Drowning.
Choking.
He missed his chance to save himself. Now he was drowning in a pool of blood. He couldn't go back up. - there was too much rubble; He was stuck in the void of blood. Gasping for air, but instead, his mouth was filled with the maroon liquid surrounding him. If he couldn't find air he would be dead in about one minute. Damn.. it! He was struggling even to move. Every move he did manage just seemed to pull him further down.
No matter what he did... He was bound to die. If someone were there, they would be too late to save him. Everything up to that moment would have been for nothing. But then he heard something call out to him. John. It spoke. But no, it was louder, getting louder by the second. "JOHN!" He opened his eyes with a jolt.
He didn't know what was happening but he had a newfound determination to live. He was going to, he had to. He pulled up his hand, shooting his grappling hook, seemingly destroying some rubble above him. Then his hook retracted, pulling him out of the blood, and back onto the remaining platform he had missed when he first fell. And then John saw him. Albert. Albert grabbed John's bloodied hand and pulled him back up to where the light was. "John! Holy shit. Are you okay!?" He started to cough up some of the blood that entered his throat. "I'm- I'm okay." He said through all the gagging, trying not to throw up.
But eventually, he stopped. "Where are the other guys?" He asked, through a newfound silence. "...There wasn't another entrance in ... .Wherever we are. Only this one and the one I came through. They're most likely dead." That wasn't too much of a shock. The screams he heard while walking were probably the others... Dying. "So, what is this place?" John asked, looking at the space around him. There was a relatively large house, with a chimney with smoke coming out of it. Lush green grass covered the stone beneath them, and a little garden peeked out behind the house.
"It's what I was looking for." John stared at him for a moment. This? Well, I guess it is weird for a house to be underground. Albert started to walk over to the house. John followed Albert into the home.
It was well put together. With a kitchen, albeit tiny, a dining room, a living room, and stairs that lead to the second floor. "So what exactly are we here for?" Albert turned like he was going to respond, but before he could, children's voices echoed across the home. "We have guests!" And at that moment around ten children came running down the stairs. "Heello!" They all shouted as they lined up in front of John and Albert. "Hi." The kids looked around the ages of six to ten. John walked over and knelt at their eye level.
"What are you guys doing down here?" They all giggled. "Are you blind mister? We live here!" What looked to be the oldest, said proudly. "Do you have anyone else who lives here?" They didn't answer. Guess that's a no. He sighed but gave them a comforting smile. "Here, do you guys want to play a game?" They all nodded their heads. "Okay then, we are going to play…Hide and seek. I'm it. RUN." The children all scurried away, laughing and giving out smiles left and right.
"What are you doing?" Albert questioned in a hushed, yet, harsh tone. "What? -What you're looking for is somewhere in here right? The perfect chance to look." Albert scoffed and walked away. What's his problem? John stood back up and started counting. "One. Two. Three. Four…. Eight. Nine. And ten. Ready or not, here I come." He turned around and, to his surprise, he saw around three of the kids. "Found ya." He exclaimed as he pointed all three of them out.
They all were saddened, yet in a playful way. "Can we search, can we search!" John laughed. "Sure." John and the kids started looking around, finding each of the others: One was on the roof, one hiding in a shrub outside, and the remaining all hiding in a hole underneath the house. "Why did you all hide together!?" John laughed and laughed. He noted it was the most he laughed since he was a child.
They all went to the front of the house again, playing and having fun. One of the children knocked down John. "Ah- nooooo~" He shouted playfully… But it seemed someone took it a little too literally.
From behind him came Albert. Blood. Again… in such a short time. He looked at Albert's face; disgusted and angry. Then, he glanced down at the remaining half of the child. A sharp pain filled his stomach at the sight. He wanted to throw up. "AHHH!" The other children screamed and shouted, running away from John and Albert, before Albert started chasing them. Then he realized something. He was still covered in blood.
The dark maroon liquid that just came out of the other child. One of their friends.
And he was covered in it.
Drenched from head to toe. These kids probably think I just did the same thing Albert just… He covered his mouth to keep himself from throwing up. He saw Albert kill all the other kids one by one. One after another they all perished... He couldn't get up. He couldn't move. It was like something was forcing him to sit and watch.
But eventually, Albert was done. John sorrowfully watched as Albert dragged over a lifeless corpse, and strung it over the entrance. He swallowed whatever came to his throat. "Go into the house, go up the ladder in the chimney. It leads to a way out." Albert helped John up. He walked into the home and headed up the ladder. Albert…I'm not going to let you get away with this. I might be weak now but… A half-crazed yet angry smile appeared on his face, through all of the pain in his stomach. I'll kill you with my own two hands for this!
He made it to the top. A trapdoor like the one that led them down covered the exit. He opened it and found himself back in front of the manor. He waited a little and started to see smoke come from the opened trapdoor. "What the-" Albert pulled himself up and out, then closed the trapdoor behind him. "Let's go." Albert said as they scurried away from the area.