Star Crossed In Time - Chapter 209

As we land, Hundun takes most of the impact before slowly releasing me. He then hands out a rope and whispers “Tie us together.” I take the rope with shaky hands and tie it around each of our waists. I double knot the rope and tug on it as I whisper “Okay, now what.”

He nervously licks his lips as the orb slowly descends. Growing closer and closer before coming to a stop right in front of us. “Now, you look for the sounds of water. When you hear the water, follow it.” He whispers low reaching out for the rope. I clench my fists and think about beating him again but decide against it for now.

I can always beat him if we make it out of this alive… I look around the dark hole and see that it’s similar to the cave up above us. Numerous tunnels branch off in different directions though, leaving me at a complete loss.

I look over to Hundun and whisper “There’s a bunch of different tunnels… which one are we supposed to take?” I can see him frowning behind the blindfold as he shakes his head and shrugs. “I don’t know… just pick one.” He says in an uncertain whisper.

“You’ve got to be kidding me… this is your plan?” I ask in an angry whisper but he only half shrugs again in response. I sigh and say “Screw it” under my breath as I choose to take the path straight ahead of us. I pull on the rope and drag Hundun along.

I don’t know what I was expecting but this wasn’t so bad… it was just dark tunnels but the darkness did seem to be much worse down here. The glowing orb seems to be struggling to light anything more than a few feet in front of us so I make sure to stay close to it.

I keep my ears out for any sounds, water or anything else I should be worried about down here but even after walking for what feels like hours, nothing. I come to a slow stop and turn to Hundun. He comes to a stop as well and waits.

“We’ve been down here forever and nothing. I haven’t heard or seen anything. Especially, the water!” I whisper loudly in anger but Hundun quickly closes the small distance between us and covers my mouth while saying “Shhhh… It’s a good thing we haven’t! Just keep walking.”

When he feels me trying to bite his hand, he quickly releases me and puts both his hands up in surrender. I sigh and start walking again but this time I whisper softly as I say “It must be something extremely important to risk your life like this…  and to trust me to lead you around like this while down here.”

Hundun remains quiet so I sigh again and keep walking. This time I don’t bother being so careful. I don’t know what they’re so afraid of… it’s completely empty! After a few more minutes, I see the tunnel branching off into a new tunnel.

I come to a stop and look between the two tunnels with a sigh. I hate this… I go to keep walking straight but instead, I come to a dead stop when I hear something ahead of us. Hundun crashes into me from behind but he’s quick to stop us both from falling.

He stands behind me, holding both my shoulders as he waits in silence. I strain to hear what the noise is as I squint my eyes into the dark. When Hundun feels how stiff I am, he becomes more alert as he waits.

It sounds as if something’s being dragged… I lean back into Hundun and tap his side several times as I try to back up. He takes the hint and starts slowly backing up. As we quietly tiptoe backward, I keep my eyes in front of us. I don’t want whatever that is coming at us when we’re not looking.

When we make it to the other tunnel, I quickly begin walking. Hundun stays close as we make our way down this new tunnel. The blue orb stays with us the whole time and I can’t help but wonder why it isn’t an issue.

Wouldn’t they see the thing a mile away down here? Wait… what if that thing before saw it and is now following us!? I quickly come to a stop, causing Hundun to run into me again with a hushed curse. I strain to see behind us in the dark but I don’t see anything.

I listen closely but still don’t hear anything so I sigh with relief. I turn around and freeze. Granny… her kind old face lined with familiar lines, she smiles at me as she says “Nova, my child, you’ve grown into a beautiful woman! Have you been practicing the zither every day as I’ve shown you?”

I look at the woman with mixed emotions and swallow hard. She looks… so real. She looks the exact way I remember her… But that’s another reason I know this isn’t real. She was from my other world and she would be much older right now if she hadn’t died from cancer. That and she wouldn’t be down in these creepy-ass tunnels!

Hunden’s hands tighten on my shoulders as I lean into him and slowly nod my head ‘yes’. Her kind smile grows as she reaches out and touches my cheek. She pats it twice while saying “Good girl, you were always such a good little girl.”

I feel something warm and gooey left on my cheek but I refuse to reach up and touch it as I give her a strained smile. She then says “That’s why you’re gonna tell me why you’re down here and… Oh my… who’s this handsome fellow?”

Hundun’s hands tighten on me again making me flinch as I say “My pet dog, don’t mind him.” She gives me an eerie smile as she says “Then what are you doing down here deary?” I try to swallow again but my mouth is completely dry.

“L.. lost. I’m lost.” I say in a soft voice. Her smile suddenly disappears as she says “You know it’s bad to lie, right child?” My breathing becomes more ragged as my heart beats against my ċhėst but I clench my fists and say “Sorry… I’m just scared.”

Her smile softens again as she says “No need to be scared deary. I’m here, okay? Just let me see the man behind you.” I slowly raise my hands out and slowly shake my head no. Her smile becomes strained as she says “Let me see him.”

I shake my head no again and watch in horror when her left eye starts to droop. Her smile instantly vanishes as she reaches out saying “Let me see him!” I step back and push Hundun back with me as I say “No!” She then lets out an ear-piercing scream and lunges at us.

I quickly push Hundun back and stumble with him but when I look back to the… thing, in front of us. I now realize what the dragging sound was… Was that a body! She was dragging it around from a rope… much like the one tying Hundun and I together.

I quickly shake myself and grab Hundun’s hand before running away. I have no idea where we’re going but anywhere but here is better. The thing screeches at the top of its lungs, making it echo and bounce around the tunnel.

The blue orb stays with us as we run as fast as I possibly can but I can’t see anything but a few feet in front of me so I was currently running blind! I don’t care! I just want out of this creepy place!!! Only seeing it, seconds before hitting it, I stumble to a stop and slam into the side of the cave.

Hundun struggles not to crush me as he too runs into the wall. We both stand there in silence and listen. When I don’t hear any dragging noises or screeching, I let out the breath I was holding and crumble to the ground.

Hundun’s forced to squat with me as I struggle to catch my breath. “There’s slow. As long as we don’t let them grab us, we’ll be able to outrun them.” Hundun says in a soft whisper. I reach out and grab him by the front of his robe saying “You so freaking lucky I didn’t just toss your ȧss to her and run away by myself! Why didn’t you kill her!? At least give me my powers back so I can defend myself!” I hiss in a whisper.

He has the nerve to actually look sheepish as he says “Thank you… for not throwing me to her but I can’t return your powers. It’s a binding chain and only my brother can take it off and I can’t use my powers down here. If I do, they’ll all come running. If I were to kill her… they’ll sense it and come as well.” I sneer at him, even though he can’t see me and push him back.

He lands on his buŧŧ as I say “Of course, how convenient.”