Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Injured

They were in a state of a daze right now because Kayla suddenly fell into a pit like this, they were not in a state where they could clearly make a decision, Diane who is usually very sharp and harsh also didn't dare to say anything. To be honest, they didn't really want her to take the risk, but it is all really up to her decisions. Steven who is holding Kayla from below said, “If you have the courage, you could try to go inside if you want”

Kayla silently looked downward but couldn't see his expression at all, she took a deep breath and let it out, ‘It is already like this, let's just make a bet’. The hole is a little bit lower, so she has to crouch down to be able to climb inside it.

“Be careful”, Aaron said worriedly from above. Kayla didn’t reply to him, but she obviously heard that and reply it on her heart. After putting one of her knees inside, she could feel that the ground was also made out of paper and pretty solid, so she wouldn't have to worry that the ground would suddenly disappear like before. Steven also takes a careful step towards her leaning direction to help her get closer while still holding onto her legs tightly.

The size of the hole is not big, it is only big enough for a grown-up man to fit inside, so there is still plenty of space for a small figure like Kayla. Because it was dark, she couldn't really see anything, and could only fondle her way in. Being in a dark enclosed space is really terrifying, she just got inside, but it seems like she has already gone inside for quite a long time. Before she could think of anything, Steven suddenly shouted from outside,

“Kayla! Get out of there!!”

Just when she turned her head wanting to take a look, there was a railing closing the entrance. Kayla wanted to turn around, but the space was too small for her to do that.

“What is going on?! Are you alright?”, Kayla asked worriedly, her heart thumping loudly and she could feel all her hair stand on all ends.

“Nothing! What is on your side?”, Steven shouted back, but she could feel Steven jump up and hold the railing, he was basically behind her now. Kayla definitely felt like something was wrong and something must have happened, she could subtly hear Clara and Jeremy's worried voices from above.

“I am alright, I will keep on going, you get out first”, Kayla said, but she could heard Clara's panicked voice sounding from above, “He can't! There are also railings blocking the entrance, and there are spikes coming out from the bottom!!”, she shouted. Kayla became pale and anxious, she wanted to back off, but now she was stuck inside. In her heart, she knew that she didn't have a choice but to keep on crawling forward, hoping that she could quickly find a solution to solve the problem, ‘Since the mechanism is being triggered by me getting in, then there must be a trigger to turn it off right? Everything should go back to normal after I find the trigger right?’

Kayla didn't have the time to think so much anymore and quickly crawled forward blindly. She kept on hastily searching the whole surroundings while crawling forward, not forgetting the paper wall above her head too, but she couldn't really find anything or see anything. Clara's panicked cry becomes louder and suddenly becomes silent, Kayla knows that Diane must have shut her mouth up.

“Kayla!! Are you alright? Why isn't she answering?!!”, Clara asked panickly. Diane become irritated by her loud voice and shouted back, “She just got in! Can't you give her time to move?”, Diane scolded her.

Kayla was couldn't really focus on what they were arguing, she just felt like she didn't have that much time to waste any longer. That is when her hand finally caught something, it is a rectangular cage located in the middle of the space, Kayla's eyes had become used to the dark that she could see the subtle shadow of the things in front of her. She could barely see the box inside of it. Kayla stroke the cage around and found an opening, it was a small rectangular size located in the middle of the cage. Kayla's heart was beating loudly, she doesn't know why but her intuition said that something would happen the moment she put her hand inside.

‘Can't bother to think too much!’, Kayla gritted her teeth, took a deep breath and let it out, feeling ready, she immediately put her hand inside. What she feared most had come true, the opening suddenly entrapped her hand from above and bottom with spikes, immediately holding her hand in place. The force was not very big, so the wounds were not deep, but they still hurt very much, but Kayla almost screamed from it.

She bit her lips from the pain and kept on pushing her hand forward, the spikes kept on biting her hand, and the moment Kayla moved forward she could feel her meat being sliced, but she couldn't really care any longer since they had an emergency, she didn't even know what would happen to Steven if she is late even for a moment, so losing some meat is not that big of a deal for her.

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When her hand finally was able to reach the box and lift it up, that is when the spike retreated and she could finally pull her hand out. Her hand was trembling in pain, and she bled quite a lot, but the thing that made her relieved was that she seemed to be able to hear the happy shriek of Clara, it meant it really was the trigger to turn off the mechanism.

“Kayla! You alright?”, Steven shouted from outside.

Kayla trying to hold on to her tears and trembling voice, “I.. I am alright”. Kayla slowly crawled backward, ignoring the pain in her hand, ‘It is good that I used my left hand, I didn’t have to worry about doing stuff or writing’, she silently said in her heart. When someone suddenly grabs her ankle, she feels like her heart is about to jump out from her chest, her heart beating fast and she thinks that she is about to faint,

“It is me”, Steven's voice rang from behind, Kayla let out the breath she had unconsciously held, “Are you alright?”, Kayla asked. Steven only replied with a simple “En”, and that is when he smelled the strong smell of iron in the air, he immediately knew that she was injured, “You are injured?”, Steven asked, Kayla didn't know why, but she thought that his tone seemed mad.

“I am alright, just a few bruises?”, Kayla said with hesitation, since she couldn't really see it at all. It looks like Steven has been hanging there waiting for Kayla, so after seeing that she is out, Steven jumps back down so Kayla can crawl out and let her feet down to be catch by him. Kayla was a little surprised this time that Steven could hold her up highly with his two hands raised up high above. This time, Aaron could finally grab her hand. But when Aaron felt the wetness coming from her hand, he frowned, so he didn't dare to exert force towards her left hand and immediately grabbed her arm to pull her out quite easily, ‘What is wrong with these two people? They are very strong’

Under the light, they could finally see what is going on, “Your hand!!”, Clara gasped, “What happened with your hand?!!”

Steven also had successfully come out after jumping towards the entrance Kayla got in before and using that place as the momentum to leap up and pull himself out of the hole. Kayla who looks at his movement feels dazed for a moment, ‘Is he a monkey or something? Why is everyone here so good at jumping?’

Diane immediately poured water on Kayla's wound and wrapped her hand tightly with her handkerchief, trying to slow down the blood flow,

“Why don't you wrap her hand with it instead of tying up her wrist”, Jeremy asked

“You stupid? We didn't have any clean bandages with us, it will only make her got infected with the bacteria”, Clara scolded him

“Then what should we do now?!”, Jeremy started to panic.

“Let's find the place he is talking about and exchange the coin with some supplies”, Diane suggested, Kayla looked at her with disagreement, and just as she was about to say something, Diane already cut her off, “You can't hold on with that hand of yours, it is going to get infected. Do you want to lose a hand?”

Kayla become silent, she was a bit unwilling to let it go since they had painstakingly got three coins and five including Steven, Kayla was a little hesitant to use it away, in her heart she also wanted to get out of there quickly. Furthermore, it seems that the level of difficulty of each room got higher and higher, so she is very worried about that.

“You don't need to worry, it is not as deep as you thought, the bleeding will stop after a while”

They all look at her with skeptical looks, clearly not believing in her words, “We can ignore anything else, but your wound is quite deep, what would you do if you weren't able to use it again”, Aaron said

Kayla laughed at his words, “It is not that serious”

“You have to know how serious it is, I am not playing with you”, Aaron reprimanded her, Kayla became silent. Steven without saying anything has already sorted out his things, everybody also scurried to grab their things and immediately departed. They have not seen the room Steven said before, but from what Steven told them, this room was located randomly all around the place, without any pattern or clue. One thing for sure is that this room are always located inside of another room, so they have to search for every room that will possibly lead them to this room.

After searching for around half an hour, they finally found that room, Kayla's face had gotten pale, probably feeling a little dizzy because she lost a lot of blood. The room they were getting in was a room full of glasses, black glasses, any kind of design and shape, some dangling around and some put on nearly on the cabinet, the setup looked like an extravagant glasses shop, with many weird alignments and models all around the place.

“Here”, Steven said. What stood in front of them was indeed a door, a door that looked very scary and evil, it was carved with beautifully made antique design but with a serpent opening its eyes looking at them fiercely. Clara suddenly became reluctant, “I.. don't think this is a good idea. The door looks evil”, she shrugged.

“Who cares! Saving lives is more important”, Diane said and opened the door. At first, Kayla thought that it would be like the convenient store, you grab what you want and pay for it, but it turned out to be a big theatre screen hanging on the wall, there are a whole lot bunch of lists that you could choose from the screen, and in front of it, there was a podium like thing where you could put your coin inside. Kayla couldn’t quite believe what she had seen in front of her, ‘Isn't this a bit too grand?’

Kayla could suddenly feel the back of her hair getting goosebumps and immediately turned around, but Diane was much faster than her and already pulled her away, resulting in her tumbling forward and falling into Steven arms. Kayla could feel her face getting hotter, she said her sorry, and got away from him. It turns out that her intuition is right, there was someone standing behind her and it seems that that person is planning to grab her before.

Under the luminance of the light, they could see that it was a girl, smiling proudly while crossing her arms.

TO BE CONTINUED…