Hello! This is the third story in a hopefully on-going series. While it is not necessary to read the first two to enjoy this one, it will help in understanding some of the story and character bits. Please leave reviews and comments, hope you enjoy!

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Dek and Zen were lost. They crawled their way through the dark and dirty tunnels, laser pickaxes in hand and a singular electro-torch to light their way. The two young men were covered head to toe in dirt and soot, as was typical for anyone who had spent a week in the mines, without ever having seen the surface. As for anyone spending longer than a week... they had yet to come across anyone who had, a fact that was weighing on their minds. Their survival instinct had led them to search for whatever exit they could find... but the same instinct had also led them to continue mining. After all, they would go missing even sooner if the guards found them. But fight or flight had taken hold. Dek and Zen needed to get out of this deathtrap.

Unfortunately, that had all culminated in their being lost inside those forsaken tunnels.

"This is hopeless," muttered Dek. "All these tunnels look the same, we're never-"

"Shut up will you," hissed Zen in reply. "We're in enough trouble, I don't need you whining in my ear as well. Now keep moving."

"Stop for a minute," said Dek suddenly. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

They both stopped to listen, but nothing was heard.

"As I thought, bugger all," hissed Zen. "Now keep moving."

They got not much further before a loud wail-like sound reverberated throughout the tunnels. Both of them heard that.

"See, I told you," said Dek. "What the hell is that?"

"It certainly ain't friendly," replied Zen. "Keep going Dek. Whatever it is, we won't avoid it by standing still."

Dek nodded and kept going. "It must be it, you know Zen. The thing that's taking people."

"You don't know that," Zen groaned in reply. "Move faster than that."

Dek wasn't deterred. "It has to be! You heard the same rumours I did. Something is taking us."

"Rumours, that's all," said Zen. "Now keep going!"

The wail sounded again, louder than before.

"Oh god, Zen-" Dek started.

"Button it!" yelled his friend "Keep going!"

The two men kept crawling through the tunnels – they had narrowed down from being walkable to being only a square metre wide. The wailing was now constant, a terrible sound, full of grief and anguish. Even Zen was alarmed now.

"Keep going, Dek!" he said. "Keep going!"

"I told you Zen, I told-" Dek was interrupted by a scream behind him. He turned – and saw Zen had gone.

"Zen? Zen?"

Dek cried out. Where his friend had been, there was now just darkness. In fact, everything seemed darker, almost like the darkness was enveloping him.

He kept crawling, hoping in vain to escape. But he knew, deep down, it was too late.

The darkness enveloped him. And he was also gone.