Echo (Part 1)

Tears streamed down the girls face as she darted through the caverns of Echo. Her hair, matted with sweat and blood, whipped around her face as she ran. Although she was completely exhausted she didn’t stop running. Never stop running, she told herself. The girl knew it was only a matter of time before she herself would fall pray to the invisible creatures hiding at every turn. It was pitch black in the fierce underground city, not a lantern or torch in sight. Her heart bounded out of her chest picking up the pace every time she herd a thud or a movement in the darkness. That was a rare event tough. In fact it was so quiet that the only sound in the black was the pitter patter of the girl’s bare feet against the cobble stone. The lack of light was starting take a toll on the girl’s sense of direction. Every couple steps she would trip and skin her knees or elbow. Not knowing if she was headed up or down, the girl continued her search for a door, a window, some way of escape. Her lounges burned and her side ached, but she knew that if she stopped even for a moment she would parish. No matter where she looked no matter where she ran, there was not one door in sight. She was trapped in a fierce deadly hole, Echo. It was named well, for as you grew closer to the populated areas you could hear the echoing screams of the invisibles' next victims. The girl was far from any populated areas by now. She had been running for hours, not stopping once, She pushed herself.

The girl’s mind wondered back to the morning when her family was still intact. They decided to take a trip downtown to look at the Christmas lights. It was crisp cool and just plain splendid outside. Emily, for that was the girl’s name, loved downtown. She loved the huge buildings and the endless amounts of taxis. Emily’s mother only consented on the trip because her favorite bookstore was right next to the mall. The book stores location was important because of the fact that Emily’s sister was absolutely shoe crazy.

“Mom, can I pleeeaaase by those new pea toe Prada shoes I saw on T.V this morning?” Carla, Emily’s sister wined.

“Carla…Honestly those things cast three-hundred dollars.” No way was her mom going to spend three-hundred dollars on a pair of shoes. Emily giggled and returned to listening to her music.

“But-”

“Carla, no! You will just have to earn it yourself.” Carla was no hard worker and would rather wear last years Prada shoes than work for new ones.

All of the sudden Emily remembered she wasn’t paying attention to her running. All of her sense of direction was now gone. She was lost. Her family was lost. There was no use running now…She was doomed to die in the stone walls of Echo.

“Can we go to the mall now?” Carla asked her mom locking Emily’s harm in her own.

“What… the mall? Come on…” Emily complained stomping her foot like a little girl. She wasn’t really far from a little girl. Emily was only 14 years old with long golden brown hair that curled down to her mid-back. She actually had a pretty face, much like her sister’s.

“Yes…The mall.” Carla said in a slightly demeaning voice.

“Okay girls. Be safe and stick together. I will be in the book store on the right side of it.”

“Bye mom!” Carla said practically dragging Emily by the arm. “We’ll be carful.” So says the cat stuck in the bag that never learned to back up.

Emily was freezing all over. There seemed to be a draft coming from somewhere, but how could that be? She was deep under the ground. She quickly jumped to her feet. She had to steady her self against the cold for fear of falling. No, not a draft, but it was something.

“Girl?” said and invisible voice in the darkness. Emily jumped from the shock. It wasn’t a draft. It was the breathing of a woman.

“Y-yes?” Emily’s voice echoed off the walls. “Where am I…I mean…I know I am in Echo but where in Echo?”

“Oh…” The woman’s voice was as smooth as butter. “You are in the far East wing.”

“Who are you?” Emily was confused by the kindness of the woman’s voice.

“That isn’t important…Emily.” The women knew Emily’s name. “Are you alright?”

“No…yes.” Emily didn’t want to give away her fragile state to the invisible stranger. The unknown, in Echo were the ones to fear.

“Are you lost my dear?”

“No.” Well of course she was lost, but why would she own up to it.

“Yes you are.” The women cued in the pitch black.

“Crap…We’re lost!” Carla groaned.

“No, no, no!” Emily was getting worried. After Emily and her sister visited the mall they went out to find they’re mom. Unfortunately she was no where to be found. By now they had been searching for her for about two hours. Where was there mother? Would they ever find her?

(This is written completely by me. It is a short story. Part 2 coming soon! Sorry about my spelling.)