Blood Sonata

Alex groaned and shifted slightly. He was distantly aware that he wasn't
standing, nor was he touching the ground at all, but rather being
carried. He opened his eyes slowly. Sophie looked rather shaken up,
Chase was very angry looking, and he was on Marya's back. They were both
extremely gore-stained. He reached out towards Sophie with one hand.

"No,
don't...Looks bad...No killer, just us...Bodies..." he stammered. He
felt like his whole body was moving through syrup and his head was being
used as a bass drum. He groaned once more, blinking hard to try and
clear his head a bit. "We need to think of something else first..." he
said. "But...No police. We'll be the first suspects," he added. "A plan,
fi-"



Alex bolted upright, panting heavily and soaked in a
cold sweat. His dream had been too vivid. More like nightmare...
He took a deep breath, reaching up with one hand to rub his face. He
froze as his eyes made contact with the raw, pink flesh on his arms.
When did this happen...? he thought, recalling his arms hurting
in his nightmare.

He searched around for his phone, lighting up the screen to see what time it was.
6:30 AM, November 17th, 2012
He sighed. It had to have been a dream...

He
scrolled through his contacts, sending a message to Chase to see if she
had any strange dreams, and sorry for waking her, skipped by Marya, and
going to Nathan. Only, his number wasn't there. He texted Sophie to see
if she remembered anything, and scrolled back down to Marya, his finger
hovering over the 'call' button. He took a deep breath and clicked it.

Incessant meowing. That was all that Marya could hear suddenly. The weight that was Alex upon her back was lifted as if he weren't even there. The colors of the scene including the crimson of the blood upon her melted away. This was a dream. Marya opened her eyes, screaming. It was just like the psychosis episodes she used to have. A false reality that she was absorbed into where things seemed so real, but weren't. However, when she had awoken to the meowing ring tone of her phone, the so-called dream seemed like more of a memory. She answered the phone taking note of how early it was.

"Hello? Alex?" Marya breathed heavily into the phone, wiping her eyes with hands that she thought were covered with blood only to realize that they were perfectly clean. How could that be? What was going on? Why was Alex calling so early? "Sorry, but I just had...I guess...another psychotic dream..." She was silent for a moment, taking deep breaths to regain her composure. She always hated losing it. "What's up?"

Alex stayed silent for a few seconds. "Tell me. Tell me EXACTLY what happened," he said. His tone, usually rather carefree, was deathly serious. Nathan couldn't have just...disappeared. "Oh yeah, and after this, check your phone for Nathan's number," he added in quickly. He was practically shaking now. Nathan's number disappearing from his contact book, his arms being raw. It was...strange, to say the least. He bit his lip, anticipating Marya's answer.

The frantic nature of Alex's speech unsettled Marya, and just having awoken from such a disturbing dream didn't help her at all, but she tried her best to recall what happeend. "You know those disappearances? Well, the d-dream was about us going to investigate," Marya began to explain a bit uneasilly. She sounded weak which was another thing she hated. "We split up to search the lake and wound up rejoining at some weird rock that was covering up the entrance to some pit. Me, you, Chase, and Nathan went down...a-and..." She paused to think about what came next, for that was the most disturbing part. "W-well, you were kind of out of it. We went down some tunnel and eventually got to a room full of blood and dead bodies hanging from the ceiling." She didn't know why this was so important to Alex, though she figured that to someone on the outside looking in, it might be interesting. However, this went far beyond the scope of intrigue. "A monster crept up on us. It killed Nathan and almost killed you, but...you fought it off somehow and passed out. I carried you out with Chase behind me, and we were talking about what to do next, and then I woke up..." The note to check to see if Nathan's number was still on her phone was etched into her mind.

Alex's breath caught in his lungs. "No fucking way," he muttered. No. No. No, it couldn't have possibly happened. But...Marya was inflicted with psychosis, so it could have been some weird coincidence, right? Alex let out a shaky breath. "And that monster was tall, grey-skinned and red-eyed, right?" he asked. "What did my arms looks like? Did the mosnter try to strangle me?" His speech was coming out faster than he expected, and his voice carried a twinge of fear and nervousness. He thought even Marya sounded a little shaken up. That was definitely something that was bothering him. Nothing ever bothered her...

Marya's eyes widened and her body instantly set to shaking under the blankets and sheets. She nearly felt like screaming again, but instead, her mouth opened and remained agape as she struggled to figure out how Alex knew what the monster looked like...or why he was asking these kinds of questions. After a moment of silence, she responded, though it was more mechanical than anything, reluctant even. "Yes...tall...with grey skin and red eyes. Your arms...I think...I think they were covered in fur. Though after you fought it off after it tried to strangle you, your arms were all raw. It worried me; I had no idea what was going on...in the dream," she added the last bit about it being a dream because that's all it could have been. Just the psychosis coming back. It couldn't be real. No, it wasn't possible.

Alex laughed. It wasn't because it was funny; exactly the oppostie. He was terrified. "Well, my arms are pretty damn raw, and Nathan isn't in my contacts. I don't think it was a dream. We should..." he trailed off. "You know what, nevermind. I don't want to go near that place for a while. But...I know there's something weird going on with it. We'll have to go back sooner or later. Just...not for a while. I'm too freaked out," he said meekly. Maybe he sounded weak. He didn't care. Not anymore. He'd just lost one of his friends, even if he hadn't been super close to Nathan, they were still pretty good friends. Watching him die was horrible. It was like all those years ago, when his sister got hit...But this time, he wouldn't ever come back. He took in another deep breath. He counted his lucky stars that it wasn't Marya he'd lost. He swallowed hard. "I'm scared," he whispered. He didn't care what she'd think about that. He was trully scared, terrified, even. He couldn't even explain a single thing that happened. He'd spent the day at the lake, only to have some tragedy come along and wake up that morning? The whole ordeal was something Alex was contradicting himself with; he wanted nothing to do with it, yet at the same time he thirsted for the knowledge of what was happening.

"Then...then it really was real...," Marya nearly whispered into the phone. That was the only way to explain it, especially if Alex knew things about her dream--that just wasn't normal. That meant Nathan was really gone, and that monster had really existed, not to mention that place was still full of bodies and blood. Despite how strong she was, she was with Alex when it came to the decision not to go back, at least for a while. They had been drawn into something that was beyond them now, and it seemed as though there would be no escape. Alex said that he was scared. He'd have to be a block of stone not to be. "Don't feel bad. This...I hate to say it, but yeah, it's pretty fucking scary," Marya admitted, sounding cool about it like she hoped she would even though she was still trembling. "You wanna meet up for lunch tomorrow or something so we can talk about it?"

Alex let out a sigh of relief. "How about today? My parents are going to be gone for most of the day, and I'll probably go insane if I'm left alone for too long. I mean, if you're okay with it," he said, still sounding somewhat meek. He felt rather distant, like he was watching himself talk on the phone or something. He yawned, though he doubted he'd get any more sleep for a while. He could still see Nathan's body hitting the ground in his mind. A shiver crept over him again.

"Y-yeah, that's kinda what I meant anyway," Marya said, finding herself laughing despite all that had happened. "I'll come by your place around noon unless you want me to come by earlier. Just let me know now," she said, the small trace of a smile on her face fading into something more like anxious indifference. There was a part of her that screamed to just let everything go. Maybe THIS was just another psychotic dream. How could she even be sure what was reality anymore?

"Alright. I'll see you then," he said. "Later." He hung up, flopping back down and staring at the ceiling. Maybe he'd call Chase or Sophie later on, but for now he wanted to think for a few minutes. Nathan's face kept popping into his head, wide eyes and pale skin, mouth slightly agape, blood splattered everywhere. He rolled on his side, and his pillow felt wet after a few seconds. He tried rubbing the tears from his eyes, then gave in and started sobbing against the pillow. He decided to let it all out now. Alex wasn't one to let other people see him cry.


((Transcribed by me and Masq))

Chase woke up, her head feeling like crap. She pulled herself up and realized that she was on her bedroom floor and that she probably hit her head on the nightstand on her way down. She rubbed her eyes and felt the tears coming. She didn't know why, maybe it was because her head hurt so much. She saw her phone light up and went over to look at it, seeing that it was from Alex.

Weird dreams? She always had trouble remembering her dreams, but once she was reminded, she could almost recreate scene in her head. It was so frighteningly vivid, she trembled at the thought. Her worry continued to consume her when she scrolled through her contacts and saw that Nathan's number wasn't there.

no prob, was already up. and ya, i had weird one. have u heard from nate?

She twitched, anxiously waiting for his reply. Just to make sure she wasn't dreaming, she pinched her nose, knowing that she would still be able to breathe through it in a dream. She sneezed and snorted. Yeah, it's the real thing now.

Marya sighed and closed her phone, setting it next to her pillow where she normally kept it when she went to sleep. For about an hour she lie there on her bed, staring up at the ceiling expecting to see dead bodies hanging from it at any moment, yet everything stayed the same. Where was the distortion that would spirit her away to a different place and time? This wasn't a dream. No matter how much she wanted to blame this all on trauma, she had a feeling that this was about as real as things could get. She was aware that magic existed, at least in her little psychotic world she used to visit. Who would have thought that it lie dormant in this one all this time? Was it even magic?

Rolling over, the girl faced the wall now. She thought about going ahead and getting up. She didn't know how long she had slept. If what happened yesterday didn't happen, then when did she go to bed last night? Groaning, Mayra groggily sat up and grabbed her phone, shuffling through her contacts. She had forgotten to do it when she got off the phone with Alex, but she figured she might as well search for Nathan's contact information. However, as she scrolled through the relatively short list, she noticed that it wasn't there anymore. She shot a text to Alex to let him know:

Hey Alex. I looked for Nathan's number in my phone but it's not there.

Closing her phone, she swung out of bed and got dressed. Somehow, she had been wearing her pajamas. She tossed on a tight black tanktop and some rather short black shorts, tossing on her overcoat as she did so. It was pretty cold in the house anyway, but only because of Marya's blood condition which really didn't have a name. Her mom knew how hot Marya could get sometimes, so she kept it freezing in the place even throughout the winter. Maybe I'll eat a warm breakfast for once... she thought miserably as she headed downstairs.

Alex's phone went off once, then twice a short time later. He ignored them for the time being, sobbing quietly into his pillow. Nathan was gone...
After a while, he rolled over onto his back. He was done crying. He probably wouldn't shed a tear about it again.

He picked up his phone, reading both messages before going back to Chase's to respond. He replied, telling her to try calling him, then to Marya. His fingers hovered over the screen, since he didn't know what to respond with.

Okay

He figured his one-word response would be enough. He tossed his phone away and got out of bed. He pulled some clothes out, and headed to the bathroom to get ready.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

After taking a shower and getting dressed, Alex went to the kitchen and ate a bowl of cereal before flopping down on the couch and staring at the ceiling for a while. It was still only around eight or so; he had quite a while before Marya would come over. He decided to try and take a nap. He remained on the couch for several hours, completely still with closed eyes.

He sighed, sitting up and checking the time again, after his fruitless attempt at sleep.
10:30
He yawned. At least it wouldn't be too long before his friend would show up. He'd have to go check what was in the fridge later.

Chase decided that she'll call him later, since it was too early to be talking. But there was no way she could go back to sleep after nightmare. She quietly snuck out of her room, being careful not to wake up her brother or her uncle. She went into the kitchen and took a bag of chips before heading into the living room.
The room was still cluttered from when some of her brother's friends came over a few days ago. God, she'll have to clean this up later, since her brother's a lazy bastard and her uncle's always busy. She maneuvered over and around the mess, occasionally stepping on something that made it feel like her foot was being bent in half. She bit her lip and kicked it off to side.
She grabbed a large case in the back of the room and sat down on the couch. Inside of the case was an old violin. She laid down on the couch and started plucking, just loud enough so only she could hear. She continued plucking until the little lullaby she played lulled her to sleep.

She woke up a couple of hours later. Someone put the violin and the bag of chips away while she was asleep. She sat up and checked her phone. No messages since before, but she decided to try and text Alex again. That little rest helped her get her thoughts in order.
morning, please dun tell me that im the only one who lost nate's number

With her parents still in bed, and with her not in the mood to cook anything, Marya was forced to search the pantry for some strawberry pop-tarts and a glass of cold milk. She tossed the pop-tarts on a plate and headed to the dining room table to eat and drink in complete silence. She didn't even turn any of the lights on. There was something about the dim rooms that comforted her, for the rising sun was offering at least a bit of light outside which poured into the windows. Nibbling on the pop-tarts, Marya wondered how everyone else was holding up. What were they thinking about the whole ordeal? How did Nathan's number just vanish from her phone? It was a cliched instance of too many questions with no answers. She knew one thing for sure, and that was that she was in no hurry to go back to that place at the lake. Nightmares were sure to plague her if she ever managed to get some real sleep that wasn't steeped in psychosis.

The sound of the chair legs scraping against the floor broke the silence, and Marya stood up and walked over to the sink, washing up the small plate and glass she had used. There was no point in just leaving them in the sink, not to mention she had time to kill. Wondering what she should do until noon, she meandered into the living room and clicked on the tv. The early morning news was on, and the top story was of course the disappearances. She watched it for the hour that it was on before trudging up to her room and crashing on the bed with her Nintendo DS. The last game she was playing was The World Ends With You, so she decided to just keep playing. It was a good thing it was so addictive because it kept her distracted for hours. She checked her phone to see that it was verging on 11:30am. It was enough time for the girl to bike her way over to Alex's place.

Digging through her closet, she found some black boots that she put on before going back down the stairs. Her mom was in the kitchen, so she let the woman know she was heading out. With a curt wave, Marya left out the front door and onto the front porch where her black and white bicycle was resting. "Come on, old boy. I don't feel like driving today," she said to the inanimate object like it was a person, leading it down the steps and hopping atop it. She pedaled down the walkway and out onto the streets. It didn't take her long to get to Alex's. She agilely leapt off the bike and leaned it against his porch. Ascending the front steps, she came to a stop just in front of his front door which she proceeded to knock loudly upon.

Alex jumped to his phone receiving a mesage once more. Huh, must have dozed off, he thought, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Chase texted him again. He yawned, tapping out a message.

Dunno. I still have it...

He was lying, obviously. He would tell Chase and Sophie in due time, but first he wanted to figure out what was happening with Marya. Chase would probably call him crazy, and Sophie...He'd never hear the end of it if he told her. He yawned, flopping back down, when the door knocked. He rolled onto the floor, quickly shooting to his feet.

Hey pulled open the door, looking somewhat confused. "Oh. Hey, Marya, come on in," he said sheepishly, smiling slightly at her. "How are you feeling?" He might as well try to be casual. Maybe he'd be able to forget about the whole ordeal for a little bit. It'd be nice to take his mind off of things...

It wasn't too long before Alex opened the door. He looked a bit tired, though he was putting on a more nonchalant demeanor. It wasn't fooling her though, however she refrained from saying anything. Instead, she crossed the threshold into his home and closed the door behind her. In a flash, she embraced him, burying her head in his chest. She didn't know what had come over her, but the hours of silence and solitary gaming were pure torture. To finally see one of the others who had endured that nightmare with her was almost heartbreaking. She didn't say anything; she just stayed where she was and breathed, enjoying the feeling of touching one of her friends as if Alex could just die at any minute. Nathan never did get a proper goodbye. He had been a really awesome pal...a guy who she could count on to have her back in rough spots.

Finally, she backed off in the case she making Alex uncomfortable. She wasn't typically the touchy-feely type, or least not since the psychosis. Everyone had their breaking points, however, and she wondered if Alex had already broken down. Taking a deep breath, she threw him a sidelong glance and answered him. "I'm not doing too bad," the girl stated simply. "It's not like I'm not used to shit like this." The two years of psychosis helped. "The more important question is...how are you?" she shot back at him, a concerned look plastered on her usually hardened face, this time looking her friend right in the eyes.

Sophie woke up late that morning to her phone buzzing with texts and her face in the pillow like she had flopped on her bed and crashed. A black camisole and gray sweatpants were on her body instead of the black and white dress she had rolled around in in her dream. She was exhausted and sore in her wrist and ankle. It was like she had just woken up from a dream. Maybe it was her imagination acting up and actually affecting her body. She had no idea.

The iPhone was picked up by her good wrist without moving the rest of her body, and with one eye peeking out of the feather pillow, she scrolled through her texts. One from Lana, asking about going to the mall. Another from her nerdy stalker, Jason, asking yet again about a date. A third from her friend Alyssa about a trip to the Hamptons that summer. A fourth from Alex. He never texted her. And this particular one was about Nathan. Why would he ask if she still had his number in her contacts? Nonetheless, she scrolled through three of the Nathans she knew. The fourth was gone.

No, no Nathan. WTF. she texted in response with a sigh in the pillow.

For the next hour, she laid like that. Not sleeping, not getting up. The housekeeper, Carlotta, came in and nudged her. "Your dress from yesterday is muy sucio. I liked that one, and now I have to leave it in the hands of a corporation. You won't be able to wear it until next week. It's already at the dry cleaners, and don't complain if you get it back ruined. Now, get up. Breakfast is in the kitchen." said the sassy Hispanic woman. Sophie loved her. She was so funny when she wasn't furious.

"Si, Carlotta." she said, rolling off the bed and on the floor.

"Princesa, ay Dios mio. You're not yourself today. You're all bruised and scratched. What did you do yesterday?"

"Just tripped and fell in the woods."

"Stay out of there, Princesa. There's those disappearances happening to people your age. I don't want you to go next. There was a boy on the news last night who didn't come home after saying he was going in. Nathan or something."

Sophie's eyes widened, but she said "Carlotta, I need some privacy." before the woman nodded and left. Sophie stood and hobbled into the bathroom to draw a jet bubble bath. She needed to clear her head. But that didn't end up happening, as she kept checking the phone for a response from Alex.

Alex's phone lay forgotten on the couch, as it buzzed in response to Sophie's text. He was currently frozen in place, shocked that Marya was embracing him. She never touched anyone for more than a few seconds. A full-on embrace? Unheard of.

He nervously put his arms around her, his cheeks turning a slight pink. He squeezed her tightly, not really wanting to let go. It was comforting, he'd been feeling down, and Marya was here now. Knowing she felt the same made it easier somehow, and he knew that they'd get through this together. And suddenly they were separated. He looked away, scratching underneath his eye to try and hide the light tint to his cheeks. "I'm...I'm fine," he said, his voice quieter than it had been previously. He looked back up, making eye contact with her.

"I miss him already," he added, his eyes tearing up again. Dammit... he thought, reaching up to rub furiously at his eyes. "Sorry, something in my eye," he mumbled trying to hide the tears that were starting to appear again. He turned away from his friend for a moment, trying to regain his composure.

His arm dropped and he glanced back at Marya. "Sorry," he repeated, tears streaming down his face again. "I told myself I wouldn't cry about it, but I guess I am anyways." He smiled slightly at her, wiping his eyes again. "Dammit..."

A frown formed on Marya's face as Alex said he was okay, but started to tear up at the thought of Nathan. Marya wouldn't cry for her fallen friend. She would honor him by keeping thoughts of him tucked away within her heart which was hopefully outside the realm of her psychosis. Problems of the mind hopefully would not affect what she held dear to her heart. "You don't...you don't have to apologize...," Marya spoke up quickly. There was no need for him to think that he had to be sorry for showing his grief over Nathan's death. The way she reacted, she hoped she wouldn't come off as cold. "I'm going to miss him too. It's not going to be the same without him," she offered. It was the wholehearted truth. What am I going to do now that my rumble buddy's gone? she sighed in her mind, her frown growing in intensity.

"I...I kinda feel bad for leaving his body back there," Marya told Alex, though she wasn't going to be sheepish about it. "After you passed out, I had to get you out of there, and Chase was hot on my heels. We just felt it was too dangerous. Though I guess it didn't really matter," she explained, her voice trailing off as the realization donned on her. Even if they had gotten Nathan's body out of the chamber, it wouldn't have mattered. She had Alex on her back and she didn't wake up with him in her bed. Nathan would have wound up...where did he wind up? Was his body still down there? He couldn't exactly have dreamed anything dead. No, enough of those morbid thoughts...ugh, she reprimanded herself flatly, placing a hand on her own cheek to soften her expression somewhat.

Alex dragged his sleeve across his eyes, wiping up his tears. He took a deep breath to steady himself. Memories of all the times they'd hung out, all the good times they'd had, all the laughs, came flooding back to Alex. His hands curled up into fists, and his sorrow started turning to vengeance, burning hotly in his heart. The things he'd said earlier about not wanting to go back to the lake for a while were instantly forgotten. He walked over to the couch, where his jacket was crumpled up. He shrugged it on, then pulled on his shoes. "Forget what I said earlier. I...I need to go back," he said, pulling up his hood, so that only half of his face was showing. His voice was different too; strong and steady where it had been shaky and full of grief only moments before.

He fished his car keys out of his pocket and stepped out the front door. "I'm sorry for being so sudden, but I feel like I have to go. You don't have to go, but...I-I just have to," he said defiantly, standing on the porch, staring at Marya with eyes black as a moonless night. His entire body language changed over the course of a few seconds; His eyes were cold and calculating, he stood straighter, his expression was calm, but full of rage underneath the surface. He looked rather relaxed, though it was a strained relaxation, much like how a tiger looks before it pounces.

"So are you in?"

Although it was extremely unsettling news, Marya wouldn't be much of a friend if she forced Alex to go back to that place alone. She always had his back, no matter how frightening it would be. I guess I really am still a normal girl on the inside, she thought as she wordlessly stepped out onto the porch with Alex, closing the door behind her once again. She readjusted her overcoat before giving him a confident smirk. "Is that even a real question?" she shot at him lightly. "Of course I'm in. I'm not about to let you go back to that place alone," she added more firmly. Surely he knew this already, but there was no harm in asserting the truth. To hear it out loud seemed to make it that much more real, and it gave her more strength than she already had.

Her gaze shifted over to his car and she gestured to it with a hand. "I know we're not in the most dire hurry to get there, but shall we get moving?" she offered. The longer they waited, the more chances there would be for hesitation. All it took were thoughts of more of those creatures lurking around near the lake, or perhaps the death of another friend to drive them to abscond from their current mission. What would they find this time? Was that monster the only one? Deep in her mind, Marya no longer wished for confrontation. A deranged, kidnapping psychopath was something she could handle. Going head to head with some kind of freakish monster in combat was something she could only do in her psychosis-steeped dreams. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that. She had her fingers crossed, not literally though. She would show no sign of weakness as she usually did. She wanted Alex to be able to depend on her.

Alex smiled slightly. He was glad that Marya still had his back. He didn't even think of taking Chase or Sophie, and truth be told, he wouldn't want them to come along anyways. Sophie was just a liability, and while Chase could handle herself, Alex trusted Marya more. He unlocked his car, hesitating a few steps in front of it, and turned around to face Marya again. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but instead wrapped her in a hug. It didn't last but a few seconds before he stepped away and got in the car.



It wasn't a very long drive back to the lake, so the duo arrived several minutes later. Alex got out of the car, and after taking a few steps, the boy heard a voice. He turned around, coming face to face with a slightly overweight police officer. "You can't be here, boy," he growled.

"I can be where I want," Alex replied sourly. "Why would I not be able to be here? Was somebody murdered?"

"No, but people have been going mis-" The officer began.

"I am aware. However, I do not see any police tape or markings stating that this lake has been closed off otherwise," Alex retorted. The police officer glared at him.

"How about you leave, and I don't arrest you for hindering an investigation?" he threatened. Alex sighed. He shrugged and got back into the car.

He drove about halfway down the road back before pulling off to the side."Hope you didn't think I was giving up," he said with a grin. He got out of the car once more, shutting and locking it. "Since the perimeter is pretty well forested, we'll go through that." He nodded at his friend, beginning the trek back to the lake.

Marya walked over to the car with Alex where she was met with an impromptu hug which she didn't resist. It didn't last long, and it was somewhat comforting, not to mention in a more morbid way, it might be considered as a gesture of departure from this life, for if they met anything at the lake like they did last time, there was no telling if they would be able lucky enough to survive again. As he broke the embrace, she meandered to the passenger's side and hopped in. The drive to the lake was short and silent, and as they tried to approach, they ran into some trouble. Marya was instantly wary and alert; there could be some real asshole cops sometimes, and this one was acting like a major douche, even if he had their best interests in mind. It seemed as though Alex was going to relent, at least until they had drove a bit back along the road and parked on the side. They would go on foot which was perfectly fine with her.

"I came through the woods last time, remember?" Marya called out to her friend as she got out of the car. "I didn't think you'd give up that easily," she tacked on confidently, following her friend as he entered the forest and headed to the lake. Her thoughts were filled with the fact that they hadn't found a body. Did that mean they hadn't discovered the underground tunnels and chambers yet? There were plenty of dead bodies hanging out down there, including Nathan's. She was certain they had left the secret entrance open. Did someone or something come along behind them and close it off? She nearly felt like just collapsing right there. There could be more of them... she thought, muscles tensing as she made her way, checking behind her every so often as Alex pressed forward.

Alex chuckled. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that," he replied. "Your normal actions must be foreshadowing to my plans or something," he joked. He was regaining his composure somewhat, though he still looked rather apprehensive. His eyes scanned over every inch of his surroundings as he walked. His caution was almost unnoticeable as he walked, though he paused at every rustling bush and every creature dashing through the undergrowth.

They finally arrived a while later. Alex stuck his head out from behind a tree, checking to see if the cops were near. "All clear," he whispered, darting out to the shore, where the rock that marked the secret path had been a day before. This time, only a plywood board covered it. Alex cocked his head to one side. "This is...odd." He shrugged and flipped it over, exposing the entrance once more. He paused, taking in a deep breath and turning to Marya. He stared at her for a few seconds, then nodded and hopped down the chute.

It wasn't sloped anymore, just a hole that was about fifteen feet down. A ladder was embedded in the wall, but Alex wasn't going to be bothered with using it. He hit the ground rather hard, sinking to one knee, but he rose and dusted himself off as if he'd only hopped off a couple of steps instead of a fifteen foot hole. He took a few steps forward, glancing around the room while he waited on Marya. The darkness that had been such an obstacle the last time he'd been down here seemed to be lifted. His eyes seemed to adjust to the dark, and he could see everything as if there was a tiny fire behind him, casting a dim light over everything.

He smirked, noticing that the entrance he made was still open. That means that everything I did here yesterday stayed, even though time went backwards...I wonder if that thing is still down here... His hands curled into fists. Whatever that was that attacked him was pretty damn scary. Hopefully it wouldn't make a reappearance.

"Sounds logical to me," Marya spoke in response to Alex's comment of foreshadowing, her tone as aloof as she could make it. In reality, she knew that it probably wasn't the case, but it would have been odd for her actions in the present to be a template for what would eventually happen in the future. One could say it was almost...crazy? She laughed a little to herself and followed Alex into the forest. Vivid memories of what supposedly happened yesterday filled her mind. The same chill. The same kinds of trees. The same leaves and twigs crunching underfoot. The sounds, sights, and smells made her feel a bit sick to her stomach, at least until they reached the edge of the forest closest to the lake. She kept her ears open as Alex looked around. He gave the 'all clear', and she made a break for the secret entrance, purposefully slowing down her pace to stay behind Alex.

Upon reaching the entrance, Marya noted the piece of wood boarding up the entrance. Someone had to have come by to do that, surely. She met Alex's gaze for what seemed like an eternity to her, but eventually he took a leap of faith into the hole which, upon closer inspection, wasn't sloping anymore. There was a ladder, but that was no fun. "Look out below," she said slyly with a mischievous smirk to herself, knowing full and well that Alex wouldn't be able to hear it. The breeze blew just a bit as she leaped up into the air and descended, her black overcoat flapping gracefully as she fell straight down. When she grew close to landing on the ground, she quickly curled her body up and rolled along the ground. She rolled a few feet and uncurled her body, using the momentum to flip herself up, landing on her feet while brushing herself off.

"That was a pretty long drop," she stated flatly, her body trembling a bit and aching to a slight degree, but otherwise, she was perfectly fine. She had endured worse in her nightmares. Looking around, she noticed that not much had changed when it came to the actual underground part. The ladder had been off-putting. Someone had to have known. Or something. "We can't be the only ones here, Alex," she said to her friend as a word of caution that she was sure he knew, but it never hurt to iterate it. Things were ten times more suspicious this time around, but they wouldn't be caught by surprise again.

Alex snickered. "Maybe it's a long drop to lesser beings," he said confidently. Both he and Marya had taken it like pros. Which was weird, because as far as he knew, neither of them actively jumped off things...

The water was gone, but otherwise, everything seemed to be the same. He stepped through the hole that was made in the bricks, and through the chambers and hallways that were nearly exactly the same from the previous trip to this dungeon. When he stopped in the room that had the spineless corpse, the light from the ceiling revealed no bodies.

Alex stopped, swallowing hard. Though the body wasn't there, he figured it'd be worse in the next room. He walked up to the wall. "Marya, come here," he said. "We have to touch the wall again, I think." He took in a deep breath, pressing his palm against the wall.

Lesser beings? Did he think they were something special? Thinking about it again, the hole was deeper than 10 feet which would normally break bones. I could understand me not getting hurt; I know I've faced worse, even if it was only in dreams, but Alex... Marya thought, mulling over her friend's ominous words. Maybe he was just playing around because it was astonishing that they had made it down the hole unscathed. Shaking her head, she brushed the thoughts aside and followed Alex through the hole and along the tunnel into the room where that one body had been yesterday, the one that Alex morbidly kicked, essentially desecrating it for no reason. However, it came to both of their attentions that the body was gone. So was the water, for that matter. Could it really have dried up that quickly?

"All right," Marya affirmed, walking up to the brick wall that Alex was placing his hand upon. Yesterday he didn't even ask; he had just grabbed her. She was glad he didn't try a stunt like that again. As such, she placed the palm of her hand against the cool wall, awaiting some sort of reaction like there was yesterday which would allow them access into the chamber where the monster had stumbled upon them. Images of the hanging corpses filled her mind, along with the seemingly expansive sea of blood. Her skin tingled at the thought of having the red, sticky liquid upon her skin again, and she braced herself for what would be on the other side.

The wall wasn't moving. Alex kept his hand against the wall for close to a minute, and still nothing happened. He sighed angrily, pulling his hand away. "Maybe there's a puzzle we have to do," he suggested, looking around the room. The room was absolutely empty, nothing but a grey brick cube. No markings or objects of any kind...

His eyes focused on the small hole in the ceiling. He walked under it, staring up at the bright circle that it formed. He sighed again. "It doesn't look like anything's going to hap-" he stopped, whirling towards the entrance.

Those red eyes again.

Alex took in a sharp inward breath, staring up at the thing that was approaching him. "Nihtgenge," he said. Didn't it say that yesterday, too? Alex thought. It regarded him cautiously, as if the boy were a loaded gun that could go off at any moment.

It took a step closer, and Alex growled. Literally growled. His back hunched over a little bit and he bore his teeth at the thing like he was some sort of wolf. Red-Eyes laughed, a horrible sound like stone and steel grinding against each other. A burning pain started along Alex's arms again, and in his mouth. Before long it felt like his entire body was burning, so he unceremoniously tore his jacket off and tossed it away. Every muscle along his arms and neck were bulging, like they were about to explode. His veins popped, and his entire body just seemed ready to snap. Red-Eyes stopped in it's tracks, and took a step backwards as Alex stepped forwards. It hissed, and Alex lunged, barreling into it.

Alex landed on top, with his hands on it's shoulders. It tried to shake him off, but the boy held tight, managing to get his balance and stand half-way up. He dragged Red-Eyes off the ground and hurled him into the wall. He charged at it before it could recover. It raised it's hands, keeping Alex about a foot away. They grappled for a few seconds, before Alex once again got the upper hand, wrapping the thing in a bear hug. Red-Eyes snapped at his neck, and Alex snapped back, actually sinking his teeth into the thing's grey flesh. It howled in pain, black blood bubbling from the wound.

It's scream got higher and higher as Alex's teeth sunk deeper and deeper into it's neck. It's voice hit a climax and it exploded into ash--blood and all. Alex backed off, coughing up the ash. His entire body seemed to relax, and he set a hand against the wall to steady himself. "Well, I guess that's one way to open the wall," he remarked, watching the wall slowly start to collapse.

He kicked the last few bricks down and stepped in. The room was almost the same. Bodies strewn about, blood coating the floor... He scanned through the bodies, but he couldn't spot Nathan's... Nor did he really want to. He stopped to take in a few deep breaths and slowly proceeded through the mass of corpses, feeling slightly sick to his stomach. "It's...It's the same."

He leaned forward, his hands on his knees. Whatever happened to him when he was fighting Red-Eyes really took it out of him. "There's got to be more of those things," he remarked idly. He took a few steps ahead, freezing when a corpse's arm came into contact with him. He whirled towards it, one arm upraised. It was an auburn-haired girl. She was slightly pale, and rather pretty, Alex thought. She didn't seem too bad though. He couldn't see any injuries, and she was hanging by her shoulders. He reached out an touched her face. Still warm... he thought. He sighed sadly, mourning silently for the lives lost. He was starting to turn around once more when he saw her finger twitch from the corner of his eye. "Hey Marya, come here...I think this one's still alive."

He got the girl down, kneeling in the blood with the girl wrapped in his arms. He swept the hair away from her face. "She's still warm," he explained, moving his fingers to her neck to check her pulse. "I can feel her heart, too..."

A grimace set itself in stone upon Marya's face. It was fitting, especially since giving hardened looks was something she did quite often, mostly at school and such. Taking her hand from the brick, she noticed that Alex had spied something--it was the monster from yesterday. What happened next was much like a blur as it was the previous time. Alex stepped forth to combat the creature, and the transformation was very clear to her this time. It led her to the conclusion that made the most sense at this point: Alex wasn't human, or at least not completely. How else could she be standing there watching him effectively fight this otherworldly creature? He was actually doing really well. Marya slammed her hands over her ears as the grey creature shrieked, presumably from Alex's vicious bite to its neck. The screaming reached such a pitch that Marya cringed, her sensitive ears amplifying the sound, but as quick as it had climaxed, it was over, and Marya let her arms fall to her sides. Alex turned back to her, and it seemed he was back to normal, awfully unfazed by what had just happened, but she wasn't about to make a huge deal about it. He mentioned there were more.

"I guess that wouldn't be something that would be hard to believe," Marya admitted with a sigh, turning to see the brick wall crumbling, offering them a way to go farther into the underground area, though she knew what would most likely rest beyond. As she followed Alex into the next chamber, she realized she had been right. The giant pool of blood. The hanging corpses. It was just as it had been before, though she wasn't exactly pleased with that. Apparently, the corpses weren't all corpses, as Alex pointed out one who appeared to be still alive. He managed to get her down himself, but she walked over in the case that he needed any kind of assistance. Still warm. Heart still beating. It was likely that this girl could be saved.

"It goes without saying that we need to get her out of here," Marya said sharply, her adrenaline suddenly surging like a mighty river through her blazing bloodstream. Why did this situation feel so familiar to her? Having to take action quickly in the midst of a chaotic situation...even though it wasn't the most chaotic at the moment. With Alex mentioning there were more of those creatures, it would only make sense that things could go terribly wrong in naught but the blink of an eye. They could save this girl's life if they were fast enough. "Now's not the time to dawdle; this is serious." It was another case of obvious, yet no harm in iterating. Marya paced over to the exit of the chamber. "Shall we?"

The girl's auburn hair fell away from its position framing her face as she was laid down, fluttering behind her so that the tips dipped slightly in blood, becoming a whole new sort of red. Her face was mostly calm, as if she were sleeping; but the message it sent could have easily been distorted simply by how mystically attractive it was. Fair skinned, slender, cute auburn freckles spread nicely across the bridge of the nose...her eyes were closed, only her long lashes visible; not a bit of the eyes. A small smudge of blood was smeared across her right cheek.
Once or twice one could see her eyelids flutter, as if she were in some dream. Her small, pale pink lips twitched into a pout-like frown.
Just an unpleasant dream...
Only some dream...
Her eyelids fluttered, unveiling a brilliant blue and yellow before rapidly closing again. The girl squirmed, moaned slightly, and then twitched before going limp. Should Alex pay closer attention he'd feel his arms getting warmer by the second, skin hot and wet...sticky. Should he look down, he'd see blood.

Blood, blood...there was no way she was only in an unpleasant dream. Someone or something had slashed her small shoulder, the wound curving around the contours of her body to end at the small of her back. It didn't seem deep but it was bleeding like hell, her skin becoming paler and paler.

The girl's lips moved as if they'd whimper but then stopped again, her body twitching as she squeezed her eyes shut tighter still. The black and gold tips of her auburn hair soaked up the blood they brushed against, sleek by now.

Alex nodded at Marya, slowly getting to his feet with the girl clutched close to his chest. He felt her move a few times, and as he looked down, a soundless whimper escaped her lips. Alex half-walked, half-jogged out of the blood-soaked room. He needed to get out of here, quickly. If one of those things popped up, he didn't know if he'd be able to defend the unconscious girl. "Y-yeah. Let's get out of here," he replied to Marya.

He traversed the maze of the dungeon rather quickly, and before long they were back at the entrance. He stared up the chute, swearing rather loudly. "How are we going to get her up? I mean...I could try putting her on my back, but I highly doubt it would work. And I'm not sure if she'd survive falling off," he said. He shifted her gently, but even so, a torrent of hot blood ran down his arm. Alex bit his lip. He needed to get her out of here, fast. "Dammit...She's bleeding still," he stated, looking back up at his friend with a frenzied look in his eyes. "Got any ideas?"

Getting the confirmation from Alex, Marya stepped aside as he arose and rushed out of the chamber. She followed close behind him, covering the rear. She didn't know how deep or expansive the dungeon-like area was, but she was sure that, given the circumstances, they could run into trouble at any moment, and she wanted to be prepared for that. It didn't take long for them to reach the entrance now, but the girl they had found was bleeding, and like Alex had said, carrying her on one of their backs was too risky. He looked to her to come up with an answer, and though it was crazy just thinking about it, she knew she had come up with one. "Let me see her for a moment," Marya said firmly, seizing the girl carefully from Alex's grasp. She felt like nothing in her arms luckily, and that bolstered Marya's confidence. "Man, the nostalgia," she said audibly, grinning. She took in a deep breath and crouched as low as she could to the ground.

Airborne. Marya had sprung up with such force that it shocked her. She wasn't expecting much, in her mind at least. However, here she was, the air tousling her hair as she surged upwards and out of the hole. For the time that she was at the peak of her ascent, she felt as though time had slowed down. This...this was the sort of thing she could only do in her dreams. Sure, normally she could jump fairly high, but...this was something else. Reality hit her like a ton of bricks and she used the momentum of her jump to move her body over, landing safely upon the ground next to the entrance, the girl still safely in her arms. There was nothing wrong with Marya either, except for the fact that her blood felt like it was on fire now more than ever, and her eyes...they felt a bit weird. Someone looking at them would notice they had a slight glow to them. She stood up quickly and looked down the hole.

"We made it out all right, Alex! Hurry!" Marya called down to him. The biggest obstacle was getting the girl out of the hole safely, but now that that had been cleared, it was time to put the pedal to the metal. They had no time to waste. The girl needed prompt medical attention, and getting caught by the cops loitering somewhere in the area would not be good for them at all.

Alex stared up at the ladder for a moment in utter confusion. Did she just...? He took a running jump towards the ladder, scrambling up it quickly. He jerked his head towards the woods, practically leaping to the treeline. "Go on ahead, I'll watch you back," he told Marya.

They sprinted through the trees; double-timing it to Alex's car. In half the time it took to get to lake originally, they were back at the car. Alex nearly ripped the back door off the vehicle when he opened it. He wasted no time getting into the car and peeling out. "Can we take her to the hospital? They'll ask us questions...And we're both soaked in blood. Could we just...drop her off or something?" He bit his lip. They'd have to decide fast, the hospital was only a block away.