Another sound caught her attention, this time, a low level crackle. It kind of sounded like a fire from far away. Surely there wasn’t someone else in here! The park was closed, no one was allowed to enter.
But that didn’t mean anything.
Sophie was in there. Someone else could have broken in. She wasn’t exactly the sneakiest person in the world, so no doubt she wasn’t the only one who had ever done this. No, she wasn’t usually bad. She was the good girl, the one who followed the rules.
But now she was breaking them for her sister. She would do anything for Annabel.
Sophie stopped to listen, cocking her head this way and that, trying to figure out where the noise was coming from.
The tunnel to the left.
Not that the knowledge helped much. Now she needed to figure out if she wanted to stay away from the noise or move towards it. It could be a person who had a fire going, although where would the smoke go? It might be something else. An animal?
Of course, she was going to Hell. It could be one of the horrendous creatures that Melody had talked about.
Or, it could be the Hellgate.
Could it possibly be? She had been walking around the musty tunnels for hours now. Stalactites—or were they stalagmites?—hung from the ceiling, making her duck or move to avoid them. They looked like giant icicles made of rock, something that both intrigued and terrified her.
What if they fell?
The ground was uneven too, which meant that Sophie spent a whole lot of time looking down and aiming her flashlight at the floor. It was either that or trip, and Sophie was clumsy as it was.
She didn’t want to fall somewhere in here, only to have her body discovered years later, decaying.
Gosh, that was a bad thought. And it made her shiver.
That could very well happen. It wasn’t like anyone knew she was here. She had even promised Mel that she would stay away from the Hellgate. But, she hadn’t exactly said anything, so she couldn’t break her word, right? Besides, this was too important. Her sister’s life was on the line.
She couldn’t just leave things to chance. And just in case that her other idea didn’t pan out, she needed a guarantee. Too bad this wasn’t one.
She was about to deal with someone who wasn’t exactly known for having a good reputation. But it didn’t matter. It wouldn’t matter if she died walking through these dumb tunnels. At least then she would have died trying.
I don’t want to do this. Her mind whimpered, a sound she had come to anticipate. It was a saying, a feeling that she had felt all her life. But she always had to push past her aversion to normal life. She wanted to hide, to run away. She wanted to stay home and read. It was easier that way. It was safer. But that was no way to live. Her twin used to help push her out of her comfort zone, and now she had to try on her own. But she would persist, for Annie.
Left or straight? Left consisted of a narrow opening, one that a person could barely fit through. The ceiling had come down a great deal, the walls seemed to close in. Even the floor ground was built up by rocks. It wasn’t exactly a trail. It probably wasn’t even a path that people used. It might just be a hole for animals to crawl around in. And wasn’t that a lovely thought?
The path that she was on was large, it was big enough for her to walk in, although she wasn’t that tall. She’d guess the ceiling at around six feet high, and she was only five foot six. It was narrow, but allowed her to walk forward, instead of turning to the side, as she had to do in other places. She could keep her backpack on and everything.
But who knew what was up ahead. And would the Hellgate be in some place so open, where anyone could enter?
That had been a question she asked herself as she moved through the caves. Every time there was a fork in the road, she had to make a decision.
Sophie was sure that she was lost by now. She probably should have taken a ball of string or something to leave a trail, but she worried that someone would see it. Besides, she hadn’t packed anything. She had no idea that she would be spending her night running around in a dirty cave.
Just like before, Sophie reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a penny. Heads straight, tails left.
But she hesitated. This felt like a bigger decision. She had already done this five, or six times. But this time she would be heading towards a noise, or away from it.
Everything inside her told her to run, to leave and never return. She could feel her anxiety grow, but instead of fleeing, Sophie took a deep breath and flicked the coin into the air.
Please be heads, please! She begged the universe, whoever made luck or karma. Maybe even God.
Oh gosh! Soph couldn’t even watch the coin flip through the air, couldn’t handle the anticipation. She just stared at the dark, crumbly stone wall as she heard the coin strike off something a few times before coming to rest at her feet.
And still she looked straight forward. Heads, heads, heads. She chanted, daring herself to look at that piece of metal.
Please.
Tails.
Shoot! Sophie could feel her breath rush out of her, dread quickly replacing it. She could always pretend that it didn’t happen. She could quickly pick up the coin and hurry on, instead of squeezing through that narrow opening.
But she couldn’t. She had promised
