Restless

Forgetting Light

The longer I sat in the darkness, the more it felt like I was going crazy. I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Minute after minute, hour after hour. I felt like a caged animal. Scared, angry, trapped. Soon, I started to talk to myself.

"Tick, tock, tick, tock." I would repeat to myself, over and over again. When I got bored of talking, I sang to myself. "Hello Darkness, my old friend." I would sing. Insanity was right around the corner. I soon was questioning who I was, as if the Darkness was stealing my memories. I shut my eyes, not seeing a difference in lighting, trying to focus. I focused on everything important. What I was doing, Where I was, Who my friends were, and anything that would help me stay positive. I don't know what had happened to the flashlight we had brought with us. We might have dropped it in the ash room. My eyes started to adjust to the dark after a while. I could see a few feet in front of me now. The outline of Ben and Zach laid next to me. I really wish they would wake up. I could hear their soft breaths in the silence.

"You could leave them, you know." A voice in my head rang. I shook my head furiously.

"I refuse to leave them down here!!" I said aloud.

"They'll be fine, get out of the darkness before you forget the light." the voice hissed. Maybe they would be okay. It was probably warmer and safer up the ladder. Maybe only for a little while... When I realized what I was thinking, I bumped my forehead with my fist.

"No, never. I'm staying until they wake up!!" I yelled out. I felt crazy, fighting with myself. The voices continued to try to persuade me. I sat there for what seemed like forever. Watching. Waiting. I thought that would be the day that the darkness consumed me completely.

"Hello?... Ben?" Zach moaned moving around on the floor. His voice startled me, forcing me to jump.

"Zach, Are you okay?" I asked him placing my hand on his shoulder.

"Drayton? Is that you??" Zach asked. He let out a sigh. "Drayton am I dead?"

"No, Zach, you're not dead." I said, smiling. I was happy to finally hear his voice.

"I thought that guy killed you. Me and Ben went all YOLO mode. Wait, where's Ben?!" Zach asked jumping to his feet, feeling around for his friend.

"You two were knocked out so I dragged you guys out of that room and back to this ladder." I explained.

"How long has it been?" He asked.

"A while. I haven't left your side since. Now that you're up, We can try to get Ben out of here." I said feeling the cold metal ladder that we needed to climb. The ladder was huge. It would be very difficult to lift Ben up the entire way.

"How are we going to get him up there?" Zach questioned from next to me, in the dark. I had no idea. "Should we just wait for him to wake up?"

"No, please." I raised my voice. I had to get out of there. "Let's just wing it."

"Alright." Zach gave in. Our plan was that someone had one of his arms, pulling him up, and the other person was under him, pushing him up. It wasn't a very good plan, but it was all we had.

"You ready, Zach?" I asked, holding Ben by his right arm.

"Let's go." He answered. I started inching my way up the ladder with my left hand and pulling Ben's arm with the other. I used almost all my strength, by the time I reached the top of the ladder. I was sweating and exhausted. I was losing my grip on Ben's arm.

"Zach, we're at the top. Get ready to push your hardest." I called down to him. It was brighter at the top of the ladder but not by much. I guessed the sun was setting. I wiggled out of the hole, off the ladder and pulled Ben out with the rest of my strength. Ben's unconscious body laid on the floor next to me. I leaned against the wall for a minute, catching my breath. Zach staggered up the final steps of the ladder and fell to his knees. Breathing heavily, I walked over to him and patted him on the back.