CHAPTER TEN

It was one of those nightmares again. In there, he felt Death's hands. In there, he felt no hope at all. In there, he felt Hell. To make things worse, he found it nearly impossible to wake up.

When had he been staring at the stalagmites? When had he heard his ragged breath? When had he woken up?

Ralph turned and lay on his side. He saw the bright rays barge into the cave's mouth, along with the intense heat. The light stung his eyes and scratched his skin with its seemingly-scalding hands. His shorts were uncomfortably soaked in sweat. The heat chased his drowsiness off. He was relieved to be gone from that nightmare where he was frantically running all over the island. During the nightmares, he relived the entire breath of the event all over and the emotions weren't excluded. The agonising panic, the unwavering fear, the disappearing oxygen... there was the buzzing of the flies, the howling wind, the ululations with increasing volume... the smoke was engulfing him, black smoke was choking him, and his coughs disturbed the pervading silence. The nightmare stretched almost an eternity which what made it so hellish for the boy. It came almost every time he drifted to sleep.

From the blazing light, a littlun suddenly materialised, panting hard. The boy was far from his lying body. Rocks separated them but Ralph peeked through the hindrances to see a show he never expected.

The littlun's short legs tried to make a dash to get deeper into the cave but a hand picked him up by the hair. The hand raised the child in mid air, as if it weighted like a feather. The captured boy struggled for freedom, kicked his legs and flailed his arms but it didn't help him. He tried to use his mouth to drop curse words at the boy who clutched his locks. When that didn't move the boy, he spat at the indifferent face.

"You still have this much strength even when you are black and blue already?"

Ralph's eyes widened and forced to keep in a gasp. Who knew what would Roger do to him if he knew he was awake? He laid nowhere adjacent to the two boys but the cave can mimic every sound in a loud song. He decided to watch what would happen next.

"Just you wait when Jack hears about this!" Henry's voice sounded thin.

An unexpected short laugh followed, sending a shiver down Henry's and Ralph's spines.

There was no time to scream. Bones crisply cracked upon harshly hitting the rocky ground. Not a single word escaped Henry's lips when a spear javelined its way to his heart. His eyes were wide with, not fear but, shock. The stick continued to prod and tear his flesh, crushing his bones, trying to decapitate him, murdering him. Roger kept on thrusting the sharp end of the stick on the unmoving body.

The boy lying behind a facade of rocks watched with eyes wide and shocked. He knew he wasn't dreaming. He knew this show, it happened with Simon. And Piggy. It was an unfair one-on-one match but he couldn't do anything to save Henry. He wasn't able to do save anybody.

Roger's speed increased and the body soon turned into a red pool. Little Henry's face was brutally destroyed and covered in blood. His corpse was transported out of the cave and that was the only clean-up the murderer did.

Ralph wondered if Jack ever got curious what the dark stain was. Did he even see it? It was stationed beneath the shadows but it was huge and dark, lying at the right side when you enter the cave. But it had been days and Jack hasn't noticed anything. Did he realise he was lacked two choirboys? What did Jack know?

Was it all an act or a part of his nightmare that seemed real?

Henry's last words echoed in Ralph's head.

"Just you wait when Jack hears about this!"

R.I.P. Henry

I hope with the way I write, it makes you feel the scene and become an invisible witness (just like Ralph) to the scene. If I failed to make that happen, I shall sadly admit that my magic has lost its touch D: NOOO!

Reviews are appreciated! Don't be shy! I won't kill you, I won't bite, I won't... yes, you get it.

I'm off to do the next chapter now. Farewell!