Chapter 13
1118 Words
ARIANA’S POV
We fell mercilessly, hitting the rough edges, getting bruises all over. I landed on the ground with my head in an awkward position, before straightening up, and looking at Luke, who was sprawled on the ground, breathing hard, as he looked up at the sky.
I looked around. Apparently, we had fallen in some kind of hole. Due to taking quick hasty breaths, the dust managed to get into my nose, and I sneezed hard.
We heard the strange buzzing sound, and I covered my mouth, only for another sneeze to come through
I sneezed again, and Luke scrambled to his fist to cover my mouth.
I held his hand there, trying my best not to sneeze. Eventually, I let out a tiny one, and with my eyes watering, I looked around, taking Luke’s hands off my mouth.
Everywhere was dusty. It was probably because we had fallen through it. All the dust seemed to be settling.
“What do we do now?” I whispered, giving a little cough, as I tried to swipe the dust away from settling on my face.
“I think we should stay here for a while. Just until the ant monster leaves. It’s way too fast for us to outrun. We have to wait.” He said, and I heard the strange buzzing sound. I moved closer to Luke, and hugged my knees to my chest. I hated the feeling of fear. It was merciless.
“I’m sorry.” I breathed out, feeling my throat burn, as tears filled my eyes.
“For what?” Luke asked, brushing my hair behind my ear, so he could see me better.
“For everything.” I sniffed, and shuddered. “I was so stubborn that I didn’t even let us think deeply, and prepare well enough. We could have prepared a few weapons, and stuff, carry out more findings about this place. You know, we could have been better prepared. I was just so impatient, and thoughtless.” I said, as the hot tears streamed down my face uncontrollably. “I’m sorry.” I added, when I noticed he kept staring at me through my side-eye.
Then I turned to him, and discovered he was smiling.
“Why?” I asked him.
“It’s so nice to hear you apologize. You look so pretty, while apologizing. You’re also beautiful while crying, but you crying makes my heart ache. Don’t cry, Ariana.”
“Are you actually joking in the midst of all this?” I asked, with my tears filling up again.
“I’m not. I’m telling you not to cry. All this is because you love Theresa, and I see no fault in that. Even without coming here, we will still end up facing death in one way or the other. I don’t want you to beat yourself up for this. Even if we brought weapons, I doubt they’d be of much help. That giant ant doesn’t look like it would be killed by a gun.” He said, and I sniffed. He made me lay my head on his shoulder, and began to pat my shoulder.
“We’ll get what we came here for. We’ll save Theresa, and she’ll be grateful to you. Don’t beat yourself up over it.” He assured me, and I sniffled again, feeling guilty that I had dragged him into it when he initially hadn’t wanted to do it.
After a few minutes, he got to his feet, and looked around. I followed suit. We had fallen quite deep, but climbing out wouldn’t be that much of a big deal, since it had rough edges, and built in stones we could use to hoist ourselves up.
“I think we should be able to leave now.” He said, and I nodded, but as we began to climb, we had the unmistakable roar of the ant monster.
“It’s still out there. I think it knows we’re somewhere here.” I said, holding onto Luke, so he wouldn’t bother climbing.
“When is it going to leave?” He asked, looking upwards.
“I have no idea.” I replied.
“Let’s lay low then.” He said, and we regained our positions on the ground.
I spread out my palms, and closed my eyes, trying to feel the crackle of my magic between my fingers.
When I saw I was yet to feel it, I began to whisper spell words to make us invisible. Maybe if we were invisible, then we could make it out safely. I didn’t think the ant would be able to see through my spells.
Unfortunately, no matter how much I whispered, I didn’t feel the magic burn through my fingers. It was lost somewhere, like I couldn’t withdraw it from me. Like it was stuck. A closed door.
“Just like we lost our speed, I think you lost your powers too. Temporarily, I mean. Nothing seems to work well here.” Luke said, and after trying a few more times, I gave up with a grunt.
We lapsed into silence, listening to the occasional buzz of the ant monster.
Whether we stayed there for an hour, more or less, I couldn’t tell, but I knew waiting in silence was agony.
It was only after a long time that we finally stopped hearing the buzz.
“I think it’s gone.” Luke whispered, and we got to our feet.
We began to climb up the hole slowly, but steadily.
“Watch your step.” Luke cautioned, and I continued climbing steadily.
“Thanks. I got this.” I said, scratching dust just to make myself steady. I didn’t want to slip, and fall.
“Be careful, Ariana. I got your back though.” He replied, and I tried hard to climb, even though it was hard. I wasn’t much of a climber.
Unfortunately, just as I was about to pull myself to the top, something dark covered the hole, and I screamed.
“Are you okay?” Luke asked, immediately.
“Back down, back down.” I said hastily, moving back, and Luke did the same too.
We got down, and just then, something white seemed to emerge from the middle of the black stuff that covered the hole. We heard the unmistakable buzz of the ant monster, and I bit my lip.
“Damn. This thing lays eggs?” Luke asked, and just then, an egg dropped into the hole.
More eggs began to drop, filling up the space, and Luke and I had to stick together.
We knew its plan immediately. It was planning to fill up the hole with eggs, so we’d die of suffocation.
- Writer
