Chapter Four
Four screams erupted as the speed of the carts picked up as the tracks dropped down in a deep slope. Emmie looked back to see if her mom was okay seeing as the woman was standing with nothing surrounded her like Trevor, Sean, and herself. The woman's knuckles were white as she held on with all her strength to the bars.
A lurch sent her flying forward and Sean gripped her around her upper torso to save her from falling out of the cart. Her left hand held onto the edge of the cart and the other gripped his arm tightly.
"Why aren't there any seatbelts on this thing?" Sean screamed searching around them for something to hold them down.
Trevor almost laughed, "You are worried about seatbelts?"
"Oh my..." Emmie trailed off. She shook Sean's arm and pointed up ahead where a break in the tracks occurred. "Do you guys see that?"
"Hannah!" Sean yelled petrified. He could see his life flashing before his eyes.
"I know..." the woman muttered.
"Pull the breaks," Trevor motioned towards the lever in the front of their cart.
As Sean reached forward to pull it Hannah objected loudly, "No! We will never make it if you do it."
"Then what should we do?" Emmie could feel tears in her eyes. Turning towards her mother she saw her starting to pump the carts faster.
More screams echoed as they flew over the gap and landed painfully back on the tracks. However, the action caused the carts to break apart onto three different tracks.
Trevor was above them now shouting down, "Stay put!"
Emmie would have laughed if she weren't scared out of her mind. Where did he expect her to go?
A jolt to the right made Emmie fly left. Her hold on Sean's arm slipped and she was half-way out of the cart faster than she had time to register. Her scream bounced off the walls loudly.
Reaching out towards the petite female, Sean wrapped his arms around her waist and tugged her back into the cart before she fell out. He panted heavily as she smashed against his chest. They both stayed like that for a moment until their cart surged downward quickly making them stumble apart.
Being fed up with almost falling out of the cart Emmie sat on the floor of it. She hugged Sean's legs and buried her messy hair between his kneecaps. He would have made a joke, but knew by the fear he had that it wouldn't be funny.
The cart slowly began to slow down after a few more twists and turns. She peeked her head up to see Sean staring down at her with a wide toothy smile on his face. It was the first time she had ever seen him look remotely happy... she actually thought he looked kind of cute.
"That was awesome!" he exclaimed pumping his fists into the air.
Emmie shook her head slowly gaping up at him as if he were crazed. Awesome was the last thing she thought that was.
He looked over outside the cart to see his uncle and Hannah sprawled on the floor in a tangle of limbs, "What happened to you guys?"
Trevor scowled at the delighted boy, "Don't ask."
"Where's Emmie?" Hannah sat up to see her daughter nowhere in sight."
"Right here," Emmie responded meekly. Sean held out a hand and she grabbed it pulling herself into a standing position. Feeling wobbly due to the ride she grabbed onto Sean's biceps to steady herself. "I'm never doing that again."
"Hey look!"
Sean hopped out of the cart towards a hole in the wall, "What do you think this is?"
"Don't go in there," Trevor demanded. However, Sean was already inside the small opening before he finished his sentence. With a grunt he got onto his feet and followed his nephew.
"What are you talking about?" Sean laughed. "This could be our way out!"
Emmie climbed out of the cart and shared a look with her mom. These two were endless.
"Guys you aren't going to believe this," Sean touched the wall hungrily as his eyes caught a glimmer of the red crystal. "Rubies!"
"Emeralds," Hannah ran a hand over the smooth green rock.
Trevor grinned, "Feldspar."
"That's not it!" Emmie rushed between them wide eyed. Her eyes glimmered as she looked back at her three companions. "Diamonds..."
"Crystals are frequently formed and found in volcanic tubes," Trevor explained as he plucked one of the diamonds from the wall.
Hannah smiled, "This tube can take us back up. Right?"
They both looked upward, "Yes."
Emmie was more focused on the diamonds. She grabbed a few and stuck them in the pockets of her gray spandex pants greedily. Although, a yellow Oppenheimer diamond caught her eye. She stood on the tips of her toes to reach for it, but it was too high. Giving up she turned around to see her mother watching her carefully. She started walking towards the woman while letting her fingers trail over the diamonds in the wall.
Sean had noticed her trying to read the yellow diamond. He gripped it tightly between his fingers and yanked it out of the wall. He stuck it deep into his backpack so that there was no way he could lose it.
"When I get out of here I'm getting a Maserati..." Sean said as he stuck another diamond in his pack.
"Money is not all that matters Sean. People matter too..." Trevor looked hungrily at the flashy objects. "... or something like that."
Hannah sighed at the men, "How about we try and get out of here now?"
Sean tried reaching for a higher diamond and a crack sounded, "Did you guys hear that?"
Crack, "Nobody move."
They all looked towards Trevor who spread out his hands, "Muscovite."
"No," Hannah glanced down.
"Muscovite..." Emmie scrunched her nose.
Sean eyed his uncle, "Muscovite? What's that?"
"Muscovite is a thin rock formation. It can break at the slightest change in weight or pressure," informed Trevor as he waved his hands around. "And we are standing on a lot of it."
Emmie readjusted the strap around her shoulder and another crack sounded. Her mother swung her hand out, "Stop it! Don't move."
"We are all going to walk back the same way we came. Slowly," Trevor stepped backwards. "We need to be as slow as possible."
They all began to move at a snails pace. But Emmie saw it before anyone else. She cried out as a diamond slipped from the top of Sean's backpack. He followed her eyes and tried to reach for the diamond in time, but it was too quick. It landed directly in the middle of the muscovite causing all around it to shatter.
A moment of silence followed and they could have sworn they were safe. Trevor breathed a sigh of relief and was about to start speaking when the sound of the rock splitting erupted tenfold. It shattered completely and the four screamed as they fell downward.
Emmie reached out for Sean's hand and he gripped hers tightly. Her mother found Sean's other hand and Trevor's.
"What is at the bottom?" Hannah questioned as they continued to fall after a few moments.
"If what Verne wrote was correct... then this tunnel can go on for thousands of miles," Trevor looked down. It sure felt like it was going to go on for thousands more.
"Well," she snapped. "He wasn't right."
"Then, in theory, it should just end."
Emmie cried, "What?"
"Any other theories?" Sean asked giving Emmie's hand a tighter squeeze.
"Well, the walls could have eroded due to water, which could gradually break are fall."
"Like a water slide?"
"Exactly like a water slide," he agreed.
Hannah scowled, "What if the water formed stalagmites pointing straight up at us?"
"Oh God," Emmie shrieked. "We are going to be in pieces!"
"That is possible..." said Trevor mournfully.
"Dude," Sean yelled at his uncle motion with his head towards the ballistic girl alongside him. "Not cool."
"Is that water?" Hannah released her hold on Sean's hand and let her fingers glide against the liquid. "It is water!"
"Water slide, water slide," Sean repeated under his breath clenching his eyes shut tightly as he prayed.
The large body of water swallowed them. It was deep and dark in the liquid. Sean and Trevor emerged to the surface first.
"I'm not in pieces," Sean stated feeling himself just to make sure.
"Where's Hannah?" Trevor looked around him. Neither Hannah or Emmie had emerged. He swam back underneath the water just as Emmie came to the surface.
She coughed up fits of water and Sean reached for her pulling her on top of a rocky surface. They both laid on their backs catching their breath.
Hannah and Trevor appeared not a moment later. The older woman clung to his shoulders, "My backpack was too heavy..."
They all lay on their backs in silence. All that was heard was the sounds of rippling water and their uneven breathing as they tried to readjust themselves.
"I hate water..." Emmie muttered softly. She let her head fall against Sean's shoulder tiredly. All she wanted to do was go to sleep. Was that so much to ask for?
"Is it just me or does the ceiling look like it's moving?" inquired Sean. He pointed upward at the shimmering lights.
"I think they are stars..." Hannah suggested blinking skyward.
"No," Sean rejected with a frown. "It's definitely moving."
"Yeah..." Emmie nodded her head. She looked at Sean's face and his eyes met hers. For the first time he realized her eyes were a grayish color. He had thought they were the same color as her moms light blue iris's. "They are moving!"
She let herself slip away from his body and stood up. The others soon followed suit and the ceiling, or what they assumed was the ceiling, started to squawk. Then the bluish figures started to descend downwards.
Emmie gasped, "Birdies."
"Electric birds?" Sean asked hesitantly. One of the feathered creatures flew towards him as if it were expecting him as well, but shot off before Sean could get a better look.
"They look like Cyanis rosopteryx.." Trevor said as he squinted up at them. "They are bioluminescent like glowworms."
"Pretty..." Emmie tried to reach out to touch one and it sped off. They took off all at once down a long tunnel revealing a pathway.
"Look a tunnel," Trevor pointed out with a grin. "Come on guys."
They started in the direction. Trevor watched closely as a bird flew past him, "It's insane. These birds have been extinct for over 150 million years..."
"It's almost like-" he stopped speaking as they made it past the pathway. A fresh breeze rolled past them causing their movements to halt.
Lush green plants surrounded them. There were thousands of exotic flowers, tall trees, and there was soil beneath their feet. And then a large fiery ball was high, high up in the center of everything. Emmie almost cried at the beauty of it.
"Ladies and gentleman..." Trevor smiled. "I give you the center of the earth."
AHH! We are getting more into the story. I'll let you guys in on something... I TOTALLY have the sequal planned out so if you like it plan on another ;-)
Basically, I want to write this story to write the second one. BECAUSE the second one will be more focused on what I think and not be based on something prior. Ya dig?