NOT TO MY surprise, Valdez was the first to scream.

We were sitting there, flat on our asses stunned, when Valdez Lors opened his mouth and yelled bloody murder. It only shook us up more, genuine fear replacing the initial surprise. So much so, that Dr. Lorenne Dench's arm slid through mine and she pressed herself against me. I could feel her body tense.

She couldn't see my blush, but maybe she could feel it.

Regardless, she didn't move, even when the three of us scrambled to our feet and tried to reorientate ourselves. It was almost pitch black, and the little air was thick with the smell of soil and rock. Valdez, who hadn't stopped the hysterics, hastily whipped out his flashlight and jerked it wildly from us to behind him.

"Holy gods —what the fuck. We're going to die —we're trapped down here and we're going to die —!" he shrieked, flailing his arms and causing the light from his flashlight to shake erratically.

Lorenne's hazel eyes went wide as she leaned away from him, shaken by his display.

"Valdez, calm down!" I hissed, slapping an arm across his shoulder. "That isn't going to help!"

"How can we be calm?" Lorenne cried. "We just fell through the ground. Is this another vision or something, Maya? What —what are we going to do?!"

"I —" I struggled. This...can't be a vision. There's no smoke, and no stench of death. Come to think of it, there was no sign of magic or gods, or even skeletons. "...I don't know," I breathed in answer.

"We're doomed!" Valdez then yelled, grabbing hold of my shoulders and shaking me like a rag doll. "If...if this was a vision, Dr. Dench and I wouldn't be here!"

He started hyperventilating through the screaming, clutching his head and screwing his eyes shut.

Lorenne and I hushed him desperately, filled with a foreboding about where we were and what might be underground with us. Huddled together and showered in dust, Lorenne and I pulled out our flashlights from our backpacks and sides and shone them around. Dark tunnels surrounded us in all directions.

Even though the scenery was dirt and earth, we could make out smooth golden and bronze stone in the shape of pillars along the walls. Lorenne hesitantly let go of my arm and shuffled there, before running a careful hand over the carved structures.

"There's some writings here," she quipped, shining her flashlight. "Maya, can you read them?"

I walked over and squinted in the harsh illumination. "It says something about...a maze that's never the same way twice. Its walls...they shift like the colour and...pattern of a chameleon's...skin? Yeah, skin."

Lorenne gasped. "Like a labyrinth."

"A what?" Valdez whispered, now quiet.

"You know," Lorenne scoffed, "those Ancient Greek mazes? There's one legend about a Minotaur who lived in a labyrinth and used to accept human children sacrifices so he would leave everyone else alone."

Valdez and I blinked at her rather suspiciously animated expression, which then faltered sheepishly.

"...Well, I guess then you and I will be fine, Lorenne," I deadpanned. The insult flew right over Valdez's head, and he gave no reaction.

"You don't think that there are monsters or anything down here, do you?" he did then ask nervously.

Lorenne shrugged, but I pressed my lips into a tight line. "Considering what's been happening to me for the past few days, it wouldn't surprise me," I said gravely.

"Let's climb back out, now," Valdez clipped, beginning to claw at the walls feebly.

The hole through which we had fallen had closed, plunging us in dry, musty darkness. I drew a breath.

"We're going to run out of oxygen," Lorenne then said. "We're underground in a pocket of what seems to be a system of tunnels. If we don't find a way out of here soon, then we're going to suffocate."

Valdez bit back whimpers. "I think that we should stay here and wait for them to dig us out."

Lorenne bit her bottom lip in thought. "As much as I agree with the logic behind that idea, don't you think that the ceiling would have caved in nearby by now if they had already started?"

Valdez paled as though he had seen a ghost.

"Let's go down the tunnels," I suggested.

"You mean the ones that change constantly?" Valdez reminded us, glancing down a tunnel.

"They'll change whether we stay or go," I deadpanned.

"We could split up and see who finds the fastest route out of here," Lorenne quipped.

"But how would we meet up?" Valdez pointed out.

"...Oh."

"I think that we should stick together," I said. "We can't see much down here and splitting up wouldn't benefit us, much less find the quickest route."

So we marched off into the tunnel to our left, with me leading the way, Lorenne beside me and Valdez at our heels. The only sound was our breathing, which we were keeping light for the sake of conservation, and the sound of soil crunching beneath our shoes.

Even with our flashlights, a chilling feeling followed me the deeper we went, light guiding our path but leaving where we had been in darkness. Anything could be in that darkness, silently stalking us.

I then felt a breath on the back of my neck —making me gasp and swing my flashlight behind us, as well as hit Valdez's arm again. He complained bitterly but shared in my apprehension as the light shone over the hallway, revealing only stones, protruding tree roots, dirt walls and old golden pillars.

I disregarded the breath, even though the hairs on my neck remained raised at attention.

We pressed on.

The smallest squeak, probably amplified by our paranoia and the heavy silence, then caused us all to suddenly jump out of our skin in terror. Our shaky flashlights converged towards the source of the sound —a mouse.

We all breathed a sigh of embarrassed relief, chuckling softly. We really were scared out of our wits.

My feet moved to carry on down the tunnel, but they froze when I felt warm fingers slipping through my own. I turned my head to find Lorenne Dench staring back at me innocently, her grip firming on my hand. I blushed and clenched my jaw, unsure if it would be too impolite now to jerk my hand away. She brought a finger to her lips in a sign for me to keep quiet.

I had hesitated for too long. So her hand stayed, holding mine. We are holding hands.

I tried not to short circuit.

We walked on as though it were natural, our hands between us and our shoulders brushing every so often.

To distract myself, I kept my attention on our surroundings. The carved warnings remained the same, but the actual carvings were messier, and hasty.

As though someone had been running out of time.

I swallowed, my grip on my flashlight tightening.

"We just need to remain calm," Lorenne said gently, her fingers flexing slightly. "There probably isn't anything here. So come on —let's keep moving."

I didn't like her use of the word 'probably'.

The heartbeat in my ears was growing deafening. But for the first time, I had the space to think about what I had seen. It all checked out —it was a large chasm that continued to shift and adjust, and I could have sworn that I had even heard it sing, as well. I had never felt anything that could change its shape beneath my fingertips. It made it harder to distinguish. But I had known, I realised, why we shouldn't be digging it up.

It wasn't just a feeling or shiver down one's spine.

This place is alive.