Orbs - Chapter 3

I sat on the comfy chair, my stomach clenched tight in worry. The little lights in the green orb I was holding were swirling around in a hypnotic pattern, but I still couldn't take my mind off our impending doom.

"We're going to starve to death." said my friend, matter-of-factly. "And then..."

"Please, Am," I sighed, holding my paw up. "You've been predicting horrible outcomes for the past 20 minutes, and it's just making all of this worse."

Amethyst looked hopeless as she leaned up against the wood paneled wall. I stood up to let her sit on the chair, but she waved her paw as if to say no.

"One day we will get out."

Suddenly, there was a loud commotion coming from what must have been the room beside the hallway we were in.

Am met my eyes. For a few moments we just stood there, frozen in fright, too terrified to make a sound. There were short, sharp shouts and banging noises coming from beyond the thin wall. It sounded almost as if there was a battle going on next door.

"Amethyst, we should really go home.” I whispered, my eyes stuck as saucers.

She nodded. "I think the tunnel was over this way."

We walked along the candle-lighted wall, peering hard to find any sign of a tunnel entrance. If Am and I were absolutely fearless, we would have found this extremely boring and tiring. As it was, we were frightened stiff, so each step was like walking on a tightrope. Any creaks might alert the people - or ghosts - in the room next to the hallway we were in.

After a few minutes, my fear was fading, and I leaned up against a wall. I could feel the vibrations through the wooden panels, reminding me of the commotion, but at least I was safe.

Well, until the monster came, that is.

To be honest, it wasn't really a monster, just a flash of monster-shaped green light, but it was just as scary. Both Amethyst and I immediately rushed back to the table and hid under it.

"Anyone here?" A gruff voice called out.

Oh no.

I held my breath, hoping that he wouldn't hear me. People were here... or ghosts... and they might be coming into the hallway!

But then I thought the whole situation over properly. If people were going to come in here, they must have found a tunnel or a doorway.

I explained this quietly to Am and she nodded, a little bit more cheerful. At least we knew there was a way out.

Five minutes later, and I realized the owner of the gruff voice must have left. I gave Amethyst thumbs-up and we crawled out from under the table. It had been comforting there, but I felt like there were a few too many spiders sharing the same space with their cobwebs.

As we got up onto our two feet again, Amethyst spoke. "There was definitely a tunnel entrance where the light-monster was."

My eyes lit up. "You saw the tunnel entrance?"

"Yup," she said, but her smile began to falter. "You know, Emerald, if the monster came from there, I'm not sure if I really want to go down that tunnel."

I agreed with what she was saying, but we didn't really have a choice. Am and I either had to stay in the hallway, or take our chance at escaping. The location of the tunnel could easily be forgotten if we waited for too long, making my decision easy.

"Lets just go, Am," I said. "We will only get even more worked up if we stay."

She thought hard for a moment, but eventually nodded. "Okay. Follow me, then."

We walked alongside the wall for a while, our stomachs uneasy as we left the warm candlelight to venture forth into the darkness. It didn't actually take long to reach the spot where the monster had been, but at that time it felt like eternity.

Eventually, Amethyst tapped on my shoulder, signalling that she had found the entrance. I had been dreading that moment for the past few minutes, but it had to happen at some point.

"I'm going in," Am said, her voice hushed.

"I'll be right behind," I replied, trying to reassure her.

"Yeah, but don't go too fast, or be too close, otherwise you'll run into me."

I smiled nervously and hopped into the tunnel right after her. If everything went as planned, we would be in the Book Nook in 20 or so minutes.

But, after a few minutes time, we still hadn't reached the fork. Am started to throw me anxious glances over her shoulder.

"This tunnel doesn't seem familiar," she said. "It looks more used and less cobwebby. Do you think we have the right tunnel?"

I frowned. "Maybe we are going to the same room that the other path at the fork was going to. Maybe we are going to the same room from where those noises were coming from."

Suddenly, I felt a lot less confident. It didn't help that, when Am said she had reached the end of the tunnel, we found ourselves a room full of pandas.

All were staring at us with gobsmacked faces, all were wearing the same black hooded cloaks, and all were holding orbs of various colors in their paws.

Well, at least they weren't ghosts.

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