Sixth Floor

Jake reacted immediately by sending out a blast of heat to vaporize the compact liquid flowing around him and grabbed his comrade by the scruff of his neck to keep him from sinking.

When he found after a moment that neither of them were sinking beyond mid-thigh, he let go and let the dark liquid encase his legs again.

This was not good news, though, because it was taking a lot of effort to move through the thick, heavy mixture. It was as if they were wading through liquid lead.

"What the hell is this water?" Will cursed at the side.

Jake didn't answer, but he was just as confused. In addition to the dark, opaque liquid, there was also something heavy about the atmosphere. There was a sort of corrupting, evil miasma in the air that aroused irrational primal urges in them.

Despite their limited experience, Jake and Will considered themselves tough-minded people, yet their minds were plagued by anxiety whose symptoms bordered dangerously on panic attacks.