Page 45 of Run Like the Devil

Except, I didn’t get the chance to be as surprised as everyone else by what I would say. Instead, a deafening crack filled the air and the ground beneath me disappeared. I fell into the darkness, unable to tell what way was up or down, every bit of light going out until I struck something hard.

Well, this was at least one way to get out of that uncomfortable conversation…

Chapter Eleven

The eerie silence and total blackness got to me. I closed my eyes then opened them again, trying to make out any difference, but there didn’t seem to be one.

Basically?

I couldn’t see shit.

It was like I’d fallen so far down into a hole that light had no way to reach me.

A groan made me twist as if to find the source of the sound.

“Loch?”

Tyrus’ voice could have made me sob in relief.

I’m not all alone.

Getting trapped in the dark sucked but getting trapped alone in the dark would have been so much worse.

“I’m here,” I rushed out, crawling toward his voice.

“Are you hurt?”

“I don’t think so.” I ran into something, and it grabbed me. I jerked backward in surprise, my adrenaline spiking.

“It’s just me.” This time, Tyrus’ voice came from just in front of me, telling me what I’d run into. I relaxed at the realization, his touch letting me know I really wasn’t alone.

Then it hit me—where was Hale?

“Hale?” I called out into the dark, fear drenching the words.

“I’m here, too.” His answer was tense.

Had he gotten hurt?

I swallowed down the question, too afraid to ask.

“What happened?” I asked instead.

“We fell,” Hale answered as if that were obvious.

I glared in the direction of his voice, not caring that he couldn’t see it.

“How can we have fallen far enough that we can no longer see the top and yet not have gotten hurt?” Tyrus ran his hand gently over my arm as if soothing me while thinking out loud. “We must not have simply fallen a long way. This area must be separated from the rest in a different way, and the darkness must be a trait of this space.”

I jerked up as I considered something, then patted at my pants. I found what I was looking for and pulled my cell from my pocket. I’d left the phone off since, as it turned out, there was no service in the Path. It worked in the Chasm, but the Path was too far.

I pressed the power button and waited until the screen lit up. I twisted the phone around, but nothing changed.

“What the fuck?” I whispered to myself. I could see the light of the screen, but it was like it didn’t spread out from the screen at all.

“It’s like the air absorbs all the light,” Tyrus said. “You should shut that off so the battery doesn’t run down.”

“But it’s better than nothing,” I said, fearful of losing that tiny source of light in the blackness around me.

---