Episode 18

Scarlet gave out a shrill as she lunged forward. She was seeing stars and instantly felt light-headed. Before she knew it, she was on the floor trying to catch her breath. She continued to let out small yelps of terror. Finding her way to the sink, she splashed water onto her face before she looked at herself hard in the mirror. She knew it was a dream but she had to see it with her own eyes. She backed up to the nearest wall and slid down it as she continued to breathe heavily, her left hand grasping her chest.

'Holy shit.'

She closed her eyes in an attempt to clear her mind, concentrating on her breathing. It was in that silence that she had a rather unsettling realization.

'That woman, her voice…'

It was the same voice she'd heard talking to her in her head.

'What if that wasn't just a dream?'

The thought made her feel nauseated. She quickly found herself bending over a pale heaving. She so hoped this wasn't something precious to Helfeirch, but it was too late to worry about that now. The berries didn't taste nearly as good coming up as they did going down. After she washed her mouth as well as she could, she once again looked at her reflection in the mirror.

Suddenly, she began to hear the noise of someone approaching. Picking up a pipe, her fingers wrapped tightly around it. As the hatch to the room unlocked and swung open, she was relieved to see that it was Helfeirch. Her grip on the pipe loosened and she sat it down.

"Just where did you go?" she asked abruptly. Though she sounded like she was agitated that he hadn't stuck around while she slept, she was quite happy he had not been there to witness her waking from that horrid dream.

"Out to get you some food." He paused and looked at her quizzically. He couldn't help but notice that she seemed hypertense. He said nothing as he closed the door behind him and made his way across the room. "Are you feeling alright?" he then asked as he looked down at the puke-filled pale.

"Yeah, I just got a little sick to my stomach. Nothing to worry about," she answered as she took a seat. She watched silently as he made the final preparations for their departure. Upon finishing, he dropped one of the packs in her lap. Scarlet drew a deep breath as she stood.

"Put this on," Helfeirch then said as he handed her a sort of harness.

"What for?"

"I don't use lights as you and your companions did. So unless you can see in the dark, you won't be able to adequately follow me."

"So, you're going to put me on a leash?" There was a tinge of condescension in her voice.

"That or you can stumble around in the dark with no guide," he answered flatly.

"Uh-huh." She gave out a huff, slightly rolling her eyes before she put on the harness, after which she put on her pack. He then hooked on the rope connecting the two and they embarked.

She'd scoffed at the harness and rope, but now that she had been plunged back into total darkness, she was rather glad that she was tied off to the Bwbach man, for she had no risk of him leaving her behind in the darkness as Andriw and Moshu Shi had.

It took some time for the two to get into a rhythm of walking that didn't equate in Helfeirch jerking Scarlet or Scarlet bringing Helfeirch to an abrupt stop. When he would come to a pause, it usually resulted in Scarlet running right into him. She began trying to listen to his footfalls to know when he was walking and when he had stopped.

Time seemed to lose all its meaning in the blackness. She tried not to think about how long they had been walking. She figured any guess she had on the matter wouldn't be right anyways. While the darkness made her lose all sense of time, it seemed to heighten her sense of hearing. At first, she felt herself jumping at every small sound in the dark. Without sight, she felt she would be next to useless in any given fight.

Suddenly, Helfeirch stopped in front of her, which caused her to run right into him yet again.

"Would you stop that?" she whispered irritably.

"Shhhh," he responded as he quickly put his hand over her mouth. They stood there in silence for only a few seconds. "Someone's coming. This way," he said lowly as he grabbed a hold of her arm and pulled her quickly along. She felt herself getting drug through a matter of hot pipes into a tight space. "Watch your head." She heard him say as he grabbed her head and pushed it down.

'Man, I wish I could see right now,' she thought.

When they finally stopped, they were crouched down, their bodies pressed against hot pipes. Scarlet felt that her flesh was burning even through her clothes, and the heat made it hard for her to get a full lung of air.

"Whatever you hear, whatever happens, don't make a sound," Helfeirch warned.