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Drip...
Drip...
Drip...
The air in the cave where he laid was thick, suffocating. Xander blinked, disoriented, as his eyes adjusted to the dim light. He tried to sit up, but his head spun, and he collapsed back onto the rocky floor. His last memory was of the school hallway, Iris's tearful eyes. How had they ended up here?
And then he saw her—kneeling beside him, her fingers brushing his cheek. Iris. Her eyes were wide, filled with equal parts relief and confusion. "Xander," she whispered. "You're alive! Thank God!"
Was she...touching him?!
He managed a weak smile, masking his fluttering stomach. "Alive?" He questioned… " what do you mean? And where the hell are we?"
She pulled herself off of him and shifted away as if she had just realized his presence was supposed to irritate her.
Iris blinked and shook her head. "I don't know. One moment, I was in detention…then we were walking home, and the next...this."
"B…but you said I'm alive...did something happen?"
Iris scratched her head she wasn't sure why she had said that, she had just been very glad that he was still breathing for some reason she couldn't even recall. "I... dunno why I said that."
Xander pushed himself up, wincing as pain shot through his ribs as he adjusted his glasses. "It looks like we're deep underground. The walls...they feel like they're closing in."
"Complain later." She said, her gaze scanning the cave. "We need to find a way out."
"My ribs are probably broken."
"Stop overreacting, I'm sure it's not that bad." Iris retorted, with a small glare that made her look cute as hell. "My head hurts, but I'm not whining about it."
Xander's blush returned as he realized they were both so close to each other in a cramped, dark unknown environment. The cave's chill bit into his skin, and he crossed his arms over his chest. "Iris, we—"
"Later," she interrupted. "We'll figure that out later. Right now, getting the hell out of here is our priority."
He admired her strength. Even in this bizarre situation, she was focused, determined. "A–agreed. But how did we get here?"
Iris's eyes darkened. "Again, I'm not sure…"
Xander's mind raced, but came up short. No ideas on how they got here at all.
"We should explore," Iris said, standing. "Maybe there's an exit."
Xander followed her, their footsteps echoing off the cave walls. The darkness pressed in, and he wished for a flashlight, a map—anything. But all they had were their wits and each other…
They stumbled upon a narrow tunnel, its walls slick with moisture as Iris led the way.
As they walked, Xander's mind churned. What if they were in another dimension? Or a parallel world? He quickly removed those thoughts from his mind, a another dimension? That was about as impossible as Iris suddenly asking for his hand in marriage.
He'd probably say yes though.
"Think maybe we were kidnapped or something?" He questioned. Iris sighed.
"It's possible, but at the same time it's unlikely." She said. "Why would our kidnappers just abandon us in a cave?"
Iris halted, her hand on the wall. "Look."
Xander squinted. A faint glow emanated from deeper within the tunnel. They followed it, their footsteps echoing louder now. The light grew stronger, revealing a cavern—a vast, underground chamber.
And there, at its center, stood a pulsating crystal. Its colors shifted—blue, green, violet—
"What is that?" Xander whispered.
Iris shook her head. "I don't know, but it feels...weird."
'Weird?"
As they approached, the crystal hummed, resonating with their very souls. Xander reached out, and it responded, sending ripples of energy through him. She reached for it to which Xander without think grabbed her hand to stop her. "What the hell are you doing?!"
"Uh...I dunno... It's beautiful," Iris said. "Maybe it'll take us back."
Xander hesitated. "Or deeper into this madness."
Iris's eyes met his. "Got any other ideas, then?"
"Not really, but when you're in a situation like this…you can't just go around touching weird stuff."
She shot him a glare. "Are you kidding me right now?"
Xander looked around the cavern and found a stick, with that stick he poked at the crystal and nothing happened.
"Seems safe."
"So can we touch it, boss?"
He nodded feeling a bit flustered she called him boss even though it was in a mocking manner, and they pressed their hands against the crystal. The world blurred, and then—
They woke up in a different cave, sunlight streaming through the entrance to which revealed the woods outside
Iris frowned. "Oak Pines doesn't even have a forest."
Xander laughed, relief flooding his veins. "I'm just glad we're out of that cave, maybe if we go north, we'll find a road that leads civilization."
She shrugged. "Alright then."
As they stepped out into the forest, Xander's wrist seared with an intensity that made him stumble. He gritted his teeth, trying to hide the pain from Iris. But she noticed—the way his fingers clenched into a fist, the sheen of sweat on his forehead.
"What's wrong?" Iris's voice was sharp with concern. She reached for his arm, pulling up his sleeve. And there, etched into his skin, was a symbol—a twisting spiral, pulsing with an otherworldly bright teal colored light.
Xander's breath hitched. "I don't know. It just...appeared."
Iris traced the edges of the blue glowing mark. "It's like the crystal. Maybe it's a connection."
"But to what?" Xander's mind raced. The crystal had transported them here, but why? And what did this symbol mean?
Iris's eyes met his. "...We'll figure it out… I hope."
Then she gasped, to which she grabbed her chest and cried out in pain. Xander quickly caught her before she fell to the dried leaf covered ground and silently asked for permission to unbutton her uniform shirt to see what has happening, if what happened to him moments prior was happening to her now. It was, at the center of her chest was a glowing pink mark right at the valley of large chocolate mounds, a different pattern than his own…hers looked looked suspiciously like a dagger pointed downwards with a spiral surrounding it from the hilt to the sharp end.
Xander tried his best to keep his perversion in check as he also caught a glimpse of her light blue bra to focus on the issue at hand.
'Shit, maybe I am dead and in heaven at this point' He thought as he continued to try his best.
"It...it's just like mine, but a different pattern." He murmured, and without thinking he traced the skin as she did to his.
Iris had tears in her beautiful green eyes due to the burning sensation, her pain was seemingly worse than his and didn't quickly subside. But when his fingers gently touched her mark, the pain stopped almost immediately like a bucket of water thrown over a small fire pit.
"How…how did you do that?" She gasped.
"I dunno," Xander replied. He hated not being able to understand what on earth was happening. "I just touched it."
When she had completely recovered they resumed their walk. Hoping with every fiber of their being that they weren't in a situation that lead to their deaths.