5. Lara

5

LARA

C haos envelops the crumbling ruins as the ground trembles and cracks widen, threatening to consume everything in its path.

"Move!" I shout, but my voice drowns in the overwhelming noise of collapsing stone.

Panic grips me. My eyes widen in terror realizing the imminent danger we're in, my heart pounding like a war drum in my chest. Aiden's eyes lock with mine, wild with fear, and Maya clutches his arm, her knuckles white.

"Up the steps!" I gesture frantically, but they're buried under an avalanche of debris. The exit is blocked. Trapped.

Dust fills the air, choking my lungs and stinging my eyes.

"We need to find another way out!" I shout over the din.

Aiden points toward a narrow passageway barely visible through the dust. "There! It might lead outside!"

We scramble over fallen rocks, each step a gamble as the ground shifts beneath us. My fingers scrape against rough stone, blood smearing across ancient carvings as I push forward. The passage looms ahead, a sliver of hope amidst the chaos.

"Stay close!" I call back to Aiden and Maya, who follow in desperate silence. The air grows colder as we enter the passageway, the walls pressing in on either side.

A distant rumble echoes through the corridor, a suggestion that we're not safe yet. "Keep moving," I urge them, my voice steady despite the fear gnawing at my insides.

The passage twists and turns, disorienting in its complexity. The floor continues to tremble beneath us, and I pray it holds long enough for us to escape.

A flash of light ahead draws my attention—a break in the wall where sunlight filters through. "There!" I shout, renewed hope surging through me.

We press on, driven by sheer willpower and the promise of freedom. The exit grows closer with each step, tantalizingly within reach.

Suddenly, another tremor rocks the ground beneath us, sending us sprawling against the walls. The ceiling above groans ominously.

"We're almost there!" I grit my teeth and push myself up, determination fueling my every move. "Don't stop now!"

The exit is mere feet away when another deafening crack reverberates through the passageway. Time seems to slow as chunks of stone rain down around us.

We have no choice but to keep moving forward, toward that sliver of light and salvation beyond it.

Please, please let us reach it.

The ground beneath me gives way before I can react. My scream echoes through the collapsing ruins. My arms flail wildly, as I plummet into the gaping void below.

I wave my arms, desperate for something—anything—to grasp onto. The cold air rushes past me, stealing my breath and filling my ears with a roaring wind.

“Lara!” Aiden’s voice echoes above me, filled with desperation.

"Aiden! Maya!" My voice is a frantic cry, swallowed by the darkness.

I try to stretch out my arms further. My fingers claw at empty space, scraping against nothing but the icy chill of the void. Panic surges through me like a flood, drowning out any coherent thought.

“Lara, grab my hand!” Maya’s voice cuts through the din, closer than Aiden’s.

I twist in mid-air, reaching up towards the faint light above. My fingers brush against Maya’s outstretched hand briefly, but I cannot grab it tight enough.

“Grab Maya’s hand and hold on!” Aiden yells. His silhouette hovers at the edge of the chasm, barely visible through the dust and debris.

“I can’t!” My voice trembles with fear and frustration.

“Don’t you dare give up!” Maya’s determination slices through the chaos. She leans dangerously over the edge, her eyes wide with panic yet filled with fierce resolve.

I kick out, trying to slow my descent. My fingers scrape against rough stone, nails breaking as I claw for a hold.

Aiden stretches further, his arm trembling with effort trying to reach me. “Lara, please! Reach up!” The ground beneath them shifts again. Aiden stumbles, almost losing his balance.

“No!” I yell, stumbling farther down.

Aiden’s face contorts with anguish. “We can’t lose you!”

The shouts of Aiden and Maya grow fainter as the distance between us widens, their desperate attempts to save me in vain.

Time stretches out as I fall, every second becoming an eon. The world above recedes, replaced by the oppressive blackness that engulfs me, a suffocating tightness that leaves me gasping for breath. My mind races, a torrent of fear and confusion. How could this happen? How did we go from hunting in the serene forest to this abyss of terror?

My thoughts flicker to Aiden and Maya. Are they safe? Will they find a way out without me? The questions gnaw at my sanity, but there's no time for answers.

A sudden rush of air brushes past my face, carrying with it the scent of soil and ancient stone. I stretch my arms wider, hoping to find something to grab hold of on the walls of this chasm. My fingertips brush against jagged rock for an instant before slipping away.

"Please," I whisper into the void, my voice trembling with helplessness. “Please… no…”

The cold bites at my skin, numbing my senses as I continue to fall further down into the dark abyss. My heart pounds vigorously in my chest, each beat a desperate plea for survival.

Memories of our laughter moments ago in the forest swirl through my mind, taunting me with their warmth and camaraderie. The promise of adventure had seemed so alluring then; now it feels like a distant dream slipping further from reach with each passing second.

In this abyss, I am alone—utterly and terrifyingly alone.

My thoughts turn inward, seeking some semblance of calm amidst the chaos. Focus on breathing. Focus on surviving. But even these mantras feel futile as I continue to descend into the unknown.

I don't know what awaits me at the bottom of this deep chasm—if there even is a bottom—but one thing is certain: I must find a way to endure.

The world around me blurs in a whirlwind of motion. My screams echo off the walls, swallowed by the oppressive darkness that engulfs my vision. The rush of air whips past my face, stinging my cheeks and tearing at my hair. Every inch of my skin prickles with cold. My arms flail uselessly, reaching for any ounce of stability. The void offers nothing but emptiness, a chilling reminder of how fragile life is.

How could we have been so careless? If only we hadn’t entered those ruins in the first place. The weight of regret presses down on me, heavier than the falling debris around me.

“Hold on! Don’t leave me!” I scream into the abyss, though there’s no one to hear. My voice sounds so small and insignificant against the vast emptiness.

The scent of wet rock invades my senses, mingling with the taste of blood and dust in my mouth. Each breath feels like inhaling ice shards, sharp and unforgiving.

Soon, the ground rushes up to meet me with a terrifying speed, a jagged embrace that promises pain. Every muscle in my body tenses, bracing for the impact that seems inevitable.

Then it happens. My body slams into the hard ground. A sickening thud reverberates through my bones, a jarring shock that ripples through every inch of me. Pain explodes in my side, radiating outward like fire. My breath leaves me in a whoosh, and for a moment, I can’t pull any back in.

I try to move, but my limbs feel like stone, too heavy and sluggish to obey my commands. Thoughts flit through my mind in disjointed fragments. Is this it? Will I ever see Aiden and Maya again?

My vision tunnels, the edges going fuzzy and gray. Sounds become distant echoes, muffled by the pounding of my heart in my ears.

Survive . The word floats to the forefront of my mind, a last desperate plea.

But it’s so hard to hold on. My eyelids droop despite my best efforts to keep them open. Each blink is longer than the last. A dull roar fills my ears—a mix of the crumbling ruins above and the blood rushing through my veins. The pain in my side throbs with each heartbeat, but even that starts to fade into numbness.

The darkness closes in tighter around me until everything goes black. The ground swallows me whole, pulling me into an abyss where consciousness slowly fades away like a dying ember.

Silence engulfs me, the world fading into oblivion. My thoughts scatter like leaves in a storm, the edges of my consciousness fraying.

How did it come to this? My mind latches onto the fleeting memories of my friends' attempts to save me—Aiden’s determined gaze, Maya’s desperate grip. Their faces blur, slipping through my grasp as darkness claims me.

I can’t move. Panic flares for a moment before ebbing into an eerie calm. This blackness is all-consuming, a cocoon that strips away everything but the faint pulse of life within me.

In this immense void, I float on the edge of awareness, suspended between reality and oblivion. Sensations dull to whispers—an ache here, a chill there—until even those fade into nothingness.

My thoughts fragment further, memories splintering like glass. All swallowed by this vast abyss.

I cling to one final thought before it too dissolves: I must live.

Then... nothing.

Complete silence. Utter darkness.