The Devil's Game

Hello Darkness My Old Friend

This is a replacement chapter for "A Price to be Payed", that chapter has been scrapped completely.

-_-

My eyes fluttered open, the telltale ache of my head alerted me to the weakness of my body caused by the forced unconsciousness. My mind spinning I whirled my head around to examine my surroundings. There was nothing. It was as if I hadn't opened my eyes at all I was stuck in complete darkness. Attempting to lift my hand I found the restrained behind my back by a tight rope rubbing sores into my skin as I struggled. Forced to rely on my other senses I tried to make sense of my surroundings. Beneath my bound hand was cold dank stone, it was slimy and damp, that coupled with the soft lapping of water I had to be near water. The slight echoing of the sound pointed to the idea that I was stuck in some sort of cave. There was water somehow involved. But it sounded faint and far off. Unsure of what lay around me, even though my feet were not bound I did not stand. For all I know I could be staring into the abyss with death at my feet and wouldn't know any better.

It is strange how much we rely on our sense of sight despite our other sense. Listening carefully I tried to discern any possible threats, hearing none, an idea popped into my head. If I yell I can get a clearer idea of where I am, but as I opened my mouth I stopped, what if this was a trap and there was something equally as blind waiting to devour me whole. The nightmare hung in the forefront of my mind, but I swallowed hard and took the proverbial "bull by the horns", and shouted one clear tone into the darkness. I'll be damned if I let my own imagination get the best of me. My voice resounded back to me in a second bouncing off of unadorned walls until it slowly died. The clues the action provided were meagre at best, but it was better than nothing at all. The cavern was large and there was much less ground beneath me than I would like as the sound fell down rather than ricocheting up.

Fear taking hold I tucked my knees into my chest and drew in a deep breath. Knowing Pan, this was one of three things. One, a way to keep me from causing trouble, in a sense "out of sight, out of mind". Option two, I had managed to piss him off enough that he had banished me to die alone of fear and starvation, or to fall to my death. That option seemed the most unlikely considering the leverage he now has over me. Or three, the most likely and honestly the most appealing of all three, this was another of Pan's games and it was now my job to out wit the master.

Deciding that the third option was the best I needed to find a way to win. But how to go about that was a complete mystery. First thing, I need to free my hands, I'm already down one sense, the next most useful is going to be touch. Tugging on the rope I quickly found the knot securing my hands in place. A smile broke across my face, I was right, this was a game, Pan would never make such an obvious mistake if not. Wresting the knot into submission the rope fell away and I was free. Rubbing my wrists instinctively I turned my search to finding a way out. Each inch was met with growing trepidation. Vast chasms with jagged rocks at the bottom filled my imagination. But strangely enough for many lengths there was simply continuous rock. Crawling on my knees I knew there had to be an edge somewhere. A few more seconds passed and then the inevitable occurred. The rock began to slope under my fingertips, as my heart rate quickened the rock fell away and I was left reaching into nothingness. Finding the smiling texture once again, I followed it. Moving sideways it slowly curved, and for what fall like a century I continued in the same fashion. Each second that passed I hoped that I sound find solid ground again, but no such thing appeared. By the time it seemed that I had most definitely circled my platform multiple times I found myself at a loss. I was currently stuck on a rock island in the middle of a cavern if unknown proportion, utterly blind with no foreseeable way to exit said prison. Touché Pan, touché, you got me this time. Unless I spontaneously grow wings there is no possible way for me to exit this predicament. Pan finally had me at his mercy, but what was the point? He kept me in a cage swinging from a tree, I was sufficiently contained in that, so why put me here. The whole situation made no logical sense to my brain.