Badly Broken

Chapter 41

Sorry for the late update. I've been feeling kind of off lately, I don't really know how to explain it. I'm not sick or anything, I've just been in a weird place the last couple of days and haven't been able to focus on anything so it was hard for me to write this chapter. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this, it took so long to write :)

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Kai's POV

I slipped my phone out of my pocket, shining the flashlight down the pitch-black pit. Light dimly reflected off of the steep metal ladder but did not reach the bottom. Even when Lucas added his phone's flashlight, it was impossible to see beyond the endless metal steps.

I didn't know what awaited at the bottom, but I knew that I would never figure it out unless I made the journey. I placed my foot on the first step, going down three until there was enough room above me to turn around and grip the sides. My phone was unstable in my hands and could fall at any second. I couldn't point it down as I moved on the ladder so the light ended up illuminating the dirt side of the narrow square column.

I looked up at Lucas who held another light above me, "Can you hold your flashlight on the steps? I can't see anything."

Lucas' eyebrows furrowed and he hesitated to speak, "I don't really want you going down there by yourself though... We don't know what's down there."

"I'll be fine. And you'll be right behind me."

He gnawed on his lip and reluctantly agreed, "Okay."

I let out a puff of air and looked down. I readjusted my phone in my right hand so that the light was shining downward and I was only holding onto the side with a couple of fingers and a shaky grip.

Each step was practically directly beneath the other, making it a near-vertical descent. My neck was craned as I struggled to see the metal steps below, the possibility of falling through the open space between each step looming over my head. I kept going down, further and further until it was only my light shining on the rusty metal surface. I looked up to Lucas and the flashlight on his phone was a mere speckle in the distance.

My pace increased as I fell into a comfortable rhythm. I flew down the creaking steps. The rust had become a greenish-brown color, the metal moist from the thickly packed dirt walls. There was a deafening silence surrounding me. The only noise I could hear was the contact of my feet and the following step. The quiet surroundings amplified the sound of my heartbeat. The subtle thumping noise was all I could focus on, and as I got lower and lower, the sound of my heart only got louder and faster. It rang in my ears and throbbed in my head. My heartbeat pulsated throughout my entire body, flowing into the tips of my fingers and down to my toes.

My heart thumped as my feet thudded against the metal. I sucked in a breath, hesitantly pushing my foot past the last step and onto the solid concrete ground.

I looked at the floor beneath my feet. I stood upon dark grey concrete that extended onto the tall walls of a wide passageway. There was an eerie feeling as I felt a cool breeze sweep across the now present goosebumps on my skin. I moved back toward the ladder, turning my gaze upward and thinking about shouting to Lucas, but I decided against it as I was unsure of who was lurking beyond the chilling pathway. I went to unlock my phone with the intention of texting him, but I was so deep underground that there was no service. I took the side of my phone and banged it on the railing of the metal ladder, hopeful that Lucas would get the hint. Clanking noise echoed up the small column, sending vibrations throughout the silver metal.

Lucas quickly understood. I saw the small light being jostled around before it found a permanent position toward the right side of the ladder, just as I had done with my phone. Lucas' descent was swift, joining me on the hard surface at an unknown distance underground.