Forget the Forgotten

Chapter Twenty-Four

"What shall we do now?" Veronica asked. Her voice sounded shrill with panic.

"We can't fight it," Amelia replied. She was freezing cold and shaking all over her body. She held the torch stretched out in front of her, as if she could fend off the mist with it. She knew it was hopeless.

The red mist swirled before them. The only sound in the room was the soft crackling of the torches. And the breathing of the deadly mist.

Meanwhile, it hovered over them as if it was watching them.

Some extensions of the mist stretched out like tentacles to examine the skeletons. Then they reunited to form a dense cloud hanging in midair.

"What is it waiting for?" whispered Amelia.

"One of us," Nick replied.

"What?"

"Don't worry about me," growled Nick. "But prepare to run, no matter what happens to me."

"Nick..." Veronica set it up.

But Nick took a step forward and waved his torch in front of the red mist.

"Hey!" he shouted. "You've been after us all along. Come on! Come and get me!"

"Nick, no!" screamed Amelia.

He gave her a quick glance and then took a step towards the back wall. The cloud followed him.

"That's good," Nick said. "Come on. Come and get me first!"

Amelia realized what he was about to do. For her and Veronica, the path to the narrow passage through the rubble was now open.

But they couldn't just leave Nick here.

*Someone is about to die,* she thought in horror. *One of us or all of us. Ashton is giving us a chance to escape. We must take it!*

But she couldn't.

She couldn't stand by and watch him get killed.

"Run!" he commanded, waving the torch.

The red cloud seemed to glow from them, radiating an eerie power. *It looks like it's hungry,* Amelia thought.

Only a few more inches separated her from Nick.

"Run!" he repeated.

Amelia did not move.

Nick's look said more than words. She felt the rage burning within him. The rage of losing Tom. And being trapped in this nightmare.

But she also saw the fear.

Nick was going to die, and he knew it.

"Run," he yelled again. "Now!"

Amelia grabbed Veronica by the arm and dragged her to the pile of rubble. Veronica did not protest.

The red mist turned in her direction, but it was too far away to stop her. Amelia ran along the wall.

She was almost there. Now all she had to do was climb the hill. Had to make it to the passage without another piece of the tunnel ceiling collapsing.

When she looked over her shoulder, she froze in fright.

The red mist was streaming over the skeletons. Amelia stood still as if she was rooted to the ground. She watched the scene with disbelief. But this could not be!

"Oh no!" whispered Veronica behind her.

The eerie mist rolled over the skeletons and crawled through their ribs. It swirled through their open mouths and empty eye sockets. Bones were stirring.

At first, they shook only slightly. Then they began to move.

One by one, the red mist lifted the skeletons off the ground.

Amelia watched, incredulous, as the dead creatures floated towards her.

Their jaws opened and closed as if they wanted to snap shut. Their bony legs rattled across the stone floor. Their arms moved through the air as if they were hanging on invisible threads, and their fingers curled into claws.

"Come on, Veronica!" screamed Amelia and stormed towards the pile of rubble.

But the skeletons were faster. They flew across the room with rattling bones and scattered in front of the hill.

Blocking the only exit.

A crippling fear took possession of Amelia. She didn't know what to do now.

And that was it.

They would all die.

As the bony hands reached out for her, Amelia screamed out loud.

.

.

.

.

.

659 words

please vote and comment!:)