DAA) Chapter 2 Part 2 (Patreon)

Being shaken around like this was making it hard to think. Like really hard to think. My brain was being shaken all over the place. I wonder if I will lose a few brain cells because of this.

 “Shit! Cap! That fucking spider… It ate Bryan!” I heard Thomas’s voice coming from behind us. Along with this set of footsteps, I could hear another set of footsteps, but from the sounds of it, they were limping.

“Thomas, what is wrong with Carlos?” I asked, not letting Cap react to what Thomas said. I really could not take listening to it. I would prefer to concentrate on the living.

“He twisted his leg dodging a stream of web that was shot at us. Once we saw that Bryan was dead we retreated.”

“Why are you not helping Carlos? From the sounds of it his ankle is messed up.” I never thought Thomas would be so careless. He would actually make Carlos run by himself? Was he trying to use Carlos as bait?

“Aiya’s right, fucking help Carlos.” Cap suddenly yelled. He did not stop at all but kept running.

“Shit, sorry man!” Thomas must have been panicked. Fear can do a lot to a person’s mentality. Like making them leave a brother behind or using them as bait. It makes me wonder if this was how he always was.

“It’s fine. Let’s go. We can not worry Aiya.” Carlos’s voice was pained. I knew he must have struggled to keep up.

We ran in silence after that. Which direction we were going, I had no idea. But the sounds of monsters were starting to echo through the air. Unless we were able to suddenly become gods, I do not think any of us would live. This place was no place for any human. It was a death trap waiting for whoever appeared here to be put through hell. Tortured until their dying breath. Bryan was alive when he was taken, which means that the spider monster had eaten him alive. I couldn’t even imagine such a situation.

I took a deep breath to try to calm myself down. I can not let this place get to me.

“Cap, over here.”

“What do you see Thomas?”

“It’s a small crevice. Its just wide enough for us to fit but should keep the bigger monsters at bay. It’s much brighter inside as well.”

“Check it out. Make sure it’s clear we will cover the entrance. First signs of any trouble make sure you retreat.”

“Understood.”

We came to a stop, and Cap finally put me down. But still pushed me up against a cold damp rock. “Keep your head down and don’t move. Keep your ears open. Let me know if you hear anything.”

“Yes, Sir.” I replied softly before concentrating on listening to the world around me. The flow of air. The sounds in the distance. Everything.

Being in complete darkness due to my eyes helped a lot. I could calm down easier and get a better grasp on what was happening around me.

As this I felt like I could sense more than just the sounds. There seemed to be something in the air. Bluish purple strands of energy floating around. My concentration went completely to these strands of energy. As I did, I noticed that they seemed to pass through things. They would enter things and be slightly reduced for a second before building up again. But each time they made contact with something, it would pulsate, and an outline of that object would appear. Since there were thousands of these things, I could actually make out the area around us. All the rocks and even Cap and Carlos.

I could only make out their body outlines. It was like looking at a chalk outline at a crime scene. It was very strange, but this was also not easy to do since I found if I stopped concentrating even a little, everything disappeared.

I also noticed I could not see very far. Only a few feet around me. “Hmm… Cap.” I called out to Cap for one reason. I wanted to make sure what I was seeing was real. And sure enough, Cap turned to me.

“What’s wrong Aiya? Did you hear something?”

“No but can you make a peace sign for me. I know it sounds stupid but if you can that would be great. It seems if I concentrate enough I can make out outlines of things so just go along with my stupidity. I want to make sure I am not going crazy or something.”

“That’s fine.” Cap chuckled as he raised his hand and made a peace sign. When I saw his arm raise and his two fingers spread apart, I confirmed that I was not going nuts. “So?”

“It’s like looking at a outline but I can see about twenty feet around us. But if I am not concentrating everything goes black again.”

“It’s good to have something. Keep practicing. We will be taking a longer break as long as things are clear. If you can see even a little that is good news.”

“I will keep at it.” It was not like I had something else to do. Plus, if shit got any worse and I ended up separated from the others, I would need to be able to have some chance of survival.

A few minutes later, Thomas came back to make his report. “Cap, it’s clear.”

“Alright we will move then. I will take the rear. Thomas you lead us in.”