SELENE POV
We waited for the last bell to ring.
It was midnight.
We walked through the silent streets, and I felt like a ninja at that moment. We avoided the guards patrolling the streets. Finally, we reached a huge wall behind the castle.
"This wall is huge" Katherine said, despair creeping into her voice. "Can you see how tall it is? How are we going to find the markings? What if it's where we can't even reach?" She tried to bite her nails but couldn't because of the gloves.
That marking wouldn't be up, it must be where someone can reach it. I bent down, feeling along the walls with my hands since I can barely see anything, the moon was being shy tonight. "Help me and look for the markings."
"It's here" Eve whispered.
Katherine and I walked quickly towards Eve. I felt the brick she was pointing at and pushed it backwards. The wall made a soft rumbling sound and lifted.
The view in front of me was pitch black. We glanced at each other then Eve entered first, and we followed behind.
Bang.
The wall suddenly closed.
We are closed in.
Then a torch suddenly lit up.
"How did that happen?" Katherine said, her voice trembling.
I swallowed, looking around.
Eve took the torch. "Let's go."
We started going down the old dusty stairs, it felt like it would crumble at any moment. It was quiet. Far too quiet for my liking. The only thing I can hear is our footsteps and breathing.
I know that this was my idea. But is it too late to turn back right now, I looked back at the darkness behind me. It's overwhelming. "Are we going the right way?"
"We don't have to worry about that since there's only one path"
What's that?
"Is that a skeleton?" Katherine shrieked, her hand tightly grasping my arm.
My body was trembling. My feet were frozen.
Bones were littered on the ground, with cobwebs clustered on them.
What could have happened to them.
Whatever did this might still be here.
I felt my body get numb with fear.
Eve drew out her sword, and we didn't need to be told as we also clumsily took out ours.
"Be alert"
We passed the skeletons, and I tried as best as I could not to step on them. I don't need to offend a ghost.
We're almost through. I thought. Almost…
Siiis
"Did you hear that?"
"What? I didn't hear anything."
Siiis
"That!"
We looked upward.
Something moved in the darkness.
Shit.
A pair of glowing eyes stared back at us.
Please let it not be what I am thinking.
Katherine's voice shook. "Lord have mercy."
Is a snake supposed to be that big?!
A gigantic brown snake was curled across the ceiling, its massive body coiled between the stones.
Dread washed over me.
It immediately shot at us.
We bolted like lightning.
Crash.
"Katherine's!!"
Kathy fell flat on the ground, her sleeve tore at the elbow, a fresh bruise there. I quickly ran back, helping her up on her feet.
"This is bad, she is wounded," Eve said between heavy breaths.
"Why does it matter?"
"Snakes are very sensitive to the smell of blood"
"I'm not leaving her behind," I said, clasping Kathy's hand as we ran.
Siiis.
Why won't it give up?
I have to do something, or we will end up like those skeletons. I think the skeletons are the ones that it spat out. What should I do? What should I do?
I didn't hear it coming.
Crash.
Ahh, I can't feel my back anymore, as I hit the wall. Talk about a powerful tail, it swept me into the wall.
"Ugh, Se.. Selene" Kathy desperately said, struggling to breathe as the snake tail curled her up.
No. No!!!
Eve was standing in front of the snake, stabbing her sword into it but it couldn't pierce through the scales.
Kathy was struggling to set herself free, but as she moved it curled up tighter, her face getting paler every second.
"Let her go! Let her go!!" I screamed on top of my lungs. I felt my body heating up like an oven. " I Said Let Her Go!!!"
The snake's head whipped toward me. Its glowing eyes locked onto mine.
Siiis.
It released Katherine.
Katherine gasped for air.
The snake straightened itself in front of me. And stared into my eyes, my feet were shaking but I still stared back.
Siiis.
It slithered into the darkness and disappeared.
It's gone.
I fell on my knees, my whole body shaking.
What just happened?
Eve sat on the floor, her eyes staring at me in confusion. She too doesn't have any idea of what just happened. We just stayed there in silence.
Katherine carefully got up from the floor and hissed. She stared in the direction the snake left. "How did you do that? Did you know you could do that?"
"I didn't" I mumbled.
"Then what happened?" Eve asked.
I leaned back on the wall, my voice barely audible. "I don't know."
I truly don't know what happened. And we certainly don't have time to…Wait a minute. "Wait…Eve you said the only people that have gone through here alive are the royal family, right?"
"Yes"
"Which means the reason it listened to you was possible because you are part of the royal family" Katherine said, her hand massaging her sides.
"If it's so, then why did it attack her in the first place?" Eve asked, glancing at the two of us.
There was silence again.
"What is important right now, is that we're not digesting in its tummy right now," Kathy said in relief.
True.
"You're right about that. We can think of what happened later" Eve said as she stood up from the floor.
That's if we make it out alive to think about it later.
I picked up my sword and moved towards Kathy to help her up.
"Ugh! That really hurts'' Kathy said, her brows furrowed as she held her side.
"I'm sorry." I'm sure her whole body was hurting like hell. That snake was no joke. I now believe Anacondas are real.
"We have to keep going. Hopefully, we won't encounter any more dangers" Eve said without conviction.
We moved forward again into the unknown darkness.
And somehow… We all knew that the snake was only the beginning of this damn underground.