Naylor: Since When Did Alexis Act Timid?
"It's been a while since we've come across a trap recently," I remarked, cautiously optimistic, as we slowly walked through the dimly lit hallway. "Are we almost at the end?"
"Well, actually, we-" Josh started.
"Sh!" Alexis sharply hissed, as she interrupted him by holding up her palm, signaling us to shut up. We all were silenced for a few moments.
Once it was quiet, I could hear a faint crumbling noise... no that wasn't it. It sounded more like something was cracking, like pieces were breaking off of something from below us. In fact, it sounded almost as if it came from the floor itself.
What the heck was that?
All of a sudden, all these cracks appeared on the floor, and were quickly spreading.
"Oh, no, I forgot..." Michael muttered as the cracks began to encircle our feet.
Then the cracks began to turn into holes.
There were now giant, gaping holes right in the middle of the freaking floor.
The holes were rapidly multiplying, the broken pieces of the floor simply dropping and disappearing below, as if there was nothing underneath what used to be the floor.
Just then, the floor completely collapsed below us. The remaining pieces fell into a deep chasm where the floor used to be, and it took us all with it.
"This is the trap where the floor disappears...!" Michael yelled as he plunged down into the abyss, his voice fading as he disappeared into the blackness.
"Don't forget important things like that!" I screamed as my hands frantically scrambled around for something to grab onto. My fingers desperately latched onto the first thing my hands reached and held on tightly for my (after)life. As it turns out, the thing I took hold of was Josh's foot. Grabbing his other foot, I looked above me to find that Josh was clutching onto Alex's ankles. Looking up even further, I saw that Alexis was gripping onto Jared's wrists. I found the explanation for that when I looked even higher, and saw Skyler looking down over the some kind of giant metal beam stretching between the walls. She was lying down on her stomach, holding Jared upside-down by his ankles.
I was so glad she was on our side.
"You guys are too heavy!" Alex gasped from above Josh and me. "I can't hold on!"
"Should I drop down?" Josh called back up to her.
"Wait a minute,I'm attached to you!" I shouted back, panicked at the thought.
"Naylor," I heard Alexis gripe through clenched teeth. "Can you climb up?"
"Do I really have a choice?" I yelled back up to her.
Here goes...
I gulped. Just don't look down...
I slowly pulled myself up with my arms, using Josh's feet, hearing a cry from Alexis as I moved up the human ladder.
"Whoa," Josh chuckled as I grabbed onto his waistband. "Take it easy down there."
"Shut up," I rolled my eyes at his obvious lack of maturity. "Shoulders next." I was just glad that his pants didn't fall down when I'd grabbed his waist. That certainly wouldn't have ended well.
I climbed up Josh, using his shoulders this time, and put my feet on the top of his head, stopping when my hands reached Alex's ankles. My eyes were just level with her knees, and I didn't dare to look up, remembering that she had on a skirt.
"What are you doing down there?" she said, straining her neck to look down at me. "Stop resting and climb up!"
"Where am I supposed to grab onto you?" I shouted awkwardly as I glanced back down to the top of Josh's head, trying to focus on anything other than the problem at hand.
"Anywhere you can!" she burst out exasperatedly. "Just hurry!"
"All right, then..." I muttered to myself before I grabbed her knees and came face-to-face with her skirt. I looked away uncomfortably and stared back down at her shoes.
...Jeez, her feet sure were tiny. They looked almost like a doll's, with the formal, old-style shoes of the school uniform.
Focus, Naylor. I shook my head as I wrapped my arm around her waist and prepared to climb up.
...Her waist was pretty tiny, too...
"You'll fall if you grab on there," she interrupted my thoughts as I was putting my other arm around her.
"Yeah, I guess so..." I muttered awkwardly as I put my arms behind her and grabbed her shoulders from the back, squeezing my eyes shut as I pulled myself up. I held my breath, for sheer nervousness.
Wait a minute... nervousness of what? A voice in the back of my head pointed out.
I shook my head again and concentrated on the current task.
When I opened my eyes, I found my face barely millimeters away from Alex's, our noses almost touching.
"W-why are you facing this way?" I stuttered in surprise. My cheeks felt hot when I saw her eyes looking right into my own, a pink blush creeping onto her face.
With my face this close to hers, I could clearly see into her eyes. From this close of a distance, I found that they weren't just blue, as I'd previously thought, but that they also had a bit of green and... purple mixed in? She had multicolored eyes that reminded me of one of those butterflies, the ones that were all three of those colors.
I felt myself take a sharp intake of breath at that moment, and when I breathed in, I found that I could smell Alexis. She smelled nice and clean, like an ocean breeze or something. I closed my eyes, taking in the scent.
"W-will you hurry and climb up already?" Alexis muttered quietly, causing me to open my eyes. She gazed at me for a few seconds before timidly averting her turquoise eyes.
Whoa. Wait a second. "Timid"? When's the last time Alexis ever acted timid?
Shaking my head for the umpteenth time, I yanked myself back to reality.
I liked the way she smelled. We were just gazing into each other's eyes. Our faces were practically touching. None of those were good signs.
I wordlessly climbed up Jared and Skyler after that, unable to get Alexis' multicolored eyes and her pleasant scent out of my mind. Not to mention that our faces were close enough for...
Gah!" I heard Alex shriek from below me when I had finally reached the metal beam. "Don't grab me there, idiot!"
The sentence was punctuated with a familiar slapping sound.
"You idioooooot...!" I heard Josh say as his voice slowly faded, sounding as if it was growing more and more distant.
After a couple minutes, Alex climbed up onto the beam. Then Jared came up, and then Skyler. Josh and Michael never showed up.
"Um... What happened to Josh... and Michael...?" I murmured as I stared down into the dark pit beneath us.
"We're down to four," Alex said, looking down into the crevice as she clenched her fists. Her bangs were covering her eyes, so I couldn't see her expression. Her voice didn't sound happy.
We lost two in one trap, then. Things weren't looking good.
I heard a sinister-sounding chuckle from next to me, and I turned to find Jared standing next to me with a very creepy look on his face.
"I'm surprised," he said, an amused smile on his face. "You've done pretty well. For a rookie."
I didn't respond. I just glared right back at him, hoping to break his stare.
Just what the heck was this guy's problem?
"You'll be the next to go," he said maliciously, curling his lip. His expression almost reminded me of the Joker, with that creepy smile of his. "I'm sure of it."
Somewhat Minimal Author's Note
Omigosh... I was SO tempted to title this chapter "Naylexis".
...That's all I have to say.