I am just pumping out the chapters. xD I guess that happens when you're fueled on like two hours of sleep and an endless bowl of tangy Carolina barbeque chips.

And… it's that moment to put my spin on Minecraft. It's about time that Minecraft gets just a little more disturbing…

Running Blind

Chapter Seven

Young

Feng held the pickaxe shakily, gulping. "Err… are you… are you sure about this?"

"I am certain, young one. Just go. You will be fine. You have the torches?"

"Y…yeah."

"Water?"

"Yessir."

"Weapons?"

"Aye."

"Food?"

"Yes."

"You will be fine." The elder smiled sweetly before pushing softly on Feng's back, coaxing him to move forward.

Feng slid into the cave, touching the sword's hilt as it rested at his hip. It was eerily silent down here – not a thing made a sound, silence nearly deafening him. He gulped again, forcing himself to relax as he set to work.

It had been more exhausting than he'd imagined, but he'd made it – or at least, he thought he had. He'd heard mentions of 'Abandoned Mineshafts' – and he hadn't expected to find one.

And yet here he was.

Even more disturbing was the state it was in. Water flooded what, from what he could tell, were once railways. Torches still flickered eerily from corners, and as he sloshed through the water and plugged up each hole, Feng found himself drawn to every bit of light he could find, as if it cured the insanity that was slowly leaking into his brain.

What had happened here? Cobwebs had grown in corners and along the railways, a mine cart carrying various items (though none he could conceivably carry, or any that he particularly wanted) still sitting in the center of one rail. He turned slowly, carrying his own torch with a nervous gulp.

Crack

Feng whirled around, watching a flash of blue disappear around the corner he'd passed.

"Wait!" He shouted, seeing the humanoid shape just long enough to know it was one just like him.

He raced after it, huffing heavily as he attempted to keep up. He wheeled around the corner and stopped.

A dead end.

He knew he'd seen them dart away from him – so where did they go?

As he walked, searching to his left and right, he failed to look up, not noticing the hungry dark eyes watching him.

"Damn." He muttered, sighing and holding his head. Surely he'd simply imagined it – he'd been in the dark for far too long. It was time to head up.

But he'd been told to search chests in Abandoned Mineshafts, hadn't he? It might have very good things…

He sighed, returning to his search. He must have gone down multiple corridors before he'd finally found what he'd been looking for – a brown chest, set against the wall. His stomach flipped and he grinned, rushing to it and pushing the lid up.

He screamed.

Little spiders crawled frantically out of the box and he leapt back, flailing his arms in attempts to shake them off. They crawled all over him, under his clothes, rising higher and higher.

They crawled into his ears.

They crawled over his eyes.

They crawled into his mouth, the little legs scurrying over his tongue as he gagged, eyes watering as he writhed on the stone. He looked up; eyes rolling back as little teeth pierced his skin all over, including the back of his throat. Searing pain ripped through him as the spiders continued to feast, tearing off layers of skin. He could almost hear them laughing as more and more crawled over him and into his body, taking up residence, blocking his flow of air. He gagged, spitting up spiders and blood and spit, rolling onto his side as he attempted to get onto his belly, to crawl away.

Feet. They were right in front of him, but he hadn't the time to look up before the pain came rushing in, bashing at his head again, and again, and again, blood pooling beneath him from the wound.

He-

Feng gasped, slamming the trunk closed. He looked down at his flesh, breath caught in his throat as he rubbed at the exposed skin.

No spiders.

Not even a sign of one.

Trembling he nearly neglected to open the box again but he breathed in, standing and turning to face the opposite direction, standing behind it.

He forced the lid open again.

Nothing came out.

Breathing a sigh of relief he looked into the box, using his torch for light.

He gasped.

Diamonds. Eight of them, to be exact.

Laughing and grasping each gem happily, he stuffed them into the bag on his back, finding nothing more of value. He knew – he just knew – that the elder would be rather excited to see the turnout.

Standing fully he closed the trunk, turning back the way he came, following torches on his way.

Skkttch…

Feng stopped, twirling on his feet to look behind him.

Yet again, the same silhouette passed into a path he knew was a dead-end. He frowned.

"This is complete bullshit," he muttered, continuing on his way. As he turned he failed to hear the little scratching of long legs.

As he made his way for the surface, he felt something drip on his face. Thinking it to be water he wiped it off and thought nothing of it.

It was only while lowering his hand that he spotted the black.

He blinked, bringing his hand to his face once more, allowing the torch to light the way.

Black liquid? He could faintly smell decay, the scent of rotting flesh. He would never forget that scent for the rest of his days, and to smell it again…

He didn't want to look up. He did not want to look up but curiosity had gotten the better of him.

His head tilted back.

He couldn't bring himself to scream. The horror stared back at him through bulging black eyes, the lids kept wide open by what looked like wire, sewn into the flesh. Stringy black hair framed its face, stopping far below the shoulders, had the Creature stood upright. Instead, the hair fell to his face as the horrible thing peered down at him from its space on the ceiling.

Another droplet. He looked past the wide-awake eyes to its maw, and he let out a low moan of both disgust and fear. Its bottom jaw had somehow been pulled from its skull, disgusting bits of flesh hanging from its face, the tongue waggling madly to lick the lips that no longer existed. He felt like screaming, like running, like crying. But he couldn't. Frozen by fear, he stood and watched the naked thing lean closer to him, its bones cracking fiercely. He tried to keep his eyes on its face, as horrible as it was. He felt as if he had to; if he turned his back on the ugly thing, it would surely devour him with not even a second thought. It reached his face and he tried not to grimace as its foul breath whispered over his skin. He relinquished control, only for a moment, to look upon its body.

It twisted, as if it knew what he was doing, and allowed him a better view.

Pale flesh marked with various cuts and bruises greeted him and he shuddered when he watched the tight skin glide over protruding ribs with each breath. Its distended stomach and chest was pushed outward toward him, and he gagged, noticing with pure terror that its feet were still planted firmly on the ceiling, as if kept there by suctions on its extremities, the knees bent in the opposite direction, must like a spider. Thin, bony arms, fragile fingers—

The thing moved, and Feng's eyes snapped back into focus, staring at its face once more. It seemed to snarl at him through the darkness, moving even closer. He trembled. He stepped back, beginning to turn and run in a final desperate attempt at escape.

It roared.

Feng sprinted toward the light, heaving as the Thing crawled after him. He didn't want to look back – but he did, chancing a glance behind him.

Hundreds of them. Hundreds of these things, screaming at him as he raced away. He lifted the sword from his place at his side and pulled it up, batting at one of the things when it became too close. It yelled in pain and fell from the ceiling, shriveling up into a ball and staying there.

At least I know they're weak… he thought, but it was no consolation.

He burst into the surface and into the light. The Things had given up the chase someplace back behind him but he made no move to find out where.

He heaved as he fell to his knees, his vision blurring. The moon was beginning to rise and he let out a pained shout, hitting the ground.

Villagers rushed out to help him, but the boy had already closed his eyes, groaning as he clutched his belly, breathing heavily in attempts to bring back the air he'd lost and regulate his intake.

"What happened in there, boy?" the elder asked, but Feng only stared out the window, face pale and lips parted.

"….Feng?"

"Nothing."

"We need somebody to go mining again in the mor-"

"I am not going back there. And neither should you." Feng hissed, and while the elder reeled back he did not respond, surprise in his eyes before they softened, sitting next to him.

"…What did you see."

It wasn't a question.

It was a demand.

It took less than five minutes to explain, but even with that Feng was attempting to block the memories out. It was too much, too fast. The elder stood, said something that Feng could not understand. A man nodded. They both left.

Feng fell back on the bed and closed his eyes, sighing softly. Once the elder returned, he opened them, focusing on the man.

"…I brought back diamonds, though." He murmured, smiling. "…They're in the pack."

"That's wonderful!" the elder shouted, clapping his hands together and grabbing the bag from the corner of the room.

"Oh, and Feng?" he said, just as he turned to leave. Feng looked up.

"…Steve will arrive tomorrow."