Quote from Mae on November 25, 2019, 11:17 pm

I held on tightly. I wasn't going to let him get away and run off into the dark like some madman. But, I really shoulda listened to the skeleton-man.

Well, as momma Tycoon always says... "Shoulda woulda coulda."

That poor lost soul pulled one way, and I pulled the other. I was stronger than him, but then I felt something break under my feet. With a sharp "snap!" and a loud crack, I suddenly felt the ground give way beneath me.

"AIIIAAAH!!" My scream filled the tunnels as my only connection to the world was gone in an instant.

I was both cold and breathless, feeling no walls, no ceiling, and no floor on my way down. I was freefalling into an abyss. The wind flew up beneath me, molesting my hair, clothes, and arms, which all raced up above me. My stomach lurched at the initial drop and never fully recovered. My bones turned to jelly before I hit the bottom. Then suddenly, I hit something cold and solid. Every piece of me was shot through with mind-numbing pain. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't see. I couldn't even hear anything - but some inhuman voice seemed to scream inside me, "Swim!! Swim you daughter of a dolt!! Swim!!"

So, I paddled and broke the surface. I found myself gasping breathlessly in an absolute abyss, trying to tread water I couldn't see. My ears were still ringing from hitting the cold water, and my heart was pounding like a jackrabbit's foot in July. I was scared to death about how deep the water was, - how deep in the earth I'd fallen - and how on earth I was suppose to get out. But I'd managed an impressive feat not taking water into my lungs at the initial plunge. Now, if my wretched imagination would let me calm down well enough to save myself, I might make it out of my worst nightmare alive.

*****

The rocks crashed and crumbled in a chaotic orchestra! In the next moment, all was silence.

Quote from Adriana on November 26, 2019, 5:06 pm

Stupid. Stupid idea.

I twitched my toes and fingers in turn. Everything still seemed attached. I was mostly cleared out of the rubble, but didn't move just yet. There was so much dust it was hard not to cough. Where was my guy? He hadn't coughed, either. So he was somewhere just outside of the immediate room, or he was squished. I shuddered inwardly, and shoved my way out from under a beam, trying to inch around the room, my hands meeting a wall and following it to a switch box...

Quote from Indy on November 26, 2019, 7:32 pm

The hands tore free at the last moment, not from strength, but sheer desperation and a narrow wrist.  The poor creature huddled into a ball and made a wretched, quiet heave once he heard the splash.

--

I didn't like leaving Tiffany down there all alone in the dark, cold water.  But I knew at least she was alive, from the sound of the cold water splashing.  I had half a mind to leave behind the baggage and go in after her, but I didn't know if we'd find this strange, skeleton of a man again in the dark, or if he'd even want to be found again.  So I played the good dog and came up besides him, letting my cold, wet nose lay down on his palms until he brought his hands around my neck.

Good.

Roxy wagged her tail a little and made a snuffling sound, which the skeleton seemed to accept as dog-sounds.  Roxy... hadn't that been one of Tiffany's characters from the games we'd play as children? I couldn't remember her, but I don't think she'd been a dog.  Probably some beautiful princess.  I'd probably been the mercenary knight sent to assassinate her enemies.

I came up cautiously where I'd heard Tiffany fall.  I felt the skeleton shift uneasily and remove his hands from my neck, but he didn't move besides that-- I let him be, so long as he stayed where he was. I very carefully tiptoed towards the stairs, gingerly edging my weight along the boards and prepared to retreat if they offered the slightest of give.  I offered a low, deep bark, the kind a dog might make too, but also within the repertoire of a werewolf trying to determine the state of her friend.

Quote from Mae on November 27, 2019, 1:12 am

Control. That is the first step. I need to control my breathing - not only to stay alive, but to give an answer to Ionone. I already tried calling up to her once when I broke the surface out of desperation. I was so breathless from the cold and the fall that every effort barely managed a gasp above water. Control. Be calm.

"I'm …." Hah.. Hah.. breathe. "I'm al-lright Io- …" Stay on top of it. "Roxy! T'take c-care of him."

"Roxy" is on her own. With any luck, she and that poor lost soul will get out alive.

Once I catch my breath, it's time to give myself a little extra buoyancy.  It's time to change. The circumstances aren't ideal. Had I known I was to take a swim, it would've been a lot more useful to have air in my fur, but beggars can't be choosers.

When I began the change, I felt the cold penetrate further through my body than I thought possible. I was already frozen to the bone, but putting that amount of stress on my body converted the degree of cold to a whole new level of pain. I assumed I hadn't fallen far; The water was solid when I hit, but it wasn't enough to  break a bone. At least, I didn't think so. If I had considered the possibility that adrenaline was covering up an injury, I might've thought twice before changing skins. Again, beggars can't be choosers. I'd evaluate myself once I was out of the water.

I don't know which direction to swim. I still can't feel anything under my feet... in fact, I can barely feel my feet. I could be in a narrow shaft, or an expansive cavern.. but I won't know until I find a wall. So, just swim. It doesn't matter where.

The good thing about a controlled change is that it generates heat, but it also uses a lot of energy. I nearly fainted getting through it. But this skin held much more power over water than the former. - I learned that a long time ago. I wanted so desperately to have an edge over my competition for the swim team that I would've done anything for it. Lucky for me, I didn't have that kind of power when I was five, or even ten. By the time I did acquire it at thirteen, I was wise enough to know what daddy Tycoon would've done to me. But I wanted to know what I could do, and there was nothing like losing to make a girl mad enough to try. Using what I knew about swimming, I trained on my own. It was like learning how to walk all over again, but I got good at it.  I learned I had to use my body differently to be an effective swimmer in my second skin. It became my secret confidence, and my greatest temptation. - Its funny how much of yourself you lose after high school. I must've left all that behind me. Now I was swimming for my life in the belly of the earth. Don't think about it, Tiffany. Don't think about it. Just swim.

****

The switch box was broken open. Silas' intentions were guessed. There would be no access to light in this room.

Quote from Adriana on November 27, 2019, 10:18 am

Alright so. He wasn't completely stupid. He might actually be clever. And he also wasn't afraid to dance in the dark.

I licked my nose and inhaled, my lungs burning and throat tight from the dust. A wet nose would tell me if there was a draft, and help me smell a little better. The last thing I wanted to do right now was scramble around in the dark and end up with my head up against a cold barrel. I stayed low, and hoped the color of my coat would help disguise me, in case he was some super villain freak who could see in the dark or had some kind of apparatus to aid him.

Before the crash, I had thought I heard a noise somewhere else in the cave, but it was hard to be sure.... Those girls better be alright.

Quote from Mae on November 28, 2019, 1:09 am

Despite the collapsed tunnel, air still moved through the rocks into the room. The vacancy of noise in two areas of the room indicated additional tunnels branching out of the immediate area. Faintly, the jostle and hustle of heavyweight clothing could be heard furthering out in one direction. The sound brought to mind a soldier wearing a bulletproof vest and combat boots. The foot pattern likewise indicated a person who was agile, fast, and strong.

*****

I swam in the cold frigid waters until I found some barrier to grab onto. It was either a pile of rotten wood, or a stone ledge. Either way, I gripped it and pulled myself aloft. My fingers and toes couldn't discern the texture of the surface, but it was solid enough to support my weight, so I trusted it.
As one might imagine, I was trembling terribly. But I was alive. There was no need to climb out on my hands and knees. I came straight out of the water on all four paws - I guess they have to be called paws, though I've never related to the term. My tail dragged out of the water behind me like some kind of dead lizard. The nerves in it and the back of my thighs hurt badly whenever it moved, so I let the tail drag. For that same reason I did not sit down immediately, but felt the ground on my hands and feet to know where I could stretch out. There was no point in sniffing the ground to get a better sense of the area - the whole cavern stank of damp, moldy earth. I had to figure out how badly I was injured, and in order to do so I had to let the adrenaline pass and try to regain feeling in my arms and legs. As much as I hated laying down in such a filthy place, I was already as covered in it as I could be.

Quote from Adriana on December 3, 2019, 1:51 pm

You know, maybe my mistake was about four hours ago at a steel shed in the middle of nowhere, when I didn't take an eager, beautiful woman out on a date when she more or less asked. We could be somewhere sipping fine wine. My hands would probably be clammy-I haven't dated in an unmentionable amount of years. My throat would be tight and I'd try and very likely fail to seduce her with dry humor about mafia business and weird science facts, followed by minutes of awkward silence. She'd probably call for the check after forty five minutes. She may or may not have her father kill me at the end of the date to erase any evidence of ever having gone out with me. I wouldn't blame her.

Oh, ballroom dancing. Maybe I could find a place to go ballroom dancing and impress her with the one thing I'm actually alright at. We'd fall madly in love after a tango, retire and have seven children.

It sounded slightly more feasible than getting out of this cave alive or at least in one complete piece. Right now, I was seriously convinced I was in the wrong line of work. I waited until I no longer could hear the sound of footsteps, then I slipped over to what I believed was another tunnel - not the same one as the hunter. Once inside, I took out my windproof lighter and opened it, flicking it on for a bit of light..

Quote from Adriana on December 7, 2019, 6:46 pm

Inside a the void-ish tunnel, the lighter did me little good. I could see walls and a ceiling and that was it. I didn't know what I expected, if I thought the light would reveal a lost city or a sign that says "this way to stay alive". But nonetheless I decided it would do me more harm than good, and continued forward in the dark, at a quicker pace until I reached something different, a turn and a little wooden ledge kind of thing-I felt like I was crawling out of a window pane placed over a hole in the ground.

I brandished my gun and hoped the debris hadn't done any damage, then began around the small room my window exit had brought me to.

 

Quote from Indy on December 7, 2019, 9:44 pm

What games do the shadows play on the human soul?  Ghoulish, grim skeletons leer from the abysmal dark, the ground writhes with demons, and even the very air is an enemy.  Or so I imagine.  His footing beside me ceased, his breath caught in his throat. I wondered how long it's been since another soul has seen him.

... You cannot blame a man for what he does after that kind of time.  You cannot blame him for what he  doesn't do either, for what he denies.  Hope is an illusion, it is denied because it hurts, and your mind drifts within its recesses if only to spare itself the agony.  You cannot blame them, no.  Because there comes a point where they've ceased to be

There was the smell of blood in the air -- not mine -- and the fading echo of a scream.  Perhaps I could have pursued, but would it have been kindness to drag him back?  He'd have seen me only as another fiend; and even if I brought him into the cool, liquid moonlight, its very presence would scald and burn. If kindness and goodness existed in this world, then it should have granted him the ultimate reprieve months ago.

I continued down the slope of the tunnel, trying to find a means to get to the lower levels to Tiffany.