miss_madamee
|• you never gave up on me, even when I did •|

"How far?" Yawned Dianne. "Are you sure about the coordinates?" Lyra nodded and paced on, her heart beating faster than she expected.

This is it, this is the end.

She sucked in a breath before glancing at Lincoln. He looked at her at the same time, their gazes colliding, their hearts beating faster and faster, almost running. Lincoln slid his hand into hers and squeezed it, their intertwined fingers rubbed against each other, sending shivers through their spines.

"It'll be alright," he said, enough to make her believe that she was in the right. "We'll make to the end."

"Together?" Lyra asked.

Lincoln brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "Always."

"Aww, my little love birds," cooed Croy. "May death do you apart." He blinked a few times and pretended to wipe away a tear.

"Oh shut up, Croy." Lincoln retorted with the widest smile Lyra had ever seen on his thin lips. It made her smile too.

"Yeah yeah, mans blushing, I see," sniggered Croy. "Don't start fainting on each other next." River joined his taunts as Axixa rolled her eyes.

"How much further?" Dianne whined.

Lincoln glared at Dianne. "That's my line, how dare you steal it!"

"Whatever." She snorted as Amybeth giggled. "Lyra, how long?"

"Just about..." Lyra watched the green dot curve around the bushes as she moved. "Here." They all followed her gaze to the left.

Dark green leaves hung above the entrance, they cast droopy shadows on the rock surface below their feet. The green hid the ancient cracks on the rocks. Within the small cracks, water gushed down and disappeared into the stream behind it. Lincoln blushes his hands along the surface, just before his eyes met the engraving on the stone.

This is an entrance, one without exits.

He let his fingers hover on the cursive letters. The words had great power on him. They were simple words, yet he felt like he understood them. How the words felt caged to a monster known as a sentence. Like he felt to a knife. How the words were stuck in the embodiment of a sentence. Like he was in the program.

Lyra heaved a sigh. "Let's go in." She pulled a lip and walked in as silently as possible.

"What are we looking for exactly?" Axixa asked whilst inspecting the scratches and bloodstains on the rocks. "Or do we just walk on."

"Just walk on, and if you see anything strange, like an exit, like a door, or a box or a—"

"Hole?" Amybeth interrupted Lyra as she balanced herself on the edge of the deep and wide burrow. "Should we go in?"

"Why not?" Croy smiled widely. "And please do note the sarcasm."

"I am not, under any circumstances, going in there." Lincoln spat as he backed away.

Dianne placed her hands on her hips. "And I thought you were a man." She rolled her eyes and dug the hook of the metal wire in between the cracks of two boulders. "Well, I'm not a baby like you."

Lincoln huffed as Dianne knotted the rope around herself. "I am not a baby! And I am a man!"

"Prove it!" Dianne screeched as she plunged herself down the hole.

"Dianne?" Lyra glanced down the hole. "Dianne?" She received no response. "Dianne?" Lyra started to panic, her heart erratic, and scared. "I'm going in there."

"No!" screamed Lincoln. "You aren't going in there."

Lyra slapped his shoulder. "She's my friend so shut up and help me down."

"No—"

Lyra had already jumped in before Lincoln could speak.

"Great, I guess we are going in too." Croy didn't bother to attach anything around him, instead, he jumped in. "Guys, come down, the ground is actually soft." River shrugged and followed Croy with Axixa and Amybeth behind him. "Lincoln?"

"Fine," grunted Lincoln before cautiously climbing down. His foot slipped as he fell onto the ground. "Ouch! Who dare say this is soft." They all ignored his remark and carried on walking. Lyra pulled out a portable glowing orb, it illuminated the curves and sides of the cave and created towering shadows of the seven.

"It's cold here." Shivered Amybeth. "And I don't like it."

—

They walked on for an hour before stopping to examine the walls.

"Maybe there's something in the walls?" Dianne suggested. "Or on the floors."

Lyra shook her head. "There would at least be some kind of clue."

"There has to be a reason why the door brought you to this cave, right?" Lyra didn't answer Dianne's question, her mind frantically searching for a way out. "Lyra?"

A sudden cacophonous screech erupted through the tunnel, shaking the rocks within. They all pressed their hands to their ears, but it was of no use. Their heads seemed to be ripping in half, the sound was like knives in their minds. Rocks started to fall from the above. A boulder snapped and was falling down, falling onto Axixa and Croy. Before any of them could say anything, the boulder had touched the floor and erupted into pieces.
The shrieking stopped.

"Axixa? Croy?" cried Dianne, "Axixa!" She shrieked louder.

"I'm here." A quiet voice piped from behind them. They snapped around to see a perfectly fine Axixa standing inches away. "I... panicked and ran... and I'm here." It didn't make any sense to them, their minds seemed to not function anymore.

"And Croy?" River asked, paranoid.

"He didn't... make it." cried Axixa, "He's there." She pointed at a limp hand peeking from under the boulder.

"No!" River cried furiously as he grabbed his hand and caressed it. "Don't leave me alone, Croy." Lyra felt her tears fall at his words. They were futile, her tears, and his words, they never brought anyone back.

—

They trudged on, their bodies were tired and sticky from sweat.

"I see light!" Amybeth smiled in the dark. Perks of light-filled into the cave.

This is it, this is the end.

Their feet quickened, eager to get out.

Lyra stumbled and nearly fell as her eyes met the carpeted floors on the other side. "We're back. At the building. Two lefts from the Pitch hall." They filed out of the dingy hole and gazed around.

Dianne felt rage boiling on the surface. "I thought you said this is the end! I thought you said you had the right coordinates!"

"I'm sorry... I used my instinct."

"Instinct? That's bullshit. One of us, our friend, died because of you! Because of you and your stupid instinct." Dianne spat at Lyra, tears cascading down her face. "Jude was right, you are a monster. A mindless and pathetic monster." She stormed away, leaving a heartbroken Lyra. The rest of them left her alone, except Lincoln.

"She's wrong, you are no monster." Lincoln pulled her closer to him and buried his face in her hair. "You are Lyra."

I am both.

—

Life is a circle, right?

Yet there's an end to it.

Maybe it was the end, maybe they didn't look close enough.

Thoughts?