“Shadow Children" Fear

[Cindy-Chen 82]

2nd Part!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

He pulled his foot back, but the sand clung to it. Beside him, Jon whimpered as the sand closed over his arm. Dax brushed it away, but it seemed to have a life of its own. The sand covered him, and all he could do was lie there, feeling the weight of it curl around his feet, his ankles, his legs, knowing he was sinking into it - whatever it was. It moved up his torso, and he felt suffocated. There was no air, only sand.

Beside him, Jon screamed, but his screams were cut off as the sand closed over his small head. Dax grabbed desperately for Jon's hand, but there was nothing to grab. His brother was gone.

Strangely, he could feel his legs dangling on the other side, like he was slipping through some hole. It covered his chest, and Dax took a deep breath and held it, not knowing if he would ever breathe again, not knowing what was happening, or what to do to stop it. The sand swirled around, tickling his eyelashes, covering his face. He felt the weight of it on top of his head, and wondered if he would ever see Jon again.

Suddenly, the sand inpacted tightly around him and, just as quickly, released. Dax fell several feet, landing on the hard ground below. He coughed and drew air into his lungs. His chest burned, but after a few deep breaths, it came easy again. Remembering the flashlight, he turned it on and looked around, gasping at what he saw.

He was in a cavern. An enormous cavern of what must have been obsidian - the walls were shiny and black, the floor smooth and reflective. He shined the flashlight up at where he'd fallen through, but there was no sign of any hole or trapdoor, or even sand. Only hard, black, rock. The floor trembeled slightly beneath his feet. He noticed the movement less when he stepped forward, but despite the floor's solid appearance, it struck him as fragile.

On the ceiling, just on the edge of the flashlight beam, something moved. Dax chased it with the light, but it remained at the beam's edge. And like that, on the edge of his hearing, Dax detected a sound, like a group of people whispering very softly. "Hello?"

In the distance, a noise. It sounded like his brother crying.

"Jon? Where are you?" But silence answered him. Dax called out again, but the only sound was his voice chasing after itself in an echo.

The last thing he wanted to do was move deeper into the cavernous tunnel, to move away from this spot, which he feared was the closet he would ever be to home again, but Jon had sounded like he was getting farther and farther away, so he had no choice. He had to find his brother, and then, he had to find a way to get them out of here.

Clutching the flashlight in his hand, Dax moved through the cavern. All around him he could hear faint whispers but couldn't understand what they were saying. He paused several times, shining the light behind him, trying to catch whoever - whatever - was whispering, but each and every time there was no one there. Dax was, despite the nudging of the darkest corners of his imagination, completely alone.

Jon was nowhere to be found. It was as if he'd vanished into thin air.

The large tunnel broke off into three smaller tunnels up ahead. Dax listened, but heard nothing that told him which one Jon might be down. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair and, just as he'd decided to take the middle tunnel, the whispering stopped and a new sound began. A small click as something hit the floor, then an even smaller noise, like something rolling several feet. He pointed the flashlight down, searching, sweeping the floor for any sign of movement. The sound ceased as whatever it was rattled to a stop just in front of his feet. He bent down, focusing on the item with the light. In near disbelief, he plucked it from the ground, turning it over in his hand.

A red, shiny button. Just like the ones on Jon's pajamas.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Sorry if it was too short.

[Tsukiko 73]

Ooh, I'm curious to read more!

[nade-chan 0]

i want to read more you should continue it