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Kiera had no control over the water. She kept her arms close to her body so that they wouldn’t get ripped off by any boulder or jagged rock that she passed. Her eyes were clenched shut, although it was so dark that she couldn’t see anything even if they were open. Her entire focus was on holding her breath. She felt the air pressing in her lungs. Her body was starving of oxygen. A pain grew from within her as the pressure to breathe became unbearable. She released a little air to try to relieve the pressure. Bubbles flew past her face. Her nose tickled, but she couldn’t deal with it right now. The water was carrying her with such speed that if she didn’t forcefully hold her position, her arm would fly up and, no doubt, crack and break against some debris.

The tunnel started to narrow, and Keira was thumped and pushed against the wall. She involuntarily yelped, losing more precious air. Her head started to pound as it instructed all her muscles to breathe. She had no control as her mouth popped open to gasp for air, and instead she breathed in the water.

Her eyes bulged as she tried to stop herself when the tunnel opened up, and she shot out into a pool within a cave. Her arms flung up in an attempt to grab something, as she coughed and splattered the water she had inhaled. Her muscles reacted and naturally clenched at her stomach, causing her to throw up. The pool wasn’t that deep, so Kiera was able to find footing. She stumbled her way to the edge, throwing herself onto the hard surface, as her body attempted to regulate itself to the newfound oxygen. The headache pounded to the rhythm of her heaving chest. Every muscle and fibre of her being felt like it was screaming from fatigue.

She lay there.

Just breathing. Inhaling… and exhaling.

Eventually, her heaves became regulated and slowed down. Her heart that was thumping in her ears, settled back in her chest. The pain went from a focused internal scream to a dull thudding in the background that she could manage. But she didn’t want to open her eyes. She listened for a few moments. The water rushing out of the tunnel had a gentle thundering to its spirit as it landed in the pool. There were other noises, like the soft lapping of water rippling against the hard stone edge. There were creatures within the cave that twitched and made small squeak and click noises. They had been alarmed when Keira had shot out of the wall, but now that she was still, they didn’t feel threatened by her. There was a good chance she was, in fact, dead. Although the beasts, with a stronger sense of smell and hearing, knew that there was still a little life in her, fighting to keep her alive.

Keira had only wanted to lie there a few moments. But the safety of the space, plus the warmth of the rock, and the exhaustion of her body, meant that she fell into a deep slumber. The cave lost its natural light as darkness wrapped around the mountain. Soon the creatures and small critters went quiet too in the dark. She awoke in the wee hours of the morning, cold from the water. Her legs and body were heavy, but she managed to roll herself out of the pool, onto the rock. Her feet felt soft and vulnerable in her shoes, having been submerged in the water for so long. She was thankful that the darkness prevented her eyes from seeing what her skin looked like under her socks, as she pulled her shoes and socks off. No doubt, her toes were raisins. There was a natural small glow about the cave, caused by bioluminescent bugs and worms. She could see the outline of furniture, stacked against the cave’s wall. Her stomach growled, but there was no food to find in this space. She drank deeply from the water, hoping that it tricked herself into thinking that she had eaten real food.

Her gut complained about it, and she wasn’t sure if the liquid would stay down. She kept still as her body decided. It gave in and settled, accepting the water. For now.

She didn’t really have energy to do much, except sink into an old chair and wait for the sun to rise. As the beams trickled in from the tunnel that led into the cave, Keira slowly saw and understood her surroundings. It was definitely some type of lodging space, but not like Maude’s hideouts that consisted of yarn and softness. No, this felt more academic. There was a bookshelf with various leather-covered volumes, a large chest, and a simple bed with a few soft furnishings. She looked to the table that was next to her. A hardcover book was lying there, innocently. She could see that it was well used, as the edges had a feather-like quality made from the oil of fingertips. She picked it up and immediately started to read it. The dust was thick on the table, and as she lifted the book up, it left a clean rectangular space behind. She shook the book a little to get rid of the dust. Yellow, stained pages fell onto her lap.

05 Jan, The Third Age

The first few days of a new year are supposed to feel full of promise. Yet this one feels doomed from the start. My mother has broken up with her boyfriend. Again. Once again, her emotions are spiraling out. Every time she finds somebody new, and then it doesn’t work out, she goes through this. Days and weeks of self-pity. Of choices she should have made, relationships she should have had. Then the concept that she isn’t as young as she used to be, that she’s too old to have more children, that a man wouldn’t want to be with her because she has no value, which, then, is followed by the reality that all the ‘good ones’ are taken.

She smiled. It was someone’s diary. She wondered if she should put it down. It felt rude to be reading someone else’s personal thoughts, inked on paper. But she also couldn’t help being nosy. She looked around. Anybody who had been living here was obviously gone. She wondered if it belonged to someone who lived in that weird cult she just escaped from.

05 Feb, The Third Age

They downstairs. All of them. My mother, her new man. His friends. I had just come backfrom my shift after school, and they were all in the lounge. They were all out of it. As I opened the door, I was hit in the face with this cloud of Ember Moss. Disgusting stuff. I know a lot of my friends who smoke it, because their mom smokes it, because their mom smoked it, and so on. If I didn’t despise the smell so much, maybe I would also have fallen into the trap of escaping this world for a better one in my mind.

As I threw my backpack on the floor, I could hear the bubbles of the Silt Pipe in the next room. I had shouted at my mom that I was home, and that’s when I heard all the giggles that we had company.

They were already half naked by the time I entered the room. Although they had stopped briefly to pull on the Silt pipe. The gauge at the top of the brass metal told me that they had only just started a little while ok. It was going to be a long night of smoke and sweat for them. I’m not entirely sure what the stuff in the glass bottle did, but I remember the first time I saw her and her friends smoke it, I was beyond traumatized. There are some things you shouldn’t have to watch your mom do. And her melting her brain and fusing her body with a gang of people was one of them.

I turned and grabbed my bag to head to the roof. I still had homework I needed to do before going to bed. I also grabbed a blanket from my bed. It was going to be another night of sleeping on the roof for me.  As I left, I saw that one man in particular had my mom’s interest. That must have been the new guy. He sat, stretched out on the couch, holding the end of the siltpipe in his hand, looking like he was contemplating the future. He had dark pants, and his blue shirt was fully unbuttoned. I couldn’t help but notice that some of the other girls were also clinging to him a little. My mom seemed to have the upper hand of attention, but I wondered for how long that would last.

I climbed out the window onto the fire escape and headed on up to the top.

It was nice, at least, up here.

There was a cool breeze in Vertex this evening. I could hear the churning and chugging of the factory down the coast. The smog was lighter than usual, and I could see the blue and yellow lights of the city below extend to the horizon.

Ember City made this place sound a lot more glamorous than it really was. The truth was that it was just a sludge of a place. The secret of Vertex, hidden behind the mountains, right up against the coastline. They kept their clean, green, shiny cities for the front of the island, to entice those in Artex. The people in the backwards country. They can see across the water the shiny chrome of the pretty places and dream about crossing the bridge. They would only find out that most Artex’ings end up in this crap hole. Usually addicted to Ember Moss, like my mother downstairs. They had no idea of the trap of city life. The day-to-day groan and soul-sucking shimmer of it.

I often looked at the arrow tattoo on my mom’s arm and wondered why she didn’t go back. It was obvious that she didn’t belong here. This place pulled out the worst of her, and yet she stayed. The dream of city lights, I guess, still flickered in her eyes.

Thomas

Kiera’s eyes widened. This ‘Thomas’ was from Vertex. Wait. Isn’t that what that elderly woman had said? That they had scientists come from Vertex to help with the monster?

Her hands scrambled at the paper as she tried to absorb more. Maybe this was some boy from the trip. This would explain everything. Maybe this Thomas could tell her the truth.

It’s been a week since that happened. And now, I’m walking with a troupe of people that I don’t really know. The man, who I assume is James, talks to us at night. He gives a lot of speeches about something called the Umber. The others look at him as if he is some God. Some answer to their prayers. He always raises this canister, and they cheer, and nod and look at him with greedy, desperate eyes.

It’s this black substance that he has in a glass canister. It’s pretty gross is what it is. The stuff is like pitch black, but it moves within the jar like a living liquid.

What the hell has my mother got us into this time?

Kiera read the pages. Then she went back and read them again. Something was pulling at her. She looked around at the room again. This was the place. This boy and his mom, along with the followers, all came here. Whatever was in that canister was connected to the monster. He had obviously escaped and found this cave. Maybe he stayed here.

His mom. There was something about his mom that was bothering her.

Katal.

Yes. His mom was Katal. She was one of the original individuals who had come here. That’s what Eric had said. And her son had wanted to live, so he came into this space. Maybe he also jumped for safety, as she did.

She tidied up the papers as best as she could and put them back into the book. She put it back on the table, into the same clean space. She looked at it. Her hand hovered over the cover. No. She didn’t want to leave it here. This was evidence that there was more to this place than anyone could imagine. This was proof that the Katal woman knew everything. She picked the book up again and then grabbed her socks and shoes. The cave floor was dusty, but smooth. Although her feet still felt sensitive after the water exposure, she felt strong enough to meander down the tunnel and see if she could find a way out.