- Does anyone remember the way back?
Suspicious has his head slightly tilted, giving a faint glance to Pony and the old man. Under his sparse lashes, a blue hue like a flash of thunder appear in the iris of his eyes.
He has a neutral expression on his face but something in the way his eyebrow tilt give off an brazen feeling.
Dust quite like his looks. Thinking about it, If he survives all this he will look for a mirror. After all, he still doesn't know what his own face look like.
-The one at our left?
The middle-aged man take a step forward, but still stay in the middle of the group. Waiting for someone to agree with him.
His small eyes shifting between the void beyond and the red-haired man.
Suspicious ignore him, and wait.
Now, Dust start to understand that this question is one directed to Old man.
Like a provocation.
Why?
Ah, could it be because he already said before that they will lose their way if they keep going blindly? The " I told you " kind of thing?
Dust can only think of one word "Petty" and tuck One on his back higher.
He is already tired of his weight.
Purple belly frown when he doesn't receive any reply, and Pony start to fidget, opening and closing her mouth repeatedly. Her hand missing some fingers craddled against her chest.
Behind him, Princess and Follower whisper something he can't hear.
Before he gets too anxious to speak, Dust bite the bullet and decide to say it fast.
-I left a blue stone everytime we took a different tunnel. So we only have to see if we found one at the tunnel at our left if not we can come back and try the one at our right.
As he didn't want to be ignored like last time, he forced his voice to be louder and in result it came out a bit strangled.
His cheeks are hot.
Did they understand what i said? Will i have to repeat myself?
Looking at the old man who nod in his direction, it seem not.
Suspicious give him a glance, and Dust avoid his eyes.
-Then that's settled.
They walk fast, their flashlights scanning their surroundings while searching for the blue stones. Their distorted shadows on the rock follows them in each step like ghosts trapped in stone.
They keep their mouth shut all the way even their footsteps are discreet.
The whimpers of One directly fall on the ears of Dust, adding to his stress. Blood trickle from the mouth of the unconscious boy to the neck of the one walking and mix itself with his sweat.
But that at least assure him , that he isn't carrying a dead man. Yet.
Time come and goes and they end up after a hour or more going back to the piece with lockers.
Dust give a relieved smile to no one but himself. It had been a while that the weight of One became more and more hard to carry.
Everything in the room was there as they left it. Stuck in time in the darkness.
Suddenly the body on his back start to tremble, in the same way as a convulsing fish does when brought by a wave on the beach.
He spits blood all over the t-shirt of Dust,and his fingers start to twist his neckline in a desperate grip.
Under the sudden movements, the boy has to catch himself on a shelves to not fall down. And then he tries to disantangle the clenched hands who almost strangled him.
-You… Let me go!
One doesn't answer him. Purple-belly, Pony and the Old man turn their face to look at his disheveled state while Dust notice the skin at the tip of One's fingers who has became grey-blue.
Panicked, he tries to look behind him and only see the revulsed eyes of One.
The white of his eyeballs crossed by dozens of small red veins encompasses the green of his iris in a sick way. His pupils almost dispappearing under his eyelids seem to see right through him.
-Wha-
IIIINGG
A sudden screatching noise drown his voice and with horror he see out of the corner of his eyes a metallic glint hurling toward him.
It's here, Fuck!
He crouch down as fast as he can, letting go of the dead body on his back at the same time.
-Your flashlights!
In a scquall, the pickaxe pass over his head and bounces of the shelve at his sides. The metal grunt with the impact and the pickaxe fall with a resounding clang.
Amisdt the chaos the stern old-man yell again and beams of light chase the moving smoke in the agitation and without any kind of cooperation.
-Gets closer, don't let your sides unprotected!QUICK!
-At the right! it's at your right!
-Where is it? !
Several voices rise one after the other but in the din they produce Dust can't decipher to who they belong.
He stands up, searching in the dark after the black cloud. The smoke swirl, sometimes they hear its heavy footstep while it walk on the ground, sometimes they see the creature ignoring gravity and running toward them while being on the cieiling.
The thing is excited.
Dust try to corner it with the others but it jumps, twist between their ray of light and take form somewhere else.
Again and again. They only succeed at keeping the thing at bay.
Until the smoke solidify next to the shelves at Follower's left.
The metallic shelves are dragged by the creature, with a noise similar to the screeching sound of chalk on a blackboard.
And then the smoke push it toward the women.
Quickly, Princess next to Follower distance herself from the shelves.
But the other girl isn't that lucky, she didn't react fast enough. Boxes fall on her head, blue stones spilling everywhere, and the metal who support the boxes hit her back, pinning her to the dusty ground.
Thus it create a hole in their formation.
But the creature doesn't let them the time to fill it.
It throw more than it push the other shelves toward them.
Dust has trouble in avoiding the furnitures and can't keep up with what is yelled accross the room.
He can't keep up with the moves of the dark smoke either.
He even has trouble differentiating between the falling down shadows of the shelves and the shadows of the group who shove each other with the dark smoke.
What is next to him can be Old man or Princess, but it can also be the creature and he would not be aware.
Maybe it's behind him. Maybe it is in front of him. Maybe …
Follower cry when at the same time her arms try to push the shelves away from her body.
-Help me! I can't... I can't lift it!
The lamp torch light up her top and her jawline when she tries again to lift the furniture on top of her, the movement allow Dust to clearly see the glistening tears in her fearful eyes.
However, he doesn't help her.
As people all around him start to retreat toward the tunnel who lead to the closed door, the boy follow them to survive
Again, he thinks about the key.
And who has the key?
Suspicious!
His flashlight sweeps the air, searching not the creature but the red-haired man.
No matter what i must not leave him out of my sight!