Page 29 of A Sea of Secrets
“What if there is a way to block the magic conjuring the falling sand?” a dude offered from where he was buried up to his chest in the stuff.
“We don’t have access to our magic so we can’t use that to block it,” Noah replied. I smirked at that. “This could be a riddle. We just have to figure out what kind.”
“The wardrobe could be the clue,” the woman on the shelf said as she rolled onto her side. “Could there be something hidden in the handbags or stuffed in the pockets of the clothes?”
Ace grabbed the nearest bag off the shelf, upending it over the sand. A lone spider fell from it and scurried away, obviously shy about having us all stare at it.
“Check everything else just in case,” Noah said as he turned and rummaged through a coat.
I followed suit, sneezing as the dust filled the air around me. It smelled like someone’s grandma.
“Nothing,” Kayden announced after a few minutes. “I reckon we either wait out the clock or eliminate the competition.”
“You want us to fight in the sand?” the Potential with a scar on his face asked, backing away. He’d been silent since Ace put him down earlier. “That can’t be the right answer.”
“You were happy to start a brawl when we first got here.” Ace sneered, narrowing his gaze at the dude. “Changed your tune there, little bird.”
The grinding sounded again, and sand plummeted from the ceiling before the Potential could reply.
Kayden’s voice boomed over the noise, his order making everyone move. “Get to higher ground.”
We scrambled to find purchase on the shelves, climbing the walls like sea snails on the sides of a fish tank to avoid the rising sand. It was the worst kind of flood and, not only was I trying to stop myself from being buried but also trying to keep thegranules from getting into my eyes and gills. An impossible task, let me tell you.
“There’s a vent here!” the scar-faced Potential called. The sand had stopped again. He banged on the wall at the back of one of the higher shelves. After a few hits, a small panel on the wall fell inwards, and he shoved it to the ground before climbing inside and calling back at us. “Hope I don’t see you later, fuckers.”
“Still a dickhead,” Kayden said to Ace as the rest of us waited to see what happened, listening to the sound of him crawling along.
“Should we follow?” I asked in a low voice, my eyes drifting above, where I could hear him somewhere in the ceiling.
“Wait.” Ace raised a hand as the dude’s movement went silent.
I held my breath, my ears straining to hear any sound from above.
“Think he got out?” Noah asked, looking up.
Then a scream cracked through the silence, sending chills right through me. The dude pleaded to something unseen, followed by the sounds of a struggle ensuing as he no doubt attempted to flee whatever was attacking him. A clanging and loud, metallic grinding filled the air before a final loud thud.
Silence.
“And another one down,” Ace smirked.
“Shit,” Kayden hissed. “Looks like we’re not heading that way.”
“Agreed.” I nodded quickly. “I’m all for a thrill but that’s a hard pass for me.”
The grinding started again, the walls shaking this time as if to knock us off. My hands were sweaty as the sand fell around me. I shut my eyes, holding on tight and trying to prevent any sand granules from scratching at my eyeballs. They weren’tgoing to take down this human. There was no way they were going to bury me like treasure. They may take my butt crack, but they would never take my freedom. We would find a way out. There had to be more to this conundrum we found ourselves in.
Think, Zaney, think.
Sand falling quickly, a leap of faith…Wait. Waiiiiitttt.
“What’s the number one rule for quicksand?” I shouted as an idea blossomed in my mind. I was a fucking genius.
“Don’t fall in,” Kayden shouted back.
“But if you do?”
“This isn’t quicksand, Zane. It’s just sand,” Noah said.
