9. - A door?

For an hour we have been following the increasingly warm air in the passages. Sometimes the passages are so narrow or low that everything is demanded of us to somehow get further. Just now we had to climb over several, I would almost say, boulders, to be able to be now in this somewhat wider passage. Oh yes, Han explained to me that in a cave it is not called tunnel, but passageway and my brother is suddenly silent. And, we are still far away from a possible exit, as it seems.

Right now we are taking a break, because Leni and Han need to rest because of their injuries. Nothing pursued us so far. I heard Missy and Meng Yao talking and talking about how maybe there was nothing there and Han might have been attacked by the Polish guys because he couldn't find the Polish girl. Or they are mad because he went into this new "gear" with all of us instead of staying on his familiar path.

With me sitting, Zhan, Cheng and Yanli. Now it's my brother who sits apart. But, even though I am so mad at him for all his lies, I feel sorry for him already. I understand how important Cheng is to him and that he wanted to do it for their future. I just said to Yanli that we can't know how we would have acted in his situation.

We all hope a little that the Romanians have reached the exit and maybe think so far to send us help, the satellite phone has been left in our cave camp for such a case.

The time we are now sitting here waiting for them to regain some strength so we can continue is quite enough to think about many things. For example: What if the warm air is somehow coming in here differently and not from an exit at all? Han and Leni will never make it the long way back. After all, we don't even know how many miles of cave passage we've walked. Zhan accurately called it a labyrinth. And what if we do have to take the long way back? How much longer will we be down here? Will the batteries last? Was that something that attacked Han, perhaps, lurking there somewhere in the darkness, waiting for us? Could it really have been neither human nor animal? And if so, what was it?

Zhan borrowed Han's lighter just then and turned it on. The way the flame danced and pointed in the direction we came from, it seems we are on the right path. At least, the way to the place where the draft, which had been felt all along, was coming from.

Han wants to talk to all of us, I suspect bad things. I'll get right back to you.

*~*~*

Han said he is not able to go on soon and Leni's ankle is also causing problems. It is very swollen and she can hardly move her foot because of it. Maybe it is broken after all?

We should all get some rest, maybe try to sleep again, Han suggested. He said he would keep guard, too. But because he is injured and very exhausted, my brother offered to keep guard. Rin joined him.

I never thought I could fall asleep under these circumstances. But I did. I leaned my back against the wall, let Zhan sit between my legs, and held him tightly in my arms. My eyes fell shut all by themselves.

It felt like I had only been asleep for five minutes when someone shook my arm to wake me up. It was my brother, gesturing to me and Zhan to be quiet, he tapped his mouth with his index finger. At first I didn't understand what he even wanted, I wasn't even awake for two seconds. But then I was wide awake when I heard a noise. Something that sounded like someone scratching on a rock wall with a metallic object.

My brother held the small camping axe in his right hand and we all stared, spellbound, at the narrow opening above the boulder that I was amazed to realize we had climbed over four hours ago. We turned off our lights so as not to draw attention to ourselves.

After perhaps five minutes, the noise faded away again and silence returned. None of us wanted to stay in this passage any longer, because who knows if the person or persons might not get the idea to look in this passage.

With difficulty we got up and took turns to help Han and Leni walk. The wound on Han's leg started bleeding again and I think he is getting a fever. Maybe the wound has become infected.

We got maybe a half mile until Leni collapsed under her pain. My brother then carried her on his back for minutes until Han couldn't take another step either. Rin, who is a little taller and also much stronger than Han, then carried Han on his back.

Cheng and Yanli held each other's hands and I held Zhan's hand as tightly as I could. May, well, she doesn't seem to notice all this at all. She just keeps walking when we walk and stops when we do. Like in a trance I would think.

Rin said it was all too much for May. Instead of finding her daughter's remains, we're now on the run from something Han said wasn't human. Whispering, he had added that he didn't know of any such animal either. Well, I think under the given circumstances, it's probably no wonder if you just shut down there and only functions. Who knows what horror scenarios are going through May's head right now? After all, her daughter was only 15 years old when she went into the cave here and disappeared.

Thanks to my brother and Rin, we somehow made it to a cave room, about the size of my parents' living room. Zhan entered this cave room first and hastily pulled me after him. He pointed his flashlight at something I didn't expect to see down here. "A door?" I asked him and was almost knocked over by the others when they heard me.

Unfortunately, the door, made of solid iron and partially rusted, is locked and we have no tools with us. So nothing but the little axe. Or so I thought, until Han pulled a very large knife from a secret hiding place in his backpack. Now Han and Cheng use it to try to open the lock on the door.

*~*~*

For over an hour now, the two have been trying to break the lock and have been anything but quiet. I'm afraid they're attracting the attention of someone or something that might not be good for us.

The one or other time when these two hooligans took a break, we had the impression to hear voices, very quiet, but there were voices. We just couldn't make out if it was coming from the passages behind us, or from there, whatever is behind the door.

We're hungry and we're also running out of water. There may still be enough for each of us to take a generous sip. Luckily for us, Zhan still had a big pack of gum with him. He gave each of us two pieces. Chewing makes us salivate, so at least we don't feel the urge to drink water all the time. Nor do we have to worry about our throats drying out. I never really liked chewing gum. It's funny that they actually help me now.

May still seems absent-minded. Sometimes she looks around frantically, wants to get up and run, but then stays sitting again when Rin tells her it's all good. She refused the gum and she also refuses to drink water. She has also wet her pants, which is now starting to stink. I wonder if she even notices anything anymore and when exactly she changes to this state?

Yanli and Zhan carefully looked at the other hallway. Zhan checked the draft again with Han's lighter. The draft there is much weaker than at the door. Still, there is a draft there, the question is just where is it coming from and where is it taking us?

*~*~*

Just now Cheng and Han had to stop their nonsensical work on the door. May totally freaked out. She screamed and covered her ears whenever they made a loud noise. When they paused to check on May, she suddenly laughed and muttered, "I can hear her. I can hear my daughter. She's here." Then she jumped up, pushed Rin aside, who hurt his head, and ran into the dark hallway. Zhan and I followed her, but gave it up, not wanting to get too far away from the others.

She just ran, without any light, just into that dark passage! Her calls for her daughter could still be heard for a few minutes, until they suddenly stopped.

Rin now wants to go in search of her alone. It's absolutely useless to try to talk him out of it. No matter what we say, he won't listen to us. Han almost begged him to stay here with us, not to separate from the group and to put himself in danger. But Rin is determined.

*~*~*

The whispering can be heard all the time now. Cheng and Han didn't continue trying to open the lock. We all just sat spellbound and listened. Hoping Rin would come back. But so far he hasn't come back.

I don't know how much time passed, my cell phone battery died. No one else has a cell phone or at least a wristwatch.

We tried to distract ourselves from the constant whispering by telling something about ourselves. Stating our desires. Han told us he is married and even has a little daughter. To support his family, he still does the work as a guide in addition to his regular job as an archivist at the town's community center.

Yanli said she wishes she had another chance to talk to the love of her life. She would like to tell him how she feels about him and ask him to give her a chance.

What my brother and Cheng wish for we all know. Cheng said he wants life with my brother so much that he definitely won't give up and will keep trying to get out of here.

Leni said she and Meng Yao have been having an affair with each other for three months. This surprised me the most. Because I know 100% that Meng Yao has feelings for my brother. I even learned in the last few days that he confessed his feelings to my brother. Leni also always seemed to have eyes for my brother. Well, I guess you never stop learning.

Missy told us about her sad past. More about that on the next page. Because this story is a bit longer than the others.

But first I want to write down what I told the others. I held Zhan in my arms and said, "I don't plan to die here either. I have finally found someone with whom I can imagine everything. I wish Zhan and I can get out of here, return home and be happy together."

Zhan gave me a kiss on my cheek and promised me that we would make it. No matter how, we'll make it. He himself said he wishes for both of us to have a harmonious and loving relationship. And he wishes he could tell his father that he was sorry for not always being the son he wanted him to be. And he wants to thank him for loving him anyway, just the way he is.

I asked him what was going on with his mother. He seemed reluctant to talk about it at first, but then said, "I think she's going to leave my father. I even hope so. Because I caught her cheating. Dad always treated her well, he gave her everything she wanted, and yet she's cheating on him?"

Not knowing what to say to that, I preferred to keep silent. Cheng, however, said something. "Your mom told my mom that she hasn't loved your dad for a long time. And that she thinks your dad doesn't love her anymore either. My mom then talked her into it, saying that she should have separated then, rather than betraying your dad with another man. Your mom just cried and said that she can' t just leave your dad like that. After all, they have been married for 30 years. It really made my mom mad. You know how she is."

Before Zhan could answer, however, we heard footsteps and shouting. One of the Polish men suddenly reappeared. He came through the passageway we came through earlier as well. He saw us, fell to the ground and lost consciousness. He has no obvious injuries, I guess he is just exhausted.