The silence of the tunnel threatened to suffocate her the more she ventured in. It was so quiet that the only thing she could hear was the sound of her heart beating, and it unsettled her. Her hand stretched before her, holding up the lantern, which did little to banish the darkness.
The tunnels seemed old, although they lacked the dust and cobwebs that came with abandornment, and she wondered how they kept them clean down here, or perhaps the tunnels were so scary that no spiders dared to dwell here. She didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. For one, she would be assured no critters would run past her scaring her to death, but their lack of presence would mean something worse lay here.
No, she was setting herself for doom. It was best not to jinx it
She went on and was soon met by a split. Sure that they had used the one on the left last time, she opted to go right, after all, she wouldn't want to accidentally bump into the ever-smiling old man if he were coming this way.
It didn't take long for her to reach another split that led to more tunnels and then more whenever she picked one.
She couldn't tell how long she had been walking, but the protest from her limbs told her it had been too long. Exhaustion gnawed at her, and her throat ran dry from the lack of water. She decided to rest, if only for a few minutes
Some of the tunnels she had attempted to pass through led to dead ends, others were too dark that her lantern only seemed like a candlelight, and for some, she could swear she heard something; she did not dare go anywhere close to those.
She had to turn back; if she remained down here any longer, who knows what would happen? She stood even though her legs still felt weak; it was better to return and come back when she was stronger and more prepared.
She leaned on the wall as she forced herself to walk. The air seemed to grow more dense and stuffy, making it hard to breathe, and her head felt light; dizziness was setting in.
She was an idiot. A complete fool to have entered this place unprepared. An even bigger idiot to have entered at all, to have believed she could escape
Her mind drifted to a time when she was younger. The first time she had met Brea.
She was only eight years old. It was the beginning of a new term at school, and Brea was going to be their new addition in class. The girl walked in with a smile on her lips and head held high. Her steps were confident and even, and the way she spoke made it clear she wasn't scared or shy. Lyla was in awe of that.
Back then, she had been so shy and reserved that she barely spoke to anyone, yet here was someone around the same age as her with a confidence superior to her small stature. It amazed her
But that wasn't what sparked their friendship, not when they were opposites of each other.
Later that day, Lyla was sitting at her table for
lunch when one of the kids, a girl with chocolate brown hair and eyes, decided that messing with her was the entertainment she craved. The little girl walked to her and pushed her food to the floor, giggling to her friends while mocking her
She had stared and stared at the food, her favorite meal that her mother had made to make her feel better, now scattered on the floor. The girl's giggling became a roar in her ears. Lyla turned to the girl, and the look in her eyes was enough to shut her up. And that was when it happened, the girl was pushed face-first to the floor where the food was. Behind her stood Brea with a smirk on her face
The girl's friends attempted to help her up, but Brea pushed them both aside, doing everything to keep them from her. She then smiled at her, a daring smile, a challenge. So she took on that challenge by shoving the girl's face further into the floor, making sure she was covered with the sauce. She smeared it all over her face, hair, and uniform. It was only until a teacher came that she stopped, and even though she had been punished, she had never been happier.
Brea had made it a point to sit with her from then on, and from that, a strong friendship bloomed. She had asked Brea why she did what she did, and her response was simple, You looked like you needed a friend
And it had been that friendship that gave her strength and grew her confidence. So she used that strength to continue pushing herself even as dizziness carried her, even as her legs buckled beneath her, even as her vision blurred. She went on till her body finally gave up, and just before she fainted, she could have sworn she saw a tunnel that hadn't been there before, could've sworn that she saw a woman standing at its mouth walking towards her.
*
Lyla came to later, a throbbing headache being her first greeting. She didn't know how long she had been out. The lantern lay fallen at her feet, the poker on her other side. Well, at least she didn't hurt herself with it.
Forcing herself to a sitting position, she scanned around to find herself at the same spot she had been. A hallucination, then. The new tunnel, the woman. It was nothing but a hallucination.
Lyla rested before she willed herself to walk again. She wondered if any of them had noticed her absence yet, if they were looking for her or cared for her well-being. Ismene probably would; she was kind like that.
Lyla noticed the air had gotten cooler, and a silent breeze flowed around her, making her breathing easier. She was grateful for that mercy, however it came.
The walk out of the tunnel seemed longer than it had been; she remembered she should have already been at another split by now, but it still stretched on. It had to have been an illusion, a way, perhaps, to keep whoever dared to enter without permission trapped. If that were the case, then she would never get out alone. She would probably die down here
She was being punished. The heavens were angry at her, and this was how they were retaliating. Would they really let her die? Forget her and find another savior for them? They could do that if they wanted, but did it have to cost her life first?
Her heart skipped. Her plan to escape had become a deadly trap set by her desperation and need to go back home, even though she knew the chances were low. But had she been wrong? Whether it was fate or not, didn't she get a choice?
You're our hope, Aeneas' words rang in her mind. She, a child, was the hope of an entire world. If she left, then what happened to these people? Would they get another savior, or if she were gone, they would be left to perish? And even if she managed to escape, they would have hunted her down and in the process put her family in danger.
The was no winning, at least not for her.
Her thoughts were stopped by the sound of movement behind her, her hand around the poker tightened, and she mastered her strength, whirling around, ready for whatever came. She would not go down without a fight.