Fleeting Moments (An Angels of Death Reader-Insert)

Chapter 5: B4

Second Person POV

You can feel the elevator slow down as it reaches the next floor. Zack hops up at the edge of your peripheral. The elevator opens, and another wave of icy air greets you, like the previous floor. Yet, it's heavy with moisture and an earthy smell. Zack is quick to walk out, while you take some precaution. Two pools of water lie ahead with a stone path dividing them, leading farther into the unknown.

"Shit! We're only on B4?!" Zack exclaims to your right as you walk ahead.

It's difficult to believe this lunatic will be helpful with anything. During the elevator ride, you asked Zack if he knew anything about this place you both are trapped in. He claimed to know nothing more than that he was told he could murder anyone he pleased here. You attempted to press him for further information until he snapped at you with unreasonable hostility. You started to feel dread weigh your back the more incompetent he seemed.

It had to be him that you had be trapped with.

Before you can give yourself the chance to rile up, you take a deep breath in. Zack is quickly taking his toll on you, and you are going to have to deal with Zack for the next four floors... if he lives that long. You didn't agree to partner with him for his intelligence anyway.

Pushing those thoughts away, you survey both bodies of water beside you. It didn't hurt to check for any puzzles, and maybe Zack would move ahead first to die in an obvious trap. Sure enough, you notice at a vague shadow in the depths of the one on your left. Bubbles are rising from it. Is it an animal? Maybe if you go around the fence bordering one side, you would see it better-

"Let's get outta here already! Move it!" Zack stomps up behind you and pushes you forward, out of the room before you can utter a word. The two of you enter what appears to be a small graveyard. One grave directly ahead has yet to be filled, and the acrid scent of blood grows stronger, to which Zack is quick to comment on. Zack steps away from you, and you are able to move about at your own pace... for now.

Glancing around, there is a tag on the wall to your right labeled "Graveyard 2". There's more than one; good to know. There are three paths: one leads to Graveyard 1, another to a morgue, and the last to a door to who knows where. You walk around the small graveyard while Zack moves toward the mysterious door. To your disappointment, he says it's locked, but that must mean it leads to the elevator... hopefully. Looking back to the other graves, there is a large marker, but it's little more than another declaration to your captor's devotion. None of the graves seem to bear any significance, except for the unfinished one. Oddly enough, a pick axe lies next to it. You crouch to grab the mining tool, but Zack quickly rushes in to step on the handle, pinning it down. It's clear he doesn't want you to take it, so you leave the tool alone and inspect the open grave. A shriveled corpse lies inside it, greatly decayed. It didn't make sense why something that looks so aged would be dug up. Perhaps the individual has been recently mummified... but why is it so thin, as if starved to death? Is it a clue? Maybe it has a key to-

"It's just a grave," Zack's voice interrupts your train of thought.

You look up to see him looming over you, his eyes almost glowing in the shadow of his hood.

Zack doesn't wait for a reply. His mouth curls into a wicked grin. "Do you want to get in it that bad?"

You exhale a puff of breath before staring back into the hole and replying, "It could be a hint to a puzzle."

"What? Are you kidding? I don't see anything."

"There's something in here. Otherwise, this body would have been buried," as soon as you remark that, you see something glint within the remains. You point to the item. "See? It's right there."