Their Tainted Fingers

dark, endless tunnel

The girl's voice was more lucid every time she yelled. Rory stretched her foot out to retrieve the bag. Why couldn't she remember? Rory needed to scream. Her heart throbbed. Her breath hitched. Perspiration flooded her body.

Her foot reached the strap. Pulling it on the wooden floor to get it within reach, the metal on the opening of her satchel raked the wood in a screeching sound. She had it in her hands. Opening her journal as quickly as possible, "AMNESIA" loosely explained the reason why she blanked out, but there was no recollection of why or where she was.

Well, one thing was obvious.

Hide.

This time, the girl did not yell. A slashing sound of something like a whip sounded through the rooms. Rory had nowhere to hide. A few seconds later, the girl would enter the room, and Rory would be greeted with a whip.

Scanning the room for any windows she could climb, Rory freaked out. The windows were two stories high. Two stories. About 30 feet. There was no way she could jump. Could she just wait for the whip? No, of course not. She started to breathe faster. She could hear her heartbeat. Tears streamed from her eyes.

The cabinet.

The cabinet! Rory looked to her left. Between the door and the wall, an old-looking cabinet was sitting there all this time. She had to make a run for it. The girl was coming. Her footsteps could be heard.

Now.

Crawling past the door frame, she opened the cabinet as fast as she could. It opened with a cacophonous loud creak. Rory stepped in, shut the door, hoping there was no lock.

She was crushed against the side of the cabinet, squeezed into a ball. Her sweaty body touched the wood. Cobwebs permeated the top, a metal rail was secured to the sides, home to many more webs. The cabinet was empty.

Rory turned around. There was no wall. It was another cabinet inside the cabinet. Pushing the door with all her might, it budged open. There was no wall.

Only a dark, endless tunnel. This was it. The girl's footsteps reared closer. Step. Step. Step. Step.

Go.

She crawled out from the wooden base of the antediluvian cabinet. Crawling through the tunnel as fast as her legs could go, her blonde hair was mixed with dirt and soot. Her knees were entirely black, her white t-shirt was ruined and her satchel was trying to cling to its life.

The tunnel didn't end. Rory had to take deep breaths to get a sufficient amount of air. Perspiration dripped all over the tunnel's floor. It was dark. Nothing was visible. Just until a blast of light shone inside the tunnel.
"I know you're in there. I'm gonna let you go this time, but if you come back here again...well, don't."

The girl's voice rang through the tunnel. Before the cabinet closed and left Rory in the pitch black ambience of the tunnel, two more words sounded from the cabinet's opening.

"Clever bitch."

Rory had no idea how long she had been crawling. Her insides burned. Her head was scorching hot. Her heartbeat was loud as ever. Taunting. The swampy smell of soil filled the tunnel. Pieces of scrap paper, cigarettes and stuff were buried under layers of soil. She was not the only one who knew about this tunnel.

The tunnel took a sharp turn. There had to be an end. What if she was stuck here? What if it was a dead-end? Hugging her knees, and taking a break to catch her breath at the corner. Her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness. Her ponytail had strands of hair sticking out, her blonde hair was filled with dirt and soot. Her glasses were foggy from her constant deep breaths and kept slipping down her sweaty nose.