15 The Ringing Sound

"Hello?.. Is anybody there?" Ashley asked.

There was no other response except the scratching. She was reluctant. Maybe it was false hope again. It was quite suspicious. Maybe it was just a rat or a lizard.. Or a big cockroach—

*Thud!Thud!

As if sensing her uncertainty it knocked back at her,startling her. 

"Y-You—" 

She was cut off when it answered with a scratch upon hearing her voice.

"... don't know how to speak, do you?" then it knocked back again.

*Thud!

She blinked. 'It's definitely not a rat or something like that' she muttered under her breath. The thing or the person who was at the other side of the wall seemed to understand her because it would respond to her. Ashley's was suddenly enveloped with curiosity. She wanted to see who or what was on the other side. But first she had to find a way to get there. She needed to break the wall. 

Ashley didn't know where her sense of bravery suddenly came from. She was so eager to find out.  She realized that if she didn't do anything, she'll be stuck in this hell hole forever. And she definitely didn't want that.

She thought of ways to destroy the wall. She considered punching the wooden wall or kicking it. But that would be stupid, she wasn't that strong. If she was a martial artist. Fine, that was possible. However, this wasnt an action movie. 

'Be more serious Ashley. D*mn it!' she cursed herself for being such a dimwit. She thought for a while and then realized that there was something...

She needed to use a tool obviously. She recalled that her Dad had a sledgehammer in the garage. She grimaced when she remembered the garage was upstairs and it was quite far. 

She immediately walked carefully towards the stairs however she stopped midway. She went back to where she was standing a while ago and began to speak.

"Wait here, I'll just get something to get you out of there." 

As expected, it answered with a scratch. Ashley then went back upstairs and went to the garage. It took her a couple of minutes to retrieve the sledge hammer. It was heavier than what she had thought it would be. She remembered that she could hold it before. Maybe it wasn't that heavy, she just really didn't exercise much. It was understandable since she was bedridden for three years. Her bones and muscles must've deteriorated. 

She carefully brought the sledge hammer down as she descended to the stairs. She didn't want to fall down especially since there was no light.

A few minutes later, she was on the same spot where she left. She knew where it was since 'the thing ' always scratched back whenever she spoke. She told the thing to move back so that she wouldn't hurt it if she hit the wall. The thing scratched back. She sighed, it would be a problem if she accidentally killed it. 

Ashley relaxed her muscles before swinging the sledgehammer to the air and slamming the wall.

*Crack! 

A small hole appeared on the wooden wall. She saw a faint light peeking through the hole. She grew excited at her discovery. 

Is this what they call a ray of hope? Ashley started to cheer in her head. It was like a go signal for her to continue. She felt a rush of adrenaline as her desire to completely destroy the wall intensified.

She felt like a prisoner secretly escaping from prison. She hoped for this...Her escape.

Ashley continued to smack the wall, creating various holes in it. One after another, rays of sunlight peeked through the holes. She didn't mind the numbing of her muscles and continued what she was doing until finally, she destroyed it.

However, fate seemed to be toying with her. She frowned. Where's the light gone?...She clearly saw it though it was faint! She remembered her first priority  for breaking the wall. Where was that thing which was on the other side of the wall a while ago? How did those lights she saw disappear like they weren't there in the first place? 

'Is this a joke?'

If it was, she didn't think it was funny. her muscles burned from forcing herself to carry that heavy sledge hammer. She swore that she could feel the tear in the fibers of it. And this was what she'll get?

She peeked her head out of the hole. Only to find out that there was nothing.. It was just an empty black space. It was like a vacuum. It was completely devoid of light. She then tested the ground with one foot.

Nothing seemed wrong, however Ashley felt a sense crisis. She shook her head. This wasn't the time to cower.

'Its now or never.' she encouraged herself to take the risk.

She let out her other foot and went inside the other side of the wall. At first she observed and stood there for seconds. There was really nothing. She was dejected and decided to return to the basement.

But when she was about to take her first step back she suddenly fell into a pit. She felt like she was falling from the sky. 

"AAAAHHHHH—" she shouted in horror.

'I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die.' she thought. However a minute later and she was still falling.

'What is happening?' she wondered.

She was only falling. Was the hole that deep? She started to notice how weird the situation was. She waited for the time of her impact.

*Ring

She was alerted by the sound

*Ring

'There's that sound again.' Ashley then tilted her head finding which direction it came from. The sound must've come from below for as she was falling the sound got louder.

'When will I stop fa—'

*Thud!

She fell on her face without warning. Ashley cursed the ground she fell on. If only it was visible, she would've been able to brace herself from the impact. Especially that her muscles are sore, the impact made it worse. 

Ashley cried from the pain. She felt like her face was broken. And adding to her misfortune, she seemed to be in a dead end. It was like she fell into a trap and considering the height from which she fell from, it was impossible to get back.

'Now I'm f*cked..'

She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. She didn't know if this was how life f*cked with her but she gotta admit, it really did a great job. She can consider this as the dumbest thing she's ever done. It was because she thought she had nothing to lose. 

She felt as if all her strength left her body. She was extremely tired. Her mind went blank.

'Don't tell me I'll just die here.. Well at least there's light and a hole for ventilation..'

She was looking at the basketball sized hole on the corner of the stonewall. It looks like she fell into a well. The walls were made out of stone.

'What's up with holes today.' She didn't think she could fit in there. Even though she had a slender body, that hole was way too narrow.

In addition, she didn't know what lies outside that hole. Maybe there was a snake's den, or different creepy crawling things in there.

And her unpleasant experiences with holes today added to her uncertainty. 'I'll just sleep for now.... I'm tired.'

*Ring

The ringing sound made her annoyed. This time she chose to ignore the ringing sound that came from the hole. It was that ringing sound that brought her into this mess anyway. She thought that maybe, if she followed it again, the situation she'll fall into will be worse.

' I'll just ignore it for now.'

*Ring... Ring..... Ring.... Ring.....

Ashley tightly closed her eyes. Her patience was running out. She was holding her temper to not lash out since it would be useless blaming a sound. She would only look like a lunatic. It was just that she oath to be careful this time. She promised herself, Never. Will. She. Ever. Be. Fooled. By. That. Sound. Again.