CHPATER SEVEN
THE BEGINNING

IT'S EASY TO feel time slipping away like sand between my fingers with every box that I look into and find something that isn't a weapon. Since there are all kinds of things in the room, I come across clothes and some personal things several times. However, I do manage to find a hammer and a knuckle duster that has a knife sticking out from its side. 

One of the only two things that I focus on during those ten minutes is the ticking of the clock. The noise is nerve wrecking and makes the pressure, which is already very much there, worse. The other thing I focus on is wasting as little time as possible. Once I open every box I come across, I give it a quick look. If it has nothing helpful, I give myself another second to move things inside of it a little, then I move on. That's how I get my hands on two stun grenades. 

"Time's up!" Frost, our host, announces.

We gather around him and I take a look around, checking what everyone got — Seth and Tanner have guns that seem to by firing wooden stakes, Tanner also has a sword, Jacob has two wooden stakes taped to a handle, and Kate has two sickles. Frost stands next to one of the sets of shelves to open another passage that is filled with darkness.

"There it is," Frost says and faces us again. "Your one-way ticket is about to get punched. Don't come crawling back, cause once you go through these, I'm shutting the door."

Kate walks forward and stands in front of him, which immediately makes me uneasy because I don't know what she's going to say or do. "You keep acting like you don't care, but you keep helping us. Why don't you help us find our way out of here? You know your way down there, don't you?"

"I'm not partial to suicide missions," he says, but it seems to me that the girl's words are getting to him.

Maybe she thinks the same thing I do because she continues talking to him. "My brother's down there, alone, in the dark."

"Kate, the man has made up his mind." Jacob interrupts her.

Ignoring the preacher's words, I decide to try and help Kate, because I can't imagine someone staying here alone for longer than we had been here. "I noticed your dog tags. We could use your help. We'll help each other," I suggest.

"My family might survive if we stick together. Because we're better together. When we're alone, we're lost." Kate insists and the man's eyes shine with tears. "You say you're surviving, but you're just rotting away."

He looks at all of us again as he says, "This place will mess with your mind. It will dig deep down into your brain and stir up the most heinous shit." Then, he focuses on Kate. "Last time I was there, I was in Fallujah, 130 degrees in the reeds and smoke, dying of heat stroke. They dropped ordnance. Commend sends me to do a dead check. I find a little boy, shell done torn him in half. No clothes on, crawling to me, life just bleeding out of him. I wanted so bad to put him out of his misery, but I can't and he's just screaming. And no matter what I did, I just can't do anything to help him. So, the dogs come and finish the job."

"Don't be afraid of what's in there. Be afraid of what's in here," he says finally and taps his finger against his temple.

It's similar to what he has said a few minutes ago and I suppose that there's a reason. What he has been through sounds awful and even though we're all different people, I don't think this temple will make things easy for us. The only problem is that we don't have a way to protect our minds. We can only get out there and do our best to fight.

"Alright, enough," Seth breaks the short silence and walks out, weapon raised.

Tanner follows him and tells Frost, "It's been real."

The next one to leave is me. I feel bad about leaving Frost here, but he is a stubborn man that made up his mind and there is only so much we can do. I come to a stand in front of him and smile sadly at him. Leaving him feels worse than leaving Ranger Gonzalez did; Frost is stuck deep in the temple and has been through a lot of mental suffering. I truly that he'll get out.

"Thank you. Stay safe," I tell him, before walking past him.

After a few seconds, I hear Jacob and Kate following me and the hidden door to the storage room closing. We're alone in the dark hallways again and a part of me misses the safety of Frost's hiding place.

This part of the maze we're in seems darker and I tighten the hold on my weapons just in case. It's quiet again and I just hope that if danger will come our way, we'll hear it before we'll see it, so that we'll have a chance to figure out what to do, like earlier.

The same silence makes it easy for me to hear Kate and Jacob's voices, but I don't pay much attention to them. I focus on watching my step with the flashlight that I got and staying alert. However, when I hear Jacob talking to Kate in a panicked voice, I can't help but turn around to see what's wrong.

"Kate, what's wrong?" Jacob asks as I notice how distant and freaked out his daughter seems. "Kate! Kate!"

Worried as well, I start walking closer to Kate, who seems to be staring at nothing. Frost has warned us that this place will play with our minds, I just hope that she'll be able to snap out of it. I faintly hear Seth asking what's wrong behind me, when someone appears in front of us and grabs Kate, before disappearing into the darkness of the hallway's ceiling with her.

Jacob yells as Seth, Tanner and I hurry towards him. The three of us don't say anything but we all stare at the last place where we saw the girl. The Culebras have another advantage — this is their home and they know it much better than we do. My heart beats quickly in my chest as Kate's screams echo between the walls around us.

"We have to find her," I say to no one in particular.

A silent agreement seems to pass between the three men next to me before Jacob takes the lead. He is still slow with his movements, but I can notice the urgency in them. Seth's gaze meets mine before I look to where the preacher is heading. I really hope we will find Kate, not only for Jacob.

"Go ahead," Seth tells me and gestures for me to follow the other two men. "I'm right behind you, July."

We both join Tanner and Jacob. We continue our journey for the darkness and I make myself a mental note to pay attention to whatever's above us from now on. Kate's screams continue and it makes it easier for us to make our way through the maze until her voice seems to be close by and we hurry towards it.

Jacob leads us into a medium sized room, where Kate lying on an altar with her legs and hand tied. She's surrounded by a group of about five Culebras, who come to stand in front us, blocking our way to her. They look at us dangerously and I try to draw as little attention to me as possible as I make sure I still have a wooden stake on me.

Coming forward, Seth hold up his weapon and says, "Okay, She-nans!"

"It's Chanan," Tanner corrects him.

"Okay, Chanans!" the Gecko goes again.

To my annoyance, Tanner is still unsatisfied with Seth's pronunciation and he says, "No, it's a long—"

My gaze moves momentarily from the Culebras to the professor as I snap. "Not now!"

Fortunately, Seth doesn't waste any more time and says. "Professor, you go right. Jacob, go left."

"We're coming, honey," Jacob assures his daughter.

Since Seth hasn't told me anything, I look at him only to see that he's looking at me, conflicted. As much as I appreciate him taking the lead and all, we don't have time for him to figure out what to do with me.

"I'm going to watch Jacob's back," I tell Seth and follow the pastor without waiting for an approval.

The Culebras spread around the room like we do and soon, each one of us is approached by one of them. I let myself debate on what to fight them with — the stun grenades, unfortunately, won't be much use here — until I see a Culebra walking around, probably waiting for an opportunity to attack someone by surprise.

I head towards him with the knuckle duster and knife combination held tightly. It takes him a moment to notice me and it's a moment too late because the knife cuts through his neck. I pull it out and take another go at the same place while the Culebra growls in pain. Then, I take out a wooden stake and finish him.

Partly covered in the Culebra's blood, I look around. Tanner and Jacob are managing themselves, both killing their opponents. However, Seth is pressed against a wall by one of the creatures, who seems very close to killing him. Quickly, I come closer to them, hoping the Culebra won't notice me, before I push the same wooden stake into the middle of his back.

The Culebra disappears, leaving me standing in front of a relieved Seth. He stands up straight and even though he doesn't say anything, I know there's gratitude in the look that he gives me.

"Kate, I'm sorry, honey," Jacob says as he moves to start untying her hands and I decide to help and untie her legs.

"Did you guys see that?" Tanner asks, obviously distracted, "They tried to sacrifice her. Even after all these years, they are still practicing their rituals."

"That's fascinating, Spock. Let's get out of here," Seth says as the pastor and I free Kate.

"You all right?" her father asks as she stands on her feet again.

I take one step towards the way that we came from when other culebras walk in. There are much more of them now and even though we made it this far, there is no way we'll be able to take all of them out.

"Oh, shit," Seth curses and pulls me back by the arm.

"Looks like this barbecue is about to start," Tanner, who is now standing on the altar says. "It's Chanan stop action."

A wave of desperation washes over me as I stand behind Seth's protective arm. We're at a great disadvantage here, it might be the end for us. I still have a stun grenade with me, but it won't help us in a small place like this.

Suddenly, something explodes and kills several of the culebras. I don't remember anyone go real grenades and I'm about to look around our little group to see who did that when none other than Frost walks in. He is well armed, ready to fight.

"There's a passage, just beyond the altar," Frost tells us, but it takes me a moment to recover from my shock. "Move, Goddamn it! Go!"

"Come on!" Seth yells and heads towards the passage as he pulls me after him.

It's a mess of screams and urging to leave the place from then on. I think about Frost as I move towards the passage, but I only get one look at him before I'm out of there. What I see is him standing with a grenade in his hands. His name escapes my lips in a scream, but Seth holds me back and all I get to do is watch Kate try to yell for the sergeant, who keeps screaming at us to leave. I keep thinking that there must be another way, but Frost is already alone there, surrounded by the Culebras that we were supposed to fight off.

"June, come on. Please," Seth says as he keeps pulling me as far away as possible from the scene.

When I see Frost setting off the grenade, my survival instinct kicks in and I come back to my senses. I turn around from the man who sacrificed himself for us and hurry away from the explosion with Jacob and Kate in toe.

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I start to feel used to the maze we've been moving through for what feels like over an hour now. However, I keep expecting a new danger to appear at any moment as we rush through the passages. Seth stays by my side, which does give me comfort because it seems that he now cares to a certain level about me. The fact that it doesn't feel like we'll be getting out of here soon is what makes his presence next to me possibly nicer than it would be in normal circumstances. It's a little hard to think clearly when it feels like you're a prey that's being played with by the Culebras. 

At some point, Kate takes the lead and no one objects since it's not like someone here knows where we're going anyway. Our new quick tempo is more tiring, but I don't let it get to me too much. It's becoming harder and harder to have hope as time passes by and there is not even a hint of where there is an exit. I begin to prefer the thought of being upstairs at the bar again, where I personally felt safer. 

Considering the fact that I'm behind three people, I don't get to see too much of where we're going, meaning that Tanner and the remaining two Fullers are my eyes. So, when they come to a stop and Kate says it's a dead end, I slow down and groan in frustration.

"What?" Seth yells and goes forward to make sure that it is a dead end. 

"It's only the beginning," Tanner says and my attention snaps to him as I wonder what he's talking about.

Outraged, Seth asks, "We went in a big circle?"

The professor is focused on a broken artwork on one of the walls with a small smile. "No, no, no, no, no, no. It's good. It's the beginning of the ancient wards. It's a reference to the creation myth in the Popol Vuh. Rebirth, renewal."

Then, he starts repeating the words 'rebirth' and 'renewal' and keeps touching the artwork. The rest of us exchange confused glances since we have no idea what he's talking about.

"What are you doing?" Seth asks from behind the man. "Don't touch things."

Tanner doesn't listen to him and starts pushing the pieces together. He groans and I hope that nothing will move. The last thing we need is for him to summon more supernatural creatures or something like that. Then, I see he does manage to move the two pieces and I move closer to the professor panicked.

"Stop! Tanner, what the hell?" I yell at him.

The walls around us start shaking, causing to pieces of stones and sand to fall on us. I'm about to tackle Tanner when Seth gets closer to me and pushes me back, closer to the wall to try and keep me safe. I don't resist him because he is stronger than me, but I repeatedly scold Tanner in my head. I knew he would get us in trouble.

Suddenly, the shaking stop and something moves in one of the other walls. Glancing to my left, it seems that a part of the wall is a door that's leading somewhere else. Seth releases the protective arm that he had in front of me and walks over to it. He pushes it as Tanner gets back from the wall he touched. Within seconds, we see a long stairway that's leading up.

"Stairs... they go up," Seth says and turns to look at us. "Up is good, right?"

Behind me, Jacob says, "Better than down."

Instead of rushing up the stairs, I turn to the man who discovered us this secret way and I pull my knife out of my pocket. I point it at a startled Tanner and says, ''The next time you decide to start touching stuff without telling us what the fuck you're doing, I won't hesitate to cut you with this."

He raises his hands in surrender and says something, but I'm no longer paying attention because I'm walking towards Seth, ready to see where the stairs will take us. Luckily, the walk isn't very long, but I do start to feel my legs getting tired of how much I've been walking today. Then, we face another door and when Seth pushes it open, we see that it's leading to the parking lot.

"Ah, finally," Seth says in relief.

The fresh air is a nice change to the dust that was felt everywhere in the maze and relief washes over me at the sight of the outdoors. Before anyone can do or say anything else, I notice none other than Richie walking towards the RV.

"Is it Richie?" Seth asks in shock and turns to look at us. "He's still alive."

"Well, he looks pretty good for a guy who just got shot," Jacob comments.

A woman joins Richie and I recognize Santanico by her red lipstick and her long brown hair. Together, they get into the RV and I have a feeling that they're up to something bad. 

"Son of a bitch," Seth mutters. Unable to hold myself, I step out of the Titty Twister and glance to see who'll follow me. Seth turns to the Fullers and Tanner. "What are you waiting for, huh? We're free, let's get out of here."

"We can't, not without Scott," Kate replies and the mention of her lost brother makes my mood drop.

"I can stay back," Tanner tells Seth. "I'll help out."

As much as I would love to help Jacob and Kate, too, I can't bring myself to go back into the temple and wander in that maze again. Hopefully, Tanner's assistance will be enough for the Fullers.

When Seth is about to follow me, Jacob grabs his arm. The latter looks at him, making his guard immediately go up and he says, "Get your hand off me, Padre. I'm going to get my brother.

"Are you sure he's still your brother?" Jacob asks and hands Seth a wooden stake.

For a moment, Seth glances between the stake and the pastor. Then, he takes it.

"Good luck," Kate says, her blue eyes passing from the oldest Gecko to me. "And goodbye."

Seth says nothing before walking off. I look at the remaining trio at the doorway with a mix of emotions. I can't believe it's over. I also hope they'll find Scott.

"Be careful," I tell the Fullers.

Kate sends me a small smile and Jacob nods at me, then he pulls the door shut. It leaves me alone with Seth, whose gaze is set on the RV. He turns the wooden stake around in his hand and a part of me wishes that he wouldn't have to go, too, because once he'll walk away I'll be alone.

"As weird as it may sound..." I say and Seth's caramel eyes meet mine. I give him a half smile. "I hope things will work out for you, Seth."

He looks the slightest of surprised. Then, he nods and says, "You too. What are you gonna do now?"

Sighing, I look around at the desert and the abandoned cars that surround us. "No idea, but I'll try to make that vacation that I was planning on happen after all."

Smirking, Seth replies, "Sounds good... take care of yourself, June."

"You know I will," I smile and title my head to the side. He chuckles and nods. "You too."

With that, I watch him walk away and get into the RV. I stand there for another moment as I let it sink in that I'm free now. It feels surreal but a smile spreads across my lips as time passes and realization falls on me.

Since there isn't much for me to do, I approach the closest vehicles to me and start looking for a car that I can use. Everyone is dead, so obviously I can't ask for a ride or steal the keys from someone, but I do hope that someone was stupid enough to leave his keys in the car. So, I start going one car after the other. It's not my favorite choice since I'm someone who usually likes to follow the law, but it's my only choice. 

It's probably ten minutes later that I start feeling dizzy. I guess it's from the lack of water and food that I've been suffering from for several good hours. I try to close and open my eyes to make the dizziness pass, yet it doesn't help. So, I sit on the dirt next to one of the cars and lean my back on it. It doesn't make things better at first, but at least I know that I won't fall and hit my head.

Deciding to close my eyes, I try to relax and make myself a mental note to look for food or something to drink as well. Unfortunately, my head starts hurting again, making any attempt of relaxation pointless. Frustrated, I open my eyes to check if my vision got clear, however, I see I'm no longer outside of the Titty Twister. I'm standing in the middle of a darkness that seems endless and in front of me stands none other than the last criminal I had to deal with during my work at the police.

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Jeth are so cute in this chapter ahhhhhh

Get ready, because next chapter is going to be INTENSE.

Let me know what you think!