As the four stepped into the darkness, they all knew it was their own will taking their feet and walking down. But with how much they stomach twisted into knots, and their instincts told them to run, it felt like there was another force, urging them deep, deeper down.

Tulip took her hand, and brushed it against the wall, before immediately snatching her hand back as it touched ice. She couldn't help but make a surprised noise.

Their line stopped. Eventually, Jolene spoke up. "You okay, girl?"

"I-I'm fine," Tulip told her, feeling her face heat up. She knew she was scared, but she hadn't thought she Would be startled by something she had been expecting.

"Let's keep going," Tulip told them, turning her face away, even though know of the others could see it in the dark, even with the light of the lanterns.

"If you need to stop..." Jolene trailed off, and Tulip heard her shaking her head, turning back to the front and continuing on. "No, we can't stop."

The line continued on, further down the steps. Tulip reached a hand out again, and brushed the wall. Even though she knew what to expect now, the freezing wall still surprised her, but Tulip held her tongue, unwilling to cry out again.

The wall wasn't just ice-cold, it was literal ice. The warm air from the desert above had been replaced with a chill that before, Tulip thought she was imagining.

Tulip had resented the heat before, but now, her skin had completely forgotten what it felt like.

Suddenly, a sound echoed out through the stairwell, and the line froze again. But this time, they knew the sound hadn't come from them.

The sound continued, and Tulip listened closely, above the panicked beating of her own heart and her slightly frantic breathing. It was the dripping of water, or some sort of liquid, that is. That's it. Probably.

Tulip still couldn't control her breathing.

"Where is that?" Mira whispered, but it echoed. Loudly.

"Further down," Jolene told them, and she spoke at a normal volume, sounding a little annoyed. "We have nothing to fear from that, so we'll continue."

The other's voiced their agreements, and they continued on further down. The dripping got louder and louder, and after a bit, got quieter and quieter, until it disappeared. By that time, the four had been walking for a long time, and Tulip had gotten used to the unease of the darkness. She was also starting to wonder how long this stair well was. She couldn't see an end, and they had lost sight of the light at the top, too. They couldn't see an end on either side; it felt like they were trapped.

"Oh, look at this," Mira suddenly said, and the rest of them jumped.

"What? WHAT?" Kai cried.

"There's a message on the wall," Mira answered calming. When Tulip looked up, she saw that Mira looked intrigued in the light of the lantern.

"Well, anything useful?" Jolene asked her sharply.

"Uh... it's hard to read..." Mira said, squinting into the wall. In the light, Tulip saw that the walls were red and glistening, and she cringed, discretely wiped her hand on her shirt.

Suddenly, Mira's face changed to annoyance. "Ugh. It just says: 'You will die'."

"Classic horror game writing," Kai laughed, and Tulip gave him a shocked look. Unfortunately, Kai's bravo did not stay for long, and soon his nervousness was back. "I-It is u-usually a l-lot less scary."

"You find it scary no matter what," Mira teased him, and Kai groaned.

"Hey, you and Adam played a lot more horror games, in my defense!" Kai defended, but when he finished, he seemed to realized what he was saying, and froze suddenly. Mira and Tulip did too, a just like that, Tulip saw Mira and Kai find the hole in the soul of Adam again. The grief inside of them, that had been there all along but small and ignorable, it was there again. Tulip could practically feel their grief, even if she didn't share it as strongly.

Tulip had hardly talked to Adam. Just some stuff about her map of the mountain, and that was it. When he arrived, he, Mira and Kai spent a lot of time together, and though Mira wanted to spend time with Tulip, too... Tulip didn't find the same bond with Miraa's friends as she did with Mira, but that was fine! Mira spent time with Kai and Adam, and Tulip spent her time exploring the mountain, checking it out, and staying away from that trio.

Then Adam died. And Tulip didn't have too many thoughts about it other than fear and horror, but not what those two felt. One look at their faces, and that was clear.

Tulip and Mira spent a lot of time together after that, more than before Adam. It was... well, Tulip shied away from that thought.

Jolene had already continued on a while ago. Tulip turned and saw her lantern light bobbing on ahead. Tulip followed quickly, and soon, she heard Mira and Kai follow her.

None of them said anything.

The dripping of water appeared again, but this time, it seemed to be accompanied by a second one, or that might be an echo. They had passed the other dripping water without ever seeing it, so Tulip wasn't really looking for it. Besides, there was something else. Suddenly, as if she had been doused with cold water, Tulip shuddered, and she felt like she was being watched. Was it Tulip? Kai? Jolene's eyes were forward, looking ahead, so it wasn't her...

Tulip stopped. She had walked into something... hadn't she...

Tulip couldn't see her breath stutter in front of her, because the air had suddenly gotten cold and there was a loud shrieking in her air. There was something... something.

Tulip saw another breath in the air, but it wasn't hers.

Slowly, very slowly, like the space around her had turned to liquid, Tulip turned her head to the side, scared of what she might find, but she couldn't stop herself. Her eyes turned to the wall... where two small eyes stared intently at her. They were crying.

"Tulip?"

Tulip snapped back to attention. The darkness was back. She hadn't realized it had left.

Jolene's lantern was far below them, but behind her, Mira and Kai had stopped unable to continue with Tulip stopped as she was. Tulip turned to them slowly. Her limbs felt like lead.

Kai's face was terrified, but Mire only looked a little scared, and mostly concerned.

"Is something wrong?" Mira asked her quietly.

"No," Tulip said quickly. She slapped a hand over her mouth. She didn't mean to say that. No, she didn't say it at all.

Mira didn't look convinced. "Are you okay?"

Slowly, Tulip nodded, lowering her hand. That, at least, was her own action. Was she already going crazy? Before Kai?

Speaking of Kai, he suddenly jumped, letting out a scream.

"Kai! What is it?" Mira called, setting a hand on him as Tulip nearly tripped and fell backwards down the stairs. "What's wrong?"

"There are eyes right there!" Kai shrieked, pointing. Tulip froze.

"Eyes?" Mira asked, and she swung her lantern. Tulip saw a tenseness in her shoulders and arms, but when she saw what Kai was pointing at, she relaxed.

"They're not eyes," Mira scolded Kai, but she also sounded relieved. "It's just a hole, see? One."

Mira pointed, and Tulip saw that she was right. A dark hole in the wall... was that what she saw?

"No, no... I saw someone looking through it..." Kai whimpered, but before Mira could say anything to comfort him, Jolene called up to them.

"Hey, what are you all doing up there?" Jolene yelled up at them. "This is not a good place to get separated and I'M NOT WAITING FOR YA'LL! Get down here already!"

Kai, Mira and Tulip exchanged a terrified look, running down the steps to where Jolene's light was waiting for them.

"Hey..." Mira suddenly asked. They had been walking for a long time, all together, for a long time, so the noise came as a sudden shock. "How long do you think we've been walking?"

"Jeez, Mira, don't talk so suddenly!" Kai scolded her.

"Uh... my bad?" Mira sounded unsure.

"Are your legs broken?" Jolene asked her.

"No?"

"Then you're fine," Jolene told him. "We go until we reach something or until we can't walk anymore."

Tulip looked back and saw Kai and Mira exchange a look. They didn't look too happy, but no one argued.

After some time, Tulip started wondering about the same thing Kai had voiced. The stairway was starting to seem endless, and they must have been here for hours. Long hours that Tulip was starting to feel on her body. She didn't think they'd been here through the night; they'd probably notice that, but that was the thing. She wasn't sure. She had no way to tell and if she was honest with herself, there was a little bit of her that wondered.

She started trying to keep track of her steps, but all too quickly, she lost count, having to start all the way from one again. Sometimes, she accidentally started from zero, and she only caught her mistake half the time.

Dammit. Her mind was... foggy.

"...Jolene?" Kai called out timidly. "Can we take a break?"

Tulip cringed as they stopped, but to her surprise, Jolene almost seemed to be considering it. Unfortunately, in the end, she shook her head.

"I know you all are tired, but if we stop, we allow... well, let's just say we have to keep moving," Jolene told them. "I know it seems endless but it's only designed to seem that way."

"So we'll get to the bottom soon?" Kai asked hopefully. Jolene turned away.

"There's no way to know," Jolene replied.

"Can we rest at the bottom, at least?" Mira asked her, and even she sounded tired and ragged.

"No," Jolene replied firmly. "We cannot rest. If we do, they'll-."

Jolene cut herself off suddenly, but it was too late. Whatever she'd said had already gotten Kai, Tulip and Mira's attention.

"They?" Mira repeated.

"Who's THEY?!" Kai cried.

"Do you know more than you're telling us?" Tulip demanded.

"Now is not the time to ask questions you don't want to know that answer to," Jolene reprimanded sharply.

"It's better to understand more than less," Tulip pointed.

"I hardly know more than you do," Jolene told them. "Come on, let's go."

"I don't want to be here anymore," Kai whimpered. But Jolene only shook her head. In a way, she was right, and they all did know what she did: there was no turning back now.

Still... why did she have to be so cryptic?

Tulip suddenly startled, surprising Kai behind her. But whatever he said, she didn't listen, because her head was tilted and she was listening for something else.

There. Footsteps that belonged to none of them. Was that an echo?

"Wait, everyone, wait!" Tulip cried, and they did. Tulip could see Jolene open her mouth to say something, but then she stopped, the realization setting in. The fifth pair of footsteps had stopped, but far too late. They had all heard it.

They all stared at each other, huddled in their little group where they could see the light on each other's faces. The darkness... well... their eyes strayed from it shyly.

Kai gulped, audibly.

"I k-knew w-we shouldn't h-have come..." he muttered. "L-Let's just hurry up and f-find that flower!"

"Wait," Mira said, quickly. Everyone turned to her, and for a moment, Mira looked like she was regretting calling out. But she steeled herself. "I'll check. I'll look back and see."

"You might not like what you'll find," Jolene warned her, but Mira shook her head.

"Maybe..." Mira said, a shudder in her voice. "But seeing is believing?"

Jolene shook her head. "Look if you're going to look."

Mira didn't saw anything else, but slowly looked back the way they came. Tulip meant to look out, too, from over Mira's shoulder, but her eyes stayed stubbornly locked on Mira's back.

"I... I..." Mira started, but each time she started trying to say something, she couldn't seem to finished.

"What is it?" Kai whispered harshly.

"It's nothing," Mira finally finished. "I think."

Jolene, Tulip and Kai stared at her for a long time. Mira didn't turn around.

"What-?" Tulip asked, in the same time that Kai turned around and started down the stairs.

"Alright, cool, let's keep going then," he said quickly at the same time, nearly crashing into Tulip. Tulip stopped him.

"Wait, Mira, are you okay?" Tulip asked her. "What do you mean by 'I think'?"

"Cough twice if your possessed," Kai said, but he looked like he regretted it as soon as he said it.

"It's fine, it's fine..." Mira said, and she sounded normal, but...

"Can you... turn around?" Tulip asked, though she wasn't sure if she wanted Mira, too.

(Tulip was having a hard time remembering that Mira was her friend, all she really wanted to do was back away really quickly.)

"We should keep going," Jolene warned them. "Your friend will follow is she wants."

"We're NOT leaving without Mira!" Tulip said, and though she tried to say it forcefully, it came out without any heat. Jolene had already started down, and to her great surprise, Tulip found her body following, as if on instinct. Her body wanted to run away, it seemed, but Tulip fought against it. She would NOT leave Mira, she would NOT leave Mira... Tulip found herself standing uncertainly on shaky legs, but at least she was standing still.

In front of her, Tulip found Kai fighting a similar battle, and he seemed to be having as much luck as she was. Tulip was surprised.

Before them, Mira was still standing there, looking away from them. Kai and Tulip watched her, both concerned, both very scared, but neither willing to leave, no matter how much they wanted to.

Finally, Mira started moving, turning to face them, but as she did, her lantern started flickering, casting them into darkness and then light and then darkness again. Kai and Mira watched intently as Mira's face turned to them, revealing itself bit by bit.

Tulip gasped, and Kai screamed.

In the flickering light, her face was deformed, not at all like the face her friends knew. It was too long, had too many long, white teeth and the eyes... it was the thing that had been watching them this whole time, know staring at them intently.

Before she knew what was happening, Tulip's body was backing up on its own, just like Kai's in front of her. She couldn't stop it anymore, and her foot tripped over itself, sending Tulip painfully sprawling down the stairs. She screamed, but nothing could stop her and Kai's long, painful descent down the stairs and away from the flickering light revealing the horrible face.