Never Seen Again

The Spirits

Autumn's POV

We spoke no words. We had the same dream. It was 20 minutes until one of us spoke. Blue tinted light streamed through the window. It was a cloudy day, again. Before we left for camp, the weather forecast was all clear. Ever since everyone started acting weird, everyday has been either rainy, or cloudy.

"Let's go check behind that board," Lynn said.

"Didn't we die when we did that?" I said.

"Let's just check, not go in"

"After we find food," Terry added.

My stomach growled. I realized I haven't eaten for a whole day. We head downstairs, skipping the shattered steps. I suddenly heard Terry and Lynn gasp. As I turned the corner, I saw what they were gaping at. The living room had been replaced with a feast. A large dining table with 3 chairs and piles of food. Terry was already stuffing herself. I was suspicious, but my body didn't care. A second later, we were all eating.

*** Time Skip ***

"I've got a bad feeling about this," I told Lynn, "You sure you want to check?"

"To late!" Terry said, opening the curtain and pushing the board back.

We all held our breath... Nothing happened. Terry started tugging on it. Nothing.

"Well...maybe we were in a different cottage."

We went into the cottage beside us. My hair brushed past my shoulders as a rush of cold air flew through a crack in the door. Once I opened the door, I gasped. I could see another village square, but this time filled with people. Kids and teenagers our age. All laughing and playing games. The square wasn't as broken down like the one we were in. But the second we stepped through the door, the illusion was gone. It was broken down like the one we came from, but it wasn't the same one... or was it? I could see the opened door we went through, and the cottage we slept at.

"Maybe some of the other doors lead somewhere." Lynn said, as if she was absolutely sure of it.

And on and on we went, trying to either find the cottage from the dream, or a way out of here. Every time we got the same results. Every. Single. Time.

See the village

Go through the door

Village Gone

Back where we started

Repeat

We headed toward the last door. I paused. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew there was something special about this house. I just couldn't put my finger on it.

"Wait... wasn't this the house that trapped us in here in the first place?"

I suddenly remembered. This was the house that appeared when the beast tried to get through.

"Let's just go through." Lynn reminded us.

We went through the door, only to find ourselves back in the cottage we slept in. Except there were the whispers again, this time distinguishable:

"Go through the passage"

Over and over again. Without a word, we head toward the curtain. The board swung open, uncovering the same dirt stairs that lead us to our death.

"Well, who wants to die first?" Terry asked sarcastically.

"I'll go first," I said, taking slow steps down the dark stairway.

I felt something under my foot. In the dim light of evening, I could see the first modern gadget since I got trapped, and probably the most useful: A flashlight! From the smell of it, it has probably been in here for 3 years. I turned on, hit it on the crumbly dirt wall a few times, and it flickered on.

"Maybe it's a sign we're going get good luck!" Terry said hopefully.

"Don't say that, now we're going to get bad luck!" Lynn and I told her at the same time.

"Now we're going to get bad luck anyways," Terry said, matter-of-factly.

Lynn and I both rolled our eyes.

"Let's just get going!"

"Bring on the dying!" Terry said with sarcasm.

We were so busy arguing that we didn't hear the entrance click behind us.

We descended down the dark steps. I was ready to bolt every time something crumbled. But I took a deep breath and kept going. We entered the room with the glowing runes on the walls. Except there were no runes.

"UMMM... I see no glowing letters," Terry stated.

Lynn rolled her eyes at both of us. She brushed her hand across the wall, revealing a line of carved runes. Turns out the walls are actually made of stone. They immediately started glowing. The dust on all the other walls flew off. My flashlight flickered and died. The blue light from the walls blinded us, then left us in complete darkness. The room and tunnel started rumbling. That was when I realized, I could see them. The spirits. They were glowing the same tone as the runes. All children and teenagers our age.

Someone's collecting spirits. But why?

Another rumble dragged me out of the trance. I ran after my friends, heading towards the door.

"It's locked," Lynn shouted.

We ran back to the room, looking for somewhere to hide. The supports cracked. Stones were raining down everywhere. The last thing I saw was a stone in my face.