Page 29 of Trapped By Claws
Damn it.
He was cute. I wanted to hold him.
"Forgive me if I don't let you near my weapons." I glanced back down the passage. Had he come alone?
He bounded up beside me and started rubbing against my ankles like a cat. His soft fur tickled my calves.
What was I supposed to do with him?
I sighed, then shook my head. "Fine. You can come with me if you want. I don't suppose you know the way out?"
Tagger hopped around me, nuzzled my ankle, and spun in a circle. Then he paused, stared up at me, and made no move in any direction.
"You're very helpful," I muttered. But in truth, some part of me was relieved to have company down here. Even though most people didn't notice me, I was rarely truly alone. And it wasn't until now that I realized how comforting it was to have a little friend present.
If he was a friend. I actually wasn't certain. "You better not betray me."
I turned back in my original direction, then gave the thread a little tug.
Good.
It was still attached.
I glanced at Tagger once more, then started down the path. He padded along beside me, squeaking and trilling happily.
Pale trails of silver formed downward arrows in the dark walls, indicators of trace ore and a likely sign I was roughly headed toward the surface. Just so long as I didn't wind up lost or trapped. The drip-dripping sound soon faded, replaced only by my breaths. Sometimes the freshness of the air faltered as well.
My shoes crunched on the stone. Occasionally my hand brushed the cracked, curved wall, the cold biting into my flesh. Tagger never led the way. He just circled and chittered at everything.
Always forward.
There had to be a way out.
If I could will it into being?—
Pebbles tumbled down the passage, rolling past my feet along with silt.
Tagger sat up on his hindquarters, peering out from behind me, paws at his chest.
I froze.
My heartbeat thundered louder. It echoed in my mind as I strained to hear anything else.
There was something up ahead.
I steadied my hand around the pale-blue orb and lifted it slowly to broaden the path of light before me. My palm sweat around the crowbar and the sock with its dangling thread.
The pale-blue light illuminated only a small portion of the passage. The silver veins in the wall had thickened, a hopeful indicator of being even closer to the surface. No visible signs of a predator disturbed the area.
My gut clenched harder.
Didn't matter what I saw.
Something was watching me.
DOWN
Iheld my breath, searching the darkness before me. Nothing but jagged, glistening stone stretched ahead. The cold air tasted of salt and mold.
