The Temple of Nightmares

Chapter 5 - Ritchie

Ritchie jolted awake, feeling disoriented. All he could hear was his heart pounding in his chest as he gasped for air.

When his head finally stopped spinning enough for him to fully sit up is when Ritchie attempted to actually stand up from his spot on the ground.

Ritchie straightened up, and he looked around, but his heart dropped with a sudden realisation.

He's all alone.

Where is his guild?

...Brandon? No.

...Lucas? No.

...Devin? No.

...Kit? Inmo? Neither.

None of his family was with him. He was all alone.

I already don't know where Blake and David are, I can't deal with losing the rest of them as well. He looked around frantically. It was dark, there was no light in sight except the slight shimmer in the floor, which looked weird the longer Ritchie looked at it.

It actually distracted him from his panicking for a minute as he stared at the swirly black ground which was fortunately sturdy, and it oddly reminded Ritchie of standing on water.

He wondered if this is how Lucas feels when he walks on water. And that thought caused him to snap his head up from the ground as he was reminded of his unfortunate situation.

Maybe they are around here somewhere. He assured himself despite the growing worry and fear at the back of his mind. Ritchie started walking around in hopes of finding his guild mates.

He couldn't tell where he was going; everything looked the same, with the ominous void sky and the odd swirly floor under him. They just continued on and on.

Ritchie kept ignoring the growing anxiety that wanted to plague his mind with horrible what ifs. He doesn't usually let these feelings surface at all, this isn't like him to worry. Worrying is not Ritchie's brand.

But this is his family, the people he can't lose, the people he can't fail again-

...

Don't think about that, not now, you've got things to do. People to find. He shook his head harshly to rid all his awful thoughts, he was already dreading the end of all this when these thoughts would resurface.

He just needed to find everyone and then get out. From wherever this place is...

Ritchie continued onwards before his movement stopped abruptly as he heard a voice. He couldn't tell who they were or what they were saying, so he tried to listen in further to be able to identify the voice.

"HELP!"

Blake.

And Ritchie was now running. No, he was sprinting. Because Blake was in danger. In danger in this weird void type of place, that was way too ominous for his liking.

He kept running in the direction that he heard the scream from, there was no sight of Blake yet, just the sound of her calling out for help.

Oh my god, how long have I been running? Ritchie wondered as he slowed to catch his breath.

"RITCHIE!"

Ritchie flinched as he opened his eyes and looked forward. His eyes widened, and he finally saw her, and him.

Yes, him. David was with her, but he couldn't help her while he laid unmoving on the ground as Blake was getting dragged further into the void.

"I'M COMING!" he desperately replied.