Lost and Found
Where did all the time in the world go?
It was just like the book. He lost a day and time stopped. The world was frozen in its tracks. Nothing moved.
Except for him.
He swerved out of the way, avoiding the parked car, and continued speeding through the streets. Immobile vehicles served as obstacles that tested his nerves and reflexes. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, ensuring complete control. Even though he didn't have his license, it didn't matter. There was nobody outside anyway.
He was driving Riku's car through abandoned streets to reach Kairi as quickly as possible. The radio was on but there was only static. He kept flipping through the stations until he could find the emergency broadcast.
There was none.
The town was in tatters; vehicles were turned over, streets signs were knocked down, and small fires smoldered. It was the aftermath of a riot. Broken bottles, riot shields, and discarded clothing decorated the ground, painting a picture of mass panic, unrest, and heavy resistance.
Then he heard it.
A whirring from the sky. He looked up and saw helicopters in the distance.
Finally, a sign of life!
"SHIT!"
All it took was one lapse in concentration to send him flying through the front lawn of a random home. His foot slammed on the brakes and the car bounced furiously like a wild bronco trying to buck its rider. He heard a loud THUD and his head snapped forward, almost hitting the steering wheel.
CCCRSSHKK!
…
Everything stopped.
The constant beeping of the dashboard kept him conscious, but it was the smell of burnt rubber and oil that moved him into action. He pulled his body back and unbuckled the belt. He could feel a bruise forming on his chest, the imprint of the seat belt strap. The windshield was splattered with dirt. He turned on the wipers to clear it up, but it smeared his view instead. He turned off the engine and stumbled out. An ugly jagged trail was made by the tires when the car careened off road. The metal exterior was warped, dinged, and dented by the impact.
"Sorry Riku." He scanned his surroundings. It was only one block to Naminé's house. He broke into a run. The ruined scenery passed by as he dodged abandoned cars, bags of refuse, and garbage bins.
Naminé's house came into view. He ignored the Gaologu tree off to the side and ran up to the porch. He let himself in without bothering to knock—the door was unlocked anyways. He entered the home and something caught his eye. In the living room were five paintings face down.
Curious, he stood them up and saw the same exact picture in each frame. It was a portrait of a forest tree line with a girl in white in the far background. She resembled Naminé but the figure was too small to tell. He brushed the matter aside and continued his search of the bottom floor. Finding nothing, he moved upstairs. All of the doors were open except for one:
Naminé's.
He went up to it, grabbed the knob, and twisted. It wasn't locked, but there was a lot of resistance. It was like somebody poured glue in the locking mechanism. He used both hands to turn it. It budged slowly, rewarding his efforts with incremental give.
"Come on!" He had to break through; Kairi was waiting for him on the other side. She had to be! He put in all his might and it suddenly gave way. "Yes!" He pushed it as hard as he could and slammed the door against its hinges. He was eagerly awaiting the sight of Kairi, but what greeted him instead was a sleeping bag on the floor and an empty bed.
No...
Was he too late?
He took a few steps forward when his senses told him to DODGE. He shifted his body, narrowly avoiding a thrown object.
SHATTER!
The pieces of a broken lamp lay on the ground.
"SORA!" Arms wrapped around him from behind. Kairi's presence suddenly filled his senses; her warmth spreading to his body, her scent tickling his noise, and her voice easing his worries.
"Kairi..." He turned around and saw her face. To see it after so much worry...she was beautiful. He embraced her, hugging with every ounce of care he had for her. His hands massaged her back soothingly. "I was so worried about you. Are you okay?"
She answered with a kiss, capturing his lips hungrily. She held his head close, giving him no opportunity to pull back. He didn't mind and indulged her, comforting her in the way she desired. She drew back and bowed her head. "Now that you're here, I am but—where's Naminé?"
"That's what I want to know."
She gripped his shoulders tightly. It wasn't what she wanted to hear.
"I searched the whole house but you're the only one here," he informed.
She leaned into him, drawing strength from his warmth. He made her feel safe. "What's going on?"
He stroked her head tenderly, running stands of hair between his fingers. It was soft to touch. "I don't know. When I came here, the whole city was abandoned."
"What?" She shot a worried look. "What do you mean?"
He grabbed her hand and started pulling. "You'll see. All I know is that we're not safe here. We have to get out soon."
"Wait," she said, resisting his pull. "I want to check the news first." She walked over to the TV and turned it on.
White noise.
She quickly scrolled through the channels but got the same result. She spun around and her eyes settled on the computer. She switched on the monitor but a black screen appeared. It was the basic command line screen. An insertion point blinked in the corner. She pressed the "enter" key.
Invalid command.
/user does not exist.
No matter what she pressed, the same error message popped up.
"Nothing works. I've tried the radio and the cell phones too," Sora explained. "I think we should get out of here now."
She nodded and followed him out. They went down stairs into the living room when Kairi noticed the five portraits. Her body almost forgot to move from the shock. She couldn't dwell on it any further when he tugged, leading her through the front door.
It was still in the afternoon, but the sun had begun its downward descent. It would've been a normal day if it weren't for the thick columns of smoke rising from the town. Choppers, diminished by distance, buzzed above the islands. The streets were filled with abandoned vehicles and garbage littered the scene, but the worst part of it was the silence. They could only hear themselves.
"What happened? Where is everybody?" Kairi asked, fear creeping into her voice. How had so much happened overnight? The neighborhood was barely recognizable from yesterday.
Sora's attention was drawn to the Gaologu tree in the yard. Every time something bad occured, the tree was there. It had to be responsible.
"Sora?"
He was roused from his musing. "I think there's been an evacuation."
"For what?"
The constant questions were beginning to grate. He didn't know any more than she did. "I don't know, but we can't just stand here and think about it."
"Where do we go? Home?"
It was the most natural choice, but he wasn't so sure. If the trees really were responsible, home was the worst place to be. Considering that they were near a tree right now, he wanted nothing more than to get out quick. "Let's move. This place is giving me the creeps."
They moved down one block and stopped to think over the situation. Kairi sat on the curb while Sora paced back and forth on the sidewalk. He watched the choppers in the sky and kept track of their movements. Something was off about their flight pattern. They never moved closer or farther, it was like they were maintaining a perimeter. He thought back to the map and tried to calculate their location. He made a rough guess but determined that they were definitely outside the symbol's "zone." Perhaps everything inside the symbol's area was evacuated.
"I don't think we should go home," he declared ominously.
"Because of the tree?"
He gave her a surprised look.
She frowned, settling into a serious mood. "I've noticed it too, the Gaologu tree. It was also at Selphie's place. I did some research about it."
"What do you know?" he asked eagerly. He should've known that Kairi would look it up, it was too suspicious not to.
"I remember when I helped you with that essay; you showed me the comments from the teacher. That's when I decided to look into it. It's strange..."
"What is?"
She thought back to her online research. She wanted to confirm a few things about the teacher's comments, but the genealogy of the Gaologu tree was much more complex than she anticipated. There were still many mysteries to be solved. "When they reversed engineered the seeds, they could only grow it by using Paopu fruit as a base. They altered the structure and components of a Paopu fruit seed to resemble a Gaologu one. They ended up creating a hybrid fruit. It couldn't be grown naturally, so it was only cultivated in labs."
"They grew the fruit artificially?"
"That's right, they couldn't grow an authentic Gaologu tree, but the hybrid fruit was the first step in reviving the extinct species. Those fruits went to market, but for the trees themselves, they didn't exist, at least not until a decade ago."
"What happened?"
"After several iterations of the hybrid seed, they finally produced an original useable Gaologu seed. The thing about Gaologu trees is that they take a very long time to grow. Their maturity period is almost up to fifteen years. They don't start to bear fruit until after that."
"So that's why I never saw anything growing," he noted. Although they were only planted two years ago, they looked much older. Was it finally beginning to bear fruit? Was that the reason for everything?
"The trees in our neighborhood were planted as part of a beautification project, but it was sponsored by a private foundation. I looked over the member list and recognized one of the names," Kairi added.
"What was it?"
"Silas Xehanort, chairman of Destiny High Academy, the same man you saw in the study room, and the same man in the photo at Selphie's house."
"What?" he uttered in shock. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"
"I only found last night when I was using the internet to keep myself awake." She stood up and crossed her arms. The news was troubling, to say the least.
"Is he still around?"
"That's the creepy part. Xehanort's been missing for thirty years. He just disappeared without a trace one day. With his stature, the police spent months looking for him, but he never showed up."
It was another piece of the puzzle, perhaps the most important one, but he had no idea how to tie it all together. If they shared all their pieces, then maybe… "There are some things I have to tell you. After Tidus disappeared, I checked out the tree in his backyard and saw the symbol," Sora began. "I started looking into the symbol online and read that Twilight Town was suffering from a lot of graffiti using the same design. I sent an email to Roxas about it and he told me about the Kupo message boards and how this guy sent him an email. I forgot what his name was since it was just a bunch of random letters, but I call him fastomax."
She quirked a brow at the strange nickname.
"I posted a topic on Kupo about our missing friends and I got a reply from the very same fastomax that responded to Roxas."
"What did it say?"
"He told me about a research project about something called the Gap. I'm not sure what it is, but they performed an experiment where they cut out all the senses of one guy; his eyes, nose, ears, and everything."
That last detail struck her. Where did she hear that before?
"Without all his senses, the test subject was able to access—I don't know—another dimension?"
"What?" It sounded ridiculous.
"It was called the Gap. The subject was able to connect to it. It's supposed to be a place of fear and chaos..." he trailed off.
Kairi found it hard to believe. "A place of fear and chaos? What exactly is it?"
"I don't know," he confessed, but his mind was working hard to connect the dots.
Was Xehanort a part of the "Gap" experiments? Was he trying to open up a gateway to the "Gap" using the symbol and Gaologu trees?
"Sora, was there anything weird about the email?" The part about removing senses couldn't be a coincidence, along with the user name being a jumble of random letters.
"Actually, Roxas brought up the same thing. Fastomax had a weird way of typing. He used really short sentences and didn't bother to capitalize either."
It was exactly like the email she received.
She had to get to the bottom of this. "Do you remember the day when we finally got together?"
How could he forget? It was one of the best days of his life. "What about it?"
"The reason I came to you that day was because...I was scared."
He knew she was, but he never figured out why.
"I received a strange email to my school account. I think it was...from Xion."
His eyes widened. That was impossible.
Her shoulders started shaking. "The message didn't mention her name but all the details seemed to match. She's either still alive or somebody knows about her. Since the Snatcher's dead, I don't know who could've sent it."
He was shaken by the news. To learn that the best day of his life was spurred by something so sinister, the thought made him sick. "What did it say?"
"Help me," she relayed. "Over and over. It said to meet her at the secret place."
The secret place was a cave on a small island off the coast that they used to play in. They discovered it by accident when they got lost in the woods. They claimed it for themselves and used it as their personal meeting spot. Riku told them a lot of scary stories there in the past, but after a harsh storm season, the island was cut off and restricted for years. They never bothered to come back since.
"That can't be right. Xion was never there. We started going to the secret place after she disappeared, remember? It can't be her."
"But how did the message know—" She let out a sharp gasp. "The police never found the Snatcher's victims..."
The implication dawned on him. "Are you saying...?"
"We have to go there," she declared. "We can't go home now."
It was a catch-22. They seemed to have reached the same conclusion: there was probably something waiting for them at home, the same something that stole away their friends, but the secret place didn't sound much better. But it was out of the symbol's zone, and that alone was a good enough reason to go.
"Okay, let's go."
Their hands clasped together. Whatever awaited them at the secret place, they'd face it together.
Hand-in-hand, they ran through the city and towards the coast, encountering nothing but devastated scenery. They sailed past broken doors, shattered windows, and vacant car seats. He didn't see it before since he was driving earlier, but the symbols were everywhere now. It was painted on brick walls, pane glass, and concrete ground. It was pervasive, ubiquitous, and loud.
Kairi squeezed his hand and smiled. Her encouragement worked and he calmed down. He was grateful for the gesture. He couldn't crack now, not when he was with her.
The neighborhood streets thinned out and turned into tourist zones. Businesses, souvenir shops, and shopping plazas lined their path. They ran by Cait Sith's ice cream parlor and saw the big Moogle standing outside alone. It was stationary but...
He swore he saw a tail sticking out of its mouth.
He pushed the disturbing thought out of his mind and focused on Kairi's touch. She could always erase his anxiety.
The ocean scent finally hit them. The taste of salt lingered in the air. They were close. It was only a few more blocks to the pier. They were getting slower as the fatigue caught up to them. Their legs were burning but they continued to push. The sight of yellow sand urged them on. They were too close to stop now.
They finally made it.
They walked to the pier and found a rowboat. Sora fiddled with the knot that kept the boat from drifting away. After several tugs, he untied it and their ride was ready to go. Kairi was waiting with the oars in hand. He tossed the rope inside and scanned the coast. It was eerie seeing nobody on the beach on such a sunny day. If his mental map was right, they would be outside the symbol's area after rowing out.
"It's scary isn't?" Kairi remarked, eyes glazing over the lonely beach. "If you weren't here with me, I don't think I would be able to handle it."
"But I am here," he reassured. "And I'm not going anywhere." He jumped into the boat and faced her. "You steer while I row."
He began pumping his arms, pushing the boat away from the pier. They acquired enough momentum to let the boat drift. Kairi took over for him after leaving shallow waters.
The small island had no official name but everybody called it Tiny Island since it paled in comparison to the major islands. Playgrounds were built and it served as a mini theme park, but a period of constant storms forced high maintenance costs, causing developers to abandon it. When it finally reopened years later, it wasn't under a private company, but as a public recreation zone. It was mainly for kids. Parents took their children there all the time. The rowboats were always supervised and the coast guard patrolled the area vigilantly—all of which were now missing.
They glided quietly, stuck in their own thoughts, preparing for the perils ahead. There was a lot to think about, but the enormity of the situation was impossible to comprehend alone. They rowed and rowed until...
They touched ground.
They jumped out of the boat once it was close enough to land. They dragged the rowboat inland until it was beached.
"That should be good," Sora observed.
They set out to find the cave entrance. The coast was the most developed part of Tiny Island. They had to go deep into the wild forest to find the secret place. The route from their memories emerged, guiding them towards the correct path. Isolated playgrounds and club houses soon turned into dense brush and tall trees.
"Was this it?" Sora wondered. The path was thicker and more overgrown than he remembered.
"Yeah," she answered, recognizing the setting. "It should come up soon." They fought through thick grass and ducked under branches. The deeper they went in, the quieter it got. The dense vegetation filtered out the sound of the ocean. The only noise was the soft crunch of their footsteps and the rustling of leaves.
The sound of rushing water hit their ears.
"The waterfall..." she recalled.
They traced the source of the sound to a stream. They followed it until they encountered a waterfall. It was ten meters high. Hard water rushed down the side of the rock face, foaming and bubbling at the bottom. Worn rocks formed a natural border around the pond. Misty clouds of vapor caught the light, making the air twinkle. Hidden behind the waterfall was the entrance to the secret place.
They carefully crossed over wet stones and entered. It was dark, dank, and deep inside. A long tunnel stretched into inky blackness.
"Was the secret place like this before?"
"No," Kairi answered. "There wasn't a tunnel; it was just a big room with a hole in the ceiling."
"That's what I thought," he echoed. The passage before them was not there before. Perhaps the storms carved out the tunnel? "We're going to need light." He recalled his experience in the apartment. "And cell phones aren't gonna work."
"Something like a torch?" she asked, looking around.
There wasn't much that could serve as a torch, but a glass object caught Sora's attention. He walked over and lifted it up, "How about a lantern?" It was of antique design, with a bulbous glass case and a candle stick. There was a latch on the base. He opened it and found extra candles and matches.
"It doesn't look too powerful," she commented.
He agreed, "But it's better than nothing."
"Why would it be here?" she asked. It was too convenient.
It was a good question, but he could only think of one answer:
"Somebody's expecting us." He struck a match and lit the lantern. It emitted a dim glow, but the wet reflective walls held the light well.
Kairi wrinkled her nose. A pungent musky smell hung heavily in the air. "It stinks in here."
"Let's go," he ordered, ignoring the comment. They ventured slowly since the lantern was weak. The deeper they moved in, the farther the entrance became. It got smaller and smaller until it was no more than a pinhead.
It disappeared.
Kairi held onto Sora as he led the way with his lantern. The jagged uneven surfaces cast spooky shadows. It didn't help that the candle flickered, making the shadows dance. Moisture collected and dripped from the ceiling, the sounds of droplets mixing in with their breathing. The noise echoed around and surrounded them.
"How you holding up?" Kairi asked, noting his heavy breathing.
"My arms are getting tired," he admitted.
"I'll hold it for awhile." She took the lantern off his hands.
Although it was only several minutes, it felt like hours. The repetitious stone walls made it hard to gauge their progress. No amount of weathering could extend the tunnel this far in such a short amount of time. They weren't geologists, but even they could tell that something was wrong with this tunnel. The color of the walls degraded severely, becoming darker and darker until it ate up the light.
"Stop," Sora ordered.
"What is it?"
"Can you move the light closer?" She swung the lantern next to the wall, illuminating the spot he was observing. The pattern was harsh, with intense striations and multiple layers bleeding together. It was as if somebody took charcoal and smeared it over the surface. "I'm not an expert or anything, but this does not look natural to me."
"You don't have to look at the wall to make that conclusion." She moved away to resume their trek but tripped over something. "AH!"
"What's wrong!" He ran over and his foot sent an object skidding across the floor. It made a heavy scratching sound. He ignored it for the moment and crouched beside her. She was on her knees. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She held up the light. "What was it?"
He took the lantern and put it low to examine the floor. He did a couple sweeps until he found it.
It was a shovel.
The same as Tidus'. The blade was rusty and caked with dried blood. He picked it up. "It's a shovel." He handed the lantern back to her.
"What's it doing here?" she replied, dusting her knees. She looked at the blade and almost dropped the light. "Is that blood?"
"Probably."
"You're going to bring it with you?" she asked incredulously.
"Yeah. We might need it." Whether it was for defense or digging, she didn't want to know.
They resumed their expedition. Sora would periodically turn around and check the path behind them. Their footsteps reverberated and repeated, making it sound like they were being followed. They stopped intermittently just to make sure.
Kairi shivered. "Is it just me or did it get colder?"
He idly tapped the shovel against the rocks. "Now that you bring it up, I don't feel the wind anymore." The air had gone stagnant. The knowledge made the air heavier than it really was, but it was compounded even more by the thick odor. It was a stringent and offensive smell. Staying still made it worse. He upped his pace but Kairi was rooted to her spot. "What's wrong?"
The darkness had covered it well, but she could still make out a vague silhouette on the ground.
It was Selphie's doll.
"Let's move on," she suggested, pretending that she didn't see it.
They continued their journey through the tunnel. Time had lost its consistency. The sound of a single footstep multiplied to many, bouncing off the walls, entering their skulls, and resounding infinitely. Vapor began to materialize when they exhaled. It was getting longer, colder, and more stressful. If they didn't find something soon, they might crack under the pressure.
The lantern dimmed.
The candle was almost out. It was just a wick sticking out from a pool of wax. Kairi set it down to replace the sputtering flame.
"Hurry up."
"I'm trying," she rebutted. She fumbled with the latch and got it to open, but the extra candles spilled out messily. "Crap."
"Don't rush it."
She picked up a candle and planned to light it with the faint flame. She opened the glass case.
The fire disappeared.
They were covered in darkness.
"What happened? Did it run out?"
"No..." she answered. "It was blown out."
"How—"
A sudden draft swept through the tunnel.
That was how.
"Where are you?" she asked. The complete darkness scared her. It was only Sora's voice that kept her calm.
"Stay where you are. I'll come to you."
She heard his shuffling. "Over here," she provided.
It helped. He soon bumped into her. "Give me your hand."
Their hands searched blindly for each other until they connected and linked together. "Thank goodness," she sighed.
Sora squeezed her hand comfortingly; in his other was the shovel. In complete darkness, a tiny sliver of light could become the sun. He squinted. "I think I see something." It was a small glimmer, but it was enough to ignite his hopes.
"Slow down. Remember your advice," she urged.
Don't rush it.
They treaded carefully, but with each inch, it became easier to see.
They finally arrived at their memories.
It was a large rocky room with a crooked hole in the ceiling. Sunlight powered through the roof, illuminating the space brilliantly. Was his memory fuzzy? Something was off about the place. It was an accurate imitation but the proportions were a little skewed. The ceilings were higher, the walls were wider, and everything seemed much bigger than in his memories.
"This is the secret place," Kairi whispered, setting down the lantern.
Sora checked the corners of the room. The natural sunlight bounced off the floor and illuminated every nook and cranny. It was the complete opposite of the tunnel. On the opposite wall, he noticed etchings. He moved in to take a closer look. They were childlike images scratched in by using rocks. "Did we make these?"
Kairi ran a hand over the rocky surface, willing her memories forth. "I'm not sure."
They looked over the etchings carefully. There was a sequence to them. The images were aligned from one side of the room to the other, rolling across from left to right. Despite the childish style, there was meaning behind it. They were simple pictorial depictions with vague humanoid shapes and strange objects.
"What do you think?" the brunet asked. He couldn't decipher these for the life of him.
Theories began to form in her head as she analyzed the drawings. "I think it describes a ritual."
"A ritual? Who do you think made these?
"I think they were made by a civilization from long ago, a sort of visual history," she proposed. She pointed to an image that depicted a group of figures. "This is the community. Watch how they're holding hands. In the next picture, a person is singled out." A figure was separated from the group.
"What for?"
"A sacrifice," she concluded. "If it wasn't for the emails, I wouldn't have figured it out. Look. It's the removal of the eyes, the nose, the ears, the tongue, and the other organs."
His eyes moved across, seeing the picture of a face gradually lose features like she described.
"It seems like the person dies after that," she observed.
"Why the sacrifice?"
"Look at this." The image displayed the community but surrounding them were inhuman shapes.
"Are those monsters?" He noticed something else about it too. There were "trees" between the people and the monsters. The parallels to the current reality were frightening. His eyes caught sight of another image. "What's this?" The carving showed a lone figure sitting down surrounded by mad swirls, scribbles, and zigzags.
"I don't know," she answered honestly. She didn't have much faith in her initial assessment either, but it was the best interpretation she could come up with.
Sora's eyes pored over the wall until he found it. It would be strange if he didn't.
It was the symbol.
Even in the context of these etchings, he still couldn't figure out anything. The drawings were more confusing than anything else. He backed up a few steps and stumbled, "Whoa!"
"Are you alright?"
He checked the floor and noticed a pale rock jutting from the ground.
No.
It wasn't a rock.
"I think I found something."
Kairi followed his line of sight to the ground. "Is that…?"
Sora propped his shovel. "It probably is." He stomped on the blade, forcing it deep into the earth.
Kairi watched anxiously as he dug.
He attacked the ground mercilessly, demolishing the surface with his sharp jabs, and hollowed out the earth. Dirt piled up from his constant digging. A skeletal arm began to emerge. It was an expected sight, but unsettling nonetheless.
"Were they—was she lying beneath us this entire time?"
He wasn't going to indulge her paranoia. It wouldn't help. He concentrated on digging. More dirt was piling up, and more bones were becoming exposed. The hole increased in size and depth until they unearthed what the police have tried to find for so long.
Remains.
They were bones.
They belonged to children.
They belonged to the Snatcher's victims.
Enough.
"Enough!" He threw the shovel away and fell back. The bodies were buried on top of each other. The skeletons were no longer held together by dirt. Pieces of bones and fragments piled up in one jumbled mess, a disheveled pile of bones. The lives of three children were reduced to nothing but a collection of calcium deposits.
Three skulls.
Three victims.
A possible fourth.
Xion.
He stared at the pile until he realized something.
He turned around to tell Kairi about his revelation but she wasn't there.
"Kairi?"
His eyes quickly searched the room.
"KAIRI!"
No.
NO!
He searched frantically for any sign of her. She was just there a moment ago! Where did she go?
"KAIRI! WHERE ARE YOU?" he shouted. He looked towards the entrance.
It was no longer there.
A solid wall of rock replaced it.
He was trapped.
Every time he turned, the walls seemed to move in closer and the ceiling seemed to lower. He saw the shovel, ran to it, and picked it up. He gripped it tightly in a defensive stance.
"Ssshaa..hassss…" "Shaah…yash…" "Fesss…yeshhh…" "Shhooovv…" "Soooofff…saahh…"
A frenzy of whispering erupted in his ear drums. Indistinct low voices and mumbling melded into a cacophony of incoherency.
"SHUT UP!"
"Shahha…yoouu…" "Foou…shoouu…" "Shuu…shass…" Yussh…effvv…"
He looked over his shoulder. The rocky walls…they were closing in. The whispering increased in intensity.
"SHUT UP!" he repeated.
He moved his legs, darting around the room, looking for any kind of recess or secret passage.
He found none.
"Kairi…" he whimpered.
The hole in the ceiling began to shrink and the light was dimming. The cave was getting darker and shadows were sneaking in.
He tossed the shovel aside and placed his hands on the walls, searching for some kind of escape. His fists pounded against the hard surface. "Not like this! Not like this!"
He pushed off and ran to the other side of the room but he tripped and fell into the grave. His body landed on the bones, sending the pieces flying. He spit out the dirt from his mouth and flipped his body over. He faced the ceiling and saw it, the last shred of light disappearing.
Plunging him into darkness.
He couldn't see anything.
But he could still hear the whispering.
It chipped at him, formed cracks in his constitution.
"MAKE IT STOP!"
It stopped.
The silence was even more unnerving.
He tried to get up.
But he couldn't.
Bony fingers clutched his limbs.
What was this?
Impossible!
It couldn't be?
"NO!"
He struggled, pulled, and kicked, but it was no use.
They wouldn't let go.
His breathing sped up.
His heart beat rapidly.
He was losing circulation.
His body going numb.
It couldn't end like this.
Not like this.
NOT LIKE THIS!
He froze.
A cold breath against his ear.
Paralyzed.
Crippled.
By total fear.
A soft whisper.
"…save…
…yourself…"
