David's death was now non-negotiable. Only with his demise could Polly have everything she craved.
A vicious glint flickered in her eyes as she plotted.
Meanwhile, David's group hastened their pace, moving with the relentless determination of a force of nature. They were in a race against time every second that passed could mean one more minute of danger for Danielle.
"Mr. Charrington, it feels like we've been walking in circles," Nathan said, after tracing a path on the wall to mark their steps. They'd passed the same stretch of tunnel three times.
David noticed it too. Who would have thought a little cave would be full of traps? "Hmm," he muttered.
"I marked it too," Jaden said, looking troubled. "We're really lost. This place is... strange."
"Strange? You could say that again," Aran grumbled. "A bunch of little traps and monsters, if you didn't know better, you'd think we're hunting treasure."
Suddenly, a few gunshots echoed through the tunnel.
David raised his gun, his sharp eyes scanning the surroundings. After the shots rang out, the path ahead shifted, revealing the real way forward.
"How did you do that? Were those traps triggered by your gunshots?" Nathan
asked, looking at David like a kid mesmerized by a magic trick.
"Yeah," David replied, keeping his gun in hand. "Let's move forward."
The group quickened their steps to keep up with David.
But then, David raised his hand, signaling them to stop.
"Something's off ahead, isn't it?" Jaden asked, squinting into the darkness.
The path ahead looked like any other, but David had a gut feeling that it wasn't that simple.
The cave was pitch-black, and they had to rely on their flashlights, but that also meant they had to stay extra vigilant about what was beneath their feet.
"That path ahead is probably a trap," David said, his voice low.
"I'll check it out," Aran offered, as the head of security. It was his job to be the first to act.
"Be careful," David warned.
Aran took cautious steps forward, fully trusting David's instincts. If David sensed danger, there was definitely something wrong.
But just as Aran focused on the path ahead, the ground beneath him seemed to give way. His foot sank into the earth, as though something was pulling him down.
"Mr. Charrington, something's pulling me down!" Aran yelled, panic rising in his voice.
Without missing a beat, David shouted for a rope. One of the bodyguards threw it to Aran, who grabbed it with both hands.
"Grab the rope," David ordered.
As soon as Aran tried to hold on, whatever was under the ground seemed to fight back harder, pulling him down more forcefully. The bodyguards braced themselves and tried pulling him back up, but the force was too strong.
Aran's leg was completely submerged now, and he could feel something wrapping around it like thick, suffocating tendrils.
"Shoot, but avoid Aran!" David barked.
A flurry of bullets rang out as the bodyguards fired into the earth around Aran, their shots echoing through the cave.
Aran gritted his teeth and pulled with all his strength. The thing under the earth was relentless, tightening its grip, determined to drag him under.
David aimed and fired several shots at Aran's feet, hitting the ground with precision.
With a guttural growl, the creature let go, and Aran was yanked free by the combined strength of the guards. He scrambled away, shaken but alive.
"Aran, what was that?" David's voice was cold, his eyes narrowing.
"I don't know, Mr. Charrington," Aran said, his voice shaky. "I was walking, and the ground felt soft. Then suddenly, my foot was caught by something-like an octopus wrapping around me."
No one was surprised at this
point-there had been plenty of strange creatures lurking in the
caves. But the bodyguards were net
sweating bullets. If David hadn spotted the danger, they all would have been dead by now. Content
"Aran, what's that smell?" Nathan asked, wrinkling his nose. The stench was foul, a disgusting mix of rancid fish and rotten durian.
Everyone turned to look at Aran's legs, now coated in thick, sticky slime.
"That must be from the creature," Aran muttered, looking disgusted as he wiped off
the muck. "God, it's revolting."
Nathan tossed Aran a wet wipe. "Wipe it off. As much as you can. You're a walking biohazard right now."
Aran nodded and started scrubbing at his leg.
The group now faced a new problem. The creature clearly lived underground, but they didn't know where its territory started or ended. They couldn't just walk blindly
ahead.
"We can't go through that whole section in front of us. Now that we
I.net
know there's something underground, we can't just walk
through it like before. Our eyes can't even tell what's underfoot," Jaden
said, his voice grim. Content belongs
"I think we should shoot as we go," one of the bodyguards suggested. "The creature
was hit by Mr. Charrington's shots, maybe we can keep it at bay that way."
Jaden gave the guard a look that could melt ice. "Go ahead, try it."
The guard shrank back, feeling foolish. "Mr. Johnson, I... I was just suggesting."
Aran, wiping off the last of the slime, spoke up. "We're running low on bullets. We can't waste them here who knows what else is ahead?"
They needed a better plan, and quickly.
"Do we have any food?" David asked suddenly, his tone casual, but his eyes sharp.
Jaden blinked, caught off guard. "Food? Are you hungry, Mr. Charrington?"
One of the bodyguards opened his pack, revealing it was stuffed with provisions- bread, sausages, crackers, even fruit.
"Whoa, are you on a mission, or just out for a picnic?" Nathan joked, shocked by the
sight.
The burly bodyguard looked embarrassed. "Just a little hobby of mine," he muttered, scratching his head.
David grabbed an apple and a pear from the pack, slipping them into his pocket as he turned toward the dark path where the creature had appeared.
"Mr. Charrington, get back! There are monsters ahead!" Nathan shouted, alarmed.
He sprinted after David, snatching a rope from another guard.
David didn't even glance back. "You wait here."
"Mr. Charrington, it's dangerous! Please, be careful!" Nathan pleaded, his voice full
of concern.
David walked on, each step steady, while the bodyguards followed at a tense distance, eyes never leaving him. They knew something was about to happen, but
they didn't know what.
Not a
Small-town Girl
Not A Small Town Girl (Danielle and David)
Chapter 209