Secrets of The Dome

Chapter 10

I fell through a completely unstable metal shaft, it shook with every turn and twist which probably meant it wasn't built for traveling purposes. My guess was that it was meant for a laundry chute.

The realization of my injuries decided to occur at that time, my bruised ribs came with the announcement of a possibly fractured wrist. Falling through this laundry chute also reminded me of my slight anxiety when confined in small quarters.

My breathing was increasing in pace as I was jostled around in an endless tunnel.

However the tunnel eventually ended, it dumped me right into a dumpster in the basement of the apartment building.

My head was spinning as I attempted to find my footing against the piles of trash.

Just as I was able to stand up, a body came slamming into me and knocked me back down.

Unsurprisingly it was jade, "No time to run after all?" She spoke up as she crawled off of me and to the other side of the dumpster.

I didn't come here just to be mocked, and I will not allow her the satisfaction of winning this argument.

I stared her down as I spoke back to her in the same mocking tone she used on me. "I miscalculated, your ego must weigh you down more than I thought" I paused giving her a fake smile.

Up the shaft, I could hear someone else coming down. I scooted to the side more as Aria narrowly missed my back but landed on my legs.

I hissed in pain as Jade let out a dark chuckle. "Poor Kristen, always in the way."

I rolled my eyes as I massaged my sore legs.

Standing up the second time was a lot easier. I grabbed the side of the crate and hoisted myself up and over the edge, stumbling as pain shot through my leg.

Looking around, the area wasn't well lit. Many washing machines and dryer's crowded the area. The strong chemical smell was already giving me a headache.

I started walking around as I noticed the others taking their time to crawl out of the crate.

Walking past the machines I saw a glint of silver in the corner.

When I got closer, I noticed a series of cages lined up down the wall.

All of the doors were opened which was a relief, I don't know what I would have done had people been in there.

I didn't notice Aria beside of me until she spoke, "why are these here?"

The look on her face was one of perplexity with a slight sense of fear.

"Probably just for the dogs." Jade glanced up at us with indifference as she examined the cages.

Except no werewolf would keep their dogs chained in silver, it doesn't burn our skin like in all of the stories. The metal just acts as a skin irritant and causes whelps to appear.

For Jade to be so indifferent, she sure is examining those cages a lot. There's something she isn't telling us about what they are for.

Being around these cages made me feel uncomfortable, like at any moment I could be imprisoned.

When I began walking back towards the washing machines with the others, I noticed something in the corner.

It was glistening under the lights. Upon picking it up, I immediately recognized it as a moon stone. My grandmother was the only one I had ever seen wear one, but hers was a necklace.

She told me about the stone being special, a witch had cast a spell on the stone that would keep her safe. As a child I would ask her so many questions about it. All she would tell me is that a very important man gave it to her.

This stone that I had found was intricately wrapped into a bracelet. It seemed like it had been here for quite a while and stashed behind cobwebs. Clearly no one was coming back for it, and maybe I had found so that it would keep me safe.

I attempted to put it on as a bracelet but the band was too big so I just decided to wear it as an ankle bracelet instead.

When I finally walked back over to the group, I found them arguing. Everyone was talking all at once. They couldn't decide whether to run or stay here for the night. Surprisingly Jade wanted to stay and Aria wanted to keep running, while Alex just looked dumbfounded.

"HEY!," I shouted at them to get their attention.

"We need to calm down to figure this out or we'll be screwed if one of those guys from earlier hears one of you squawking over nothing. Now, this place is probably surrounded by now, so it would probably be for the best if we just stayed here for the night." Luckily I was given the time to speak or there would have been even more chaos.

Jade looked at me, "finally we agree on something."

Aria made a growling noise in the back of her throat but didn't say anything and walked away to make herself comfortable on the ground to sleep. I couldn't understand why she was so upset by this, typically she is pretty chill. I might not have known her as well as I thought.

After that we all moved to our own parts of the room and settled down.

It took awhile for me to become semi comfortable on the hard floor but then all at once I fell into a slumber.