DEFYING MY MATES

A Step Closer

I’m not afraid of dark or closed spaces, but the blend of them in a form of tunnel and here I’m reconsidering my life decisions.

Maybe if I found it minus the chilling dream, I would have explored it out of curiosity.

Right now, I am scared of what I might find there. Yes, I was afraid of the unknown that lay ahead of me and whether it was what led me here. Maybe the mystery man with heterochromia led me here or you know I don’t know how and why.

Plot twist. This was exactly the time when the protagonist in a story gets killed when he/she unveils the terrible truth that was meant to be buried forever. As a book maniac I had read so many thrillers that my mind began to forcefully feed me the barbaric ways one can die. And, I hoped I was wrong.

Unconsciously, I crossed my fingers as if that was going to save me. Instead of running to the hills, I did something any sane person would ever do in that scenario.

Stupid move, I took out my cell phone, and hastily switched on the flashlight. The dark tunnel was illuminated by whatever little light that my cell phone could provide at the moment. Tightly holding on to the baseball bat for my dear life in one hand and the cell phone in the other, I sauntered in as cautiously as I could without alerting of any breathing being in there if there was one.

To my surprise, the tunnel wasn’t that filthy. Yeah, there were spider webs….a lot of them. In fact, the humid air wasn’t helping either, but nothing that a dusting couldn’t fix. Then, it will be as good as new.

Bullshit.

What in the world was I thinking when, literally, death could be waiting for me on the other side?

I jumped out of my skin when rats hissed and squeaked in the distance. Thanking god, I patted my front just above my fragile heart to soothe it out of its misery. I had been there for almost five minutes, but it felt like hours. When a swishing wind passed by me, I looked back to see how far I had come if I needed to bolt off. It wasn’t that far, probably around 3-4 meters. That was what I was thinking when my head got stuck in a web. I shrieked in horror, prancing from left to right while beating the crap out of my head, to get that shitty thing out.

Suddenly, I came tumbling down the staircase, which I didn’t realise was there in the first place as I was practising Kung Fu with my head.

I groaned in pain.

My body hurt and my head was pounding. Thankfully, I placed my arm below my head just in time to avoid the impact. Taking in deep breaths, I tried to sit up, whimpering in pain as I touched my ankle which was probably sprained from the fall. I would have lay there for an hour or so if it wasn’t for my sprained ankle and the absolute darkness. I was practically blind and stuck, because I lost my cell phone somewhere on the pretty ride that I had.

There was no way in the hell I would be able to climb the stairs. Patting lightly on the floor, I tried my luck to find the bat, which went in vain too. Cursing my life and the shitty spiders, I got up wheezing while I supported my body weight with the help of a wall. Walking in this situation was going to be a pain in my bruised ass.

Grinding my teeth in frustration, I heaved a breath.

Nonetheless, I stretched my hand out in the darkness and stepped forward limping, in hope of finding a way out of this wretched place. As I stepped steadily forward, it took me a couple of minutes to withstand the pain when I saw a little shiny thing not much bigger than a rice grain moving in the air. It really was something. Maybe a firefly, but I won’t know until I step closer.

By the time I was there, I was panting heavily.

I was glad. That really was a firefly, and not a figment of my overheated imagination. And, I did my homework well. If there was a firefly in an underground place, then there has to be a way out of it. I tried to reach out when it flew its way towards me, lowering little by little on its way until it descended gracefully on my index finger as if it knew what I wanted at the moment. It was a beautiful little thing. I wonder if it was lost just like me.

Then, it flew away, snapping me out of my depressing thoughts. And, damn, that little thing was faster than me because I was on the verge of collapsing. I almost gave up when the walls were illuminated by shimmering lights. I walked faster and faster and faster, paying no heed to my burning ankle until I was there.

I was awestruck.

Millions of fireflies, a freaking swarm of them was there. The swarm lights up the whole damned room, like tiny little stars hanging by numerous invisible threads hooked on the ceiling, encompassed by the walls with weird types of markings on them. When I glanced around the whole room, I saw something protruding out of the floor in the middle of the room. I felt wary of it as I couldn’t make out what it was; not even a speck of that thing was visible due to all the fireflies stuck to it, illuminating or more like protecting it, making that thing strangely beautiful and so other worldly.

But you know, curiosity killed the cat.

Nevertheless, I stepped towards it, ignoring all the red flags popping up in my head. I pondered over the thought of what if this was another one of my stupid dreams and I was going to wake up any moment. To cross out that option, I pinched myself a little harder than required.

And, s**t.

This wasn’t a dream. It might not make any sense, but what I was seeing was as real as Einstein’s theory of relativity.

A stone circle, not like a Druid’s pendant, but a circle made of several stones encircled that mesmerising thing. I wonder what it means and why I didn’t notice it earlier. Reconsidering the recursions of my actions, I hesitated a bit, but still stepped into the circle as if it was calling out to me.

Nothing made sense. I was not making sense.

What I didn’t notice at that moment were the markings on the walls, illuminated dimly, but still being overshadowed by the swarm of fireflies. I was solely focused on the thing ahead of me and everything around me turned into nothingness. When I stepped into the stone circle, I felt a wave of intense energy reaching every single cell of my body, rejuvenating me in the process of washing away my pain, my miseries, my frustration, and everything along with it.

Reluctantly, I reached my palm out slowly. It was an inch away from my fingertips when all of the fireflies flew away one by one, revealing something so magnificent that I wouldn’t have guessed in a million years.

The cane.

The same freaking cane which messed with my dreams each f*****g time. At that moment, I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to curse it or to be allured by its enchanting presence. Although it was enticing, I couldn’t help but get annoyed. Because if the cane exists, that means that a sly man with heterochromia exists too. But, if the cane was there, I wonder where he was. I wouldn’t lie, but that thought was a little tempting.

Why in the world was I thinking about my tormentor? I had had enough of his mindfucking games. And, no way in the hell was I thinking about seeing him. That was what reassured my fragile heart.

I snapped out of my trance when all the fireflies gathered and started circling around me. This sight seemed really like a fairy-tale book where an ugly princess gets a complete makeover, but the difference was neither I was ugly nor a princess. And, this definitely wasn’t a fairy-tale.

The swarm started circling lightly till it formed a miniature whirlwind and turned into nothing, as if my mind was playing tricks on me. It distracted me for a while until my eyes fell upon the enchanting cane again.

Holding tightly onto the lion’s head carved on the handgrip, I pulled it out with all of my strength. I thought I would have to hassle a bit with it as it was affixed to a place for god knows how many years, but surprisingly, I didn’t even have to break a sweat for it.

I was in a dilemma of having to explain what I felt. Because holding on to the cane seemed so right and somehow so wrong. Unconsciously, I caressed the smooth texture of the timber and admired its beauty. It really was something otherworldly. I wondered about the identity of the owner.

“No, no. Don’t go there. Because you won’t find the answer and then you will get annoyed. Ultimately, you curse the hell out of him and ruin your mood by finding something of importance. I should celebrate. I'm so close to the truth. The truth; someone was trying to bury me.” I reminded myself, tapping my cheeks with my palms while I held onto the cane in-between my arm and side.

Taking a deep breath, I decided to get out of this hell hole because I was wrong about my firefly theory. There was no way out of it, other than the office entrance. That meant I had to walk all the way back, which seemed a little difficult with my sprained ankle. Although I probably had to use the cane for support, a God’s gift in my hardships, the thought of walking was wearing me out at the moment.

Surprisingly, the fireflies were still there. And, when I trudged towards the way out, they flew ahead of me in a swarm, illuminating the way out as if they knew me so well and wanted to help me in need. Slowly and steadily, I reached the staircase, climbed up with difficulty, and was out in a jiffy.

It certainly took me less time to get out than to reach that firefly room. And I was glad about it. I thought the fireflies would fly out of the tunnel and relish their freedom. But, the strange thing was they didn’t. They went back into a long dark tunnel, illuminating it along its way until they disappeared and merged gladly into darkness. I wondered if they had gone back to that room.

I didn’t realise how tired I was until I was out of the tunnel. I glanced outside the window, it was already dark with the moon nowhere in sight. Strutting towards the kitchen, I made myself instant ramen as I didn’t have any energy left in me to cook something. I kept the cane on the kitchen counter while I cooked it. I took out the ice pack and filled it with some ice cubes.

Having a bite of my dinner, I moaned when the different flavors exploded in my mouth, as it was so heavenly or it might be the hunger that made it delicious. Whatever the reason, I ate it greedily and burped in a not-too womanly way. Giggling to myself, I moved towards my room with the ice pack in one hand and the cane in the other. I decided to keep the cane closer for obvious reasons as I lost my baseball bat and didn’t see it on my way out.

Taking out some bandages, I changed out of my clothes and decided not to shower for the night. Carefully, I sat on the bed with bandages and an ice pack. When the ice pack came in contact with my bruised ankle, I hissed in pain. It didn’t seem good, the redness and swelling were more than I thought it should be. After almost 10-15 minutes, my eyes began drooping. Forcefully, I sat straight and bandaged my ankle carefully. Covering myself with the duvet, I set the AC on 20 and switched on the bedside light as I didn’t want to wake up panting in the dark from the horrible dreams.

My eyes fell upon the cane that I kept beside my bed. I thought about all the things I had to go through to get it here in the room when my thoughts wandered back to the mystery man with heterochromia. I didn’t realise, but somewhere deep in my heart I wished him to be its owner.

I had this sudden urge to hold the cane and I did. Keeping it close to my heart, I felt at peace. I didn’t realise that I had drifted off into a peaceful slumber without dreams of any kind.

UNKNOWN POV:

I was still exploring my boundaries when she was served on a silver platter right into my hand. If I said I wasn’t tempted to follow my instincts, that would have been the most erroneous lie ever. I couldn’t really understand what I felt for her. I do care for her, but I’m not sure if I like her as a woman or not. I was new to these feelings and confused as hell.

There was nothing stopping me from making her mine, but firstly, I wanted to be sure of what I felt. I didn’t want to hurt her. Probably, then I will make my move. Moreover, I know she feels something for me too, but not sure to what extent. Although, that was enough for at least now.

It’s been six months since I have been following her. She didn’t realise it, and I’m glad that she wasn’t suspicious of me when I approached her.

I never knew why Andria sent me here for her. But now I know, she was too precious to be left alone to fight the battles that she was unaware of. With the maniac on the loose, it was too dangerous for her to roam around the town. Thankfully, she had to hand in all her work from home and wasn’t really a fan of the outside until unless needed.

I was kind of glad that she wasn’t a brat, drinking and partying till she lost her mind, otherwise I would have dumped her perfect ass a long time ago, even though she still tempts me to do it at times.

Due to Andria, I took it upon me to ensure her safety.

Who knew one day I'd gladly lay my life on the line for her?