Chapter 2: Deadly Choices

We continue on through a long narrow corridor. Many Hours have passed.

My mouth is dry. My legs are getting weak.

I drop to the floor.

Tom Lifts me up to my feet hastily, "Oh no. Come on Jackie." He taps my cheek a few times, "Don't stop now."

Alex's voice echoes up ahead, "Come on! Hurry! I found water!"

Tom carries me by the arm. We stop at a spring. He sets me down.

He sniffed and tasted the water, "We are fine. It's clean."

Alex splashes a little water onto my face. I cuffed my hands together and drank. We had our fill and relaxed on the dirt.

Alex is relaxing next to me, "What in the world ever got you into doing this stuff?"

I chuckled, "I'm not sure. My dad always took me traveling. We explored a lot of caves before he-"

I froze in sadness for a moment and continued, "-I guess it was the feeling of adventure into the unknown that got me hooked."

She shoves my shoulder playfully, "Well your dad owes me an apology."

Confused, I asked, "An apology? For what?"

She crossed her arms and smiled, "For getting me stuck with the craziest and WILDEST friend on earth!"

We burst out laughing. We hold hands as we drift off to sleep.

Alex's jolly voice wakes me up again saying, "Good morning everyone! Let's get going."

Ugh. Apparently even sleeping on the ground doesn't phase her.

We drank more water and moved onward. We crawled into a hole and slid down into a small chamber with a table in the center.

Tom looks closer at the table, "There is a book on the table."

I stepped closer. The ground shakes and crumbles beneath my feet. I leap towards the table. A large hole in the shape of a ring forms around me. I almost lost my balance and bumped into the table.

I grabbed the book and yelled, "Tom!"

I quickly tossed it to him and looked down. The ring grew wider. I braced myself against the table and jumped across. I landed just barely on the ledge. Rocks begin to trickle off the edge.

They pulled me in before the floor collapsed, "Are you okay?" They asked.

I nodded and said, "Yes I'm fine, do you have the book?"

Tom looks down, "Ya, here it-" he glances around, "-what the hell? I had it right here!"

Alex grunts, "Seriously Tom? After all of that, you lost it?"

Tom snaps back, "Shut the fuck up! It was right here!"

He kicks the dirt and screams angrily, "God fuckin dam it!"

Alex shouts, "Whoa, get ahold of yourself! It's just a book. No big deal."

He sighs and looks at Alex calmly, "It is not just a book." He looks at me, "Jackie. I saw the cover. It said Jack Burnston."

Alex laughs, "Very funny Tom. Jackie is right here. You are seeing things. Hallucinations always happen in a-"

I interrupted her by asking Tom, "Are you sure?"

He nods Yes. My eyes water. Tears pour out.

Alex hugs me and speaks softly, "Hey, what's wrong honey?"

I wiped my tears and answered, "Jack Burnston was my father."

She leans her gaze in close, "Was?"

I snuffled, "Ya. We used to hang out a lot until I turned fourteen. Nobody knows what happened. He never called anyone and has not been seen since. He just disappeared out of the blue."

I crossed my arms frustrated, "It has been 20 years and the police still can't find him. They said that it is now a cold case."

I kicked a rock angrily.

She sighs, "Well there is nothing we can do about it now. Keep your chin up sweetie. We have to keep moving."

She rubs my back as we continue to follow the path. The pathway splits into two.

Alex peeks into both passages, "Let's split up. We can cover more ground. Tom, you go into the one on the left and we will go right."

He gasps, "What? Why me?"

She snickers with sarcasm, "Are you telling me that a big strong man like you is scared? I thought you can handle yourself."

He crossed his arms, "Hey! Who do you think your-"

I interrupted as I spoke sternly, "Enough! We are not splitting up. I don't want any of us to get lost."

Alex diverts her attention towards me, "Then. Which way should we go?"

I quickly glanced at both directions and decided, "Lets go Left."

Annoyed, I shoved past them and proceeded to the left Path.

She grabbed my arm as I passed her and said, "Wait."

I angrily snapped, "What?"

Tom passes me and shrieks. He is hanging off of a ledge grunting.

Startled, I said, "Oh my god!"

I dive as he slips. I caught his hand. He holds onto my arm. My body is starting to slide with him.

I screeched, "Alex!"

She grabs his other arm and pulls. We lifted him up to his feet.

She grunts, "I got him."

I stumbled over a rock. He pushes me back. I landed head first against a boulder. He screams. I look over my shoulder while my head is spinning. She is on her knees next to the ledge sobbing.

I blacked out.