MAN this chapter is late…sorry! I had to focus on my main line of stories but I really love this story so I'll try and focus on it a bit more :)
…
James edged down the dark, chilly basement corridor, torch in hand. He had left Esther to take care of Zero while he went ahead to try and find out where the tremors were coming from. But more importantly—as Stephen had told him—he needed to find out whether the tremors were originating from the ground or from outside. And as he had checked outside a few times, he knew it must be coming from the ground.
James unconsciously wondered if his grey suit still looked good and groaned when he realised. This isn't the time, Williams, he scolded himself. You're not about to step onto a red carpet, you're trying to prevent anyone else from getting hurt by the earthquakes.
All of a sudden, his torch light went out, leaving him entirely in the pitch black. Great, he thought, hitting it against his palm. Could this be any more cliché?
He flung the torch away and closed his eyes, holding his hands in front of him like a blind man. He found that his reflexes were always better when he couldn't see, so he carried on slowly, his sharp hearing alert for any noises.
He heard something. A slight whoosh sound of someone moving quickly. It came from his right. James leapt up and felt someone pass underneath him rather fast. As he came back down, James felt his foot connect with something, so he used it to push off and land on the ground, his eyes open now. He adopted a battle stance, listening hard.
He heard the whistle of wind to his left. He jumped backwards but he misjudged both the speed and the placement of the blow. What felt like a fist slammed into James's arm, deadening it instantly. Twisting, he fell back with a yell of pain and hit his head hard on the brick wall, drawing blood on his forehead. Clutching his sore arm, James determinedly stood and managed to turn to avoid another hit. But immediately after that, what felt like a foot impacted his diaphragm, winding him badly. James took a step backwards and bent over, breathing heavily.
This is hopeless, he thought. I can't fight something I can't see…
"Who are you?" he yelled into the darkness. "Show yourself so we can fight fairly!"
There was a husky noise that sounded like a laugh, before a low voice said, "Where would be the fun in that?"
Immediately, something hit James from behind and sent him down on his front. What felt like a foot pressed down on his back, preventing him from getting up and making him let out an "oof!" sound.
"You're just a little, insignificant bug," sneered the voice. The force on James's back increased. "About to be crushed."
Glaring, James twisted his leg around his attacker's leg and pushed hard, sending the attacker spinning away. James rolled over and pushed himself to his feet.
"Sometimes bugs can fight back," he said with a smug grin.
The darkness seemed to shimmer for a moment. Then James performed a spinning kick to the corner where he thought he had sent the attacker. However, something grabbed his foot and actually lifted him up using it. The attacker threw James right over his head. The BOWCA agent hit the wall back-first with a yell of pain. He screwed his eyes shut, trying to find the strength to stand again, before he heard the unmistakable cock of a gun hammer.
When the gunshot went off, James involuntarily let out what sounded to him like a yelp, but it took him at least ten seconds to realise that he felt no sharp pain. He had not been shot.
Opening his eyes and finding himself still unable to see, he pressed himself against the wall, feeling an emotion that he hadn't felt in a long time: fear.
Fear of the unknown. At this precise moment, James had clearly not been shot, but a gun had gone off and, since there was no light, he didn't know what had happened to the attacker, who hadn't talked or made a sound since the gunshot went off. The only thing James feared was the unknown: not knowing what had happened. Uncertainty. Unsureness. That was what he was feeling now.
Until the corridor suddenly flooded with light. James initially had to squint against the bright light, but when he got used to it, he saw his saviour. Standing on the stairs James himself had come down just ten minutes before was Stephen Bush, holding a smoking gun. Behind him stood a young woman whom James had only seen in a photo: Ruth Summers. There was no sign of anyone else.
James rolled into a sitting position. He tilted his head back and leant it against the wall, breathing heavily. He closed his eyes, trying to recover.
Passing the gun to Ruth, Stephen hurried down the steps as quickly as he could. He knelt down beside his friend and checked him over. The wound on James's forehead was leaking blood down the right side of his face but it was away from his eye and it seemed to be slowing so Stephen ignored that for the moment. James didn't open his eyes.
"James, what on earth happened?" Stephen asked, examining James's arm.
"I don't know," wheezed James. "There was a guy attacking me in the dark. I didn't see him but he kicked my butt."
"He must have been able to see in the dark," realised Stephen.
James winced as Stephen accidentally touched his lower chest. Stephen put his arm under James's and around the back of his chest. "Come on," he said. "Let's get out of here."
As they headed towards the stairs, Ruth picked something up from the floor. It looked to be slightly crushed night-vision goggles. That was how he was able to see in the dark, Ruth said to herself.
She turned to her left and saw that the basement corridor led off to a corner. It looked like there was a trail of blood leading around that corner. She thought about calling James and Stephen and going to investigate, but she knew that James was hurt.
So she decided to investigate all on her own. After all, not only would it probably lead her to James's assailant, but also perhaps to the machine causing the tremors.
…
Worth the wait? XD idk, but I do love this story so I'll try and update it more quickly next time
