The entire cavern begins to quake and give.

Heavy pounding breaks through the sound of leaves, trees, and gravel, a large roar shattering any lasting sense of sense security that is left.

Every instinct in my body screams to run. This entire contest has been about dodging the inexplicable, but I can't ignore the nagging voice in the back of my head, begging and pleading with me to just wait the seconds out.

No one else shares this voice, Lyric slipping out the caves mouth and the men clambering after her in afterthought.

Noah nudges me from behind as he passes, giving me a quizzical look. "What are you waiting for?"

I think about it, the ground shifting beneath us. David tosses us both a look from the opening, glancing between us and the rest of the contestants.

"I don't expect you to trust me, but something is telling me to wait," I explain, gesturing forward. "My instincts have gotten me this far, I think I'm going to take the chance."

David creeps back in, the light giving me the first real opportunity to view him in full. Tall, broad-shouldered and yet thin elsewhere. His hair is cropped shorter on the sides, faint licks of gold are woven among the brown.

He looks me over skeptically and crosses his arms. "What's your idea then?"

"We go in deeper," I say, pointing past the oceanic ceiling.

"This place is falling apart, are you crazy?" Noah scowls.

I take a deep breath, hearing something bark outside and someone yelling violent profanity. "I never said you had to go with me, but think about it. Whatever that thing is out there will try to kill us no matter what, but we don't actually know that anything in here will."

A crack runs down the side of the wall, tearing through algae and breaking the granite in half. Dirt and rocks pour down over my head, the taste powdering my tongue and skin in a disgusting mist. There is no time left for decisions and waffling around.

"We don't have time for this," Noah mutters. "Let's go."

I take off jogging into the darkness, Noah on my heels and David lingering behind like he's going to change his mind any second.

The darkness is musty and cold, but nothing as bothersome as how tight and compact the tunnel gets. Even with a slight gust, my oxygen sucking out the opposite direction. Out into the open.

David finally catches up to us, constantly looking at his hands and trying to figure something out. He taps his fingers together in circular patterns but nothing happens. The crystal inside him either not working or creating nothing visible to the eye.

When the ceiling gets low enough to duck, I feel my chest tighten and my vision blur in the dark. My back starts to ache and I feel tiny tremors taking over the calm, steadiness of my frame.

A bend leads us down a small spiral and out the back of a dark overhang. Trees line a defined path in two different directions, one behind the mountain and another through a thick forest.

Another bloodcurdling scream rings out against the night. The piercing noise explains more than words can of death and terror.

"Is there a right path?" Noah asks, stepping out into a clearing and looking into the forest.

David scoffs. "Of course, there's always a right path."

I ignore them, stepping out and looking around for myself. The pines are a faint purple in the moonlight, roots shooting straight into the ground and leaving the path flat as stone.

Another breeze ripples through my hair, blowing out some of the debris and nature. A thin piece of seaweed slaps against David's boots, though he either doesn't notice or care. I wouldn't normally, yet hypervigilance had kicked in. Just as I can see that no life exists anywhere in that forest.

"Do either of you feel any differently?" I murmur, feeling as my fingers smoke into the flickering of a shadow in the light. "Can you tell what's been done?"

David tries flexing again, shaking his head.

"I don't feel any different," Noah answers. "But I can hear that thing."

"What thing?" David and I ask almost in sync, turning to face him.

He laughs a little incredulously. "You're joking, you get to disappear into thin air and all I can do is hear that giant dog?"

"It's a dog?" I stammer, whipping around again.

"You heard the barking, didn't you?"

It's just too much for my brain to process.

My mind is reeling. Nothing fits together, the pieces just not lining up. I start walking up the slope and into the tree's a little ways. "I think I see a clearing we can get to and try to find our way out of here."

My body is slowly recovering from the shaking, but my knees are still weak with every step. The boys follow after me, looking skeptical and cautious.

The same strain begins to overcome me as when I'd woken up in that dark, empty room. Instead of breaking my back, I pause and brace myself on a low hanging branch for just a minute.

"Can our bodies reject these things?" I mutter, grunting a little bit when I feel a stick poke into my arm.

Clearly, a conspiracy nut, David's eyes widen and he starts subtly freaking out. He checks himself for symptoms, feeling the top of his head and patting down his limbs. "You don't think that's possible, do you?"

"Why not?" Noah smirks, clearly messing with him. "I mean, who's to say none of the others exploded when they left the cave?"

David chokes a little. "Do you think this is a joke?"

He laughs in response, scratching the back of his head and sighing. "We're dead, I don't even know that this isn't some strange, demented hell. Why does it matter?"

"I thought you had something worth fighting for."

A dark growl rumbles in Noah's throat. "Don't go there."

Not only a warning or a threat but the hatred of a promise. Everything in those words is laced with pain and grief. I imagine a replica of the intensity his wife must be feeling.

"What? Your girlfriend not worth it?"

I blink.

That's all it takes for Noah's hand to be around David's neck on the ground, shoving deep enough into the dirt to form a small crater.

His power is now obvious to me. The enhanced senses, the dexterity. Noah's strength and speed are pushed to their highest potential. Everything inside him pumping with life.

"She was my wife," he hisses. "Do you know what that's like? Do you have any idea?"

David struggles against his grip, head pushing back up and legs kicking out, to no avail.

"I promised her... I promised when we married that I wouldn't leave, not like everyone else before me. I didn't have a choice, I didn't have a choice..."

Noah draws back and slams his fist down into David's jaw.

I can see the busted lip when I creep closer but David just sneers up at him and makes a snide remark. "Looks like you broke it."

Noah's fist goes down again.

"I didn't want to be like this, I didn't want to kill anyone. But they were going to kill her. I was too fucking busy saving her life and look where that got me, in some torturous hell with your stupid ass... We're not getting out of here, none of us are leaving this fucked up world, no one."

The anguish is suffocating, every second of his agony written in the air and lingering like a breath in the cold.

My guts twist for him, but at the same time, I shrink away. Someone always runs in to save the day eventually. They come in and break up the two fighting men and leave us bystanders here to watch and nurse our guilty conscience.

But no one's coming.

I inch forward and rest my hand on Noah's shoulder. He jolts a little but I try to pull him back. "I think David said it best earlier, but we don't have time for this."

"Like you give a shit what he says," his laugh is demented, nearly insane. "From day one you've known better than to listen to anyone."

A few more trees are broken in the distance, but a giant thundering pound grows closer. My fingers tighten on his shoulder on accident, legs giving a little bit.

"Come on," Noah says, getting to his feet. His height pulls my hand away but something softens the cold glare in his eyes. "Let's get to the top."

He doesn't give David a second look before walking up the hill, eyes wandering over the crater and tracks he'd made, but never stopping to check over the damage he'd done.

The man beneath me lingers for a minute, sucking in deep breaths and bracing his hands on the ground. Once he sits up, I notice the marks forming along the sides of his neck, nail cuts.

David doesn't look at me, eyes averted to the ground as he pushes up and tries to brush past. He's disoriented and stumbles, but inevitably keeps going.

The steps get more frequent and far too close for comfort. I can hear the barks echoing through the forest now, clouds covering the moon overhead and shielding the only light source.

Still, I do my best to crawl up the rocks of the mountain and find the spot I'd been aiming for. Noah is looking out down below, seeing a few silhouettes darting through the trees.

However, what really amazes me is yet to come.

Barreling through all the wildlife is a massive two-headed dog the height and width of three city trucks. Green flecks of light cover the massive pelt all the way down to multiple tails. The eyes of a gleaming red demon stare back at the scrambling contestants.

"They sent us here to die..." I whisper.

"Where do we go from here?" David says. His tone is raspy, penetrating the otherwise strong voice.

Noah doesn't even look at him, glancing down at me through dark bangs and following the giant dog's path. "Up, I suppose. It's not like it can climb the entire peak."

"What about them?" I ask, hearing Lyric cry below.

Being the only other girl, it isn't hard to hear the higher sobs of frustration and fear.

"Leave them," he shrugs. "This isn't a game for the weak and we're not here for teamwork."

Something drops in my stomach, mouth going unbearably dry. Everyone below is a person, each and every one of them with a story like us.

"Let's go Holiday, no one's going to mourn Seb's loss," David tries to joke half-heartedly, obviously seeing my struggle. "It's not like they can't take care of themselves, you know."

I close my eyes and turn away.

If I'm going to leave them all behind, it's best I don't know what happens next.

Total Word Count: 12,918

Hey everyone!

Getting really close to the 20k limit here! How do you like the story so far? I'm going to feel so good finishing something for the first time in quite a few months. I wish everyone participating good luck in the contest!

Don't forget to vote and comment! Love you guys!