Forget the Forgotten

Chapter Thirteen

Paralyzed with horror, Amelia stared at Tom. He hovered one meter above the ground. The red mist swirled around him like a tornado. His body twitched and writhed inside it.

Tom's left arm was pulled up so violently that it jumped out of joint. Amelia suppressed a scream as his right arm was pulled behind his back with incredible force.

The red mist moved and dragged Tom with it, who fidgeted like crazy and screamed at the top of his lung.

"Tom!" cried Nick in a shrill voice. He jumped into the mist and grabbed his friend's legs. But something hurled him with incredible force against the opposite wall, where he landed on the floor, slumped down.

"Please, make it stop," Amelia prayed. "This can't be happening!"

She heard the breaking of bones. She covered her ears involuntarily and cried out at the sight of Tom.

The eerie mist now whirled around him even more densely, as if to strengthen its deadly grip.

*How can this be? This thing is not alive. It is only dust. That is impossible*, it shot through Amelia's head.

The red mist swirled faster and faster. Tom's ribs bent up under his T-shirt and cracked loudly when they finally burst. Amelia got sick. She could only watch in stunned silence what happened next. Tom's arm went wild and broke his elbow. The forearm was only held by the skin and twitched uncontrollably in the grip of the mist. His eyes rolled back until only the white could be seen, which by now had taken on a sick grey tone.

Amelia clasped her stomach and swayed back and forth. She trembled all over her body, but she could not get up. Couldn't run away. Couldn't scream. She couldn't even think straight. All she knew was she'd just watched another person die.

The red cloud raced away through the tunnel. Neither driven by the wind nor any other force, it moved forward at lightning speed in an inexplicable way. Inside it floated Tom's limp, twitching body. Then the darkness swallowed him up.

He had disappeared.

Shocked, Amelia stared after him. No, it was not a dream. She was wide awake... ...and felt as if she was about to go mad. "It can't be," she kept whispering. "That's impossible."

Veronica and Jacob sat beside her, frozen.

Nick was the only one who pulled himself together. He stormed after the red mist with an angry scream.

"Nick, no!" cried Amelia. She rose clumsily, straining her healthy foot. But she was too slow and could not stop him. Nick stormed deeper into the maze to save his friend.

The light of the torch disappeared into the dark tunnel.

Amelia felt a big lump in her throat. Would she ever see him again? Or would this eerie fog do the same to him? Desperately she hit the wall with her fist.

"We have to get out of here", Jacob's trembling voice sounded behind her. "The best thing we can do is to try to get back past the puddle of water to the ladder. We're also moving in the opposite direction to this one... thing."

His words brought Amelia back to reality. "We can't leave without Nick," she said determinedly. "We have to follow him."

"No, we have to get out of here." Jacob scanned the ground for a flare, but couldn't find any. He tried to grab Amelia's, but she snatched her away just in time. "Give it to me," he commanded. "Give it to me now!"

"Forget it, Jake," she replied, backing away. "We can't let Nick down."

"But we got to get out of here!" he roared at the top of his lungs. "Now! Right Now! We can't just sit here and wait for that scary thing to show up. Do you understand, Amelia?"

"Come on, Jacob. Let's go! She can stay here," cried Veronica.

"But we need the torch," Jacob reminded her. Veronica looked at Amelia with narrowed eyes. "We'll get the torch whether you come with us or not," she hissed at her.

Amelia looked at her in surprise. Was Veronica really so scared that she would just take off and leave Nick behind? Apparently, she wasn't as though she always did.

"Forget it," Amelia said, holding the torch out of her reach.

"Think about it," Jacob begged her. "If we don't leave now, we're screwed!"

"What about Nick and Tom?" she asked.

"They're already dead," he yelled. "Something came out of that hole and took Tom! And if you sit here with this stupid torch, we're next! Now, get on with it!"

Amelia listened for a moment. There was no sound coming from the tunnel. Where was Nick? Had the red mist got him too?

Veronica stepped forward. Her hands were clenched in fists. Before Amelia's inner eye, Tom appeared, hanging helplessly in the deadly mist, simply torn to pieces. But she was not to be intimidated by that now.

She had to concentrate. Had to be strong.

"Stop, Veronica!" she said threateningly.

"What are you going to do?" Veronica asked scornfully.

Amelia took a look at the torch. The flame had already burned down quite far. If it went out, they would be stuck here in the darkness. And without Nick, she couldn't light another - he had the lighter. Veronica came closer.

Amelia hated to admit it to herself, but Veronica was right. It was useless. "All right," she said. "Then let's go before this one goes out, too."

"I'll take it," Veronica replied, tearing the torch from her hand. "Afterwards you'll stumble again and the flame will go out."

Amelia would have liked best to wipe the triumphant grin off her face. But it'll have to wait. Somewhere back there in the tunnels the red mist was hiding. And it would pounce on her, too. She suppressed the impulse to run away headless.

She couldn't do that. She had to stay calm.

Jacob and Veronica ran ahead. The bright flame bounced in the darkness.

She limped after them as fast as she could, putting as much weight as she could on her injured ankle. Still, the light of the torch faded.

A wave of panic swept through Amelia. She could not keep up the pace. Her ankle was too swollen.

"Wait for me," she called after Veronica and Jacob. But the light from the torch disappeared as they turned a corner.

They wouldn't leave her behind... right?

.

.

.

.

.

1035 words

please vote and comment!:)