Chapter Five
...............................
Ily
––––––––
“WHICH WAY, PETER?” RACHEL TAPPED OUR broken friend on his pasty cheek.
Peter mumbled something and tried to lift his head, but unlike all the other moments when he’d been able to power through his pain...he no longer had the strength.
With the softest groan, he tumbled sideways where we’d placed him against the wall.
“Oh no.” I caught him before his head cracked against stone, gently lowering his cheek to the cave floor. “Peter?” I shook his lax shoulder. “Jaagate raho, Paavak. Chalo bhee. Aap theek hain.” (Stay awake, Paavak. Come on. You’re okay.)
Nothing.
None of us spoke for the longest time, all of us hoping for a miracle where Peter opened his eyes, sprang to his feet, and led us to victory.
When none of that happened, our small group of nine—our diligent, brave little group that’d bonded with trust and hope—fractured like crystals shattering under too much pressure.
“I don’t know how much more of this I can stand.” Caishen scratched his arms as if he’d grown allergic to the weighted dark. “I never thought I was claustrophobic but knowing tonnes of rock are above me? That any moment it could bury me alive...fuck.”
“Me too.” Kaya—a girl I hadn’t spoken to before today—nodded. “It’s taking everything I have not to run off screaming.”
Caishen gave her a sympathetic smile, his face almost sinister thanks to the fading torch and its inability to banish the night.
“How long do you think we’ve been in here?” Catherine—the other girl I hadn’t known—shivered. “Because I’m literally seconds away from losing it.”
“No one is losing anything,” Rachel muttered.
“Keep it together, guys,” Mollie said, tucking dark blonde hair behind her ear. “If one of us snaps, we all snap.”
Pressing the back of my hand against Peter’s forehead, I hissed at his blazing fever. “If we don’t find a way out soon, I’m afraid he’ll die down here.”
“No one is dying either,” Rachel snapped. Rubbing her sore middle where Victor had repeatedly kicked her, she sighed heavily. “You asked how long we’ve been down here, Cath?” Shooting Catherine a look, she shrugged. “I’m guessing about five hours—”
“Five hours?” Caishen shot to his feet, almost bashing his head on a stalactite.
The small cave we’d tumbled into barely gave enough room for all of us.
“Right, that’s it. I can’t do this anymore.
I need to leave.” He clawed at this throat.
“I-I can’t breathe anymore.” He jumped as if something stalked him in the shadows.
“I-I’m seeing things, and I’m sick of fucking shivering. The game has to be over now, surely?”
“It has to be.” Kaya sprang up from her crouch. “Victor said we all had to return before dusk. By the time we make our way out, it will probably be dark.”
“Alright.” Caishen nodded. “New plan. We retrace our steps and—”
“Peter’s unconscious,” I said quietly. “Are you proposing we leave him?”
“Course not. We’ll carry him.”
“Through all those narrow cracks?” I shook my head. “There’s no way—”
“Leave him in here much longer and like you just said...he’ll die.”
“Yes, but perhaps there’s a way out up ahead. We just need to—”
“Peter said it himself.” Caishen crossed his arms, trying his best not to tremble from the ice that’d settled into all our bones. “Ever since we left that cave with the glow worms, he didn’t have a clue which way to go.”
My shoulders slouched.
For approximately five hours, we’d travelled as one, heading deeper and deeper into the island.
At one point, Peter said we were directly beneath the fortress.
A staircase and tunnel led from the dungeons to the cave system, but Victor had stopped using it two years ago because a rockfall had shut off the main path to the Temple of Facets.
We’d kept going, even when Peter admitted he’d reached the end of his knowledge and every choice was now guesswork.
He’d glanced at all of us, ready to pass up the leadership mantle. The wistful longing in his eyes said he wanted someone else to forge ahead and take responsibility, but...as awful as it was to keep the pressure on someone so wounded—none of us stepped up.
With unanimous, unspoken decision, we all rested a little and gave Peter a breather before hauling him to his feet and helping him hobble through puddled seawater and continue crawling into smaller and darker caves.
One of our torches had failed in the first hour.
The second only minutes ago.
If the third went, we’d be trapped in here. Completely lost with the very real fear of starving to death or drowning. That fear now overshadowed even the terror that the Masters would find us.
Catching Rachel’s haunted blue eyes, I—
“Don’t.” She shook her head and bared her teeth. “Don’t even say it.”
“Caishen might be right,” I whispered. “By the time we get out of here, the gong will go, and we’ll be safe.”
“Safe?” Her nose wrinkled. “Do you honestly think the Masters will obey Vic? After a day of chaos? Fuck that.” She paced the small space, bumping into Sonya. “We go out there, and we’re at their mercy.”
“I say we take a vote.” Caishen held up his hand. “Our fearless leader is out cold. We have no idea where we’re going, and it’s idiotic to think we’re skilled enough to find a way out. I’m not even certain we can retrace our steps before that torch dies, but if we’re gonna try, we have to go now.”
Making eye contact with all of us, he demanded, “All those who want out, hands up.”
Everyone but Rachel and Mollie swung up their arms.
Lowering my own, I glanced at the two girls.
“I know you don’t want Victor or Roland to find you, but...
we can’t stay here.” I arched my chin at Peter.
He barely breathed. His burned hands and feet covered in grit and dirt; his dusky skin far too pale in the dark.
“We need to get him to Dr Belford...before it’s too late. ”
Mollie sighed, her green eyes flashing. “How about a compromise? We’ll wait here for an hour or two.
Peter will hopefully wake by then, and we can help him walk rather than drag him.
It should be nightfall in a couple of hours and Victor will have rounded everyone up, thanks to his guards.
We stand a better chance of avoiding this game altogether if we let Victor wrangle his guests into order rather than go out there while they’re being absolute maniacs. ”
“Peter might not have two hours.” I stood too, balling my hands.
“Ily,” Rachel muttered under her breath. “You have to understand. Roland is a fucking creep. If he knows he can get away with shit and finds Mollie...he’ll kill her.”
“He’s a necrophiliac.” Caishen shuddered. “I’ve seen him kill before. I was with a Master in the same room. Yumeko only survived because the guards dragged Dr Mel in with her resuscitation kit before it was too late.”
The torch dimmed as if taking part in our debate and adding a fresh layer of panic.
Caishen’s tolerance snapped. “Right, that’s it. The batteries are dying. I’m leaving. All those who want to follow. Let’s go.”
“Go then if you’re that afraid. I’m going to wait for Pete to wake.” Rachel slid down the wall and sat beside Peter.
“Me too.” Mollie sat beside her.
I stood in a dank, chilly cave and was absolutely torn in two.
I understood why they wanted to wait for him to revive. I was on board with that plan—none of us would have the strength to drag him for long—but...every minute was a minute he couldn’t afford to spend.
“Just wait thirty minutes, Caishen.” I stepped toward him. “Surely, you can—”
“If he’s not going, we are.” Sonya snatched the torch from Caishen’s hands, sending the beam bouncing around the cave. “I’m done. How about you, Citra?” She arched her eyebrow at the Indonesian girl.
Citra rolled her shoulders. “I don’t want to leave anyone behind, but...” She sniffed and rubbed her nose as tears dripped from her eyes. “I’m struggling. I feel as if I’m moments away from a full-blown panic attack and...I don’t think I can stay.”
Caishen grabbed his hair and tugged. “Fuck, I need air.”
Almost as if the allure of sky and wind became too much, the jewels moved as one.
“Sorry, Ily. Follow us when you’re ready.” Caishen hung his head. “We’ll go slow. We’ll yell when we get out so you can follow our voices, okay? We won’t stop shouting until you’re with us on the beach.”
“See you soon, guys,” Citra whispered. “Please forgive us.”
With apologetic winces, the five jewels all turned their backs and squeezed into the crack we’d just come from.
“You can’t take the only light source!” I wriggled behind them, grabbing hold of Sonya’s wrist. “We won’t have any light to find our way out.”
“Then I suggest you start walking,” Caishen said sadly. “I’m sorry, Ily. I really am...but we voted, and this is what everyone needs.”
“Peter didn’t get a vote.”
“Peter would want us to do whatever we can to survive, and right now...I’m gonna lose my ever-loving mind if I stay down here another second.” Grabbing something from the back of his nude underwear, he passed me the knife he’d taken from the Temple of Facets. “Here. Just in case.”
My hand shook as I accepted the knife.
And then...they were gone.
Rachel and Mollie didn’t say a word as I fell back into the small cave.
The sounds of bare feet on stone faded with every heartbeat.
The pressure of the earth crushed my bones until I collapsed to my knees beside two awake jewels and one unconscious.
Thick, dank silence.
Heavy, hungry darkness.
And just our shallow breathing for company.
* * * * *
Water.
Icy, salty water lapping at my toes.
“Rachel,” I hissed. “Rachel.”
Patting along Peter’s feverishly hot body, I found Rachel’s hand on his hip.
After the shock of being left behind, the three of us had agreed to rest for an hour and then leave. We’d do whatever it took to wake Peter and help him hobble back home.
Our plan was cruel, and terror whispered that he wouldn’t make it, but...if he slept for an hour, hopefully he’d have the strength to get back to the castle so Dr Belford could heal him.