It was the morning after the ruckus last night. I had managed a little sleep, gripping Leah's hand. I began to travel the small pathway in rhythm, heading toward the cave that was conveniently placed just in front of our little sanctuary. Leah was still asleep.
As I approached the cave, I felt as if my skin might burn. Despite there being no heat, just coming close to the cave caused severe burning sensations. I wanted to turn around, but perhaps it was too late. As I went to turn, my body was sucked in, almost as if I were being pulled inside.
If it wasn't one problem, it was another. I sighed, looking around. The cave was rather dark. I didn't see much, but from what I could tell, there were three pathways.The cave had a rather horrid scent—one that anyone not in my situation would scrunch their nose up at. Above me were two padded crystals embedded in the ceiling.
I began to walk the left path toward the middle, hoping that, if I wasn't down on my luck, nothing would pop out. I noticed that the wall had a certain texture—rocky in some places, while others were smoothed and carved.
I ran my hands across the rocky layers, and it was almost like I could form letters by touch. It wasn't that bright in the cave, but from what I felt as I ran my hands across the wall, it spelled D-O-N-T. As I went further, I ran my hands against the carved rock and felt R-U-N.
I felt more and more anxious. I didn't want to find out what was in this cave. Whatever it was, I had no business with it. So I decided to wrap this up as quickly as possible.
—
It was almost noon. I hadn't seen Celine at all. I didn't want to think he'd left me, but I also didn't want to think he would just stay and watch. I sighed, pushing myself off the ground, and began walking toward the inner forest.
I felt like the air looming ahead was more than ominous. "Did you think you could escape me?" A man approached from behind. I felt my whole body begin to shiver. That voice—it was familiar, but I couldn't remember who it belonged to.
"Turn around, won't you? Come on, I know you want to. Aren't you itching to know who's standing right behind you?" I scoffed. "You're more cocky than you were even in the dream. How I pity you." The man seemed to cackle at this. "Do you remember that transformation you had?"
I had no recollection, but by the way he brought it up, it must have been something big.
"What, that little transformation I had? It was nothing big." I gave him a pitying look.
"You call it nothing? Do you really remember what happened? If you did, I don't think you'd be talking about it like that."
His expression was neutral, but his body language told me otherwise.
"Was it just so impressive that you had to come tell me yourself? Oh, how big of a problem it must have been for you to come and tell me that I transformed. All of that is so, so stupid. I don't care." I said nothing, not even glancing back, and continued walking. The next second, I was on the ground, the man right above me.
"Would you really like to dance with Death? I can dance all day if you choose to." His face menacingly smiled down at me, blood dripped from his mouth.It looked like I wouldn't be able to talk myself out of this. I just sighed. "What do you want? Honestly, what do you want?" I asked, frustration building.
"What do I want? You know what I want. I have come here to claim you." He remarked, his teeth shining bright. "If you're really Death just—why can't you claim me yourself? I mean, Death takes people; it doesn't ask to be taken. I'm confused. Who are you? Are you Death, or are you asking me to die?" His expression darkened.
"You dare to ask me such a question? You never question Death. If I wanted to take you, I would have taken you already, but I wanted to play a little game—a little game to see how long you can last. Your friend Celine… well, let's just say your friend right now is about to meet my one and only friend. But think about that. You still deny that I am Death?" I gasped. Is that why Celine had been gone so long?
"All you want me to do is acknowledge your death, right?" He shook his head. I sighed heavily and began to speak aloud when an incoming force crashed into me. I was confused at first, but as I was thrown toward the garage, I looked at what had knocked me down. From its mouth, I could read: Don't invoke the name. Don't acknowledge the name.
I had a feeling that if I said the name, something bad would happen, so I changed the conversation.
"Hey, so… do you remember what exactly happened during the transformation?" He began to falter; his expression turned to anger. "Aren't you going to invoke and acknowledge my name?" I just sighed. "Sheesh, you really want a confession that badly." I scratched the back of my head, getting up from the position I had been lying in. He was no longer looming over me."How about this," I began, "if you help me, I help you. Is that a better deal? I guess you wouldn't accept it because you're so selfish. What will it be: help me, or I'll never acknowledge your name? Take your side either way, but whatever you do, do not come in my way ever. Do not cross my path. If you do, even that title will be less than a title — you'll be the one on the receiving end. So make your decision. Don't linger."
–
I had begun to feel like I had eyes on me, like someone was watching from afar but not intervening. I couldn't help but shiver. What was this obnoxious feeling? It felt like my stomach was being gouged. I began to turn back the way I had come, but found I couldn't even move. I started to drop to my knees, as if all the air in my lungs had stopped. I gasped, but I couldn't breathe. I began to see things floating around me, but I was confused — was I high, hallucinating, or were they real? Every second felt like my impending death. "You shouldn't be here," a voice called out; however, I could not determine who it belonged to.
The voice however held a strong authoritative tone. "Is someone there?" I asked. I heard footsteps approaching from all sides. I began to panic; my body shook. The ignorance of bliss was about to cost me my life. I tried to stand, but my legs were weak — they felt so numb I couldn't move an inch. My arms could push me up, but even then, I wouldn't be able to move. What was the point of trying? I was going to die anyway. I heard footsteps behind me. Although I was certain my death was imminent, I had a strong feeling this wasn't an enemy.
As I lay there, pitiful, a girl with long hair swooped by — a girl I was very familiar with. She cried alongside a man about the same height as me, but if we stood close together, he would be looming over me by about an inch or two. I began to call out her name when I was grabbed by the neck and dragged away. Although she was right in front of me, she couldn't react as fast as I expected.
The next moment, I felt my consciousness fade as I was brought to the ground by some force. Although I wasn't certain, I was sure I heard, "Don't give up." As I turned around to see what had knocked me to the ground, I noticed a strange light — a light that was almost enchanting. But then it disappeared, vanishing within a second. My head was hazy, I wasn't sure if what I saw was a dream or reality. But whatever it was, it had just saved my life. Leah was way behind, rushing toward me. When she saw me drop to the ground, she instantly picked up her pace.
Upon arrival, Leah searched my body to make sure I wasn't injured anywhere. After searching for a few minutes, she confirmed there were no injuries — nothing was out of place. She questioned me to see what had exactly happened. I didn't know exactly, that's what I told her. But what I do know is that thing saved me, whatever it was.
—
We had made it out of the cave at last. Night had begun to fall. We looked for shelter, although we knew our sanctuary was the best place to rest. However, we weren't willing to risk being attacked again in our sleep. We decided to travel further into the forest to see what could be done about our situation. Due to being attacked in our sleep, we couldn't go back to our sanctuary, and 24/7 surveillance wasn't going to work. Neither of us were able to stay up that late anymore. We had worked our bodies past their limits today. No longer could we stand as much as we needed, and no longer could we keep our eyes open. But for now, we had to find a new sanctuary until everything calmed down and it was safe to reinhabit the old one. Despite feeling worn down, we had no time to rest. For now, our goal was to find a sanctuary. Once we found it, we would make camp, and from there, we would rest. Hopefully, once we reached the sanctuary, we would no longer have to worry about being chased.
As we walked, I could feel the night breeze on my body. I wasn't out to see the sunset, but I bet it was beautiful. We began exploring the inner forest, and eventually, we came to a dead end where everything stopped. Nothing stood, everything was still, and silence hung in the air. We decided that this would be our new sanctuary — not too loud, and nothing moved.