The Secrets Of The Old Tomb

7th Chapter: The Discovery, Part II

On the same day – or so I thought – that particular moment I woke up, I didn’t know what time it was nor where I was. But I knew what happened.

The first thing my senses felt was intense dizziness, followed by intermittent blindness. I thought my brain was spinning as I could also feel my head making small, irresistible shakes. My right temple had the most pain. The agony was twice what I felt throughout my body that I could physically perceive it throbbing. Then, even though I was lying on a cold bed of snow, my whole body was burning. Every inch, every muscle was in great, unbearable pain. I started to moan as I attempted to propel myself up, yet I failed. I remained to lie for a couple more seconds instead. Along with the sounds of suffering, my tears began escaping from my eyes. I couldn’t hold it long enough. I had to.

It poured more down when I remembered everything – from the moment I woke up under those green plants and shrubs to the moment why I ended up here. But I wasn’t angry that the little girl in a blue dress – my sister, Mary – hurt me this bad or for causing such extreme torture to me. In fact, I was a bit contented that it happened. If not, I would still be that dark-desired lady for sure.

While a bit contented, I worried too much for my sister. I didn’t know how this all happened, how my memories came back, but I had to make her remember who she was before she killed more of any beings or get killed by any beings. She was not on herself. Anyone and anything here alive, quite frankly. I had already seen how all of us beings here behaved, and I could truly now conclude that someone was behind all of this. Yet, how did they manage to erase our memories and be a free killer?

It did not matter to me at the current point. I just want to save my sister from herself and from others and anything who hungered for her blood.

Yet, for now, rest was what I could do. And whilst in the middle of it, a blizzard came. It was no ordinary blizzard. It was sudden, swift and angry.

This time, to escape from the harm it brought, I forcefully and as fast as I could propel myself from the bed of snow, and immediately turned my heads in all directions to look for a shed or cave to protect myself. Without any luck, there was nothing, so I ran instead. I could not see anything but white, and the blaring, high winds pushed me in every direction. I was too weak to fight it, so every step I took got carried by the fury of the winter wind.

Along my way, I grabbed a couple of branches to make a source of warmth once I found a safe place. Only a few that I could carry were enough. I had and needed to survive for my sister. I couldn’t stop thinking about her, her safety, and her current actions. I hoped she was in a safe place, both away from anyone she wanted to kill and who desired to kill her.

I no longer wished anyone to get killed or be a killer.

When I was a few feet away already from where I was, I saw a deep blue colour. I went in its direction since it was the only colour I could visibly see other than white, and I found out that it was actually an ice cave. There was nothing to find here except hundreds of ice stalactites on the ceiling that could possibly be the cause of my death once one or few of those decided to fall down. But I did see that it was much better to stay in here than battle with the blizzard’s power which, in any minutes of staying out there, I would probably be an ice statue.

I immediately started to make a fire with the branches I took along the way. I needed fire, as I could no longer breathe properly due to the harshness of the cold. With greed, I rubbed branch after branch, hoping a spark or smoke or any sign of fire would appear in front of my eyes.

Whilst in the middle of creating heat, my right temple suddenly pounded hard I instantly let go of the branch and placed it on my temple. When it happened, I had temporary blindness. And what baffled me most was not the fact that my blood was still fresh but the black chip along my wound.

One more day came. And two more. And I was never out of this glacial cave. Of course, it was cold, but it was at first. Because, out of too much exposure to the cold, I could hardly feel anything in any part of me. My skin was ice, and so did my blood. Every breath was icy and very, very visible. I could no longer breathe on my nose, so my mouth took place instead. To stay alive, which I guessed was impossible for me to happen given the situation I was in, I curled myself, lying on the hard, glossy ice.

Different from before, before when I still had this small chip in my head, it was easier for me to help myself know what time it was already. And to navigate where was the East, North, South and West. It was like the chip was telling me all of it. Now, all I know was day and night. My clock was both the sun and moon – the two days and night. I counted the first rise of the sun and waited for the appearance of the moon and the second sunrise. If the second sunrise came to sunset, then that was what I called a full one day. The second day now began at the second sunset, then waited for another sunrise and sunset and went on. That was how I could tell how many days I had spent inside this cave. It was evidently confusing. One thing that kept my eyes continue to open was the ceiling and walls of ice. When the sun gave warmth, the glaciers were glowing in blue and white. In some areas was the alluring deep blue colour. When the moon rose to the dark skies, that was the most boring time. The ice did indeed have colours, yet it was like I was a colourblind person. Why if not any shades of blue were there, all I saw were shades of black and white.

Apart from the chip planted on my head and the sudden coming back of wrathful winter when it was only the beginning of bloom the last time I was with my friends, there was a bit odd happening to the sun and the moon. My friends would not take notice of it, of course, as they were busy chasing each other’s blood – I did not observe it either before, but now I did. I lived my whole life spending twelve hours of daylight and the same hours going to nighttime, but these past days, the sun only took approximately six hours before the rising of the moon. That was why I never used the sun only as my clock. There was something off about it. And for the moon, I knew what kind of brightness the moon gave every phase of it. Yet even the full moon was not that bright. It could barely reach my skin or even the tippiest part of the bald trees around. The night was even longer than during daylight, so it gave me the thought that the night took full twelve hours before another sunrise. Also, some parts of the skies displayed full black – there were stars and clouds just like the usual night sky, but it was the sky’s colour that I was so confused about. I wasn’t sure if it was due to the weak light of the moon or if there was something beyond weird happening.

I never trusted either of the sun and moon if they both give the same direction the normal ones would do. Since I had the mind-playing chip out of my head, I was doubting for many days now that the sunrise and moonrise happened in the East and set in the West. The sun gave only a few hours before it sets, giving me a reason not to trust its own time, so why would I trust its direction? No time, no directions. Awesome. Stuck and chilled to death inside a gigantic freezer.

Every few hours, I heard what seemed to be enormous glaciers falling down and creating banging breaking sounds. It echoed as those were coming from the deeper part of this cave. Perhaps the falling and breaking of ice were caused by the earthquake of the yeti’s feet while it walked around. A caught a couple of the same thumps the yeti made when I was in a state of the killer while my one ear was sticked to the ice for days. Yet, were there yetis living inside the cave? I started to question myself about the abominable snowman that nearly took my life by tossing me into the air and landed miles away when I should be worrying about how would I be able to stay warm to survive.

Maybe, similar to me – a living being, yetis seek shelter to prevent extreme cold. Hold on, they have been named ‘the Abominable Snowman’ for an evident reason, right? They should not be living and hiding from the cold. They were ‘snowmen’, therefore, they should be out, wandering or having fun with their home temperature because this would not last. Because they did not deserve to be scared of the life-threatening cold outside this ice cave. All of them, what was best for them was to die.

Wait, my head. It felt like I was turning back to being the blood-desireful killer again. What did that chip do to my entire healthy brain?

I felt poisoned and filthy with stomach-turning and outrageous wants.

Who did this to us?

Thinking of it, my poor little sister was alone out there, somewhere in the hostile winter, probably enjoying – I hope not, killing anyone she wanted. Or worst, getting hunted and killed by the others. I just hoped now that she would just run away, and escape the others’ desires, as I wanted – not only her – but all my friends to come back to sanity. Sweet Mary was just a little girl. She could not fight, despite she was trained in Taekwondo. The yeti could have easily crushed her to the ice with its one fist if it had the chance, but I desperately wished my sister would not encounter any such hideous living being no more. Although the chances of getting hurt if Mary was alone were low, I feared that it was her that did not want to be alone. Because I had gone to that same feeling too – the ultimate desire to kill and see blood, when that bewildering chip was inside my head.

I longed for saving my sister and saving everyone too. But how could I even start doing it when I could no longer move a muscle. I was one of the meats that were always kept in the freezer and were never given a chance to feel the warm air. Except I was still quivering.

The small, broken twigs that I attempted to turn into a fire in a survival way that I learned – for my own source of heat – unfortunately, did not have the ability to create fire due to the ice that coated them, not stating the fact that it was winter and was full of chilling winds. I gave up on them. I left them somewhere inches below my toes. Before all my strength dropped below zero, I regretted the time not putting the very best I could do to make a fire for warmth. Even though suffering from the extreme cold, I should have made that fire. After all, I would get benefit from what I accomplished after severe struggles. In this case, the warmth of the fire.

Food was another major problem for me. When I had that chip on my head, I never felt hungry – that was because that chip always convinced my brain that food was not necessary to think of when full of dark desires. But now, I was starving to death. I sensed my stomach getting eaten by itself to have something to digest. It affected all of my body: I could not think straight, and some of my muscles were somewhat twitching. Following the torture that the chip had given me, hunger was another greatest torture. I swore if I could have a whole deer or moose, I could devour all its raw flesh – there was no fire, and I couldn’t create one. No fire and having meat equals no cooked meat to guzzle down. I hated to be picky this time, all I need was food. A portion of somewhat proper food to call it a meal. And the meat was what I had in my mind. I just now wished that a freshly slaughtered moose or deer fell from the skies, as I could not go out and fight those aggressive animals. Winning over these kinds of animals was far from being possible to get out of this cave of ice on feet.

And, like food, water was another problem. This place might be rich in frozen waters, but I think none of it was freshwaters or drinkable water. How could I tell which was and which wasn’t? Besides, if there were frozen, drinkable water somewhere here, it would still be impossible for me to drink water because melting the ice needed a heated pot, and heat came from fire. And I had created no fire. What’s the worst that could happen?

The chance of surviving this situation was very minimal to below zero. Honestly, with all suffering happening in one body that was as fragile as paper of glass, none of my body parts should have been working or still beating. The detesting feeling was the same compared to a body diagnosed with an incurable disease that kills the host every tick and every tock of the clock.

I was not even sure why I was still alive after all this time.

Maybe it was to fight for my only family behind: my sweet little sister, my boyfriend and my friends.

And so, although my body convinced me to the utmost that moving any muscle was now impossible to achieve, I coerced myself to stand up or else turn into ice forever without trying to save what I love. All in me was struggling at obeying what my brain commanded each in me to do. The disappointment that my body showed was not another reason for me to change my decision to get out of this cave. I had to be strong and be out of this cold plight. Risking my life was better than dying without trying effort.

I had no weapon with me or anything that could protect myself, but I did plan on looking for a couple of broken branches that I could carry and some small rocks in case I needed to distract someone or something along my way. What I meant by distracting enemies was that I could use the rocks to throw on another or the opposite direction to wherever I’ll be, leading them to think that wherever the rock landed, there would be something that they thought they could kill. Once they were stupid enough to follow the rock’s landing sound, I could go on my way without the need to kill or hurt. In this situation, intelligence must be used over power or strength. Plus, I was still weak, thirsty and overly hungry anyway.

If there was any circumstance that I got to meet a mind-controlled friend or animal by a sudden accident or before my eyes could see them, I could use the broken branch and my preservedly-little strength to fight but not kill, as killing was now against any of my will. It’s inhumane.

Walking was difficult for me, but I carried whatever it took. My back was slightly bent to the front as the freeze froze completely my spine. And hands and arms were folded around me. It took a quarter of a minute to take a whole single step forward. My whole body was vibrating crazily as if a ringing phone – only the sound was my visible and sorrowing breaths. Visions were obscure: one minute, everything blurred out, then another minute, all was clear. I felt like passing out.

But I could not give up like this. I had to force myself while my body could stand. I had to save everyone. So, I kept on pacing like a turtle. And many more battering and agonizing minutes, I was finally out of the glacial cave. Then, there I sensed the great yet strange changes of this winter. The whirls of wind were unimaginably colder than it ever was. The temperature was as freezing as Antarctica, or even at a much lower degree. One blow of the wind to a droplet of water, the droplet will surely turn into a solid droplet of water. If I desired to keep my feet going, all my blood would likely freeze within a short time, and, eventually, I would become some sort of an ice statue in the middle of nowhere.

Yet, again, it wasn’t a problem for me to be scared of what death was like in an angelically white and devilishly bitter environment. If I died trying hard for those who I love, then I died with a pure heart. But also with hurt for not seeing them one more and last time and with rage towards whoever was the creator of the chips.

I could say I was quite far to the cave already and was about to reach the lifeless woods when I encountered my first and very, very sudden interaction with an enemy. It was too quick to happen.

Quicker before I could even make a run for it or hide or prepare myself.

The enemy appeared instantly behind one of the trees ahead of me, as if it was hiding and waiting to ambush me. But I had never seen anyone behave the same way before attacking. Usually, everyone, even I, did not think thoroughly and smartly about how to kill one such in instant. All ever was, once one saw a human figure or arrogant animal, finish them off. It was like, when one saw a dollar on the street, the same one snatched the dollar so greedily. Or a starving person taking all what they could in their mouth.

Dark, untidy hair and tall and good-looking. I was not sure if it was midday or early afternoon already, but there was a sun that easily helped me recall the face that was in front of me. It was Jarv Drake, my best friend since middle school! It was the first time to see one of my friends without my chip in my head, but it was no time to celebrate. By the look on his raging eyes, Jarv had still the chip controlling him. I wasn’t prepared for this, and I was too weak to match Jarv. He was standing readily, thirsting for my blood. I have not even had my broken branch yet for a weapon. Why did it all need to happen so sudden? I couldn’t move – partly because of the cold, but mainly because of the fear that instantly absorbed all my energy. On my face, I was sure I overly displayed my fear more than my braveness to fight. So, although too obvious that fighting Jarv’s strength would be my over, I showed him my firing face.

I caught Jarv’s greeting teeth, probably ready to bite on my flesh, and his right temple covered with blood. Not fresh, but dried blood, basing the darker shade of the blood. I love to assume, but it was better to see or know for myself. Strangely, unlike any other that attacked me, Jarv was only clenching his hands, staring at me rather than showing his hostility towards another living being and started attacking me. It did strike me enough to bewilderment. But as long as I saw his glaring two eyes, fear never begone. While glaring at him back, I tried to utter a couple of words, in an attempt to clear whatever my head was thinking. Every word, I had to battle with cold merely to pronounce a sentence. Some words were out of voice that they seemed like whispers. “J-Jarv, you – you, you aren’t-t – in co-co-cont-trol. You, you don’t ha-have to – to fa-fa-fight me-eh!” Then, I began breathing heavily in pain, but I was determined to remove the chip from Jarv’s head if it was still there, no matter the fear held me back. So, I kept my stance still and firm until a thing happened miraculously. Jarv had talked while he straightened up his stand.

“You know it too, Mol?” A voice! Another voice! And mentioning my name?! This was unbelievable! I was so glad to hear another human’s voice! Apart from my voice and the noises of nature, there was nothing to hear and comprehend from a fellow kind. No one from the others anyone that I encountered had talked to me, or at least said one word, in any tone they chose to us. Commonly, there was only shouting while doing their best to murder whoever they could. I behave once like them too, and I clearly remembered how cruel it was.

Aside from Jarv could talk, though too little to give importance, I was also surprised he understood what I just blabbered as I could barely hear myself. And for giving me a manner of both confused and worried. It just confirmed that Jarv was already freed from whatever or whoever was controlling us. My fear of his strength over mine vanished.

Jarv did not take any moment before he came closer and helped me walk. I could feel his strength supporting my body. All I could ever feel was gratitude for Jarv, the most trusted friend I ever had. I thanked that, and like me, Jarv has senses of anything as normal people have and did not possess any of the evil acts that the chip had. Afore becoming completely ill and very, very weak, I heard Jarv saying to me he’d bring me to his cave for a warmth comfort. I just now hoped that none of our other friends would ever be on our way. I’d really be embarrassed to see me not fighting.