I'll Always Be His

Chapter 15

Hardin

We were in total darkness. The deeper we went into the hole the darker it got. the light from the flashlights illuminated the stairs. They seem to go on forever but eventually we hit the bottom. We walked down a narrow corridor that only allowed us to go in single file was just tall enough that we didn't hit our heads. I was beginning to feel claustrophobic. My chest tightened with the feeling of anxiety.

We came to the end of the corridor and it branched out into two more corridors. I looked at the map in my hands. Under the light I could see the direction each corridor took. One went towards town and the other towards the woods. I pointed it out on the map to the guys to see which direction they thought we should look in.

"We could split up? We'd cover more ground faster that way," Cole suggested.

"I don't know if that's a great idea," Sylas responded in retort, "A lot of cave ins happen down here, it's not safe to split up. Plus Hardin has the only map."

In the end we decided to head away from town. Everyone knew Tessa. We were a small town. Keeping her locked up so close to people would not be ideal. So we headed towards the woods. Not too long after that the tunnel started to wind and it had branched off again leaving us with three options this time. We studied the map again intently.

One branch led towards the river, another towards the air field, and the last one went deeper into the woods. This tunnel to the air field was a straight shot with no more branching. The one going deeper into the woods was a straight shot also with no branching. The one towards the river branched out a couple of times in different directions.

We decided to split up this time. Cole would head to the air field, Sylas would take the map and head towards the river. He'd take branch C from there and I would head deeper into the forest. Cole and I found nothing we would circle back and take branch A and B by the river. Cole pulled the walkies from his bag. I hadn't thought about splitting up or communication before throwing myself into a hole in the ground with no cell service. Apparently he had. We each took a walkie and went down our separate tunnels.

It was dark and very damp down here. Moisture from the earth around me made the scent in the tiny passage way smell musty. In the quiet walk I entered my thoughts. My mind was on Tessa and what was happening to her and that made me angry. Between the anxiety from the claustrophobia and the anger from the thought of someone touching Tessa, let alone hurting her, sent my whole chest a blaze.

My chest was tight. I felt like I couldn't get enough air. Panic was setting in. I gripped at the walls lowering myself to the ground. I couldn't breathe. My breath caught in my chest and was coming through in shallow gasps. I thought of Tessa. Her smooth skin under my touch. Her laugh ringing in my ears. Her blue eyes blazing at me under hooded lids. Her sweet gentle caress. Her soft lips connected to mine giving me back just as much as I'm giving to her. Her arms wrapped around me. Was this it? Am I going to die down here without ever having Tessa in my arms again?

Tessa

The door opened and a small figure entered. She was carrying food and water. She quickly shut the door behind her. She didn't approach me. She just stood there watching me. Probably trying to figure out if I'm dead or not.

It was quiet for a few minutes as she just stood there in the shadows. The only sound was her breathing. I was taking short shallow breaths as to not alert her of my breathing. She started to approach me hesitantly and then stopped. She began backing up slowly until her back was pressed firmly against the door. She let out a resigned sigh as she slid down the door into a seated position on the floor. Now I could see more than just her feet. She was sitting cross legged in front of me.

She could have just been sent to babysit me but it felt like she was studying me. We sat like that for what felt like forever. I didn't move. Not a muscle. I could play dead and that's what I would continue to do. It was just her and I so getting out of here shouldn't be too difficult. I grew up with a brother and had been in sports all my life so I was athletic. What my adversary probably didn't know was that I took two years of karate, one year of jujitsu, and spent three summers kickboxing at my uncle's gym. I knew how to fight and she was going to find that out today.

I don't know what awaited me on the other side of that door. There could be another locked door for all I knew. That was a future me problem. I had to focus on this problem right now. She put the keys in her front pocket when she walked through the door. I could only vaguely see up to her waist. Thank God she chose the front pocket and not her bra to lock them away.

She watched me intently and she must have found whatever she was looking for because she stood up. She seemed to have gained some confidence because she was no longer hesitant. Her stance became more firm. She now strode towards me. As she moved toward the light I could start to make out some of her features. They looked familiar but I just couldn't place them. They were still too blurry with hardly any light and a curtain of hair over my face. She stopped right in front of me placing the food and water on the floor beside my head. She stepped back a little bit and I heard her say my name. I knew that voice instantly.

Kendra.