Trapped: the Truth (Book 2)

Chapter 6

The brown liquid in the bath looks disgusting. Chris went in first without complaint. He simply disappeared under the water. Luke went after him with a curse. Nate went in next. Steph wants to go in last so I go before her. I place my bag in front of me and step into the bathtub. I hope my running shoes stay intact. Surprisingly, the liquid is odorless. I turn to sit and close my eyes as I lean back into the gross-looking liquid. I feel myself sinking and then floating. I move my limbs around in an attempt to swim to the surface. Somehow, I manage to do just that. I look around me to see that I am in a lake surrounded by trees. The water is cold just like the air. I swim toward the ground and Chris helps me out of the water. I notice Nate jumping back into the water to get Steph. Chris holds me tightly to his chest to stop me from trembling.

I lean my head back to look into Chris's eyes. "I should check if my phone works." The bag is still in front of me so I move away from Chris to open it. To my astonishment, my phone still works and I have no idea how. "Where are we?"

Chris looks around, taking in the surrounding. "I don't know."

The wizard appears out of the water and walks on the surface of the water toward us. I believe now he is showing off but I bite my tongue. "Welcome to Houston, Canada. We have a long walk ahead of us. This is the closest place I could teleport us to. This way."

Chris grabs my hand and we all follow Gwydion. I keep my distance from my brother and thankfully, he does not try to initiate conversation with me. When I walk with Steph, Luke takes the opportunity to talk to Chris. They probably talk about me.

We walk for almost three hours. My legs hurt and I feel extremely tired. Nate vocalizes my thoughts too many times along the way by asking how much more we have to walk.

I do not notice the cave opening until we stop in front of it. Finally! I have never been in a cave before so I do not know what to expect. The interior is dark - pitch black. I can only see the outer part of the cave. There are stalactites and stalagmites. From what I can see, it is difficult to walk inside the cave because the ground is not that smooth.

"Watch your step," Gwydion warns. "And take out your light sources."

I pull out my flashlight from my bag. Chris does the same. Everyone else takes out their phone. I would have used my phone but I was afraid of wasting its battery. What if something were to happen and we would need to call for help?

We enter the cave following the wizard. When we arrive at a small entrance that leads to larger cave. It feels colder now.

Gwydion stops in front of the entrance. "This is as far as I go. I cannot go further. The emerald should be in one of the caves inside."

Luke speaks up before we follow Gwydion's instructions. "Why can't you go further?"

"I'm an old man; not as strong as you."

Chris takes the lead. "Let's go."

We follow Chris inside and Gwydion waits outside. We blindly walk into the darkness with the only light sources of flashlights. We have no idea what we are getting ourselves into.

"Waaahh!" Steph's yelp startles me.

I look to the side to see Steph holding on to the edge of the ground. None of us noticed the dark pit.  Nate and I rush to help her up. We pull her up to the ground's surface. Steph's leg is scratched by the edge of the ground and a little bit of blood falls down her leg. Tears are falling down her cheeks and she is shaking. She must still be in shock and I do note blame her - she almost fell to her death. Gwydion should have warned us about this pit. Did he even know about it?

"Does it hurt? Can you stand up?" Nate asks her.

Steph shakes her head.

I look at Nate. "We are going to have to help her walk."

Luke intervenes. "No. You two wait here with her. Chris and I will continue."

I shake my head in disagreement but before I can speak Chris agrees with Luke. "It's probably for the best." He gives me an apologetic look and I am left speechless.

I knew this was going to be a bad idea: coming here to help a stranger.