5-3

5-3

Our breaths got deeper, heavier and denser. Our lungs got tighter and tighter. I never thought the act of breathing, a basic human necessity, would be oh so difficult.

"GUYS, I CAN'T SEE!" James shouted out loud.

I got so scared that I couldn't even open my mouth or even try to utter a word, heavy sweat gushed down my cheek and down to my chest. I was breathing heavily, so heavy in fact that the experience made me very claustrophobic.

This is one of my biggest nightmares, maybe even my worst. My knees went weak, so weak that it was hard for me to keep myself standing up though it was already weakening even before I even held the door knob. I threw my spear to the side and fell to the floor, grasping for air, breathing like I was dying. All my senses went weak that I couldn't clearly hear James' shouts or feel the floor. All I know is that my sweat is gushing none stop and my skin feel so very cold.

"DAR! JAMES! WHERE ARE YOU? WHY CAN'T I SEE ANYTHING?!" Steph shouted on top of her lungs, she is breathing heavily as well.

"GUYS! I CAN'T SEE! I CAN'T SEE!" James wobble around, making random steps. I wanted to tell him to stay still and let us figure this out but I couldn't. I couldn't get my mouth to move. He slipped down,

"AAHHHH!" His body fell as he only held on to his arm, holding onto the solid floor,

"JAMES!" Steph shouted as she heard James falling,

"AHHH! MY SHOULDERS! IT HURTS! I AM LOSING MY GRIP!" He is slowly slipping down until he was only gripping the floor with all 10 fingers. Due to his injury on his shoulder, the constant struggle opened the wound as blood gushed out like an open faucet,

"GUYS, HELP ME! I C-C-CANT HOLD ON ANY L-LONGER!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" James yelled as he fell down the endless pit,

My breathing became even heavier than ever before as my sweat dropped on the floor like an unclosed faucet. I got so scared. I got so scared of my life, I don't want to die. I don't want to die at all. I don't want to die being devoured by the faceless, I don't want to die falling in a bottomless pit. I don't want to die in this place period. I want to get the hell out of here but I am so afraid that I couldn't think straight, as if I am slowly losing my consciousness.

"JAAAAAMEEEEEESSSS!!!" Steph screamed and whined on the top of her lungs that startled me and brought my mind to focus even for a bit,

"STEPH, GET DOWN!" I shouted as if hearing me, I heard her fell to the floor. I don't know what we are going to do next. All I know is that I can't move my shaking body.

"DAR! JAMES… JAMES FELL. I COULDN'T EVEN HEAR HIM REACHING THE GROUND. DAR! WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?!" Steph couldn't stop her crying.

I don't know what to do. I couldn't even speak right. I need to bring myself to relax. I need to relax.

I breathe long breaths and tried to relax my beating heart. I know for a fact that I am not blind. This is just part of the room. This is the feature of the room. Right?! Like how the 1st room is with no sound but I was not deaf. Right?! It is like that, right?!

"STEPH! TRY TO RELAX FIRST!" I shouted,

"B-BUT JAMES?! JAMES IS DEAD!" Steph whined,

"AND SO ARE WE IF WE WONT RELAX! WE NEED TO RELAX!" I angrily shouted, I say that but I am actually losing my cool. Not because Steph won't listen to me but on how coward I really am, a dumb coward.

Steph lowered her whimper.

"I KNOW JAMES FELL BUT WHAT CAN WE DO?!" I shouted as my tear fell from my eyes,

"WE CAN'T LET HIS DEATH BE IN VAIN! LET'S GET OUT OF HERE AND ESCAPE THIS PLACE TOGETHER!" I shouted as tears formed the side of my eyes,

"NOW! TRY TO TAKE DEEP BREATHS AND TELL ME IF YOU'RE RELAXED NOW!" I told her.

Steph took deep breaths until she can feel her beating heart to slow down.

"ARE YOU RELAX?!" I asked,

"YE-YES." She replied,

"GOOD! NOW! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!" I asked, she is relax but I am not though I am still trying to be.

"Ahhh. LET'S USE OUR HANDS AND FEET TO MANEUVER! LET'S MAKE SURE THAT NO PIT IS IN FRONT, THE LEFT AND THE RIGHT!" She replied,

"OKAY! LET'S TAKE OFF OUR SHOES TO MAXIMIZE OUR SENSES!" I also added,

"OKAY!" She agreed,

I took my shoes off and throw it away as I slowly crawled forward. I would advance my hands as far as it can reach to see if there are pits ahead. I would also extend my legs to the side as well as my hands if there is a pit at the side. Once, I am sure that I am safe to advance, I would crawl.

"AHHH!" Steph almost fell ,

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! ARE YOU STANDING UP?!" I asked,

"YES!" Steph replied,

"DON'T STAND UP! CRAWL! USE YOUR HANDS AND LEGS TO SEE FURTHER AHEAD OR TO THE SIDE! MAKE SURE YOU'RE SAFE BEFORE YOU CONTINUE TO CRAWL!" I advised,

"WHAT IF THERE'S A WALL?!" She asked,

"THERE IS ONLY BOTTOMLESS PIT! IT DOESN'T MATTER IF THERE IS A WALL BECAUSE BOTTOMLESS PIT IS SCARIER THAN THAT!" I replied.

I maneuvered my way by crawling and tried to memorize the path that I took. I took a left; I took a right, sometimes a dead end. I finally get the gist of my path and somehow, I felt like I am crawling in circles. After I came back a dead end, I had the idea to try and see if there is another platform not too far from this.

"DAR! I THINK I AM RUNNING IN CIRCLES!" Steph raised,

"WAIT! I AM TRYING TO DO SOMETHING!" I shouted.

I turned around and rest my whole body to the floor; I slowly crawl back until I am sure that my center of gravity is still on the floor and not to a point that might lead me to my fall and let my leg hang from the pit. It is so scary but I had to try it because we might end up stuck in here and I don't want to stay blind for any longer. I extended my leg as far as I can and felt nothing, this would have been easy if didn't throw my spear but that already happened. So I went to the next dead end. Once I reached the next dead end, I did the same thing and I feel a very close platform, it will be easy to maneuver to the next platform so I stepped in that platform.

"I THINK THERE ARE PLATFORMS THAT ARE NEAR A DEAD END. TRY TO SEE IF YOU'RE CLOSE TO ONE. IF YOU THINK YOU ARE NOT CONFIDENT TO STEP ON IT BECAUSE IT IS TOO FAR, DON'T TRY!" I said,

"OKAY!" She replied,

I continued crawling and memorizing the path on this new platform I am currently in, I just hope I am not too far from the exit… Hopefully… After thirty five or so minutes of nonstop crawling action Steph finally reached the end.

"HAAA! HAAA! I CAN FINALLY SEE AGAIN! DAR! I CAN SEE AGAIN! I CAN SEE THE TABLE AND THE PAPER!" Steph exclaim,

"GREAT! CAN YOU SEE ME?!" I asked.

Steph turned around and traced my path to the exit until a realization hit her that made her place her hand on her head.

"OH SHIT!" Steph cursed,

"WHAT?!" I asked,

"I CAN SEE YOU BUT YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO ALL THAT I WILL BE SAYING, OKAY?!" She said,

"OKAY!" I agreed,

"OKAY. CRAWL TO YOUR RIGHT. YES, NOW… STOP. CRAWL TO YOUR LEFT. NO! NO! THE OTHER LEFT! YES! NOW, IT WILL BE A DEAD END BUT THERE IS A PLATFORM NEARBY SO STEP ON IT! SLOWLY, MAKE SURE YOU CAN FEEL SAFE! IT'S NEAR BUT BE CAREFUL!"

"OKAY I GOT IT!" I shouted,

"OKAY. NOW TURN AROUND AND GO STRAIGHT! TO YOUR RIGHT! YES! NOW TO YOUR RIGHT AGAIN! BE CAREFUL! OKAY! NOW GO STRAIGHT! JUST STRAIGHT UNTIL YOU CAN REACH A DEAD END!"

Though, she is giving me directions, I still crawled as cautiously as ever. Unlike her, I can't really get the gist of the distances. What if I am close to a pit or a path became small? I am facing a life and death situation so it is better to be slow but safe.

"THIS DEAD END?!" I asked,

"YES! NOW, HERE'S THE TRICKY PART! THERE IS NO OTHER CLOSEST PLATFORM WHERE YOU ARE AT! THE CLOSEST IS THERE IN THAT DEAD END BUT YOU NEED TO JUMP!" She said,

"JUMP?! COME ON! THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER DEAD END?!" I asked,

"THERE IS NO OTHER DEAD END, DAR! OTHER DEAD END IS TOO FAR AND THAT IS THE CLOSEST!" She confirmed,

"SHIT! FUCK! I-I AM TOO SCARED! FUCK!" I exclaimed,

"SORRY TO TELL YOU DAR BUT THERE IS NO OTHER WAY BUT THERE!" She said,

I tried standing up but my knees are too shaky that I had to fall flat again.

"I-I CAN'T!" I shouted,

"WELL! YOU BETTER JUMP OR WE WILL BE STUCK IN HERE FOREVER!" She exclaimed,

"FUCK! HOW FAR DO YOU THINK IT IS?" I asked

"ABOUT A METERS PLUS!"

"CAN YOU PLEASE BE CONCRETE?!" I said,

"AHHH! 1.2 METERS GIVE OR TAKE! CAN YOU JUMP THAT?!" She asked,

"I CAN! IF I AM GONNA JUMP THIS, IS THE PATH TO THE NEXT PLATFORM A STRAIGHT LINE TO WHERE I AM JUMPING TO?!"

"NOOO! IT GOES LEFT!"

"LEFT?! MY LEFT?!" I pointed my hand to my left,

"YES! YOUR LEFT!"

Shit! If I am going to jump this, I won't have enough leverage to land. What if I jump too far? The platform I am on is about 1 meters or less and the path to the next goes left. Can I do it? SHIT! I know for a fact that I won't have the absolute sense of direction. If I jump, I might lean to the right or the left. My knees are shaking so badly so does my hand as I tried to stand on my two feet. Deep breaths Dar. Deep breaths! My shirt is now soaked in cold sweat. If I miss, I die. If I miss, I die. IF I MISS, I DIE!

"BE CAREFUL, DAR!" Steph raised her concern,

Like time slowing down, I bend my knees and exert force onto my foot. I am confident that I could reach that distance with just a standing jump and there is no turning back now, I am already in the air. I thought I was flying, time is so slowed that I was thinking that I was flying. I flapped my hands around just to make sure I can still have more air time. I reached the top of my ascend, the real nerve wracking came. I descended down, not knowing whether I would end up on the floor or onto nothingness. I have no visual contact; I only have the gut feeling and faith that I can reach it. I can reach it.

I can hear the slowing grasp of Steph, her fingers crossing ever so tightly.

Like a cliffhanger, I am so eager to know if I landed. Then I felt the floor on both my foot and landed, I almost lost my balance as I immediately flail my hands wildly until I can stabilize my stance and immediately lay to the ground.

"AHHHHH!!!!!" I blew air very loudly, I could almost see the light in my blinded state. Luckily, I didn't.

"OH MY GOD, DAR! YOU MADE IT! MY GOD! I COULDN'T BREATHE THERE!" Steph sighed in relief.

Steph continued maneuvering me with her directions and finally reached where she is at. I entered the room and my vision slowly came back. The first thing I saw is the foot of Steph as I immediately hugged it tightly.

"AHHHHH! I CAN SEE NOW! I CAN SEE AGAIN!" I exclaimed as Steph pat my head.

I stood up and looked at Steph with teary eyed. I can't stop myself from feeling both grateful and melancholic. I hugged her tightly as she returned it in kind.

"James… gone…" I cried on her shoulder like a little kid that lost a toy, I steeled myself earlier not to cry, I tried my hardest to keep my head level but just like that, it almost immediately struck me. As if my crying was contagious, she couldn't hold her tears any longer and also cried. It was a good few minutes of crying before we let go of each other. I sobbed in place as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Let's get out of here." She said with a grateful smile.

I grabbed the two papers and gave one to Steph. We both went up the stairs side by side and when we finally reached the door, we both stopped, looked at each other with firm gazes. I opened the door and we both, simultaneously, jumped out.