First Soul

by Keeley Smith

They ran, their feet stomping hard against the clay like ground as their lungs quivered with fear. They seemed to do this an awful lot, running away from things that wanted to eat them. He was just about sick of it and he wished for something different.

  Like the sun.

  Mint choc chip flavoured ice-cream.

  He just wanted the lack of angry beasts willing to maul them for a single drop of their blood.

  They hadn’t done anything except follow the stupid map. Maybe the map was the problem? Maybe they should just stop? But then, every time they stopped they were pushed to move on by beasts like wolves, giant eagles and these rubber like dogs.

  They couldn’t win either way.

  He pushed himself to run faster, ignoring the pain building in his shoulder. He didn’t know if they were about to propel themselves off the edge of a cliff but they couldn’t slow down. He could hear the creatures, those dogs, gathering speed behind them. He was also sure the things could see in the night.

  Lester sparkled past him, the fireworks creating light spots in his vision. Lester was leading the way in front of them. Stephen latched onto the little fireworks that were the only way of knowing which direction to head in, Lester would lead them to safety. Stephen knew he would, it was a certainty because wherever they were going, Lester needed them. He deduced that much from this quest otherwise why would Lester go to such lengths to help them?

  Stephen also knew that the puppet master was enjoying this game.

  They’d experienced different amounts of pain and fear since entering this place. The man in charge didn’t want them to die, he just liked the game, he fed off their emotions. Stephen wasn’t about to test the limits and succumb to the dogs. He’d felt enough pain when the talons of the giant eagle had speared through him.

  It may be a game but it was a dangerous one.

  The fireworks allowed Stephen to see that they’d entered what look like a dark cave. Large stalactites hung precariously from the ceiling of it. Great, just one jolt, one wrong movement, and Stephen sensed the entire lot would rain down on them. The tips gleamed in Lester’s light making him gulp. He attempted to tiptoe whilst running but it wasn’t easy. He saw one long spike quiver due to their stomping feet, he surged on.

  Lester had stopped up ahead. Please, Stephen asked no one in particular, please don’t let the reason Lester has stopped be a bad one. But why else would Lester have stopped? He grabbed Deyna’s hand and pulled her with him. She was struggling to run, he knew how she felt. Fear seemed to do a strange thing with your lungs. They just didn’t want to function right, this, along with the jelly legs was a recipe for disaster when trying to run for your life.

  He abruptly stopped as Lester turned and blocked their path. This was bad, he could see from the look on his face.

  “What it is?” he panted.

  “It’s a bridge.”

  A bridge spooked Lester? Seriously, a ghost was afraid of heights?

  “Well, have you never seen a bridge before?!” Phillip said clearly exasperated as he came to a stop beside them.

  “Of course I have, young man! Do not talk to me like that!”

  Stephen was about to intervene but stopped when he could see a response forming on Phillip’s face. Perhaps they didn’t have time to argue, but Stephen liked to see Phillip snap, he very rarely saw it when it wasn’t aimed at him.

  “Well, you’re just floating there gawping at the thing!” Phillip argued.

  “Do you have no respect for your elders?” Lester stormed.

  Phillip fisted his arms across his chest defensively. “Sure I do. I have plenty of respect, but not at the moment when we are being chased by rabid dogs and you’re stood staring at a bridge. It consists of wood and rope and you walk across it.”

  Stephen could hear the growl from the dogs kicking him into action. Okay, show time was over.

  “Sorry to break up the chit chat folks, but we have a pack of dogs barrelling towards us and we are discussing the fact that there is a bridge right in front of us. It’s a bridge, it helps you get across large gaps. Can we at least get a move on,” Stephen said pushing at Lester before remembering he was a ghost.

  The cool ice enveloped his hand as it slid straight through his body. He held back the shudder as he pulled his hand from where Lester stomach should have been.

  “How do we know if it’s safe?” Lester stormed. “I know what a bridge looks like but this bridge is placed here.”

  He stopped pushing because Lester had a point. The room of doom, the eagles, nothing about this place was safe.

  “We don’t know if it’s safe so we just have to trust that we can get across it and I for one would much rather test the bridge than get mauled by those dogs.”

  It was as if the dogs knew they were being talked about, they barked and started howling with glee as they neared them.

  “Lester, move! I’m not about to get bitten by one of those things.”

  Lester moved, allowing him to start his journey across the bridge.

  The wooden slats creaked under his weight. He tested it again by placing another foot forward. Deyna remained stood on the hard ground with Lester and Phillip. He moved further on to the bridge. Okay, this was going to be like a lucky dip but which one of them would get the broken slat? At the end of the day they would have to risk it, they were out of options, yet again.

  “Come on, you are going to have come on this thing, the dogs are coming!”

  He stood holding onto the rope as Deyna took her first cautious step. Phillip followed whilst Lester floated behind him.

  He continued moving slowly across the bridge not knowing how long it was. Lester would remain at the back, despite his spat with Phillip, Stephen sensed Lester had this innate urge to protect them. That would mean Stephen was going across this bridge blind. Complete darkness lay ahead of them.

  Deyna had caught up with him and was grasping his jacket, the material clenched tightly in her hands as they walked. He felt it restrict his movement but would never tell her to move away. She whimpered with each step, her breath wheezing in and out of her lungs.

  The next wooden slat shifted beneath his feet, it creaked like it wasn’t sure whether it could withstand his weight. He tested it, holding onto the thin rope that seemed to chisel his hands with each movement. The rope felt old, rough and full of sticky mould but he wasn’t going to let go of it. His full weight shifted to the wood. It stuck. He moved onto the next step when a sudden, sharp gust of wind billowed around them.

  Deyna squealed and held onto him. His arm slid protectively around her whilst the wind seemed to form a tornado around them. The bridge started to sway knocking them off balance. Tornados didn’t form that quickly and never in a place like this. There wasn’t an opening in this rocky cave for any wind to develop.

  The puppet master.

  He had that person to thank for this.

  Stephen growled at the precise moment another growl erupted behind them. He turned, as did Phillip, and looked behind them. They were only about twenty slats into the bridge and those red eyes glared at them from a short distance.

  They had to move quicker. Ignoring the wind that swirled around them which would make their journey difficult, he pulled Deyna with him. He grasped a small part of the rope pulling his body across. Those dogs wouldn’t take each slat steady.

  They didn’t fear death.

  They were death.

  He quickened his pace until the bridge gave way. Well, not the actual bridge, the wood beneath his feet simply disappeared. A loud snap, and then he felt like his body was falling. He had a flashback to when the eagle had released its grip on him. It was combination of feeling complete freedom whilst the fear of falling took your breath away. Deyna screamed and then he felt arms grip his shoulders. He hissed as pain shot through his entire body. His shoulder was singing. He looked up expecting to see Phillip but was hardly surprised that Dey
na was the one holding on to him.

  She pulled him back over the edge and as soon as his legs were through the large gap, he pushed himself further back sitting next to Deyna to catch his breath for a second they quite clearly didn’t have.

  “Thank you,” he whispered.

  “You’re welcome,” she panted.

  He stood, wiped his hands on his jeans and grabbed Deyna’s hand again.

  The wind had died down, obviously the master had grown bored with that but he felt the vibrations from the dogs who were bounding across the bridge like there was no tomorrow. The wind had forced them to slow down and the dogs were getting ever closer, the puppet master wanted this.

  Over his dead body.

  He heard the snap of wood and turned to see if Phillip and Deyna were okay. They gave him a tight nod to let him know they were fine which could only mean the snap of wood had come from a dog. Hopefully that dog had fallen below.

  He skipped to the next one and continued to guide everyone at a faster pace. Lester was calling behind them, telling them how far away the dogs were, this wasn’t helping his palpitating heart and the fear of snapping wood which was a regular occurrence now that the dogs were hot on their heels. They had stopped turning around at each snapping sound because it cost time. Deyna was still attached to his coat as they quickly moved into the darkness.

  A loud snap sounded behind them.

  A strangled cry followed which made Stephen stop where he was.

  He turned and could see the faint outline of the dogs in the distance. They were coming at them, fast. He could see the dogs because Phillip was no longer there, with the pulse pounding in his head he moved Deyna aside and placed her hands on the rope as he slid around her.

  “Hold on to the rope.”

  She didn’t argue as he raced to Phillip’s aid.

  Phillip’s head was the only thing visible where a large hole was, below him was the darkness that made his skin crawl.

  “Thing just fell away below my feet,” Phillip panted. “I couldn’t grab the rope in time.”

  “It’s okay, give me your hand.”

  Phillip gave him a look which told him he was stupid, Stephen bit his lip, smiling was not appropriate at a time like this but the look on Phillip’s face was priceless. Stephen could see that Phillip was holding on for dear life and if he was to give him one of his hands he would fall into the darkness. That was a lot of pressure on his shoulders, especially when one of them was killing him.

  The bridge moved beneath them as angry growls echoed around them.

  “Come on, Pip!”

  Phillip’s shocked face turned into a grin, despite the situation they were in, the use of the nickname had made him smile. He hadn’t used this nickname since they were kids. Male ego and fighting had taken away the foundation of their friendship.

  Phillip pushed his hand into Stephen’s strong and steady one. Sweat was beading on his face but Stephen held his cool, he took deep breaths ready to pull his friend to safety.

  “Stephen, you must hurry, they are gaining ground!” Lester shouted before the fireworks flew in the air showing him that the dogs were in fact closer than he first thought.

  Christ, the cool dropped as quickly as his stomach did, right to his feet, ones that were beginning to shake.

  “Pip, I’m going to pull you up but you have to work with me, okay?”

  Phillip nodded, his lips pulled into a thin line showing his grim determination.

  Holding his breath in his cheeks, Stephen pulled with every bit of strength he had. It felt like his bad shoulder popped but he held on to his best friend. He heard the wooden slat beneath him groan. Not only did he have to worry about the dogs and the fact that his friend could fall to his death, but he also had to worry about the bridge giving way beneath him. At this rate they could both fall. He didn’t know how long it would hold and Phillip wasn’t moving. God, was he wedged into that hole?

  “Stephen!!”

  Lester’s worried voice kicked his heart into a faster rhythm which pushed his body into overdrive. His hands were sweating which didn’t help when he was trying to pull Phillip up, the lack of oxygen due to his panting was forcing his legs to turn to jelly, the muscle quivering.

  He shot a quick glance up, the dogs were nearly upon them, the leader’s teeth snapping as drool slid down near its snout. If he could see the drool with only Lester’s light, they were too close.

  “Pip, do you trust me?”

  Phillip nodded without a hint of hesitation. A look passed between the two of them and then Stephen took a deep breath and let Phillip fall.

  j

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN