In The Dark

Chapter Five

  It takes me around fifteen minutes to find Andrew. I hand him a flashlight and take out my notebook. I quickly scribble our discovery and put it back in my bag.

"You ready?" Andrew asks as he lifts the cellar open. Inside, there is a dark hole with a rusty yellow ladder.

"Let's go." I say, trying to sound confident. I admit that I am scared. I don't want to find my best friend dead.

I begin to climb down the ladder, and soon Andrew follows too. It seems like an hour before I finally feel the ground. I flip my flashlight on and shine it down the dark, narrow passage. I wait till Andrew makes it to the ground before walking.

"What do you think will be down there?" My voice quavers as I ask. He stops so I stop too.

"Well, whatever it is, I'll protect you." He began, but I stopped him before he began talking about something cheesy.

"Ok, enough with the cheesy stuff. We came down here to find Julia, and that's it!" I remind him, walking forward. He sighs and follows me. We walk down the path for a while and I check my phone. We have been walking for an hour now.

"We should stop and rest for a little bit." Andrew suggests. I nod and sit down. I grab my backpack and pull out two energy bars. I throw one to Andrew. He catches it and takes a bite before talking.

"Thanks."

We eat in silence as we take a break. I look at my phone to tell my mom I might be a little late, but I have no data down here. I put my phone back into my pocket and take a sip of water from my water bottle before standing up.

"Let's continue. I want to get out of here as soon as possible." I admit, walking ahead. He stays behind to tie his shoe but catches up after.

"Emma, I don't think we're going to find her. We should head back." He announces after a couple more minutes making me stop and turn around to face him. I can't believe he wants to stop now. We need to find Julia, even if that means walking forever in this endless black tunnel.

"Well, I think we should keep looking." I say, walking. I look back and see that Andrew isn't following. He's just standing there silently, watching me as I walk away. I stop.

"Emma, come on. Let's just leave this for the police. We have to face that Julia is gone forever." He tells me. I want to tell him that he's wrong, but what he's saying is true. I don't give up.

"We have to keep looking. We can't just stop after all this work-" I start to protest but go silent when I hear a horrifying scream.

The scream echo's off the walls, making it so loud that Andrew and I have to cover our ears with our hands. It sounds like a scream, but not human. The scream sounds sinister, and more blood-curdling than a human.

I drop the flashlight while trying to block out the sound. I notice that Andrew had also dropped his. I sit down and rest my head on my knees, my hands still covering my ears. After a couple minutes, the screams stop. I hear ringing in my ears as I stand up.

Suddenly both flashlights turn off. I look around, trying to see through the darkness. I feel the walls and try to look for Andrew, but I can't tell if he's a round. A sudden gust of wind makes my hair rise. Then, I hear Andrew scream. I pick the flashlight up and try to turn it on, but it won't.

"Andrew? Andrew, where are you!" I scream as I start running down the tunnel. I stop running to catch my breath, bending over with my hands on my knees. I straighten up when my flashlight turns on.

"Andrew, this isn't funny!" I yell, throwing my hands up in the air. I walk down the tunnel some more, searching for any room he could've walked into. I find nothing but the long, stone walls of this nightmare.

I stop walking when I hear a loud, sickening growling. It makes me stop in my steps. My heart races as I flash my flashlight towards the noise. I'm confused when I see nothing. I turn around but I get knocked down by something. I hit my head hard on the stone floors and feel blood starting to drip.

I feel my eyes start to droop, so I try to keep them open so I can see what hit me. I see nothing at first, but then I see a long, bloodied, crap like claw coming towards my face. I feel a sharp pain, then darkness.