Tears In Secret

What dwells within the secret passage? Who's that girl?

Chills ran down my spine. My heart beat so hard I felt like it might pop out of my chest. Sweat slid down my back and it felt like there was a rock in my throat.

“Hello?” I called out in a fearful, gruff voice. It echoed around the hall.

All around me was darkness. Maybe I shouldn’t have come here.

It’s so cliché. One moment I’m in the library, studying my atlas, and the next moment I pull out a book and the wall opens up.

I knew it would be dangerous. I knew it would be dark. I knew nobody had been inside for years, if at all. And yet, stupid as I was, I decided to go inside. And not only did I go inside, against my better judgment, I went and got myself lost.

This passageway seemed to be never ending. The farther I walked, the more lost I got. Even when I turned around, I never saw the door I came through.

Every ten or so feet there would be another door, either left or right. The left door usually led up, and the right door usually led down.

Each time I found a door, I passed it by, not wanting to get even MORE lost.

I wondered how late it was, but in a dark passage you couldn’t really tell. Time passed by so slowly and yet so quickly.

I tried singing, humming, whistling… but nothing made me feel better. So finally, I went through the right door, taking me upstairs.

If I went up, I’d eventually hit the surface, right?

“Wrong way,” I heard a voice whisper in my ear.

After the initial shock, more started piping up. “Wrong way. Wrong way. She’s going the wrong way.”

One deeper, more commanding voice stood out to my ears, ordering me, “Turn around. Go downstairs.”

I stood stock still, chills shaking my spine.

“Turn around,” the voice demanded again, “The thing you’re looking for is downstairs.”

I don’t know what made me turn, but I was soon walking down. With each step the pressure in my head built up more. Pounding. Throbbing.

“Help me,” escaped my lips.

I’m not sure how long it took me, but I was suddenly standing in a large room. Stone walls, stone floor… and right in the center, stood a person.

I couldn’t tell if it were man, woman, or child, but I knew something was very strange about it.

“Come closer,” a sweet, female voice called out to me.

I took a few steps, and then stopped when a light flickered on. I could see the person sitting before me.

It was a girl with long, white hair. Not just grayish-white, but platinum. Almost silver. Her eyes shined up at me sadly, one pink, the other yellow. She was leaning against a pole, in which chains came from the sides and top. There were clamps on her wrists, ankles, and throat, wrapping around her limbs and attaching her to the pole. And yet, despite the girl’s sweetness, something sinister hung about her. I dismissed the thought quickly though.

“Hi,” the girl gave a nervous laugh. She looked so weak. Her limbs hung on the chains limply, her eyes, though wise, were cheerless and drained.

“Um… hi,” I responded. What was this girl doing in the middle of this secret room?

The girl gave a shudder, as if she were in pain, and chuckled, “I know this is kind of a strange situation, and you probably don’t trust me, but… would you mind unlocking these chains?”

That’s when it hit me. Why would this girl be chained up in the first place? There must be some reason. “Why are you here?” I asked, pretending to just be curious.

“Uh, well… you see…” the girl seemed to search for words. “I was… unlucky in that… I… stole a gem from somebody?”

Why did she ask it like it was a question? And who would chain her up for stealing a gem? “I don’t think I should let you go,” I whispered gradually.

Anger flashed in the girl’s eyes and she retorted, “So you’re just going to leave me here? You have no sympathy for me? Or do you just want to know the truth?”

I nodded quickly. Anything to get her to stop yelling.

Sighing, the girl continued, “You won’t believe me, but if you really want truth, then here it goes. My name is Tari. I was locked in this room millions of years ago by an alien shaman known as the Jurrak. The reason he locked me here is because he saw something in my future that would apparently destroy the human race. So to prevent that, here I am.”

I started to shake. Then, before I could hold it in, I fell back, laughing crazily.

The look on Tari’s face was so shocking that it made me stop. She wasn’t angry, she was disappointed. Then, turning her face away from me, Tari exhaled. Very quietly, she mumbled, “I thought you were different.”

Confused, I asked, “What do you mean?”

“I’ve been here for years, and I was hoping you were different from all the other girls I’ve brought here. I guess I’ll just have to wait another hundred years for a new girl to come along and find me. Maybe then I’ll finally be free.”

I wanted to ask what was wrong, but she looked up at me despondently, and blew out at me.

Her breath brushed across my face, and I saw her for what she truly was. A large hairy beast with long claws and teeth. It growled at me and suddenly I sat up in bed, breathing heavily. I was sweating profusely and panting. All a dream?

Heaving a sigh of relief, I laid back down in my bed. As I drifted off to sleep, I thought I could hear someone crying quietly. But then, it must have been my imagination.