Chapter Twenty-three
Everyone was up at 5:00. It was stil very dark, but Rogue used the ball to light the way. They were searching for a way out of the tunnel. The tunnel connected to lots of other tunnels, that led to dead ends.
"This is hopeless,'' Scott said.
"No it's not,'' Rogue said,'' We are all alive stil.''
"I'm wondering what happened to Logan and Fred,'' Todd said,'' They couldn't of just vanished into thin air.''
"How would you know?" Lance asked,'' This is a weird island. Maybe they did vanish into thin air or they could be tied up somewhere.''
"I feel kind of sad for the people who don't make it,'' Pietro said,'' I don't feel sad for Logan though.''
"That is rude,'' Kitty said,'' He saved your life.''
"After he hit me with a rock,'' Pietro said,'' I have a bump there now and it hurts just a little.''
Lance went over to Pietro and hit him over the head. Pietro grabed his head and looked like he wanted to scream. Lance walked over to Kitty, who was leaning aganst the side of the tunnel. Lance picked her up and they began to walk down the tunnel again. Pietro quickly caught up.
"That was not cool,'' Pietro said,'' My head is bleeding again.''
"And my arm is infected,'' Lance said,'' But I'm not whining about that, so shut up.''
They were quiet for about ten minutes.
"So,'' Gambit said,'' If we get out of here alive, what are we going to tell de professor?''
"I didn't even think about that,'' Scott said.
"He'll be sad,'' Jean said,'' He might cry too.''
"It's all sad,'' Todd said,'' Lost about four people already and someone is next.''
"How would you know?" Lance asked.
Just then the ground from under Lance fell, taking him and Kitty with it. The others quickly ran and looked down. They couldn't see the buttom of it. They were silent for awhile.
"What are we going to do?" Pietro asked.
"I have a flashlight,'' Jean said, taking a flashlight out ofher back pocket. The others stared at her in shock.'' I know I should of took it out awhile ago, but I forgot it.''
Jean turned on the flashlight and looked down the hole. They stil couldn't see the buttom.
"I don't think they will of survived that fall,'' Todd said,'' So that makes the count at six.''
"SHUT UP,'' The others shouted.
Just then they heard a someone shouting in the hole. It sounded like Kitty.
"Speak up,'' Scott yelled.
"HELP.''
"They are alive,'' Jean said with a sigh of relief.'' Now how are we going to get them out?"
Just then Scott took a rope and through one end down into the hole. The others quickly grabed onto the other end of the rope. There was a tug on the other end.
"Pull,'' Scott said.
Everyonestarted to pull. It took about ten minutes to get Kitty out of the hole. Jean quickly ran over to her.
"Are you okay?" Jean asked.
"I'm fine,'' Kitty said,'' There was something that stoped us from hitting the ground.''
They through the rope back down in the hole. When they felt a tug they pulled. It took about fifteen minutes to get Lance out of the hole. Pietro helped him up.
"You okay, buddy?" Pietro asked.
"I'm fine,'' Lance said,'' I cut my other arm though.''
"Lets just continue,'' Rogue said,'' Now that we have two lights, we'll be able to see better.''
They started walking again. Lance had picked up Kitty, ignoring the pain in both of his arms. They walked for about a half an hour in silence.
"I see something, yo,'' Todd said.
"It's a light,'' Scott said,'' That must be the exit.''
They quickly ran to the light, but it was not the exit. It was just a small hole. Scott looked out of it, to his shock. Everything was dark and it was raining. There was some kind of dark shadow moving around out there. Scott quickly looked at the others.
"I think we should find an exit quickly,'' Scott said.
"What did you see?" Jean asked as they continued to walk.
"I don't know what it was,'' Scott said,'' But I knew it was bad. Something dark is out there.''
"The dark shadow,'' Jean said,'' I remember reading about it. It takes the souls of all living things it touches. It will get worse the longer it's out. I remember reading in the book, it said that the only thing that kept it away was the thing, which means the inscription. It will only get worse the longer we take.''
"That sounds conforting,'' Pietro said.
They walked for about an hour, before they stoped.
"There is no way we can continue today,'' Rogue said,'' My arm hurts for holding it out in front of me.''
"The batterys to the flashlight are almost dead,'' Jean said.
"We'll need them for later,'' Scott said.
Lance set Kitty down and looked at his watch. To his shock it was 11:00.
"It's 11:00 pm,'' Lance said,'' How can that be?"
"The time is going faster,'' Jean said,'' It will only go faster until we get to the top of the mountain and put this thing back where it belongs.''
Thoughts
Kitty: My leg hurts and I totally need a bath.
Lance: I hope I can carry Kitty. My arms hurt so bad.
Pietro: Is my hair going black? I feel like Todd now and that is just sick.
Gambit: I would do anyt'ing for Rogue. Hopefully dat dark t'ing don't get us.
Rogue: I hope Gambit don't worry about the this.
Todd: I'm going to be the next to die. I can feel it.
Jean: There is something that I know I'm forgetting. I must try to remember.
Scott: Hopefully we will find an exit tomorrow. We can't have that darkness get stronger.
End of thoughts.
Everyone slowly fell asleep, hoping that they would get out of the tunnel tomorrow.