water only came up to the top her chin. She figured that it would have probably been the perfect level to swim in, if she had learned properly. Near enough dog paddling through the water, she found her mind to be freer than she had feared. Maybe it was because no one could hear her? No one could judge her? Or maybe it was simply the act of staying afloat. Whichever it was, she was grateful for it. If this was death, there were worse things she could imagine. She laughed, slightly taking in a gob full of water into her mouth. She instantly spat it out, the taste burning the back of her throat. She attempted to ignore it, pulling her neck higher to avoid repeating the same mistake.

It took her a while to reach the other side of the cave and even then she wasn't sure what had urged her to cross the pond. There was nothing of worth on this side either. Twisting the fabric of her clothes in the hands, she dodged the gush of water that dripped from her clothes that felt heavy against her.

"So what now? Am I supposed to just stay here?" The idea didn't really scare her very much. She had always liked the quiet anyway, although this was on a whole other level. What would she do? What could she do? She felt the longing for a pack of cards or even her old notebooks that resided back in the creature infested house. A cynical laugh escaped from her.

"I've really done it this time haven't I?" For a split second there, she had almost completely forgotten how it was she had died in the first place. She had fallen out of the attic window. There was no coming back from that, was there? After all her antics and all her lies, she hadn't really been expecting this.

"You really got out of this one didn't you!" She yelled, growing more and more irritated by the second. She briefly bit the corner of her lip. Well, what did it really matter now anyway, she was all alone. Again. Only this time, she couldn't hurt anyone else and oddly that made her feel pleased with herself. She turned to sit on the edge of the bankside, leisurely kicking her legs in the water. She closed her eyes. Death really wasn't that scary after all, it seemed more boring if anything. She lounged back slightly.