10. The Caves
Charlie worked hard during Core training that afternoon. He knew he had to have as much control over his power as possible if they were to come out alive. He couldn't help thinking that Emma and Phoenix might be right, and that he was being insanely stupid.
After their decision to go along with the crazy idea of going down to the caves, they had used the half an hour they had had before core training to sketch out a plan, sitting in a discreet corner of the communal room and trying to figure out how on earth to first of all get into the caves and secondly live through the ordeal.
Not knowing what creatures might lurk down in their depths, it was difficult to come up with any solid plan to get through the caves. In the end, it was decided that they would all just try to hone their skills with their powers as much as possible.
He was hoping that he wouldn’t have to use his power, but they had no information as to what was down in the Caves whatsoever. The first part, they were relying on Emma to do, because she said she knew how to do it, even if she was still completely opposed the idea of venturing down into the Caves.
But that was only the first part. The rest... They had no clue what to expect. Charlie could only hope that they had enough power between the five of them to live through the ordeal.
That evening, Charlie, Peter and Jason lay silently in their hammocks - or in Peter's case on the floor - in the darkness of their dormitory, faking sleep whilst listening out for the breathing of Joshua and Hamish to slow and deepen as it does when people fall asleep.
Once the other two were definitely asleep and lost to the material world, Charlie and Jason dropped soundlessly out of their hammocks and Peter silently got to his feet. They padded across the soft white carpet and out of the dormitory, constantly listening for any sign of unrest from Joshua or Hamish.
Creeping down the spiral stairs and sitting down in the armchairs in the communal room, they waited by the fireplace for Phoenix and Emma to emerge. Staring at the happy little fire, Charlie realised he had gone past the point of fear, and now adrenaline was pumping through his veins.
Phoenix and Emma crept into the communal room. From the expression on her face, Charlie could tell Emma still thought it was a stupid idea, but Phoenix seemed to be almost excited now she knew that there was no way she could dissuade them. Her face was alight with the kindling of adventure.
Not daring to speak, Charlie motioned for them to follow him out of the communal room. They filed out into the corridor and placed the door closed behind them, cringing when it clicked.
Walking down the eerily quiet corridors on silent feet, they got into the glass lift and it slid down to the white floor. They winced as the doors pinged open, and they slunk out into the hallway beyond, sticking to the shadows. On finding the heavy black door, Emma stepped to the front and produced something that looked suspiciously like a hairclip.
“Seriously?” said Charlie, eyeing it with scepticism.
“Watch and learn.” Emma rolled her eyes and bent down in front of the lock. Charlie was certain that they were going to have to turn back. A hairclip was not going to get them through a heavily locked door.
“There is no way that hairclip-” He began.
Click. Emma straightened up and gave Charlie a smug smirk of satisfaction. “Never doubt the hairclip.”
The heavy black door swung inwards with a painfully loud creak. A long dark passage slanted downwards into pitch blackness. Charlie saw the willpower fail in all of their faces. Such unbroken darkness gave him such deep sense of foreboding that it was almost impossible to ignore.
