Hustle (Book 1 in The Hunted Hearts) - SYTYCW Winner #action #comedy #romance

Hustle | Chapter 18

Copyright 2013 - All Rights Reserved

Hustle By Claire Chilton

18

Haunted Past

Ellie turned around in the large entrance of the cavern, shining the light on the jagged walls. Mossy growths and damp patches darkened the rock, but there were no indications of life in it—not even spider webs.

Relieved by the cooler temperature inside the cave, she took a moment to inhale. The air was damp but fresh. There must be another opening. When she shone the torch ahead of her, she saw a narrow tunnel with a dim glow at the end of it. Wary of the dangers in the subterranean area, she took tentative steps towards the tunnel, going deeper into the darkness.

Her throat was dry, and her legs were aching from the trek here. She listened for sounds of creatures, constantly spinning around to check behind her, but the cave was silent, and there was nothing in it but her.

She faced forward again, making her way down the narrow passage.

I don't have much luck with caves. I hope this one doesn't collapse on me, too.

She clenched her teeth.

Of course, I had to think of a cave-in now.

She shook her head, trying to shake off the feeling of impending doom as she slowly traveled down the narrow path, trying to see past the light of her torch. She squinted at the dim glow.

There's something up there.

Maybe I should just go back?

She paused for a moment.

Did you travel this far to run away the second you encountered some darkness, or did you come here to find treasure?

She smiled. She'd never been scared of the dark. In her experience, the dark was a safe place to hide. She hurried down the tunnel, frowning when she heard a trickling sound. She paused for a moment.

Is that...? That's water!

She sped up, heading towards the sound. The one thing she did need was water, thanks to Jacob's idiot version of supplies.

She came to an abrupt halt as the tunnel came to an end, and so did the path. Staring in awe at the massive atrium ahead of her, she took a step back. The narrow passage led to a shelf that ended with a twenty-foot drop into a large pool of water. She glanced up to see daylight peeking through a wide opening at the top of the atrium. Thick granite walls curved down to the water below her.

Daylight lit up the cavern, making her torch obsolete. She turned it off and stared down at the clear water in the subterranean pool.

How do I get down there?

There was a small path cut into the rock to her left. She frowned. Like a man-made slope cut into the granite, it curved around with the wall, leading down to the water.

Is that natural, or did someone make it?

She shrugged. She needed water, and the cave didn't seem as scary with rays of sunshine beaming into it.

Holding onto the wall, she carefully made her way down the slope. It was quite steep and narrow, but easy enough to navigate her way down. When she reached the bottom of the cave, she hurried to the pool.

Quickly searching her bag, she pulled out an empty flask and filled it with water. Next, she pulled the out the purifying tablets and dropped one into the flask before giving it a shake and taking a long drink. She immediately felt revived and sighed while sitting on the cold cavern floor to enjoy a moment of tranquility.