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gjnhjfdhns: Part FORTY-SEVEN: At Stake

The more stairs we cleared, the louder the screaming got. Finally, /finally/, we made it to the next floor and burst through the door. What we saw made our earlier predicament seem like a piece of cake.

The next floor was more of a dark, dark loft, and in the center was a cage that sat atop a huge, wooden pole. At the base of the pole, two small fires were going. Tied to the pole was Angel.

"Oh my God!" I screamed, running over. "What the hell!?"

"Ohmigod HAZEL! HELP ME!" Angel yelled back, though the flames weren't very close to her. "I don't want to die!"

I stepped toward her, but at that instant, the flames flared, and a new one sprang to life. There were only two more empty holes before the heat was at her feet. "Sh-t! What the /f-ck/! Oh my /God/!" I shook my hands out and shifted my weight from one foot to the other, brow creasing in growing worry. Not matter which hole lit up next, one of her feet would be scorching.

"There's a cup of water up here," came a deep voice from above. I looked up and there was a cage built around the top of the pole, trapping not God but

"BRIAN!"

With a blank face, he held the cup out between the bars. It was a cracked, pathetic little thing that looked like it would fall apart if someone even touched it, let alone pour water into it. Mitchell, being the taller one, reached up and brought the cup down. He gave it a hard stare before promptly consuming its contents.

"WHAT THE F-CK!"

"I was thirsty," he shrugged, tossing it to the side, "and there was barely any water in it, anyway."

I suppressed the urge to strangle him. "THAT WAS OUR ONLY SUPPLY OF WATER AND NOW ANGEL'S GOING TO BURN TO DEATH."

"/What/!?"

"Relax, there's more than one way to put out a fire." Mitchell leapt onto one of the flames and stomped it out. "See?" he gestured, smug and standing atop a dark hole.

The flames flared again, and another sprung to life next to Angel while Mitchell stumbled from the flame that had revived itself. He patted out the tiny fires on his pants, a sullen frown on his face. "Goddamnit..." He spat at the fires, snuffing out a small one in the middle of the base.

The rest fell away.

Blankly, the four of us stared at where the fires used to be, eyes adjusting to the darkness while our minds tried to adjust to the situation.

"Oh!" I tapped a fist into my open palm. "It must have been, like, some sort of pilot light! Yea!"

Angel, Mitchell, and Brian remained quiet, probably rolling their eyes at me. Yea. I would, too. I heard an intake of breath as someone started to say something, but it was cut off by a scream and a loud /thud/.

"What the HELL!"

"Mitchell! What happened? Are you alright?"

"I... Fell..."

I stepped over to help Angel out of the ropes. "Where?"

"In one of the holes where the fire came from, I think. You guys should come down here- I see ladders!"

I could hear the metal clink as Mitchell pulled himself up one, and his head popped into the cage Brian was in. "Whoa! Why didn't you escape through here?"

Brian pulled his foot forward, and a rope came into view. "I obviously like it here."

A loud roar resonated from behind us, and loud, thunderous steps followed. I had forgotten all about the monsters that were chasing us. Yanking Angel along with me, I dropped down the hole and studied the ladders. Mitchell and Brian were back down soon after, Mitchell having cut the rope with his teeth. Nothing's a match for Mitchell's teeth.

The door to the stairs crashed open.

"Everyone up this one!" Mitchell ordered, scrambling up the ladder on the furthest left.

"How do you know it's the right one?" I asked, following nontheless.

"I looked at the other one- It leads to the door we came from."

Angel made a noise between a choke and a gasp; Brian just hurried on up the ladder.

Behind us, the darkness slithered in.