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Dream-State: Part Four
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Dream-State: Part Four |
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Christopher
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-02
Posts 8296Purgatorial Incarceration 
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***** “Watch your step there Geoffrey.” The young man barely missed stepping on another skeleton. He cursed under his breath and hurried up to catch Jarris. “Have you come up with anything yet?” He asked in a casual tone. Jarris looked hard into the young man’s face. His fear was evident. It was obvious at a single glance that the normally exuberant scientist didn’t feel comfortable underground. Not that Jarris blamed him. He wasn’t claustrophobic, but being inside this cave was like being in an ancient tomb. Bones were scattered everywhere, most in the same condition as the one’s outside had been. He shined his light at another skeleton, shaking his head. “No idea. By all that’s right, these should either not be here, or they should be buried. Fossils don’t just appear out of nowhere. And the shape they’re in! No, Geoffrey, I don’t have a clue what’s going on. But I do know that something is wrong here. I can feel it in my bones... Pardon the pun.” Geoffrey laughed weakly at the joke but quieted almost instantly. The sound of their breathing could be heard over their footsteps, loud and raspy. Water dripped down from the ceiling, forming into stagnant pools on the blackened ground. With each step of the cold, black surface, their feet kicked up clouds of dust. The walls were covered in purplish-green lichen. It’s stale odor served to remind them that this wasn’t some place that had been sealed off for millennia. The air smelled bad enough to be a thousand years old, the young man thought. Not for the first time, he wished he’d thought to bring a flashlight too. The radio at Jarris’ hip crackled to life, startling Geoffrey. “Jarris here.” “Jarris,” Kris’ voice came through the speaker. “I can hardly hear you, you’re breaking up.” He rolled his eyes, then looked thoughtfully at the radio. “Yeah,” Jarris responded. “It’s probably the mountain, excuse me, the hill. Whatever minerals it’s made of must be interfering with the reception. I don’t know, that’s your area. What’s up?” “It’s getting close to sunset Jarris,” her voice scratched out over the speaker. “I want you two to come back now.” “What’s that?” Jarris asked into radio, trying to make his voice break up. He twisted the volume knob on the side of the unit. “I can’t...” he paused. “Kris, can you...” He smiled at Geoffrey, turning the radio off. Putting it back in it’s case at his hip, he continued walking. After a few steps, he noticed Geoffrey hadn’t moved. “What?” “I think we should go back,” the scared man responded. “She’s gonna be mad as hell when she finds out you heard her and then ignored her.” Jarris shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time,” he said, shaking his head. “She’ll get over it. I want to see where this cave goes. You can go back if you’d like,” he laughed. “I don’t have a flashlight!” “Oh,” Jarris said. “Then I guess you’ll have to come with me.” “Jarris. This isn’t funny. I think we should go back.” Jarris started to walk away, but after a brief pause he swung around to face Geoffrey. “Look I’m sorry you’re scared...” “I’m not scared,” Geoffrey shot back defensively. “Then there’s no problem, right? We’ll just go a little farther in, Ok? Then we can head back like good little boys and you can tell on me to the teacher.” He paused. “Unless you’d rather wait that is.” Geoffrey shot him an acerbic smile and simply grunted. “Let’s just not make it too long,” he intoned gravely. ***** Mintze looked at Kristalyn gravely. “They’ve been in there a long time.” The project head nodded absently. She knew Jarris had heard her tell him to come out. Half of her railed at him for ignoring her, while the other half admired and respected him for it. Though she’d never admit it to him, the reason she bothered him so much was that strength. He was one of the very few people she’d known in her life who didn’t bow beneath the weight of her personality. That’s why she pushed him so hard. It was a test in a way. As the sky began to darken and the jungle sounds changed to those of the night, she cursed him under her breath for that trait. And she cursed him for making her realize how much she really cared. ***** “What was that?” Jarris paused. They’d come to a two-way junction in the cave and decided to turn around there. Geoffrey was afraid of getting lost and Jarris had to admit that they didn’t have the time to go much deeper. Kris was already going to chew his head off as soon as he stepped foot out of the cave. He figured they were almost back at the entrance. “I don’t hear anything,” he told Geoffrey. The young man stood silent for a moment, then shook his head. “I guess I’m just skittish. I’m glad we’re almost out of here.” Jarris looked around again and nodded. “Me too.” Geoffrey made an effort to smile, but it came out as a grimace instead. Jarris noticed the man’s face was pale and his features drawn. “It’s ok, a few more moments...” Just then, a scream ripped through the dank air of the cave. The two men stopped and looked at each other, their faces intent with surprise quickly turning to fear. Without a word, they both sprinted toward the opening of the cave. It seemed to Jarris that they ran for hours, though the entrance loomed around the next corner. His mind raced as fast as his legs, extrapolating morbid possibilities with every beat of his feet on the ground. They burst out into the nighttime air without a pause, running toward the group of people they saw scattered together a few meters away. “What is it?” Jarris asked as he pushed his way through the small crowd. Over the murmur of excited voices, he heard Mintze asking everyone to back away. He pushed away the people toward the center, not even taking the time to recognize who they were. What he saw made him drop to his knees. “Kris...” Hardly recognizable, the young woman lay supine on the ground. Her breath could be heard shallow gasps coming from the jagged hole in her throat. Blood bubbles formed with each breath, forming then popping in silent screams. The right half of her face lay in a flap over her chin, the bone showing underneath a vicious slash oozing dark blood. Jarris opened her eyes and saw that her left one was almost black from blood vessels exploding. He took a deep breath to muster his courage, then started yelling directions to the surrounding people. After inspecting the rest of her body, her ripped off his shirt and wrapped it gently but firmly around her neck to try to ease the blood flow. Until they got back to the main camp, there wasn’t much they could do for her, but hope she kept breathing. He whispered a quiet sigh of relief when he realized that her trachea hadn’t collapsed. If it had, then they could have done nothing but watch her die. Carefully, he pushed the flap of skin on her face back into position and wrapped the other half of his shirt around her face. Already, blood was showing through the one at her neck. She was still breathing, but it was slow and ragged. He wasn’t a doctor, but he nonetheless knew she wouldn’t last long if she didn’t get help. He looked around and saw that it was still going to take sometime for the others to build a suitable stretcher. Half-standing, he pondered the options. A brief second later, he bent back down and lifted Kris from the ground. Yelling over his shoulder, he told the people building the stretcher to catch up when they could. He nodded at Geoffrey, who looked even more scared now than he had in the cave, then set a brisk pace into the jungle. Geoffrey caught up quickly and asked if there was anything he could do to help. “Just walk with me and keep checking the bandage at her neck,” Jarris huffed, already winded. “Let me know if blood starts leaking from underneath it.” Geoffrey walked closer and placed a hand gently on Kris’ face. He frowned deeply. “What do you think happened?” He asked. “I don’t know,” the man snapped. He then softened. “I’m sorry Geoffrey. I don’t know. From first glance, I’d have to say she was mauled by a wild animal.” “That was my first thought too,” the young man replied. “But Mintze says she came running out of the cave like that.” He paused. “It was her we heard screaming.” “Mintze?” Geoffrey nodded, then realizing Jarris wasn’t looking at him spoke up. “Yes.” The only sounds then came from the jungle as both men walked in silence, each in their own thoughts. It wasn’t a few minutes later that some of the group finally reached them. Jarris’ exit had been abrupt and he hadn’t been concerned with others keeping up. Geoffrey fended off the people who wanted to get too close. Jarris nodded a grunt of thanks in response. Kris was rapidly growing heavy and he was having to readjust more often. “How’s she doing?” He asked Geoffrey. The man walked closer, and listened for a moment. “She’s still breathing.” He said softly. “Barely.” ***** |
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Jana Tovey Member
since 2000-05-30
Posts 257USA |
This is as good as the rest of them...maybe even better. I can tell that you are warming to this. I am waiting patiently for the next installment. You have quite a talent. Thanks for sharing. |
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Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612Hurricane Alley |
How come you can't write as fast as I read? MORE MORE MORE.... |
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Dusk Treader
Moderator
Senior Member
since 1999-06-18
Posts 1187St. Paul, MN |
*Removing fingernails from armrest* That was enough to capture my attention undividely.. I WANT MORE MORE MORE! Please? Abrahm Simons "In a moment lies eternity And in a kiss resides forever" - Krista Knutson my bestest friend! |
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Butterflies_dont_cry Member Elite
since 2000-03-06
Posts 3733Michigan |
Here we go...........I had printed this and read it along with the other three....cuz you made me wait so long  but now atleast the next installment is ready for my reading so I will FEEL like I've not had to wait forever for it Just giving you some flack I love this story line, it's not one that I usually enjoy but suprise to me....I'm enjoying it ALOT!! You have me on the edge of my seat here so I'm off to read the next...I'm not a patient person!!! |
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