Forget the Forgotten

Chapter Five

Amelia falls through the darkness.

Her stomach lifted and the air was squeezed out of her lungs.

Then she hit the ground hard.

A white-hot pain shot up from her left ankle to her hip. Stars were dancing in front of her eyes and her ears were shrilly.

She could not breathe.

Her heart seemed to go on a strike.

Everything went black.

Then she felt cold cement beneath her. Feel the sharp metal edges of a ladder drilling into her shoulder and her heart was beating again.

Little by little the numbness disappeared and was replaced by single points of pain. Her ankle was throbbing. Her right elbow was burning under her sweatshirt. Her knees were full of blood, as the cheer uniform did not cover her legs in any way.

How far had she fallen? Three meters? Five meters? Ten meters? No. She couldn't have survived a ten-meter fall. Five meters seemed pretty realistic to her. For Amelia, it felt like an eternity. Long enough to think she was about to die.

"But, I'm alive." She said to herself. "And I need to find out where I am."

When Amelia sat up, the pain raced through her limbs. Gently, her finger ran her ankle. It was already so swollen that she could not even feel it. When she tried to move her, she cried out in agony. Never before in her life had anything hurt so much. Nevertheless, Amelia knew that her ankle wasn't broken, because she could still move it – despite the severe pain.

As she rubbed her elbow, she felt warm, moist skin where the fabric of the sweatshirt should have been.

*Torn.* she thought grimly. *And bleeding.*

A wave of nausea flooded through her and she broke out in a cold sweat.

"Pull yourself together." Muttered Amelia into the darkness. "It's all right. Stay calm."

The sound of her own voice calmed her a little. After she had managed to sit up, she felt the metal ladder in her back. She couldn't see how far up it went. Carefully, she felt the ground around her. Her hand touched rough concrete and garbage. A broken bottle. A crushed can. Wet paper.

Where was she?

There must be some kind of tunnel underneath the school. But what was it for? She'd never heard of it. Amelia took a deep breath. There was a smell of dampness and something mouldy. Wherever she had landed, there hadn't been anyone down here for a long time, apparently.

Somehow, she had to get out of here. Determined, Amelia grabbed a ladder piece and tried to pull herself up on it. A sharp pain burst through her ankle. With a cry, she dropped back to the ground.

That was it.

"Help!" she screamed. Her voice echoed off the walls and pushed up the shaft, but she sounded weak and thin.

"Is anyone there?" she tried again. "Help me! Please!"

No answer.

She was alone in the dark.

A panic attack was added to the nausea. What if she wasn't found? She could be stuck down here for days.

*Don't do that,* she thought in horror. And then she started screaming again.

Still no reaction.

"Come on!" cried Amelia. Frustrated, she clenched her fist in the air and slammed it into the wall with full force. A murderous pain ripped through her arm. Amelia howled and dropped against the sharp-edged metal of the ladder. Sweat was pouring down her face. She had difficulties breathing in the humid air.

Suddenly she heard a noise.

A scurrying sound.

Amelia froze. She listened intently.

Silence.

Then it resounded again.

Tap. Tap.

"Get up at once!" she said.

Though her ankle protested every move, Amelia groped for the ladder. She pulled herself up to her knees. As she clasped the rough metal, she felt a feeling of relief. As if in slow motion, she kept pulling herself up.

And then suddenly something plunged into her neck. It was warm and heavy.

And alive.

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636 words