Top.

I have a couple of things to say.

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Note:

So I was going back and reading some of my stuff, and noticed some mistakes in grammar/typos/wording. I can't correct all of them, but I picked the three that I thought were the most important to correct: 

1. You guys may have noticed this already, or only part of it, and been confused or thought that I had revealed the killer's gender...So basically I realized that I referred to the killer as a "she" recently, and as a "he" a few pages earlier. Just fyi, they didn't mean anything...you'll never know really, since I've accidentally used both genders. *shrug* I'll be more careful so not to confuse you.

2. In a series of dialogue, when the group was trying to figure out whether they were going to go separately or in groups, Danie said, "Well, obviously we should go alone. Every time that happens, someone dies. Small groups and partners then?" Danie suggested. I realized this was contradictory/a typo, and may have confuzzled the dialogue progression. What I meant to type was "Well obviously we shouldn't go alone..." Hope that clears things up.

3. I misspelled karaoke. Repeatedly. Not as a typo; I was literally misspelling karaoke, writing it as "kareoke." *hides face in hands* Sorryyyy!

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Another thing I realized, some of the characters may have not have much development, just throwing in useful dialogue to the plot. So I did this character analysis thing for myself where I described each one with three words, and decided to post it. Note once again that the personalities don't actually reflect the CBers--I mean, they may (most of them aren't supposed to be totally different), but as the story progressed, they morphed from real people to characters tweaked to my imagination. ANYWHOOooo...

Shadowmoon: Social, resourceful, quick-thinking

Saphira: Thoughtful, guarded, distinct

Luna: *howling and running around excitedly*

Cortana: Sarcastic, easily annoyed, crazy 

Danie: Outgoing, practical, sarcastic

Mirax: Cheerful, smart, focused

Whistler: *robot noises*

Clouded Leopard: Friendly, somewhat stubborn, artsy

Bumblebuddy (as she is now): Blunt, distrustful, easily angered

Masked Piester: Pies, insanity, pies

Crypto: Morbid, cattitude, apocalyptic 

Hermione: Sympathetic, dignified, logical

Teacup: Quiet, sweet, bunny 

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Working on the next part by the way. I took quite a "break" from it, meaning about every other day I would remember but be too busy or completely procrastinate and read a book. And then the Issue, which I think is safe to say seemed to slow everything down. I suddenly feel cruel that I left you with a cliffhanger. I mean, I'm sure you're probably dying...but are you legitimately angry with me? If so, please let me know, and in that case I am terribly sorry! I don't want anyone to feel bad.

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Soundtrack: "Sorcery" and "Summit Siege" and then "Whiteout" (they aren't in that order on the soundtrack but that's the order in which I listened to them) which are instrumental tracks from the Disney movie Frozen soundtrack. If you'd like, listen to one of them while you read this if you're looking for more intensity. It's the perfect soundtrack; they are really epic compositions. 

Okay, okay, without further ado, here's the next part? Don't know if you recall, the last part ended with some walls crumbling around a particular character...maybe I'll pick up from there... *cackles* Sorry, I'm in the evil writer mood again!

But I've got you a nice long part, to make up for the delay. Enjoy! And let me know what you think.

DAY FOURTEEN, part seven

The Manager should have know what was coming.

It was a perfect action-movie disaster set-up, wasn't it? You have a weary group of adventurers, without everyone there, although there's no time to wonder where they are. Throw in a darkening sky taking on an evil-looking shade of dark purple. Then--what's this? The party discovers a cave. They slowly creep inside, guided only by the faint light of a phone light. The "cave" turns out to be more of a long passageway carved into the rock. It's dim and hard for people to see the faces of the others next to them. Perfect build-up for a stab in the back. There's the slightly creepy squeak of a wheel on Hermione's wheelchair. Whispers stab through the silence every once in a while: What could this place be? Why is it here? Is Shadowmoon nearby? The group reaches a dead end...no, wait, the short passage continues with a sharp turn to the right.

Mem, still wheeling Hermione turned the corner, disappearing from sight, but Owlgirl paused, the rest of the group slowing to a stop behind her. She looked over her shoulder, where she could see a sliver of the sky.  At that moment, the piece of their view to the outside world turned coal black. The Manager knew that meant the sun had just set.

It was like Mother Nature herself had orchestrated it. The Manager should have known it was the second before the disaster occurred.

There was no distant rumble, no wildebeests stampeding over the horizon. No, they had been warned enough.

It just started.

Dust began trickling down from the ceiling, followed by pebbles and more dust. Immediately people began to cry out and back out of the cave, including the Manager. All except for one.

"Are you crazy?" Danie yelled as she pushed against the current of people. "The chef! Hermione!" She ran around the corner, the embarrassed Manager close behind. More debris, more yelling. A wolf was howling. It was pure chaos now.

A large chunk of rock fell inches from Hermione's face. She heard Mem scream and jump back, accidentally knocking the wheelchair forward. Hermione tumbled onto the ground. Mem stood on the other side of it, wide-eyed. Two other figures appeared behind her. Without hesitation, Mem ran between them, blubbering, her Irish accent coming on full force. "I had to leave her! I can't die for anyone, gracious, I don't want to die! I don't want to..."

More rocks fell before Hermione. Danie lunged forward and reached through them. She must have gotten hit by lots of rock while doing it, Hermione thought; she was even more bruised than the Manager, who was standing behind her, standing amidst the chaos, horrified.

"Grab it! Grab my hand!" Danie grimaced with pain and reached for her. The rock wall between them was building now. Hermione lifted her hand, straining for Danie's, but pulled it back with sudden instinct. Sure enough, another rock fell where her hand had been. Danie yelped.

"We have to go!" she heard Owlgirl shout.

"I...but...okay..." Danie sounded defeated.

Hermione heard no more, because now she was completely cut off. She had no idea whether Danie and the Manager would make it out, but she knew that she had to move. If she stayed here, she would die. 

She got to her feet and ran--if you could call it that with all her stumbling--leaving the noise behind her. Her legs were shaky from sitting down. The corridor twisted to the left. This was not good. She should be heading away from the disaster, not back in the same direction. But she couldn't turn back now.

Hermione came to a halt. There was a fork in the path. She could feel her heart in her throat, which was getting that funny dry feeling again. With each heavy breath, the inside of her mouth felt more and more like sandpaper. Which way? To the left, with the hopeful light and the terrible noise? Or to the right, with the eerie darkness and peaceful silence? 

Hermione went to the right, to the light she craved.

She blinked rapidly. She was bathed in a harsh, white light, too bright to be anything but manmade. Where on earth was she? While her eyes adjusted, her ears listened. At the end of the hall, there was a loud controlled rumbling, like an explosion in a thick-walled room.  The rest of the areas seemed to, well, not be falling apart...No, never mind, she thought, because when she looked up she could see that cracks were already splitting in the ceiling, and crumbs were slipping through. Just like in the cave. She coughed.

Then she heard a scream, and her cough turned into a choke of surprise. Only one thought came to her.

"Shadowmoon?"

To her right was a large, metal door, closing off one end of the hallway. In front of her was another door. She pushed it open. She glimpsed a desk and an open glass case before the scream came again. It was definitely feminine, and not in this room.

She ran out and gasped when she saw that rubble was pouring from the open room at the end of the corridor. 

"Shadowmoon!" she croaked. Her dry throat now felt like it was working harder than it should. 

"Help!" It was her. She was alive. 

With a fresh burst of energy, Hermione rushed to the open room climbed on top of the shifting pile of rocks in the doorway.

She looked down and saw a figure kneeling, curled up, her hands clamped over the back of her neck. Just like in school weather drills Hermione had to do once upon a time ago. 

"Shadowmoon!" she croaked again.

"H-Hermione?" The girl looked up. Her long hair was tangled, her clothes dirty, her eyes wide and desperate, but focused, and Hermione knew her mind was probably working at an insane pace to make a plan. Thank goodness it's still her.

"Shadowmoon!" 

Hermione thrust her hand down. "Come on!"

Shadowmoon grabbed her wrist, then her other, and with Hermione's help, she began to pull herself up. How good it felt to actually have contact with another human being. And she was going to be free. 

Suddenly Hermione shrieked as something fell on her hand. Their grip broke. Shadowmoon shrieked too, and the girls slipped down. Down opposite slopes. For Shadowmoon, it happened all too quickly and loudly, as everything was torn from her grasp, with no time to even comprehend.

"Shmiz," Hermione swore. Everything was coming down faster now. She tried to climb back up...

"Go!" Shadowmoon screamed, her voice filled with despair. "Get out of here!" Hermione had no choice but to obey. She began to stumble out, her breathing ragged. "You have to tell them who it was!"

Hermione ran out while struggling to hear Shadowmoon, but her cries came in pieces. "...the killer was...find...look...the star. The white star..." A scream.

The entire hallway was crumbling behind her as she ran. In the nick of time, she dashed back into the stone hall through which she came and kept running, down the path to the right. She wondered how on earth she wasn't dead. She couldn't even keep track of how many times she could have been smashed by a falling rock. It was getting harder to breathe.

The air was cooler now. A breeze! Thank goodness gracious heavens above, she could see the night sky! She was so close. How her lungs burned...

She got outside and collapsed. Her lungs and throat were on fire. She couldn't breathe....this was worse than the net...

A blurred face hovered above her. Was it help? Was it the killer?

Well it doesn't matter now, she thought as her eyelids fell shut, and she couldn't feel her burning throat anymore. Oh, sweet relief.

Nothing mattered now.

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Shadowmoon curled up in a ball her clenched fist over her mouth, too broken to keep her feelings in, but too afraid of moving the rocks around her to let it loose.

It wasn't supposed to end this way. It wasn't supposed to end at all. She was supposed to be outside in the fresh air with Hermione, gasping at the taste of freedom, making a speech about the beauty if life. Wounded warriors, but also survivors. Heroines.

Yet here she was, trapped beneath rubble. She was going to die one way or another. The rock surrounding her would collapse. Even if she didn't, she would suffocate from lack of oxygen, or starve.

The fact that all her efforts were for nothing wasn't a relief or any of that stupidity she had read bout in books. It was overwhelming. It was crushing, like these rocks would soon be. She wasn't an old woman, accepting death with open arms, ready to leave behind her life. She had a whole life ahead of her! Or, she did...

Shadowmoon sobbed with frustration. The killer's words echoed in her head: You're no hero. They were right. She wasn't a hero either. She was just a girl trying to escape. She really was too young to die. She shouldn't, but she was. She didn't, but she would. It made her heart ache. Or maybe it was the suffocation kicking in. 

And it was dark. So very dark. 

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Aaaand my soundtrack for the last part was also an instrumental piece from Frozen, titled "We Were So Close" ._.