Yes, I know this is SO late, and I left you guys on a massive cliffhanger, but here it is! I'm a bit unsure about this chapter and am not very happy about it, so some small bits may be altered (it won't change the story though, just the wording).
*Adopts Ssundee's voice* Don't hate me dudes! Please! *Hides under desk*
The Mind
Day 9
"Aria, wake up!"
Groaning in annoyance, I forced one eye open, the sudden intrusion of light causing a splitting headache to pulse at my temple. A silhouette bent over me; fair hair, baggy shirt, unshaven, concerned features. Ethan. He shook my shoulder once again in frustration at my unwillingness to respond, practically yelling my name in my ear.
"Aria! C'mon, Notchdamnit!"
I rolled over to one side, reluctant to return to the land of the living. I'd been having such a nice dream too, one where I wasn't stuck in a damn cave, forced together with people I barely tolerated. I had been able to see the sun, feel it's warmth on my upturned face as if the sensation was the most natural thing in the world. Unfortunately, such a delightful experience wasn't very achievable in my current situation, and without proof that the menace was past it never would be again.
"What is it, Ethan? It's not like we are in any hurry." I murmured dejectedly.
"Steve's missing."
That woke me up. Groggily, I propped myself up, stiff back hard against the unforgiving stone wall. How could it be? Steve wouldn't dare wander off on his own, not without telling us first. Nevertheless, that seemed to be what had happened. I recalled that he had nodded off beside Zek, over by the cavern entrance, but now a slight smudge smeared across the dusty ground was the only pathetic sign of his presence. Even his gear was still there, something Steve would have definitely taken with him if he had planned on leaving. A nagging voice at the back of my mind told me that he hadn't left by choice, though.
"Do you have any idea where he went?"
Hesitantly, Ethan nodded, pointing to a faint set of tracks leading further into the menacing depths of the mining tunnels. They looked recent, fresh and clear in the dim, unflattering light. We had no choice but to follow; after all, our sorry little expedition was headed in that direction anyway.
Glancing around at the others, I noticed that Ethan and I were the only ones awake. Jackson was sprawled in the dirt a few metres away, and, judging by her pained expression and twitching form, apparently in the grips of a nightmare. I felt reluctant to wake her, to drag her from one hell into another, but we had no choice. The longer we left Steve alone and unprotected…
Roughly shaking Jackson's shoulder did nothing. She simply moaned and curled a little tighter around herself, skin pale and clammy under my firm touch.
"Jackson! Wake up!"
No response. I sat back on my heels, biting my lip absently in thought. Ethan was trying to revive Zak from a deep, fretful slumber, with about as much success as I had. All three of our team-mates were out cold and unresponsive, utterly dead to the world.
I turned to Ethan. "Maybe we should-"
"Absolutely not. Are you crazy? We can't leave them here unprotected!"
Ethan didn't want to leave Jackson alone - I understood. It wasn't the best option, far from it, but I couldn't help but feel as if this had all been… Orchestrated somehow.
"Listen, I am not saying that there is anything out there, but if there is, it would want to toy with us. As she is asleep, Jackson is probably the safest out of any of us right now."
He didn't want to agree with me, I could see it in his eyes. The man started to shake his head, glancing over at Jackson's motionless figure.
"No, I can't."
I rubbed the bridge of my nose in distress. I would be able to persuade Ethan to join me, but only at the shameful misuse of my past. I- I couldn't. But Steve was out there.
"Look, I was marred for my parent's beliefs in 'Him'. If I get the chance to bring this all to an end, I will."
That did it; reluctantly, Ethan fished a small square of paper out of one of his voluminous pockets, and scribbled Jackson a hasty note to leave by her side. We packed up our gear, painfully aware of every stiff joint and numb limb that resulted from sleeping on rough ground. Ethan had drawn his stone sword in readiness; it was unnerving to have him at my back, as jumpy and nervous as he was, but in the cramped confines of the tunnels we could hardly walk side-by-side.
"This is such a stupid idea," Ethan complained for perhaps the fifth time. "It's just like what the main characters do in horror films - senselessly splitting up to allow themselves to be picked off one by one."
"But this isn't a horror film, Ethan. There is no plan to these events, no grand scheme. We're just a handful of Minecraftians cursed with exceptionally bad luck, that's all." I didn't even manage to convince myself with my reassuring words, let alone my skittish companion. I just kept my head down, following the tracks in the dust.
Darkness. Cold. The agony had long faded away by then, my body not being able to cope with such a horrific sensory overload. I was no longer aware of my surroundings, couldn't even muster the strength to open my eyes. I could only lie in darkness.
It was him. He did this.
All along, Graham and the locals were right. All along, I had been watched, been hunted, and ultimately been taken down. All for what? Why was I so important?
A shift. Something had changed - I was no longer alone, sprawled out across a blood-slicked stone floor. Someone else was there, someone vaguely familiar. I made out snatches of distorted conversation, casuistic whispers that lured me out of unconsciousness and grated on my bruised eardrums.
"No, He's-"
"Can you see anything-"
"-breathing."
"Steve, wake-"
"-wake up."
"STEVE!"
My eyes lurched open; raw, red and watering madly from the sudden blinding light. The intense brightness caused the awful memories to surface once again, and I cried out in distress. Aria was there, kneeling beside me, comforting me, laying pale fingers gently on my arm-
Wait-
"No! Don't touch it!" Gritting my teeth, I curled myself protectively around the injured limb, batting Aria's hand away and leaving thin scratches down her arm. She recoiled in confusion at my reaction to her slight touch, glancing up at Ethan who was poised above her.
"Steve, what is it? Are you hurt?"
I almost choked in surprise. Couldn't she see the blood matted in my hair, soaking through my clothes, still leaking out of my shattered arm…
My shattered arm that seemed to be in very good shape.
"What?" But I could still feel it. It had been broken, possibly beyond repair, and I was still being rocked by sick twinges of pain. Every fibre of my being told me not to, but I carefully reached out and felt for any sign of abnormality. Nothing.
"But- But my arm was-"
"Was what?" Aria helped me to my feet; I shouldn't have even been able to rise off the ground, but here I was. Here I was.
I should have been dead. But here I was.
"It was broken. I got beat up pretty bad." I peered at her expression out of the corner of my eye; serious as always, full of courage, but frightened too. What if I told her? She had suffered so much at the hands of people she thought had loved her as a child, and now she was suffering again. All because of 'him'. I couldn't just say nothing though - she deserved to know.
"I saw 'him', Aria. He was here, and he killed me."
Aria's eyes widened in shock and disbelief, and she subconsciously shook her head in denial. She must have thought I was crazy, especially as I seemed to bear no marks from the attack (apart from the lingering sensation of pain) and was in good shape.
"No, that's not… No, you must have imagined it. You could have tripped and hit your head, or just collapsed from exhaustion. The dark down here makes everyone go a little crazy."
"How do you explain all this then?" Angrily, I gestured to the grand hall around. I'll admit, I was splenetic. Didn't she know what I'd been through? All the agony that I'd endured? Of course she didn't.
"Look, you haven't-"
"Enough! You're delusional, Steve! None of this happened!" Her tone was bitter and resentful. Nothing I could say would convince her of the truth.
"You have to believe me! He was here!"
"No Steven. He wasn't." Without another word, my friend turned her back on me and trudged away towards the exit, fists clenched tightly by her sides.
They couldn't wake up. They weren't strong enough to throw off the dark, suffocating energy surrounding them, keeping them immobile, but they could sense him in their dreams. His presence entered their minds, corrupting their thoughts, altering their memories and warping them into twisted nightmares.
Mortals. So fragile.
He sneered down at the female's twitching form, muttering incoherently at some dark figment of her own imagination. A note had been placed by her side, some crumpled scrap of paper left by her male companion before he left. The watcher picked the note up, crumpling it into a tight ball and shoving it in his pocket. He had hoped that Lukas' death would have been enough to discourage anyone else from entering the mine, but he had been wrong. Even worse, the mysterious brown-haired human had seen right through the cloaking spell he had cast on himself in the portal room. But how? No mortal was able to do the same, so why him?
Who are you?
