Soul Riders | Star Stable

Breach | Chapter 23

The girls crawled over to the trapdoor and examined the mechanism keeping it locked. Alex snapped her fingers and a flicker of lightning zapped excitedly from her hands.

"I believe this is a job for me, if you don't mind," Alex whispered to them and they exchanged small smiles. 

Alex picked up the device in her hands and took out a small pin from her pocket and stuck it in the lock.

"ARghhhhh!" Alex yelled as she threw herself backwards, away from the trapdoor.

"What-, Alex are you okay?" Anne asked.

"It burned me. That's never happened before, its like it sensed I was trying to open it." Each one of them slide a few inches away from the locking mechanism, "like it's alive." Alex finished.

Linda looked perplexed but cautious, she wore a familiar look whenever she found something peculiar, something that was hard to explain.

Alex stood up, quickly with a look of hatred on her face as she aimed at the lock. "Stand back!" Alex yelled. She sent a powerful zap of lightning at the lock and this time it blew up in a shower of sparks. A gleeful expression quickly passed over Alex's face, getting back at an enemy was one thing but blowing something up was what Alex lived for.

"Let's hope no one saw that," Alex whispered as she heaved open the trap door. A rancid smell escaped when it was cracked open, each of them covered their nose. "Ugh smells like somethings rotting down there." 

Anne peered over and looked into the darkness the trapdoor had concealed, "How far down?"

Alex shot lightning down into the hole and it hit the floor quickly, "I would say about ten feet."

Linda was retrieving pieces of the recently destroyed lock, she stuffed the chunks of metal in her pockets and then joined Anne and Alex. 

Alex eyed her bulging pockets, "souvenirs?"

"No, it's a very curious object, I was thinking we could bring it back and study how it works," Linda replied, Alex rolled her eyes in a playful manner.

"So, who wants the honor of going first?" Alex questioned.

"I will," Anne said with determination.

"Okay, there's a ladder for the first bit but after that you just have to drop down. Let us know when you reach the bottom."

Anne nodded as she crouched down and held onto the ships deck as she felt for the first rung. Alex held her hand as Anne lowered herself into the hole. Anne's boot hit the first rung, the metal moved a bit as she put her weight on it and gave her an uneasy feeling. She hit the next rung and it felt a bit more secure, they were spaced an odd distance apart and now she had to let go of Alex's hand as she lowered herself into the darkness. Alex gave her a squeeze before dropping her hand. Anne kept going until she couldn't find a rung below her to put her foot on, she let her feet hang down into the darkness. After a few deep breaths she let go of the rung and felt her legs give out upon impact and slide across the slippery floor. Anne found herself lying on her back staring up at the trapdoor opening.

"Are you okay Anne?" Alex asked.

"Good enough," Anne replied.

Anne moved over and soon Linda dropped down beside her with the stealth of a cat. 

"Why is it so slimy?" Linda asked herself.

Alex closed the trapdoor as she climbed down the rungs. She jumped down and landed roughly, but her footing stayed. Light illuminated her face. Her hands were held a foot apart exchanging electricity with each other, creating light in the space.

Alex walked around with Linda and Anne following, as she took in their surroundings. Plastic bags were piled in one corner while moldy boxes were stacked in the other.

"Looks like we landed in some forgotten storage room," Alex said aloud.

"What about the slime? How did that get here?" Anne asked.

"In a way I think it best we don't find out, lets get out of here," Linda answered. She walked over to the door and pushed the latch to open it. It opened easily as if recently oiled. Linda thought it odd and waved them out. 

"Wipe off the the slime," Linda told them when they got out, Alex looked at her curiously, "just in case," she added. 

The hall had strips of white lights lining the sides, making seeing conditions very poor and the white light and dark metal made everything feel more cold.

They all wiped there shoes on the shiny floor, leaving greasy slime behind them as they walked on. 

"I didn't know they are so clean," Alex whispered.

A crackle started on the PA system, a familiar voice that belonged to the dark riders spoke. "Security breach! Inspect all corridors and rooms, attack on sight!" The announcement ended in a crackle.

They all froze in their tracks, as fear washed over them.

~~

It has been such a long time since I last published a chapter. School has been really busy and I've also been struggling in pre-calculus so I haven't had time to continue writing. But now that Winter break is here I will have more time for writing. Sorry for the long wait!

Happy Holidays!