Chapter 12: Taken

Aaron awoke, his body ached and his brain felt like mush. Both mentally and physically he was exhausted with no idea how long he was out for.

A sudden jerk startled him and made him realize he was moving or to be more precise being carried. The events that had happened right before he passed out came back to him.

Dorothy's death, his guilt, the rage and desire for revenge. Then finally the power he had felt backfired and attacked him internally as the two he hated most escaped.

For some reason the immense rage and uncontrollable anger he felt weren't as strong now. He felt calmer and in control but the desire for revenge was still stronger than ever.

'I wont forget you Dorothy or what they did. Wait…how am I still alive? Those monsters were…' Aaron thought opening his eyes before quickly shutting them.

His mind was panicked but he was able to keep this from showing externally. He kept still and unmoving trying to appear as he had before awakening.

In that quick peak he had seen a multitude of the pale grey skinned creatures. They were proceeding down a different path where the lights flickered constantly a few even sparking. One of the creatures was walking on two legs with him hanging over the back of its shoulder. The way it moved was silent unlike the rest and it had a smooth rhythm to its steps.

'Damnit! I might be alive but I'm as good as dead. What's even the point?! No… I won't just die here not without finding answers, not without avenging Dorothy.' He said internally.

The sounds of running water grew louder coming from up ahead.

'But why…why am I still alive? Do they think I'm dead? Yeah, they must not know I'm still alive! If I can just keep up the charade I can find an opportunity to escape…if they don't eat me first.' Aaron thought scared but hopeful.

He slowly opened a single eye to get a better understanding of his situation. The first thing he noticed was his surroundings were different. The smooth dark metal that encased everything was now gone.

A few yards behind he could see the material stretching from floor and into the dark above with a jagged hole in it. The lights from the previous path could still be seen inside flickering.

The new area was very rocky with large stalactites hanging from out of view . The ceiling wasn't visible shrouded in darkness like a vast majority of his surroundings. A variety of mushrooms and strange plants were spotted around providing a dim luminescence.

Water rushed along the side of the trail the creatures ambled down. Aaron could feel some splash onto him as the raging sound of it crashing became all the louder.

'This place isn't like the rooms I've been in…it looks natural.'

He tried to turn his head slightly to get a better view of where the noise was coming from. His eyes briefly locked with one of the monsters black beady eyes before he quickly closed his own. It was on all fours with red spikes protruding from its back and a creepy grin plastered on its face.

'Ohh no!'

The creature snarled and Aaron could hear small rocks shifting as it scrambled in close. He could feel it's breath on his neck before the thing carrying him stopped.

"Skreeeii!!…"

The monster that got close to Aaron yelped in pain and he could hear its body hit the ground a few feet away. Whatever was holding him had done something too it, but Aaron couldn't tell as his eyes were closed shut. He didn't move a muscle refusing to even take a breath.

Then as if nothing happened they started moving forward again. Cracking his eye open slightly he could see the creatures body lying on the side of a boulder unmoving. A thick liquid oozed out of a hole in its head.

Aaron didn't want to take any more chances and his curiosity wasn't worth dying over so he didn't open his eyes again. It took everything he had not to show the immense fear he felt quaking inside.

'It just killed one of its own. I didn't even feel it move. These things are stronger than I thought.'

The hand holding him in place gripped tighter.

'Wherever they are taking me it can't be good.'

The next thing he knew they were falling. The freezing cold wind swept over him before they came to an abrupt stop seconds later. However the creature landed had made the impact bearable but Aaron still felt it.

The sounds of many more bodies crashing down besides them with far less grace followed. The space around him was pitch black and only the glow peaking over the ledge above was visible. They continued on once more, further into unknown darkness.

The air became sparse and Aaron had to put more effort into breathing. He silently prayed the creatures wouldn't notice this. Time ticked by as they kept getting deeper until the sounds of the other creatures that followed diminished. The crunch of rocks and chittering noises they made died out leaving only the footfalls of the thing holding him.

"Pat…pat…pat…" echoed through the cave.

'How much further is…' Aaron was thinking before the hand on his lower back was removed. His body started to slide off its shoulder. Figuring the creature could see in the dark he let himself fall limp. Luckily he didn't hit too hard against the rough damp stone landing on his shoulder.

'What have I gotten myself into?! If I had just tried to run before I would have at least stood a chance. Now I can't even see. I'm going to be eaten alive down here!' Aaron internally screamed cursing himself for not acting sooner.

It was now silent and not even the creature could be heard. Aaron noticed once again that his heart was strangely calm even as he panicked fearing for his life. Though he was too preoccupied trying to think of a way out of the situation to give it too much thought. Laying there anxious a minute passed by only interrupted by the patter of tiny drops of water splashing on rocks nearby.

"I know…your…awake." A deep raspy voice spoke slowly from the darkness.

Author Note: I apologize for the strange and random upload times. I've kinda been busy this week and have been working on chapters during my break times at work. Im trying to building up a few extra chapters so I can start uploading on a schedule. This should hopefully be ready by the end of the week! :)