Chapter-6 : Dead End...
Drip...Drip...Drip
The trickling of water was accompanied by the shuffling of steps and squishes.
A band of four made their way down the dimly lit corridors, an unlikely cohort, a single person and four colorful blobs...or at least that was how I described them.
Rusty did insist that they were "Slimes" not "Blobs" but slimes were supposed to be cuter according to me so I'd rather stick with calling that blue, attitude-filled little sack
a blob.
'Maybe Freya fits into "slime" category.'
'This interior design choice...sucks.'
Same stretching corridors, familiar torches lining the walls, dust-choked old carpet running beneath my feet and identical old cells lining both sides, all identical as we walked through multiple forking hallways, twists and turns.
'That's a lot of cells...just how many people were in here?...and why am I the only one now?.'
Rusty lead the group, floating beside me. He noticed my wandering gaze.
"Don't bother...some questions just don't have answers."
I nodded, focusing myself on what lay ahead.
We pressed forward.
"We're choosing to go right by the way, because it's least explored by us, we explored most of the corridors on the left side."
Rusty bubbled, in a disappointed tone.
"We got no leads, just huge stone blocks, that prevent us from accessing further and cleared out rooms, with useless items scattered around."
He spared me a glance, focusing back ahead.
"Up ahead there is a split, left and right,"
The other three grew visibly upset as we drew nearer, bubbling and sticking close.
"Don't mind them..."
Rusty spoke.
"To the left lies a room, the room in which we awoke years ago...."
He turned to me, the two luminescent orbs carrying a depth I hadn't seen in them before.
"Ahem..anyway, we've explored most of the left turn and it just ends in another one of those stony barricades."
We all turned right at the fork, Freya and Glint stuck close to my leg, even Hammel inched closer. It wasn't everyday they moved out into uncharted territories.
"Now you might be wondering why we've explored so little in all these years."
Rusty spoke as we advanced down the corridor, the intersection fading quietly into the distance behind me.
I gave a slight nod, surprised at his intuition.
Rusty continued after a brief pause.
"When we first awoke, we could do nothing... I'm not joking, couldn't control our bodies, we had no memories or knowledge."
A soft blurp emerged from within him as he spoke.
"It took us...who knows how long before we regained any semblance of consciousness."
He stared at the mossy ceiling of the hall, seemingly recollecting something.
"So yea-"
He was interrupted by a sudden noise.
"Blir...Blooorppp...BLOORP."
Hammel rumbled, deep blue bubbles rising.
...
"Yeah, I know Hammel....I know."
Rusty sighed, the tangled strings within him pulsing.
"What?...What's wrong?"
I questioned, and before I could follow up with another...
T....THUD...
Splosh...
THUD...
Splosh...
My head spun around, everyone's gazes fixed down the lifeless halls, the flames lining the walls flickering with each step, as the moaning wails of agony crept closer.
"That...."
"That's what's wrong."
"It's back."
Just as we turned tail to run.
Shudder.
...
'Eh?'
"What are you doing...RUN!"
Rusty shouted.
I couldn't move a muscle, akin to a stone sculpture.
"I...I... can't move."
I breathed through clenched teeth, an invisible force clutching me in place.
...
Rusty turned to Hammel, Then to Glint, lastly at Freya, giving each other glances before turning and moving forward.
My vision fixed on the approaching silhouette...a black dot down the eerie hall.
'Not yet.'
'It hasn't seen me yet.'
"A LITTLE HELP HERE GUYS?"
I spat, struggling against the invisible force.
Glint and Freya stood behind Hammel. Rusty floated above, his luminescent eyes darting to me then the approaching figure.
"Blir...Bri..Bri...BLURP."
Hammel rumbled, the singular string within him emitting a soft pulse.
"Prrr..Prrlooo."
Freya seemed to retort, eyes darting between Rusty and Me.
Rusty's eyes landed on me, something akin to hesitation flickering within those glowing orbs.
...³
They started moved silently.
"Ru...Rusty...Hey?". I sputtered, my heart pounding in my chest, the booming thuds grew closer, the dot in the distance was now the size of a cell door. I could see the swaying arms...hunched forward...dripping.
"Rusty...Heh...stop joking guys...guys..I can help...I can...".
A desperate breathy laugh escaping my chest.
Rusty stopped, his eyes not meeting mine.
"Sorry.", was the last thing I heard before they vanished down the hall as if they were never there to begin with.
The groaning echoes reverberated through the hall,travelling up my spine.
I was a sitting duck as that 'thing' grew ever closer.
Sweat dripped past my eyebrows, my heart pounding, my legs numb.
'Why did they leave??'
Thud...
'Did I do something wrong?.'
Thud...
'It's their fault...ha!...they don't know how smart and...and... resourceful I am...I...I..could-'
...
My brain grasped at the straws of reality.
...
'It...stopped?'
The lumbering creature had stopped with an abrupt jerk, about 500 steps away.
My body damp with sweat, squinting my eyes, gut churning.
...
Shhhhh.....
Shllllloooo...
The figure ahead lost its shape, dissolving into a shapeless puddle of goo.
'Is that it's limit? What's going on?'
Drip...
Drip...
Drip...
Nothing.
SHHHH...
The mound of grey slime bubbled.
...
...
SHAAAAAAA.....
it shot down the hall in a torrent, a living wave of viscous grey, a maw of death moving with lightning speed.
500 steps...
400 steps...
...
'I'm....so dead'.