Chapter 8: One step Ahead

"The resemblance is definitely uncanny" Dorothy said touching the projection.

Aaron still wasn't sure why it made him feel this way. The locket had supposedly been here for a very long time. Why would a picture of him be in these ruins and if it was him how was he still so young or even alive at this point?

The voice Aaron had heard back in the room he woke up in recognized him. Not to mention for some reason he was able to interact with the place unlike the other people he had met.

The more he discovered and found out only seemed to add more questions that needed to be answered.

'If I could get back to that room and talk to that voice. It has to know a lot about what happened to me or at least who I am.' Aaron thought.

He could still remember those terrifying monsters sprinting down the hall at him. If he had any chance of getting back there he'd have to get past those very creatures.

The adrenaline that had kicked began to wear off and the pain became more apparent. Aaron winced and the locket closed shut causing the image to fade into nothing. The last thing he saw was the woman's warm golden eyes before he dried the tears from his own.

'I need answers'

"Dorothy what we're those monsters we saw earlier?" Aaron asked.

She seemed taken back by the question that came out of no where.

"You sure are strange, asking about that after all you just went through. Did you hit your head too?" She sighed before continuing.

"They weren't always that way. Some were humans, others fairly passive creatures, a few were already monsters but they are far worse now. For some reason all of them once coming down here ended up like that. Partially mutated with pale skin and a bloodthirsty rage losing most of their original nature. It's sad really."

Tom moved over to sit besides him. Aaron saw that he was keeping his eyes on the wizard who was talking with Emily.

"I mean I get why Emily's got a stick up her ass but I never knew the wizard was so cranky." Tom said.

"Why is Emily so angry anyway?" Aaron wondered out loud.

"Well that's a long story…Cutting it short her dad died right before her mom fell down into this place back when it first opened up. Now Emily's been clinging to the idea that she survived because of the little magic she knew. But for gods sake it's been a over 10 years." Tom responded.

'That explains why she was so interested in the place I woke up in. She thinks her mom may have also been there.'

It suddenly hit him and he felt stupid for not asking it sooner.

"Wait, what even is this place?" Aaron asked extremely curious.

Dorothy seemed too lost in thought to hear his question. Her expression was complicated and hard to read so he decided not to push further.

"I keep forgetting you have some crazy amnesia don't you?" Tom said messing Arron's hair up.

"Well I guess we don't really know what this place is either. It just sort of opened up one day a decade or so ago in some sort of disaster. Most say it's ruins of some ancient civilization that sunk into the ground but I don't know about that."

'I don't understand how any of this is possible. I'm sure I have some sort of connection to this place and to that woman but how?' Aaron thought.

The room shook causing items scattered about to rattle. The lighting also flickered off for a few seconds plunging the room into darkness. This only lasted around half a minute until everything stabilized but Aaron no longer felt scared. He was getting used to the dark and strange quakes that occurred frequently.

"If we are done here maybe we can head back to the large room and I can take you to the place I woke up?" Aaron asked Dorothy.

She was focused on John, Veron, and Emily who were conversing with one another just out of earshot.

"No, we are going to get out of this place, the sooner the better. Not only are we running low on supplies but I am starting to lose control of this group. I don't know when it's all going to fall apart and I'd rather not be down here when it happens." She said resolute in her decision.

Aaron really didn't want to leave this place without answers but he wasn't going to keep causing problems for them.

'I can always come back here later and who knows maybe I can find more answers outside.' Aaron said internally.

"Don't react to what I'm about to say" Tom spoke grabbing Arron's hand and locking eyes with Dorothy.

"You have already lost control of this group. We might already be screwed but if you listen we might have a chance. The others are not planning on letting us walk out of here alive. They just came to an agreement to kill off you and me as well as take Aaron here for whatever reason." He continued extremely serious.

"Are you sure? How do you know this?" Dorothy replied keeping a calm expression as if she hadn't heard what he said.

He could see her hands clenched tightly as the tips of her knuckles turned white. Aaron on the other hand was trying his best to not show himself freak out. He kept glancing over at the others in a panic too see if he could read there lips. The attempts wildly unsuccessful.

Locking eyes with Emily he could see her run a tongue over her lips giving him a little smirk. He quickly diverted his view hoping he didn't just look to suspicious. Tom squeezed his hand and shook his head.

"Just breath Aaron don't stress out to much or they will notice something is up." Tom said before answering Dorothy's question.

"Yes, I am sure. I don't like to mention this for obvious reasons but seeing the circumstances." He tapped on the small silver earring shaped like a crescent moon hanging from his ear.

"This is an artifact that increases my senses by a fairly large margin including hearing. They plan to ambush us while walking back through the tunnel the moment the pressure this place gives off fades."

"Fuck." Dorothy responded with a straight face.

She knew she knew that in a fight Aaron would be all but useless and that it would essentially be a 2 versus 3. They might have the advantage of knowing and being a step ahead but that would only go so far. Dorothy knew how strong Emily and John were and they were nothing to sneeze at yet she still had no idea of Veron's true strength.

"If we play this smart and don't mess up I think we can get out of here alive and relatively well. But first do you guys trust me?" Tom asked with a wry smile.