Chapter 5: Whispers

Dorothy pulled something wrapped in cloth from her bag. Handing it to Aaron he found a few dried strips of some unknown meat. Within the blink of an eye he tore through it gulping the last bits down.

It had a strange after taste and was hard to chew but to him it tasted amazing.

After he finished eating Aaron had a strange feeling. His stomach was full but for some reason he felt a different kind of hunger, one that he couldn't quite identify. It wasn't strong but a small nagging sensation that he barley even felt.

'Maybe I'm just thirsty.' He thought pushing the feeling to the side.

Dorothy picked up the cloth Aaron had dropped dusting it off. He noticed a strange look from the others besides Tom and Dorothy. Then it hit him.

"Was that all the food you had?!" Aaron asked feeling extremely guilty.

"Don't worry I can go for a pretty long time without eating and the others have their own food…Plus I'm stronger than I look you know?" Dorothy responded with a smile.

'Stronger than she looks?' Aaron thought staring at her muscular forearms. There was a long scar running down from her neck to her shoulder which only made her look tougher.

"B-but I…" Aaron tried too apologize but was cut off.

"It's fine. Anyway let's get back to what I was trying to say. Aaron are you able to open these doors?" Dorothy asked.

Aaron found her expression hard to read but looking at the others he could see a lot was riding on this question.

'Can they not open the doors? Why am I able to?' He thought.

"Hurry up and answer the question and don't even think about lying." Emily said once again giving him threatening looks.

Dorothy was about to say something but Aaron figured it was better if he just answered the question.

'It might give me some value to them and they won't leave.' He thought.

"Yes…I think. When I put my hand on the other two doors they opened." He said looking at his hand trying to see if there was anything different about it than the others.

The only thing he noticed was the mark on his wrist but it seemed to have faded now looking like nothing more than a tattoo.

'Everything had reacted to him before it burnt onto my wrist so that couldn't be it' Aaron thought.

"I knew it! Absolutely marvelous! These ruins are reacting to you. I wonder what makes you different. I must unravel these curiosities!" The old man named Veron said with a burst of excitement he seemed to have been repressing.

Closing distance quickly for an old man he grabbed Aaron's hand roughly.

'Maybe I should show him the symbol on my other hand.' Aaron thought before ultimately deciding against it. He didn't know much about it but something about this old man made him feel uncomfortable.

"Pale skin…fairly boney, probably from lack of nutrition… strange there are very little energy currents…" Veron spoke inspecting Aaron.

"Wait… no this can't be. There are absolutely no energy currents! I can't read anything." He continued astonished.

Aaron was starting to feel uncomfortable as this old man continued to poke and prod him.

"This is not possible! Unless… yes, that's it! There must be something completely sealing it. But the power needed for that would…" Veron said pulling out a small sharp object.

'What is he going to do with that?!' Aaron panicked internally. He didn't want to stop the old man as he didn't want to risk angering him. Although he tried to repress it his fear was evident on his face along with the pain. Veron continued without a care engrossed in what he was about to do.

Just as he tried to push the sharp clear needle into Aarons palm he saw Tom knock it from Veron's grasp. The look on Veron's face showed outrage and disbelief.

"How dare you?! You insignificant…" The old man screamed out jumping to his feet in a surprisingly nimble fashion. Tom didn't say a word pulling Aaron behind him.

"That's enough Veron. If Tom hadn't stopped you I would have. You went to far." Dorothy stated sternly with a hint of anger.

Aaron rubbed his arm spotted with a few blue bruises. He felt grateful that Tom had protected him.

Hearing a slight giggle Aaron looked over at Emily who smiled at him in a creepy way clearly happy about the situation. Meanwhile John was leaning up against the wall sharpening his sword without a care in the world.

'Why is she so out for me?' Aaron thought.

Ever since he encountered them she has been especially hostile towards him.

"Sorry about Veron. He can loose himself when he gets excited." Dorothy apologized.

"Ughh…the boy was fine! I need my equipment back in town to analyze him further anyway. Your just lucky you didn't break this or I'd put you in your place orphan." Veron grumbled inspecting the needle only to point it at Tom next in a obviously threatening way.

Tom seemed unfazed though Aaron could see a small dagger slide back up his sleeve.

"Whatever, old man." Tom replied back.

"So now that we can get these doors open let's go. I want to check the room he claims he came from." Emily stated starting to walk back to the door with a creepy severed hand beneath it.

"Emily I know you want to find your mother but you can't seriously be thinking about opening that door. You know how many of those creatures are behind it and how unnaturally strong they are." Dorothy said.

"If he survived down there then she did too! Maybe he just didn't see her. We have to check." Emily shouted out.

Dorothy had a sad look in her eyes, it was clear she felt pity for Emily for some reason.

'She's looking for her mom? Is that why she's down here? Maybe I wasn't the only one in that pit.' Aaron thought.

But then he remembered the pale grey skin and sharp teeth. The hundreds of monsters rushing to devour him. He shuddered just thinking about it.

'No. I refuse to go back there' Aaron said internally.

Walking away from the group Aaron decided to open another door hoping they wouldn't make him open that one. There were two more doors to pick from one looked a bit grander but he had a strange feeling pulling him to the other.

As he approached he could hear Emily shout at him to open the one she wanted but he ignored her.

Something wanted him to go this way something he couldn't describe. He placed the palm of his hand on the door lining it up with the indent. The same glow permeated the room and it shook slightly as the door slid open.

Once again he could hear the voice of Emily shouting at him and another of veron going on some monologue about the implications this might have. But Aaron's mind was cloudy as he continued into the sparsely lit path that had opened up. The further he walked the stronger the pull he felt.

Whispers entered his mind beckoning him forward. The last thing he heard before his ears seemed to stop working was Dorothy yelling for him to wait a second. Entering into a decent sized room he saw shelves lined with countless objects a few scattered across the floor. But at the center was a spinning pedestal. It moved slowly as a small object levitated above it at eye level.

He could feel it. This was what was calling out to him. He reached his hand out to grab it but was suddenly shaken back to reality. Turning around he saw John holding his shoulder preventing him from grabbing it. The whispers in his mind stopped and he felt like himself again but the pull towards the object still remained.

As Aaron lowered his hand so did John. The others also walked into the room looking extremely tired. Each step they took was slow and filled with effort. Veron looked like he was struggling the most while John seemed to be alright.

"What happened? Are you guys ok?" Aaron asked worried.