missallusion

Duskwood - Into The Unknown (one-shot)

‘I must’ve lost my mind…’

He was standing now at the entrance to Ironsplinter Mine. It was somewhat hidden by trees and rocks but he’d found the place sooner than he’d estimated. The hatch was easy to open and now he was staring at the pitch-black space in front of him.

One last time he looked around to make sure no one followed him here and then he turned his small torch on. He was dressed in a grey hoodie, black jeans and a black jacket made of leather, so nobody could see him in that forest in the dark. He also wore leather gloves to avoid leaving any fingerprints.

Jake sighed. That girl… Unbelievable how he’d changed in those past days. Because of a total stranger whom he now deeply cared for. More than he would ever admit to anyone.

And now here he was, doing the dumbest thing of all he’d done. Because of his sisters.

No. Because of her.

‘Yeah… I’ve completely lost my mind…’ he took a deep breath again and then slowly entered the mine.

Who would’ve thought that he would one day willingly put himself in danger? He was now walking deeper and deeper into that old, abandoned mine to save his younger sister. Hoping to never meet the kidnapper. To never stand face to face with a murderer, defenceless.  So that she would be perfectly safe.

All for her.

But, to be honest with himself, he would gladly do everything she asked him to. He would go all the way to hell and back if he had to.

Piece of cake.

“I have reached the Ironspliter Mine. To be precise, I am already inside,” he wrote her a message and kept going while also looking at a map he’d downloaded more than two hours ago.

“Have you seen Michael anywhere?”

“No. I assume he is by the Grimrock, on the lookout for you.” Jake answered. As an afterthought he added, “Do not worry if I suddenly go offline. The reception in here is very unreliable.”

“Could you take a picture for me? I need to know what I’m missing,” the girl asked. Jake took a photo of the corridor in front of him and sent her. “Comfy,” she responded, which made him chuckle and shake his head. How she was always able to make him laugh still amazed him.

So far everything was going smoothly. The map turned out not to be perfectly accurate, but it should do just fine. He could hear a wind blowing somewhere and it was getting a bit colder the deeper he went, but he wasn’t bothered in the slightest.

“During my research, I found out quite a bit about this Ironsplinter Mine,” he wrote in the chat.

“You did?”

“I believed Michael must have had a reason to hide in the Ironsplinter Mine of all places. And I think I found the reason.”

“Because it’s spooky”

“:)” Jake laughed again. He liked it when they both could joke freely like that. Without having to worry constantly about their investigation, friends, family and their safety. His thoughts kept wandering to the girl all the time, and Jake couldn’t help it. She was constantly occupying his mind.

Eve…

Where would he be now if they’d never met? Jake didn’t even want to think about it.

Trying to concentrate again, he explained then to Eve that many tunnels are blocked off and in danger of collapsing, but it was still a perfect place for Michael Hanson to hide in. And Eve agreed with him.

He arrived at the ladders leading down deeper into the mine. He couldn’t see a thing below the first ladder and the ledge below it, this shaft was so dark and winding.

But there was no going back now.

He sent her a photo of the shaft, hid his phone and torch in his pockets and began descending, praying that these old ladders would not break under his weight. Gripping the ladder he carefully made every step lower and lower. He wasn’t sure how long did it all take.

Finally, he felt the ground and turned his torch back on again. There was only one way to go.

Forward.

‘Ok, now focus, Jake’ he whispered to himself and then wrote the next message, “I have reached the bottom.”

“That took ages!” Eve was getting nervous, as he assumed by her words, but he reassured the girl immediately.

“It was impossible to go any faster. Thankfully, the ladders were relatively stable,” he wrote her. He also told her about a large explosion in 1899 and that after that disaster the mine is largely inaccessible nowadays.

They kept chatting for a while, until…

‘Oh, shit…’ Jake cursed, stunned. “Strange,” he wrote then. “According to my map, I should be at a fork in the path. But I am at a dead end.”

“Weren’t you paying attention?”

“Of course I have,” he looked around and checked his map carefully.

How was it possible? He was following the map and didn’t stray from the path he’d planned out. And somehow Jake couldn’t go any farther.

The realisation dawned on him the same moment his phone signalled a new message.

“Well, this is just great. The plan has gone wrong MUCH earlier than I thought it would. Do you think you can still turn back?” the message said.

He guessed many corridors had probably collapsed over the years, but he didn’t think the mine would change that much. Therefore, the solution was simple - his map turned out to be... old.

‘Yeah, nice job you did there, you stupid man…’ he sighed irritated and turned back. No longer able to count on his map anymore, he carefully looked around for any other shafts that hadn’t been blocked, while also trying to memorise the way he was going now. It was dark, and all the old lamps hanging here and there weren’t exactly helping. He also noticed some surveillance cameras in some places, but they didn’t seem to be functioning.

Surrounded by nothing but silence, Jake kept going.

It didn’t take long for him to find a closed door, covered in rust. He wasn’t too far away from the entrance at the Grimrock Waterfall as he supposed, yet still he didn’t hear a thing, nor any human.

“Wait a moment. There is something here,” he wrote and opened the door slowly, so as not to make any unnecessary noise. He looked inside. The room wasn’t spacious - there were shelves with dusty papers, a few drawers and a small table in the middle. “I have reached a strange room. There are countless documents and files here. There must be hundreds,” Jake sent a message. “I have to look at this.”

“Do we really have time for that?” Eve asked, but Jake didn’t answer, inspecting all the files before him instead.

But when he looked at those on that table…

To see everything on a video call and later on photos was disturbing enough for all of them. But to see all of these things made by The Man Without A Face with his own eyes and to touch them… was another story.

“I have to tell you something,” he wrote after about 5 minutes. “All of those documents, they are the documents we found in Michael Hanson’s house.”

“Wait, really?” she answered instantly. “Alan told me the Hanson house was empty. So this is where Michael brought everything!”

Jake shook his head, still stunned and began looking through all things. Not even a minute had passed when his phone signalled another message from Eve. “But that doesn’t really matter right now, Alan could be there any minute.”

Hang on… Alan? Here?

“That is not good. Does he know about the entrance by the Grimrock?” Jake asked.

“Yes, he does.” Eve confirmed.

“Very good. That means he will enter the mine from the Grimrock and find himself in the western part, first. Which gives me some time.”

“But, if Michael sees Alan…“ she started. “Michael will think I’ve told Alan about him.”

“Yes. I am afraid you are correct. But I cannot leave yet. This is too important,” Jake shuffled some papers aside. He had seen it all: photos, sketches, notes, raven feathers… except for one letter which was folded in half. And this letter was probably the last clue to the mystery.

Amy Bell Lewis’ goodbye letter…

“Listen to me. I found the letter that Alan could not find in Amy’s apartment,” he quickly wrote. He tried taking a picture and sending it for Eve to read, but sadly, it was impossible in these lighting conditions. And she kept telling him to hurry up before Alan reached the place. Finally Jake managed to scan the letter and send the file. He was as shocked and sad at the same time as Eve was after reading it. The Man Without A Face turned out to not be a murderer after all.

“Jake… Amy took her own life, Michael didn’t kill her. I’m pretty surprised, to be honest,” she wrote in a message.

“That makes us two.”

They talked about that revelation for a while and soon concluded that Michael Hanson had taken the letter to cover up Amy’s suicide. And that The Man Without A Face must’ve shown himself to her later than he did to Hannah. Amy has been convinced that Hannah was imagining things, but after she saw him herself, she wasn’t so sure anymore. Too guilty, she ended it, unable to see any other way out…

Suddenly Jake heard a distant noise. “I can hear something,” he informed Eve.

“I think it’s Alan,” she answered.

He left the letter and the rest of the evidence and hurriedly left the room. Alan Bloomgate was probably already inside the mine. So he had to finish what he started as fast as possible and leave the place. He hoped that he wouldn’t be spotted by the kidnapper as he probably is about to find out they’d lied to him about Eve coming to the Grimrock.

But where the hell are Hannah and Richy? Jake was more focused on his task than ever and still wasn’t even close to finding them. The place was so… extensive.

Another sudden noise. And not too far ahead. As if someone was in a hurry. It was so unexpected that Jake’s heart almost skipped a beat and he forgot for a second how to breathe. He hid behind a nearby wall in a shaft and pulled his black face mask out of his pocket. The mask covered his nose and mouth so that his vision wasn’t obscured by anything. Then, he heard another step. Shuffling or rustling. A hiss. Then another couple of steps. And a curse.

As silently as he could Jake moved back slowly so that he wouldn’t be found. The kidnapper himself must’ve been very close to him now. But still, he couldn’t see him anywhere. Not a thing.

So maybe he really was close to Hannah and Richy after all?

Jake waited a while, but The Man Without A Face seemed to go away. He couldn’t hear him this close anymore. Jake half crouched, half walked to the main corridor and leaned out from his spot.

Nothing.

Then he heard an echo of something heavy. It could’ve been a hatch near the waterfall being opened or closed. Or maybe something else was moved or pulled, he wasn’t sure. What he was sure of, however, was that it was far away enough. He could then proceed farther.

Not a couple of meters later, he spotted another door, similar to those he’d seen earlier. And again, the silence was almost deafening.

With his heart still racing from adrenaline, Jake slowly and carefully opened the door. The room inside seemed to be an office of some sort again. But this time there was a computer there with two monitors plugged in. He checked behind and around himself if The Man Without A Face was returning, but it turned out he was alone. Jake came closer and inspected the place. What he saw shocked him again, though.

It was a video. The very same video that they all took for a live stream of a security camera, which showed Hannah and Richy, bound, with tape on their mouths, and unconscious.

Jake understood now what really was going on. It was a fake. And he almost surely fell into a trap.

He took out his phone and wanted to send a message to everyone, but again Eve was faster.

“Jake! I have to tell you something!” she wrote.

“I was just about to send you a message,” Jake responded. “I have found a computer that is broadcasting the stream you got from Michael. Eve, this stream is fake.”

What he really didn’t expect was the content of her following messages. He should be thankful that the reception was still somewhat good for him and he could keep chatting with her. What she told him now would surely save his life.

Or doom it.

“Jake, listen. Alan told me that your pursuers are at the Grimrock!”

The hell?!

“What? That cannot be.” Jake couldn’t believe what he was reading. A sad smiley only confirmed his fears - Eve wasn't joking.

He was fucked up big this time.

“This is not good. What exactly did Alan say to you?” Jake asked, his mind racing to find the way out of this situation. How could this happen now of all times? Had he messed up something or his pursuers were getting better? He couldn’t let them catch him!

Crestfallen, he thought back to what he’d told Eveearlier. That he wouldn’t let anything or anyone find him. Or they would be eternally separated…

“That they’re probably not here because of Hannah…” Eve explained.

Well… shit.

Dejected, Jake wrote, “I understand. I do not have much time.”

“So what are you waiting for?!”

“The computer I just told you about. Not only is it broadcasting the fake stream, but it is also receiving some other signals. Michael has installed countless security cameras inside this mine. And all of them are transmitting their signals to this computer.”

“Jake, you’re running out of time!”

He could just stop the fake stream with a couple of simple clicks and gain some advantage from that. Maybe it would help him see where everybody exactly is, he wondered. And, should he have enough time, it would also allow him to send a fake location for his pursuers to see? He could plug in his phone, type a short command to his Nymos bot…

He made up his mind.

Jake explained in a quick message what he was about to do and then started working on the said computer as fast as he was able to, while also trying to be silent. He needed to get it done, to find Hannah and Richy…

“Jake, Alan just escorted Hannah out of the mine,” another message said.

Why didn’t he hear anything? It couldn’t have happened that far away from where he was, could it? “Hannah is safe?” he asked.

“Alan found her in one of the mine shafts. We finally did it.” Eve wrote back.

“That is good news,” Jake never stopped clicking and trying to listen if anyone was coming towards the room he was in. “But what about Richy?” he asked watching his phone and computer monitors at the same time.

“Alan will find him.”

“All right. So I must leave this mine immediately.”

Eve asked him then if he remembered the way out, but that wouldn’t be an issue to him at all. The way he’d come wasn’t too complicated to memorise.

However…

“I am worried about the shaft with the ladders,” he admitted. “And in any case, exiting that way would take far too long.”

“Are there any other exits? The hatch at the Grimrock is locked, but only from the inside.”

Well then, he was screwed… Because of so many collapsed corridors, his map was outdated, so finding any other way out would prove to be much more difficult, if even possible.

“I know of none,” he wrote with a grim expression on his face.

Before leaving the motel he was staying in, Jake prepared a distraction similar to #IamJake trend, just in case. So, how did the FBI know he was down here? He didn’t get any alerts from his bot yet. Not a single warning on his phone. Nothing. And they must have positioned themselves at every single one of the mine’s exits by now.

“It seems I do not have many options left,” he sent another message. “But do not worry. I will think of something.” Jake then proceeded to deactivate the fake stream. Now the only thing he had to do here was to transmit the cameras’ real images instead.

“I just wish everything had gone differently…” Eve answered.

 “Do you remember when I had to go into hiding? I told you then that I would not allow myself to be captured,” Jake wrote, trying to ease her worries. “Because that would mean our eternal separation. That promise still holds true,” he admitted, blushing furiously.

Yes. He was very intent to keep that promise.

They didn't know each other very long, but for Jake it was as if they had known each other since forever. He would no longer be a lonely, distrustful guy. He told her he could no longer evade his feelings, right? But what if today he would finally run out of his luck? Jake had absolutely no idea how to escape the FBI this time. Reassuring Eve that everything would be alright felt to him like a very bad lie.

He didn’t want her to worry so much. Still, he had a much bigger problem to solve.

“I know you can do it,” she tried to encourage him.

“:)” Jake again had was speechless. The only answer he could give her was that happy smiley. “I must go,” he wrote next.

“We’ll see each other in Duskwood.”

“We shall.” Jake responded and then pressed Enter on the keyboard.

The transmission finally began and he saw many camera images on both monitors flicker and show different mine corridors. He quickly switched between images to check his surroundings, but he only found emptiness.

Good. Time to go back.

With one final look, Jake turned around to leave the room, but then stopped himself and listened carefully. Someone was definitely walking and breathing heavily with great effort. Something heavy moved as if it had been thrown to the ground and then pushed forward. If Hannah was outside safe and sound and the hatch at Grimrock was closed… that could only mean one thing.

He was alone, with The Man Without A Face and with Richy.

Maybe it was him who’d closed the entrance. So that no one, not even Alan himself, would interfere. And he must’ve understood by now, that Eve was not coming here…

So, would it be possible for him to save Richy and leave the mine with him? Was it all worth the risk? Jake hesitated.

Only now Jake’s phone started sending alerts about his pursuers being dangerously close to his location. His computer in a motel room could’ve been found by now, meaning he probably had no place to return to this night. Or maybe he still got time to run away if he made it to that motel somehow?

‘Fuck! Shit…’ Jake hit his fists on the desk and shuddered with anger. ‘Screw you, Nymos…’ he hissed, trying to stop the urge to break his phone on the wall.

But just one thing remained to do. He leaned against the wall, turned the chat on and wrote to Eve one last time.

“What happened?” Eve answered instantly. “Why are you online?”

It was now or never.

“I cannot go without telling you,” Jake wrote back, trying not to drop his phone.

Why was he so nervous all of a sudden?

“Jake, you have to hurry!” Eve pleaded.

“I know. But I cannot bear the thought of leaving my feelings for you unsaid.”

Shit, why was he so damn scared?!

“What do you want to tell me?”

With shaking hands Jake wrote the most important message he wanted to send to the girl before running. He had to make sure she understood. He had to let her know…

He took a deep breath and mustered up his courage. He finally wrote three simple yet powerful words and pressed Send button.

“I love you.”

For the first time in his life, Jake was truly afraid of looking at his phone screen. After all their conversations. After all this short time… after everything that happened. And even though Eve never heard his real voice, never seen his face. Would she really feel the same as he felt about her?

‘This was incredibly stupid now…’ he thought sadly. Jake hoped he didn’t just ruin their unusual relationship with his confession. He wanted to tell Eve everything face to face. That was his biggest wish. But he also couldn’t risk that he would never have a chance to confess to her in any possible way. How could some girl become so important to him in less than two weeks was way beyond his understanding.

I am at your mercy, he told her that earlier tonight. And she didn’t block him or tell him to fuck off. It had to mean something, right? Right?

Jake took another deep breath through his mask and dared to look back at his phone. And then he thought that his heart stopped beating.

“I love you too, Jake.”

He didn’t dare to hope before that maybe, just maybe Eve would love him back. Because how crazy and impossible that would be, right? He was wanted after all! How could anyone just want to even know him? Talk to him? Be with him willingly?!

And then there was this girl.

Her message was a pure joy to read. He didn’t even know that he stopped breathing for a moment while waiting for Eve’s response. Now he was feeling as if he suddenly could do the impossible.

Jake smiled and locked his phone. He glanced back at the monitors. Still no sight of Richy. He hurriedly left the room then, but before Jake went any farther, he heard someone speaking. Or rather talking, probably through a phone, and that person wasn’t too far…

Quietly Jake moved closer to the sound and listened carefully. He was sure he’d heard that voice somewhere before. It didn’t take long to reach the place. Someone was sitting, his back leaning against a wall, and talking on a video call. Jake stopped nearby so that he could overhear the conversation, hidden.

It was Richy.

So maybe he still got time to escort him after all?

Jake kept listening to what Richy was saying. He heard a voice of a woman. It was… Eve? But what worried Jake was that she was… crying? He furrowed his brows and glanced to his right, leaning out from behind the wall he was crouching at. Either his ears were playing tricks on him, or… Did Richy just confess something?

“I’m sorry…” Richy said then.

“N-no, Richy, WAIT!” Eve shouted, but then the call must’ve ended, there was silence once again. Jake looked at his phone once more, on invisible mode, and began reading the chat with Richy, that she was now having.

What. The. Hell?!

Not believing what he was seeing, Jake looked back at Richy. The guy was still sitting there, breathing heavily. A weird material on his knees. And blooded bandage on his right arm, right above his elbow. And then it clicked.

No.

No fucking way…

But the more Richy was explaining, the more Jake wasn’t sure if he should just go and leave the guy here alone or just move to him and hit him senseless. Or maybe just drag him to Alan Bloomgate himself.

Every single piece of evidence, every single clue about Michael Hanson… turned out to be fake as well. As fake as Richy’s friendships were. Jake felt as if someone slapped him in his face, he felt as if the whole case was one big insult. So sure they were of their findings and of the culprit’s identity!

Jake noticed some canisters and carton boxes then in front of Richy, now having another video call, but Jake was no longer paying attention to what was being said right now. He had had enough. Richy threw his mask there and kept apologising again to Jessica now, if Jake heard correctly. The hacker was now sitting, eyes closed, hitting his head lightly on the stone wall behind him, not believing the outcome of this whole investigation.

Then, there was a bang, as if someone tried to force open the hatch to the mine, but Jake didn’t care anymore. Everything around him stopped. His mind now wandered to his love again. How was Eve feeling right now, after all the revelations? Was she, just like Jake, feeling betrayed? Toyed with? Or perhaps like a fool? Did she tell the others already or was she waiting like he was now? Was she crying still?

Jake didn’t know how much time had passed while sitting there. Only then did he notice that everything was silent again. Except for two, maybe three human steps and then something like… water splashes? He furrowed his brows, peeked out once again from behind the wall and froze in shock at what he saw.

Those canisters… Richy was splashing their contents now at those boxes and on the corridor that led from Grimrock to this place. Jake stood up rapidly when he smelled that substance. A smell so characteristic, that he almost didn’t believe what Richy was about to do.

Gasoline.

“Oh, shi…” Jake cursed under his breath and was so stunned, that he no longer knew if he should laugh at all this, at how impossible the situation was, shout, or punch something hard. But when he registered Richy flicking his lighter, in a split second he made his decision.

Jake chose the last option.

In a blink of an eye, faster than anyone could register, he caught Richy’s lighter in one hand, stopping it from setting everything on fire, and with his other hand he shoved Richy to the nearest wall. He held him there with a dangerous look in his threatening, electric blue eyes, not caring that Richy was hurting from two gunshot wounds. Jake hid the lighter in his pocket, never averting his gaze, and now with both hands he held Richy by his hoodie with fury, panting angrily.

“Ugh..! Who… Who are yo—?!” Richy hissed with pain, eyes big from shock. But Jake wasn’t going to move, he only narrowed his eyes instead. Without blinking he kept looking straight into Richy’s gaze. He apparently stopped him at the very last second. Now he was absolutely furious and unyielding. “So, it’s you, huh?” Richy’s eyes sparkled with recognition. “I admit, I would never have thought that of all people it would be you who would come down here,” he sighed. “Jake, was it? I am Ri—!”

“Is this really funny to you?” Jake silenced him with an angry push, not daring to shout, but still sounding dangerous and intimidating. “Tell me, is it?!”

“I don’t—“

“Did you like it? Were you having fun, playing with all of us?!” Jake growled. “And with my sisters?!”

Silence. The only thing that could be heard was just both of them, breathing. Neither Jake nor Richy averted their gaze as if challenging each other.

“No. Of course not,” Richy admitted, closing his eyes, tired. He looked down with guilt, still being held and not trying to move away from Jake. “I am sorry,” he apologised.

“Did you call the FBI?!” Jake pressed, still angry.

“FBI? No! What are you..?” Richy was now visibly stunned by Jake’s question. But the hacker wasn’t buying that.

“Did you?!” he interrupted louder, desperate.

“No, I did not!” Richy insisted. “I swear!”

The hacker had had enough and violently pushed Richy again. He released him then and stepped aside, running his hand through his hair with frustration. “And why should I believe you and not beat you to death right now?!” he threatened.

Jake never would have thought that one day he would stand face to face with the man who kidnapped his younger sister. The man who claimed to be one of her best friends, nonetheless.

“Damn it!” Jake punched the wall with his fist and looked again at Richy. “What were you thinking you were doing?” he motioned to all the boxes and evidence in the middle, the smell of gasoline irritating his nostrils. “You planned to burn it and die here like a coward?!”

“You’ve got a problem with that?” Richy challenged.

Jake moved again to stand in front of Richy. They were both tall and had the same height. He looked him in the eyes with frustration, not caring to keep his cool. “The hell I have! I couldn’t care less about you, but what were you going to do with Eve? If she actually arrived here?!”

“Nothing,” Richy murmured, averting his eyes.

That vexed Jake, “You planned to kill her?!”

“What?! No! Absolutely not!”

“Then why ask her for such a sacrifice?!” the hacker demanded, his patience wavering.

“I intended to ask her for help!” Richy admitted finally, throwing his hands up, not realising that he was shouting now. “I wanted to tell Eve the truth personally and then she would help me get away. I got shot, you know?!” he motioned to his bleeding arm and to his wound on the left side of his stomach. “Earlier, I wanted to run away with Hannah, while The Man Without A Face burned all the evidence and himself to death. But that plan would no longer work, thanks to Dan,” he laughed bitterly and explained further. “So I released Hannah and waited here. And when I realised Eve wasn’t coming at all…”

Jake only shook his head at all of this when they suddenly heard another noise from the Grimrock entrance.

“Jake,” Richy continued, ”the FBI… they are here for you, aren’t they?”

“None of your damn business…” Jake snarled.

“And you really love her to risk your own safety, don’t you?”

“I said none of your fucking business! I can’t believe I wasted my time on this shit!” Jake breathed in, out, in and out again, trying to calm his nerves. “Just tell me how are we going to leave that damned mine.”

“We aren’t,” Richy said gravely and moved towards the pile of photos and papers. He took one sheet, still dry. It looked like some messy scribbles or like a drawing of some sort. “There,” he gave it to Jake. “Take it. Oh, and excuse my Picasso skills. I’m no artist… argh!” he snorted but regretted it instantly. The pain was really unbearable.

“And what’s this?” Jake examined the paper closely.

“I made that when I discovered the entrance. It’s a map of the corridors, so that I wouldn’t get lost here.” Richy explained. He then pointed to an X sign. “Here is the entrance near the waterfall,” he then pointed to another X, “and here is the entrance that you could use. It’s not too far from here, but well hidden outside, should be enough. It wasn’t depicted on any official maps, maybe that hole appeared after a collapse of sorts…” he wondered.

Jake looked at the map and spotted a third entrance, the one he’d used earlier to get inside. So that meant that the entrance Richy told him about now could be their way of escape.

“Why are you giving me this?” Jake asked, not sure of Richy’s intentions anymore.

“I’m not going to get out of here. I’ve had enough of running away…”

“No, Richy,” Jake stopped him, “You are coming with me. You’ve got to make a statement at the police.”

“And how do you think we are going to avoid the FBI?” Richy asked. “Either they take us both, or you get away from here while I set everything on fire.”

Jake couldn’t believe his ears, “Are you absolutely mad?! You want to play a hero and sacrifice yourself?!”

“You and I both know there’s no other way for you to avoid capture if we go together.” Another bang could be heard, louder than before. Richy turned his head that way and frowned, “Take your time and decide, Jake,” he looked back, “but my advice is that you do it fast.”

Jake considered his options, deep in thought. Let him make a distraction by blowing up the mine? Or they both go and surely get caught… Neither possibility sounded perfect and acceptable. Their predicament seemed hopeless.

Another bang and then another. Some shouting could be heard.

Jake looked at the map and took out Richy’s lighter. It had Rogers’ Garage logo on it. “No,” he gave it back to Richy, “you start a fire and then leave the place that way,” Jake motioned to the corridor leading to Grimrock Waterfall. “You need to tell Hannah the truth. No more games.”

Richy looked at Jake, at the lighter and at Jake back again. “All right,” he took it back. “Go first. When you find the exit, wait there and get outside when all the agents have left.”

Jake pointed his finger at Richy in a warning, “You better make it or I’ll drag you out personally if I have to. Eve would kill me if I didn’t…” he said the last part more to himself.

“Sure.”

They looked at each other, both silent now. Soon Richy flicked his lighter a second time that night. “Good luck to you, Jake. Again, I am really sorry…”

Jake nodded, “Thanks for the map. We will meet again.”

“Yeah…”

Jake then turned around and left with a newfound determination in his eyes.

Surprisingly, Richy’s map was really accurate to his surroundings, despite bad drawing. It depicted the rooms he’d found as well as another one he didn’t have time to investigate. He assumed it was the one Richy had held Hannah in. Jake kept walking fast when he heard an explosion and felt sudden warmth. It had made him almost jump from the scare. Richy probably left already, and with no time to lose Jake began sprinting.

That bastard was right. The exit wasn’t too far away after all. It was easy to miss and Jake hoped that was also true from the outside, just as Richy had told him. There was a hole big enough for him to go through and climb to a corridor slightly higher than the one he was currently in. Thankfully Richy made sure to put some bigger rocks there to climb onto.

After going through, Jake headed straight on, away from the fire, as he feared that the corridor behind him would collapse at any second now. He quickly found a ladder nearby which led higher up.

‘So that must’ve been a shortcut to the nearest shaft…’ Jake thought, thankful for Richy’s discovery. The ladder was rusty, but not as much as the ladders he used to descend before. Without hesitation, he began climbing up the shaft.

It took him less time to ascend than to descend, as that shaft turned out not to be as long and deep. When he reached higher ground and could no longer hear anything from where he just came, Jake proceeded farther. The silence was overwhelming. He almost thought that he would surely miss an important sound of someone coming to catch him.

But no such thing happened. He was completely alone on that path.

Jake checked Richy’s map to make sure he was going the right way and prayed he’d been right about the distraction. He also quickly checked for any alerts on his phone.

Nothing.

So probably his equipment in the motel was still safe as Nymos didn’t show him any warnings regarding hacks or his security breaching. His only concern was the FBI above.

The corridor he was now running in was long but soon Jake reached other ladders to the upper level of the mine. Just like it was scribbled on the map. He climbed in almost complete darkness carefully, trying not to make a single sound. It wasn’t easy on those old ladders. He almost slipped once and involuntarily cursed under his breath but kept going all the way up.

Now the only way was forward, to the hidden exit.

When he found it a minute or two later, he was really amazed. It looked like a cave, but the farther he went, the smaller it was becoming. And he soon found himself crouching warily so that he wouldn’t hit his head on the ceiling, which was getting lower and lower. Thankfully there was no water there.

Jake eventually stopped by a big rock in front of him. It wasn’t completely hiding the entrance, so he could sneak a peek outside to check the situation.

He almost wanted to jump and dance, for he was completely alone. Not a single soul in his vicinity. But he could clearly hear a commotion a couple of meters away from him. Making sure no one was on the other side of the cave, he pushed the rock aside.

Man, it was heavy. But perfect enough to hide the cave in all that darkness, so that he could go outside. Jake turned around - the cave really was hidden in something resembling a small hill with a bush and rocks. If you didn’t know it existed, you wouldn’t find it during the night. And probably also during daytime.

It was pitch black here where he currently was, but he could clearly see a helicopter flying above the forest, searching for him probably. Jake also saw blue, orange and red lights from afar.

‘Must be the fire and the police…’

He observed for a while, but he wasn’t close enough to spot Hannah or Richy from that distance. And he couldn’t allow to be seen here. Looking one last time, he turned around and sprinted away, towards the place where he’d entered the mine hours ago. He was sure now that no one would be there and that he could safely reach his motorcycle to drive back to the motel.

Jake never stopped running.

To safety. To better days.

And to tell her that everything will be all right, as he always did.

He is going to be safe and sound.

He had a promise to keep after all.

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