The firelight flickered gently along the cave walls, reflecting in the damp stone and catching on the bronze rims of old torches. The scent of scorched moss and drying fabric filled the cramped space. Lina touched her dress carefully...it had dried faster than expected in this strange environment. She lifted the fabric to her face, inhaling deeply as if the scent of it could ground her in reality. It didn't. Nothing could.
Seraina was silent as she wrung the last drops of water from her undergarments. She dressed slowly, wordlessly, her face still pale from the cold river. The warmth of the cave soothed their bodies but not their nerves. They had escaped one horror only to find another waiting, hidden within these carved walls.
The silence between them broke when a soft, melodic voice echoed through the cave.
"So now....… let's make this chase more entertaining, shall we?"
Both girls turned instantly, backs pressed together as if they were prey huddling under a predator's gaze.
"What the hell was that?" Seraina whispered, her eyes scanning every curve and corner of the stone around them.
"I don't know....…" Lina breathed. "But it's her."
The voice came again, cheerful and unnervingly calm. "Don't worry, I'm not going to give away your location. I just want to give you...… a choice."
"What do you want?" Seraina growled.
"Just something interesting," the voice said lightly. "Let's play a little game. Can you make someone scream?"
"Ahnn?" Seraina snapped. "Why the hell would we..."
"Shut up!" Lina hissed, clamping a hand over Seraina's mouth. "Let her finish."
"Smart girl," the voice cooed. "If you can make a person scream within three minutes, I'll free her. If not....… she'll never scream again. Ever."
The cave wall ahead shimmered like heat rising from asphalt. Then, a screen of stone melted away, revealing a hollow chamber. Inside was a transparent glass tank, sterile and cold, with a woman bound inside. Her arms were suspended by leather straps. Tubes wrapped around her arms like leeches.
Lina's eyes widened. Her legs gave out.
"Mama…..."
Her mother's eyes were barely open. Her face, thinner than Lina remembered, looked toward the camera.....toward her...but there was no recognition. Only the fatigue of years, and the absence of hope.
A fresh slab of wall peeled away beside them, revealing a partial human figure embedded in stone...
The wall had split open like flesh, revealing the upper body of a woman embedded within. Only her bare back was visible from Seraina and Lina's side...pale, smooth, and twitching slightly under the torchlight. Her arms dangled limply above her, trapped somewhere beyond the stone. Her head was tilted forward, neck exposed, hair cascading loosely but her face remained hidden ... swallowed by the wall.
She couldn't move. She couldn't see them. She was simply there ..... like an offering pinned between dimensions, suspended between vulnerability and cruelty.
Beside the back was a set of instruments: a thick, rubber pipe. A strange mechanical handgun with one glowing bullet.
Seraina grabbed Lina's arm. "Lina....… don't."
Lina stepped forward. Her mind was breaking into pieces.
She heard the voice again. "Make her scream. Three minutes'. You may choose your…... method."
The wall screen above the embedded woman lit up with a countdown:
2 min:60 sec
Lina's heart pounded in her throat. She looked again at her mother. Her own childhood came crashing back in fragmented flashes:
A single plate of rice, halved. Her mother, smiling despite working two shifts.
Little Lina sitting on her mother's lap as she studied at night.
The day her father left, slamming the door.
The tears her mother shed when she thought Lina was asleep.
"Why....… why are you doing this…...." Lina whispered, tears welling.
"Lina, stop," Seraina tried to pull her back. "This could be fake! It could be a lie!"
But Lina couldn't hear her.