Scene 8: The Deep Room
Carter was the first to reach the bottom.
His boots touched rock—smooth, circular, dry as bone.
The others followed, rappelling into a chamber shaped like a dome. No pick marks. No supports. Just solid stone, curved unnaturally—as if grown, not carved.
The air was thick. Heavier.
No one spoke.
They didn't need to.
A feeling settled over them, as tangible as dust.
They weren't alone.
---
Scene 9: Elise Returns
A shadow moved at the chamber's edge.
Nash flinched. "Did you see—?"
Elise stepped forward from the dark. No flashlight. No gear. Just her.
Arjun gasped. "Elise!"
She said nothing.
Her mouth was open. Too wide. Lips torn at the corners like her skin had forgotten how to hold a shape.
Her eyes were glassy. Fixed on something behind them.
"Elise?" Carter said.
She blinked once.
Then mouthed something.
No sound came out.
She raised a hand and pointed to the wall.
The stone pulsed—once—like a heartbeat.
Then she turned, walked into the shadows, and vanished.
---
Scene 10: Something Waits
Carter followed. The others called out, but he was already gone into the passage beyond.
The tunnel narrowed again—walls slick with moisture that glistened like oil. His flashlight dimmed. The deeper he went, the more he felt pressure behind his ears.
Like something was pressing on his skull from inside.
He found a doorway ahead. Not wood or stone.
Flesh.
Veins pulsed. A single, long crack in the center.
And from the other side, he heard it:
His own voice. Whispering.
Begging.
---
Scene 11: Nash Breaks
Back in the chamber, Nash paced in circles, gripping his drone controller like a weapon. "This place isn't a mine. It's a mouth. A thing."
Arjun crouched beside the wall carvings—symbols that flickered subtly when not looked at directly.
"I think this place eats sound," he whispered. "That's why nothing echoes. That's why—"
Nash turned sharply.
"What?"
"I didn't say anything."
But Arjun had clearly spoken.
Or… something had used his voice.
The wall behind Nash stretched—briefly—into a shape resembling a face.
And smiled.
---
Scene 12: Carter's Mirror
Carter reached another chamber, much smaller.
Inside stood a figure.
Hunched. Familiar.
It turned.
Himself.
But twisted—aged, eyes sunken, mouth sewn shut with black thread. The mirror-Carter stared at him, trembling.
It raised one hand slowly and tore the stitches from its mouth.
Blood spilled.
Then it whispered, using Carter's voice.
"You let it in."
The chamber collapsed inward.
Carter screamed.
No sound came out.
---
Scene 13: Arjun's Test
Arjun stayed still. Breathing shallow. He held a piece of coal in his hand, carved with the symbol from the wall. His mind throbbed.
Whispers began all around him.
His name. His fears.
His father's voice. His mother's lullaby. All wrong. Hollow. Empty of life.
He dropped the coal.
The whispers stopped.
Then one returned—clear. Familiar.
"Elise?"
He turned.
She was there again, closer now, eyes weeping dark fluid.
Her jaw unhinged.
Wide.
Silent.
She lunged.
---
Scene 14: Nash's End
Nash ran.
Every corridor looped back to the same chamber. The same symbols.
He screamed into the dark.
Nothing answered.
Not even his own echo.
He was utterly, cosmically alone.
Then, his drone buzzed to life on its own.
The screen displayed a live feed. From inside his own mouth.
Something inside him moved.
He dropped it, fell to his knees.
He opened his mouth to scream again.
It climbed out.
---
Scene 15: The Silence Beneath
Carter emerged from the collapsing tunnel, bleeding and shaking.
Only Arjun was left—barely conscious, eyes wide, body trembling.
They didn't speak. Couldn't.
They ran.
The shaft behind them rumbled, then caved in completely.
The mine sealed itself again.
The silence swallowed the last trace of light.
---
To Be Continued in Part Three: "What Doesn't Echo"