'Three days. Has it really been that long?' Chris thought as he finally came to after the most excruciating pain in his chest left him paralyzed. Shaking his head he scanned the room. 'Sakuri is next to me and should wake up soon. Why is everything fuzzy? Did we faint and I dreamt of our deaths? And Devin. Wait, is that blood?'
"Ow. Ow ow." Devin said as he tried to sit up, rubbing his neck once he did. "Sorry man, I remember getting to this room with what I think was Leviathan and then I'm back here."
"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" Sakuri's voice was filled with agony as she clenched her abdomen upon waking. After a moment she came to her senses fully, confusion too taking her memory. "Did? Did that happen?"
"It's fine." Chris' voice cracked as he knew he wasn't okay. He died without the sweet release of death to remove him from the pain. That wasn't death, he didn't die. He suffered and that spell tried to remove the memory of it from all of them. The residual, but fading, pain remains as a memory of what happened. "We need to keep moving."
"Follow me then. I can retrace my steps far enough to the point where I perished." Devin said, managing to stand after coming to the same conclusion.
The group followed him: avoiding the flying creature, entering the room Devin unlocked, and dashing past the torso creature straight to where Devin placed the blue gem days prior. A relief to the group as a whole.
"I'm guessing the door on the right is about as far as you got." Chris' haunting voice rang through Devin's ears. The same cold aura washing over him again as he wiped some of the dried blood off his face. "Devin?"
"Yeah! Let's just try to get through there this time." Devin said, snapping to attention before slowly entering the long hall again.
As they entered the room it did not take long before Leviathan attempted to snag Devin's head, causing all three of them to dive to the ground and begin to crouch walk towards the exit, the rumbling of the worm's movement echoing all around them.
"Chris, look out!" Sakuri shouted as the ground below him began to disturb, crumbling and sinking slightly.
"Nope! Not again!" Chris shouted, diving forward into a roll to avoid Leviathan's bite.
Without another word the three continued to the opening on the opposite end, diving every time the creature tried to strike. Not that it was made easy as its attack became more frequent the further they went until they dived into the next room.
Breathing heavily, the three fell upon the ground. Coming to terms with the small gray room once recovered mentally, Sakuri finally spoke. "At least that's over."
"Yeah, but I feel like it's only going to get worse." Chris huffed as he caught his breath. "Not trying to die for a third time."
"Let's not do that anymore." Devin puffed as he bent forward. "I miss my gear."
"Me too brother." Chris replied, looking up to see a small vent opening at the end of the room and a door with a large dark stairwell to their right.
"Can I just lay here for a little while longer." Sakuri said, her breath shallow from exhaustion. "My stamina isn't that great, I get winded easily."
Chris looked at Devin, who was now looking through the doorway, with a shrug. "I see stairs leading down through this door. If we're safe here and she needs a breather then I can wait a little." He responded, letting out a hard cough. "Sorry, my neck still feels funny."
"I don't think we're going to just rush out of here." Chris moved next to Sakuri, laying a hand on her shoulder before taking a seat. "Get your rest. I promise we'll get out of here somehow. I'm not leaving without you. Any of you."
YOU ARE READING
Demonophobia
Terror'Six years ago there was an incident in the Kyoto region of Japan. A book used for demonic worship called 'The Dark Grimoire' was discovered to have been stolen, but the perpetrator was never found. Such a book was told to have the ability to summon...
