Chapter Text
Is fate something you believe in? Do you believe that your decisions are controlled by fate? By some force within life somewhere, where your actions are dictated by fate. It’s something I question myself occasionally, regardless of what I have done. Am I really doing these things willingly? Do I really have control of my life? Or is some other force here at play for my decisions here?
They’re the same questions I was asking myself when I entered The Ruins.
Genuinely speaking, I really didn’t have any real motive to explore down here…Well, that’s kind of a lie. I somewhat did. But I wouldn’t call it a motive. More of a uh….’unexpected occurrence’. Samantha mentioned it to me, along with Carly, Madi and Hailey. ‘There’s some weird ruins nearby on the outskirts of town. People keep making dumb rumors about it.’ I remember her saying to us. She gave a smirk towards me as she processed the next words she was gonna say. ‘Say, Anne, you’re the only one here with a car…Why don’t you go take a visit down there?’ She lightly chuckled as if she was joking, but the way she looked at me, it made me think otherwise. It caught off guard when she asked me. Why would she want me of all people to do it? Excluding the car, there isn’t much about me that screams “urban explorer”. Even then places like that give me the creeps. I don’t know, being alone in abandon places gives my anxiety a reason to run in my head.
‘Heh…I’m not too sure…doesn’t seem that interesting.’ I told her, trying to sound as confident as possible. In reality I was uneasy about this, and my voice gave it away to Sam. ‘What’s wrong? Scared of a little exploring?’ I didn’t say anything. I knew what would’ve happened if I tried. She gave a dry chuckle and looked at the others. All of them were rocking the same smug face, and it made me even more uneasy.
‘How about this. Let’s all go there together? We can all get a ride there, and meet up. We’ll take a look around and leave. How about that?’ Sam offered, giving me a smile that can only be described as sickening. I hate it when she does that. I have no choice but to follow along when she does that. She is in control after all.
‘Fine…but we should make it quick…okay?’ Sam nodded her head lightly. ‘Deal.’ They all walked away afterwards, while Sam waved her hand at me. ‘We’ll see you there!’ I stood there thinking about what I had agreed to. I didn’t like the idea of this. Old relics are cool and all, but only behind a computer screen will I look at them willingly. Something in my gut says bad news when I see something ancient. Like the whole fate of the world hinges on these types of things. It only takes one fuckup before we start seeing demons and hell break free from below us.
Regardless, my own thoughts came into play after that. I could see the little ghostly apparition of myself appear in front of me, looking at me with both reassurance and concern.
‘At least they’ll be with you this time.’ I rolled my eyes, thinking back on the last time they said something like that. ‘Just give it a try. At the very least, if they’re not there you can just go back home.’ I gave a light sigh. If my thoughts were correct and they did join me, then I’d be the one flaking on them, and I wouldn’t hear the end of it from Sam after that. ‘Alright fine.’ I said in my head. ‘We’ll give it a look.’ I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and opened a text from Sam. It was the location of The Ruins. I replied with a simple ‘thanks’ and put my phone away. ‘I hope they do join’ said another thought, who formed right next to the original. I nodded my head and started walking down the hall. “Yeah….me too.”
It’s been 20 minutes since I arrived. I have not seen them yet.
You would think I’d just turn back around and wait, or leave like my thought told me to do. But I didn’t. Mainly because I didn’t have good cell service there. Obviously being in the middle of nowhere meant messaging or calling them would’ve been a waste of time. Last time I got into contact with them, I said I was about 5 minutes away. Sam said she was there already, so I just put my phone down and continued to drive down the dirt path. It was an eerie path to say the least. Nothing but trees on both sides as this path seemed to go on forever. It took me a minute to even find it because the maps app didn’t register it as a road. Obviously though, I found it, and it took another 10 minutes to finally reach it.
The Ruins. A bunch of tall, rock structures that have seen better days. Time has withered these structures down to jagged protrusions and sloppy rock forms. It gave me the concern that it was seconds away from all tumbling down. I was worried about going in, and I would’ve stayed put if I didn’t realize Sam and them were nowhere in sight. I tried to text them, but the one lone signal bar was enough indication to say I wasn’t gonna get anywhere there. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed my flashlight from the car, and set forth inside this husk of a building.
From the outside, it looks small. Like it was just a few rooms here and there and nothing more, but it expanded way more than that. It did start out with a few rooms, full of ancient writing of some kind and broken up rock, but as I turned from the rooms, I saw one lone hallway that seemed to stretch for miles. I couldn’t see past the void of dark, even when I shined my flashlight down. It was an ominous hallway, again full of ancient writing from what I can see. I didn’t like this. ‘Sam! Madi! Carly? Can anyone hear me?’ I shouted down the hall, just to be greeted with my own voice echoing back at me. I gave it a second for it to die down, just to not get anything else. I felt a bit irritated at this point. Slowly my gut was telling me I just became the victim of another prank, and that made my skin crawl.
‘Well, you made it this far already.’ A speck lit up in front of me, just to see it was my own thoughts talking to me yet again. ‘You should go check down that hallway.’ I felt the hesitation in me surging up, but my thought shot in front of my face. ‘Just to get an answer on Sam’s whereabouts at least. If she isn’t at the end of that hallway, she isn’t here.’ I shook my head, causing my thought to burst into a bunch of light specks and vanish.
“Fine. Let's get this over with.” I said, trudging down the hallway, where I’m currently at now.
This hallway stretched forever. It was an endless path of unrecognizable scribbles and drawings. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t be able to identify anything that I could understand. This language was beyond my understanding. I noticed that the hallway got a bit colder too. The more I stepped down that hall, I felt the temperature decrease ever so slightly. It wasn’t too bad since I had my hoodie with me, but it was still noticeable. The echoing got more and more noticeable too. My footsteps started out as little taps in the distance, but now as I walk further down, I could almost mistake it as someone else walking with me. It gave me a slight hope of it being Sam or someone I knew, until I realized the sounds stopped as soon as I stopped. Whatever I was coming up on must’ve been massive. Like a giant echo chamber or something. Eventually I would find my answer.
The walls stopped reflecting the light of my flashlight, and all I saw was the floor. I slowly stepped into the new room and tried to see anything, but I couldn’t. Using the light on the ground as a guide, I could see the floor lead a bit more forward before disappearing all together. Curious, I noticed a small rock the size of my palm nearby. I grabbed it and chucked it over the edge, and waited…and waited…and waited. I didn’t hear the rock hit the ground.
It was a huge cavern from what I could tell. My every movement caused an echo, and the temperature was now cool enough where I could see my own breath. It was kinda impressive actually, seeing how much space there was, until I remembered one thing. My thoughts formed next to me, and looked at me longing. It waited, until I spoke first.
“They aren’t here.”
‘What an idiot.’ One of my thoughts said to me, glaring at me with an annoyed expression. ‘You should’ve just stayed home. I knew this was gonna happen! If you just listened to your own gut. Idiot! Idiot! Stupid!’
I shook my head, causing the thoughts to dissolve again. Grunting at my own frustration, I figured there’s nowhere else to go. They aren’t here, and I was wasting my time. I took in one more view…well… lack of view that the cavern had to offer. Even though I couldn’t see much, it was a nice feeling really. Feeling the light draft blow on my face and through my hair. It was weirdly calming. Maybe something good came out of this.
I was just about to turn around until I heard something. I thought I was going crazy, thinking my own thoughts were playing games with me again, until I heard it again. Down in the darkness miles below me I heard something. I couldn’t make out what it was or where the soundcame from down there, but I just heard it. I assumed it was bats screeching down there, and the sound was being echoed to up here, but…something about it didn’t sound like a bat to me. I don’t know, but something about it told me that wasn’t the case.
Well I didn’t know, until I heard it again, but this time very loud and clear. Despite the sound coming from way down this pit, it sounded like it was right next to me thanks to the echo. It boomed all around the cave like a bomb just detonated, and I instinctively covered my ears to prevent them from popping. It was some kind of screech, or cry from something down there. Nothing a bat could ever produce with its own voice. To be honest it sounded like nothing an animal I know could make. It sounded too…unordinary, like it was something that didn’t belong in this world. Soon enough my thoughts about ancient artifacts and the worst case scenario replayed in my head, and how the world hinged on these things not being disturbed by anyone. I felt my skin crawl when the idea that I did something to disturb said artifact.
That thought was enough to get me to step back. Only...I didn’t entirely step back. I stepped down into the ground. For a second I thought I was falling, until the lower level caught my foot. Before I could process it though, I heard a loud bang behind me along with a bunch of rocis hitting the ground. Shining my flashlight up, the only thing I saw was a wall where the hallway was moments ago. Looking down at my foot, I could make out the ancient writing I've been seeing everywhere now. It clicked in my head when I saw why my foot sunk into the ground. I just stepped on a button.
And now I'm trapped.
“HELP! ANYONE?? CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?? I’M TRAPPED!” I yelled at the wall, banging on it, but it was useless. Even if there was anyone in here, they wouldn’t be able to hear me through the thick stone wall that had closed me in. I could feel my heart pound a mile a minute, as my breathing got more and more frantic. My thoughts all formed around me, completely surrounding my head, looking at me with varying faces. Some with fear, some with anger, and some with disappointment. They all frantically spoke to me, but I really couldn’t make out anything that was being said. It all sounded like static to me, and it got more and more intense.
I felt myself get lightheaded, and I knew one thing. I was about to pass out. I tried my best to stay stable, to slow down my breathing and calm my heart, but it was not working. Up to this moment I was actively fighting against my growing concerns about this place, and about whether or not Sam was really here, and now the wall holding those back broke, and they all rushed at me. I tumbled backwards, feeling myself losing feeling in my senses, and I didn’t know where I was anymore. It was all getting darker and darker, until I felt one more thing. The back of my foot dropping on the button and tripping me backwards. I felt the floor beneath me disappear, and I tumbled over the edge, and the moments before I blacked out, one last thought floated in front of me, looking at me with a blank look.
“Did fate bring you here? Or did you choose to fall?”
And with that, I tumbled into the depth below.