Page 29 of Obsessed

A few more off balance steps and the ground disappears beneath my feet. My stomach lurches as I fall, the world spinning in a kaleidoscope of green and brown. Impact knocks the breath from my lungs.

I blink up at the circle of sky far above me. The pit walls rise at least fifteen feet, slick with moss and morning dew. My ankle throbs where I landed on it.

"Well." I sit up slowly, wincing. "This is just perfect."

"Stupid, stupid, stupid." Each word punctuates another attempt to find purchase on the slick walls. My fingers slide uselessly through the moss. "Ten months without a major incident, and now this?"

The throbbing in my ankle intensifies with each failed attempt. I slump back against the earthen wall, letting my head thud against it.

"Some scientist you are. Got distracted thinking about a boy and fell in a hole. Real professional."

My pack lies a few feet away, contents scattered from the fall. I drag myself over, gritting my teeth against the pain shooting up my leg. The first aid kit tumbles out along with my sample containers.

"At least nothing broke." The scanner's cracked screen blinks weakly at me. "Well, almost nothing."

The pain makes my hands shake as I dig through the kit. No proper compression bandages, just some strips of cloth meant for securing plant samples. They'll have to do.

"This is going to hurt." I bite my lip and start wrapping my ankle. Each movement sends fresh waves of agony up my leg.

The makeshift bandage looks pathetic, but it's better than nothing. I test putting weight on it and immediately regret it. The ground swims before my eyes.

"Okay, new plan." I settle back against the wall, trying to think through the pain. "I could... no, that won't work. Maybe if I... no, definitely not."

The walls mock me with their height and slickness. Even if my ankle wasn't sprained, climbing out seems impossible. My emergency beacon's in my other pack, back at the station.

"Real smart, Alice. Real smart." I close my eyes. "What's next? Going to start a conversation with the moss?"

The pain throbs in time with my heartbeat. Each pulse reminds me how spectacularly I've messed up. One moment of distraction, and now I'm stuck at the bottom of a pit with a sprained ankle and no way out.

But then, something catches my eye. Something bright red, and small, hiding in the darkest corner of this pit.

I crawl over towards it, the warm soil sticking to my knees.

"Hello there," I say, reaching out to touch the small, pointy petals. "I don't think we've ever met."

The plant is small, so small, but once I know what to look for I notice several of them all around me. Tiny, blood red petals burst from pockets in the dirt wall. The stem is riddled with needle like thorns that are so tiny, it only bristles against my fingertips. The scent it leaves behind reminds of the ocean.

My breath catches in my lungs. I've never seen anything like this before.

CHAPTER 16

DAVRIK

Through my window, I watch the sun dip lower in the sky. Alice should have returned by now. She's never this late, and a knot forms in my stomach despite my attempts to ignore it.

"She's fine," I mutter to myself. "She doesn't need me checking up on her."

But my feet carry me to the door anyway. The evening air hits my face as I step outside, bringing with it the sweet scent of the local flora. I've learned their names from Alice over these past weeks, though I pretend not to remember them.

My boots crunch against the purple grass as I follow her usual research path. Something catches my eye - a metallic glint that doesn't belong. I crouch down to investigate.

A wrapper. Not from my supplies, and certainly not Alice's. She lectures me daily about proper waste disposal and environmental impact. This is recent too - the material hasn't started breaking down in the acidic soil.

I pocket the wrapper and continue forward. Ten meters later, I spot another one. Then boot prints that don't match either of our treads.

More evidence appears as I walk - a discarded battery cell, cigarette butts, even an empty ammo casing. These aren't the traces of researchers or official personnel. This has the hallmark of people who don't want to be found.

My chest tightens. Where the hell is Alice? She's out here somewhere, probably completely unaware she's not alone anymore. And knowing her, she's too focused on her plants to notice any danger.

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