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My hands fly to my face, panicking when I don’t feel my glasses on my nose. It’s dark down here, the door above us is already closing. Throwing my hands out, I touch the ground around me, praying my robe was tossed along with me.
My fingers close on a heavy cloth, and I pull it toward me. Searching for the secret pocket, I breathe a sigh of relief as I find it. Unzipping it, I find my glasses intact.
“Ash, Jonas, get up!” I bark, pushing my glasses up my nose as I put on my robe.
They groan as they stand, and I roll my eyes as they adjust to the light. They both fell asleep in their robes. I wish I had thought of that, but honestly, I probably would have broken my glasses if I had.
My head feels fuzzy, and I wonder how they were able to haul us down here without waking us up.
“I feel like shit,” Ash slurs, rubbing his eyes.
“Did they let us keep anything, or are we just going to be stumbling around in the dark?” Jonas sighs.
“Look around, Levi would have left us a backpack if he could,” I remind them softly.
Searching the area, we find one pack with a flashlight, water, snacks, matches, and other essentials. The food makes my heart sink, because it means Levi thinks it’ll take us a while to complete our task.
There’s also a map, and I frown as I see that there’s three places marked with a note attached.
This is everything they’d let me give you. You need to go to each spot marked for the next clue. Each of you will have different challenges you’ll need to overcome together.
Work as a team. As a family. Lower your walls and let each other in.
Good luck.
- Levi
“Let’s get going, or we’ll be here all damn night. They even took our watches, so I have no idea what time it is,” Ash mutters, putting on the pack.
We start walking through the tunnels, and I begin to appreciate the lessons Levi gave us early on.
At the beginning of the school year, he dropped us into the tunnels and told us to map it out. There’s a ton of connecting points down here, and we did it without food. It sucked, but now we know our way through here without getting lost.
It’s more than others have.
There are times we hear shouts and screams, but we ignore them. They aren’t our priority. My head pounds and my limbs feel heavy, but I don’t have time to worry about whether or not they drugged me with something.
Whatever is going to happen, will. I only have a modicum of control here, so that’s where I’ll focus. Turning into a side tunnel, I frown. The air feels heavier here, and the guys cough.
“Guys,” I murmur under my breath, looking around for a clue as to where we are. I’m pretty sure we’re nearing the school’s library.
“I feel it too,” Jonas says. “We just have to keep going. Whatever is in the air can’t kill us. They still need us to survive the trial.”
Nodding, I recheck the map in Ash’s hands. “The first clue is in this tunnel. Look for paper, photos, or something shoved into a section of the wall,” I demand. I have no problems taking point when I need to, and Jonas and Ash struggle to shake off whatever is in the air.
I know I’m not immune, but I’m choosing to breathe through it. Shining the light at the wall, I search for the next clue. Ash and Jonas check the other side with their fingers, because we only have one flashlight.
“Shit, I think I found something…” Jonas says.
Since it’s dark, he pulls it out, handing it to me to look at.
It’s an old photograph, and I open it, finding a photo of the priest who hurt me so long ago. I drop down onto my ass, everything falling away as I stare at it.
I can hear Jonas and Ash yelling my name, but I can’t snap out of it.
I wastwelve the first time Father Thomas touched me. I didn’t understand what was happening, and it’s one of the reasons I have no problem with still being a virgin. The idea of a man touching me makes my skin crawl.
I’m somehow back in my younger self’s body, confused as to why my pants are around my ankles, as the priest jacks off while he watches me. I feel ashamed, but every time I cover myself, he hits me with a ruler.
