"Heroes die."
After what felt like an eternity, Carrie's voice left them all. Though their heads all still pounded, they finally found the strength to stand. Connor breathed a sigh of relief as he watched his friends get up.
"Glad she's out of my head now. God knows what she'd find in here," joked Andrew, pointing at his head.
Connor couldn't help but smile; it was comforting to see Andrew making light of the situation. He walked over to Ingrid, giving her some support as she got up. Her legs were shaking, but she gave Connor a reassuring smile. She opened her mouth to speak when there was a loud bang.
On the other side of the room, a heavy metal door had swung open, revealing the dark corridor behind it. Connor edged towards it, peering inside cautiously. Shards of glass littered the floor and there was a solitary hanging light bulb at the end, illuminating the heavy chains that crisscrossed across a second metal door. Connor winced as he remembered the pain in his feet when he and Jodie had first walked through. He still had scars.
Ingrid, Jodie and Andrew joined him. Jodie frowned, clearly remembering the pain as well. Ingrid and Andrew, however, just stared in confusion.
"How are we going to get through without stepping on them?" asked Ingrid.
Her question was directed at Connor, since he had been here before. But before Connor could even open his mouth to reply, Carrie's voice once again filled their heads. It was nowhere near as painful as before, but it still stung, and Andrew found himself holding onto the door frame for support.
"Oh, I am sorry, my dear friends. I will move them, just for you. Am I not so considerate?"
For a moment nothing happened. But then, the glass shards started to vibrate. Then, they began to float upwards until they were hanging in the air, just above their heads. It seemed that Carrie's powers could move much more than just minds. And that made her even more terrifying. The whole world was a weapon; she could use anything she pleased to harm them, if she needed to.
Inhaling slowly, Connor stepped into the corridor. He walked briskly, trying his best to ignore the fact that there were literal glass shards above him, and that they could potentially fall at any time. Carrie was unpredictable - Connor wouldn't put it past her to drop them. Though at the same time he couldn't help but think that Carrie had something in store for them. And he had a feeling that whatever it was, he wouldn't like it.
The sound of his friends footsteps followed close behind, but they were slower than his, clearly anxious at the thought of glass piercing their flesh. But Connor couldn't afford to be scared now. He reached the end, the solitary light bulb dangling just above the chained door. As he took his final step towards it the padlock snapped away. The chains fell to the floor with a loud crash, laying motionless like snakes on the tiled floor, and the door creaked open. Ahead of him stretched the familiar dark staircase, reaching down into the depths of the earth where the sun had never touched. Cold air spilled out from inside. Connor reached a hand out, and almost at once he felt his head start to spin. He stepped back.
"There's something down there."
"Carrie?" stammered Jodie, winding her hands around each other nervously.
Connor shook his head.
"No. It's something... else. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's there. I can just feel it."
He felt himself shiver, though he couldn't tell if it was from the cold or from fear. Jodie nodded in understanding, but her face said otherwise. She still looked confused and afraid.
"I can feel it too," chimed Ingrid. "It feels kind of like how I felt inside that rock. Do you feel it, Andrew?"
Andrew shrugged indifferently. But then, as they all watched him, a look of realisation surfaced.
"Yeah, I feel it. Strange. Do you think she's got more people down there?"
Once again Connor shook his head.
"It doesn't feel like something physical. It feels... I don't know."
"No, no, I get what you mean! It doesn't feel like it's a person, but more like a place," replied Ingrid, her usual excited enthusiasm shining through.
"But isn't a place physical?" asked Jodie, frowning.
"Not a physical place. It's like a place in my mind."
"What?"
Connor held up his hands. They were getting nowhere this way.
"Nothing Carrie does makes sense, at least not using words. It's like if you try to describe feeling happy - you can't. It's a feeling, nothing more. Let's just go down. Whatever it is, we'll find it, and we'll destroy it. We came here to stop Carrie once and for all, so that's what we'll do."
His friends nodded, accepting that he was in charge. Even Andrew, usually the control freak, looked content to let Connor take the lead.
YOU ARE READING
The Memory Machine 2
Skrekk*Sequel to The Memory Machine***** It has been months since Connor regained his memory, and it seems like Carrie's threats were nothing but a bluff. But as the days go by, Connor can't help but notice that something isn't right. His friends act like...
