(T/N) felt a chill that paralyzed his body. Chloe's flashlight revealed a corner of the tunnel where bones were piled up, mixed with pieces of clothing.
— (T/N): What...?
— Chloe: This belongs to the people who went deep into the tunnel —she said calmly, withdrawing the light—. Don't get distracted.
Chloe advanced, and (T/N) had to force himself to move, leaving the macabre corner behind him.
They walked through a side passage that separated from the main tracks. This new tunnel looked sturdier, with older brick walls.
(T/N) checked his mobile. The time was 1:05 a.m. They had been exploring the underground labyrinth for over two hours. Time had stretched and distorted in the darkness. Fatigue was beginning to weigh on him, but fear kept him alert.
The brick passage ended by dividing into two paths.
— Chloe: This is one of the oldest sections. So, which way should we go?
(T/N) ran his hand over the concrete.
— Chloe: You've seen the graffiti and what was left of the people who went further in. Do you still want to continue?
As Chloe spoke, (T/N) suddenly felt a subtle change. The sensation of being two explorers in an empty place vanished, replaced by the certainty that they were not alone.
A cold sweat broke out around his body. (T/N) moved his flashlight. The beam was lost in the darkness, finding nothing.
— (T/N): Chloe, did you feel that?
— Chloe: Feel what? —she asked, unfazed, but her voice was lower.
— (T/N): I don't know. I feel like we're being watched.
Chloe turned off her own flashlight. The darkness returned suddenly. (T/N) held his breath, gripping his flashlight tightly.
— Chloe: They know we are here.
In the total darkness, (T/N) blinked several times, trying to make out something. And then, far away, in the deepest blackness of the main tunnel they had just left, he saw something.
They were small points. They were eyes that glowed with a very faint white color, observing them from a distance.
— Chloe: I told you you had to thank me for being so kind. If you weren't with me, they would have devoured you by now. Run.
Chloe turned on her flashlight and ran towards the left side, without waiting. (T/N), his heart pounding, followed her without hesitation.
Chloe was too fast. (T/N) ran behind her trying to keep up, not daring to look back at the glowing eyes.
— Chloe: Get down!
Chloe threw herself to the ground and slid through a gap under a rusted pipe. (T/N) did the same, feeling the cold, metallic air pass over his head. He soon discovered that the path they entered was not a tunnel; it was a network of pipes and service passages filled with old machinery.
— (T/N): What... what were those things? —he gasped, standing up in a passage barely taller than they were.
— Chloe: I don't know. Maybe they're the things Alex mentioned —Chloe barely seemed to breathe with difficulty—, but they are fast.
The place was filled with overturned metal shelves, rotten boxes, and forgotten tools.
As they moved on, (T/N) no longer just felt the pressure of being watched, but he heard something. It was a light brushing sound, similar to footsteps on the damp concrete, moving through the service passages behind them.
— Chloe: We have to go back; it's our only way out of this sector.
Chloe stopped at a crossroads of corridors and aimed her flashlight at a group of old boxes.
— Chloe: Your flashlight. Quick.
(T/N) obeyed, pointing his light where she directed him.
Instantly, the light revealed a shadow. It was a thin, hunched figure, with long, bony arms, moving with the speed of an insect. Its skin was red, like the drawings, and its eyes were the bright points that had been watching them. The creature stopped, blinking at the light.
— Chloe: They are sensitive to direct light.
The creature emitted a low, penetrating hiss. The sound was not loud, but it drilled into (T/N)'s ears.
— (T/N): What do we do?
— Chloe: We can't fight them; we have to run.
They ran again, using the shelves and machinery for cover. The creature was now chasing them, guided by the sound of their steps.
They reached an open space. It was a kind of large, circular pit. In the center, there was a rusty metal spiral staircase descending into the total darkness.
The scrape of claws on the concrete was heard nearby. The creature had reached the corridor.
— Chloe: We don't have time. Go down. I'm following you!
(T/N), without hesitation, pointed his flashlight at the pit and began descending the rusty metal staircase. The steps groaned under their weight. Chloe, without waiting, began descending right above him.
Just as (T/N) was reaching the middle of the pit, he looked up. Chloe's flashlight illuminated the edge. And behind her, right at the mouth of the pit, was the hunched silhouette of the red creature, watching them.
The creature didn't descend. It stayed there, watching them, as if it were waiting for permission. Or as if it knew that, once in the pit, it wouldn't need to exert itself anymore.
(T/N) descended the rusty metal staircase with frantic urgency. The cold and rust clung to his hands. Just above him, Chloe was climbing down with an unsettling speed, her flashlight barely bouncing.
The Pit was deep. The light from their flashlights only reached a few feet below, leaving the rest in an abysmal darkness. (T/N) could feel the presence of the red creatures right on the edge, above. They weren't moving, but his ears caught a new and disturbing sound.
It wasn't the previous sound. It was murmurs.
Dozens of low, distorted voices, like a distant human conversation, whispering in a language he didn't understand, but which filled his head with panic. The murmurs mixed with the creaking of the old staircase.
— (T/N): Do you hear that? —(T/N) asked, his voice echoing in the pit.
— Chloe: Of course I do. It's how they speak. Don't stop.
After what felt like an endless descent, his feet touched solid ground. They were in a small chamber, deeper than any other section they had visited. The air here was heavy, thick, almost unbreathable, and smelled strongly of metal and old blood.
Chloe shone her light around. There were no rails; the floor was compacted, muddy earth.
Chloe's flashlight stopped in the center of the chamber.
Autor:
I apologize for not updating, but I had some issues. Honestly, I really don't know why I keep writing this novel.