Page 438 of Coal Hearts

I was nothing but blackness and death.

Chapter Five

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Ily

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“WHICH WAY, PETER?” RACHEL TAPPED OUR broken friend on his pasty cheek.

Peter mumbled something and tried to lift his head, but unlike all the other moments when he’d been able to power through his pain...he no longer had the strength.

With the softest groan, he tumbled sideways where we’d placed him against the wall.

“Oh no.” I caught him before his head cracked against stone, gently lowering his cheek to the cave floor. “Peter?” I shook his lax shoulder. “Jaagate raho, Paavak. Chalo bhee. Aap theek hain.” (Stay awake, Paavak. Come on. You’re okay.)

Nothing.

None of us spoke for the longest time, all of us hoping for a miracle where Peter opened his eyes, sprang to his feet, and led us to victory.

When none of that happened, our small group of nine—our diligent, brave little group that’d bonded with trust and hope—fractured like crystals shattering under too much pressure.

“I don’t know how much more of this I can stand.” Caishen scratched his arms as if he’d grown allergic to the weighted dark. “I never thought I was claustrophobic but knowing tonnes of rock are above me? That any moment it could bury me alive...fuck.”

“Me too.” Kaya—a girl I hadn’t spoken to before today—nodded. “It’s taking everything I have not to run off screaming.”

Caishen gave her a sympathetic smile, his face almost sinister thanks to the fading torch and its inability to banish the night.

“How long do you think we’ve been in here?” Catherine—the other girl I hadn’t known—shivered. “Because I’m literally seconds away from losing it.”

“No one is losing anything,” Rachel muttered.

“Keep it together, guys,” Mollie said, tucking dark blonde hair behind her ear. “If one of us snaps, we all snap.”

Pressing the back of my hand against Peter’s forehead, I hissed at his blazing fever. “If we don’t find a way out soon, I’m afraid he’ll die down here.”

“No one is dying either,” Rachel snapped. Rubbing her sore middle where Victor had repeatedly kicked her, she sighed heavily. “You asked how long we’ve been down here, Cath?” Shooting Catherine a look, she shrugged. “I’m guessing about five hours—”

“Five hours?” Caishen shot to his feet, almost bashing his head on a stalactite. The small cave we’d tumbled into barely gave enough room for all of us. “Right, that’s it. I can’t do this anymore. I need to leave.” He clawed at this throat. “I-I can’t breathe anymore.” He jumped as if something stalked him in the shadows. “I-I’m seeing things, and I’m sick of fucking shivering. The game has to be over now, surely?”

“It has to be.” Kaya sprang up from her crouch. “Victor said we all had to return before dusk. By the time we make our way out, it will probably be dark.”

“Alright.” Caishen nodded. “New plan. We retrace our steps and—”

“Peter’s unconscious,” I said quietly. “Are you proposing we leave him?”

“Course not. We’ll carry him.”

“Through all those narrow cracks?” I shook my head. “There’s no way—”

“Leave him in here much longer and like you just said...he’ll die.”

“Yes, but perhaps there’s a way out up ahead. We just need to—”

“Peter said it himself.” Caishen crossed his arms, trying his best not to tremble from the ice that’d settled into all our bones. “Ever since we left that cave with the glow worms, he didn’t have a clue which way to go.”

My shoulders slouched.