Every step echoed off the walls. A chilly draft made me shiver from the cold. The bag on my back weighed a bit and brought a little bit of an ache to my back. The only source of light was coming from the quiet artist that lead the way down the tunnel. A tunnel where anything could be watching us from the shadows of the dark.

    My thoughts dragged back to Sabine to keep from thinking of all the possibilities of what could happen to us. It was so unlike to hear Sabine quiet for so long. She would usually be talking, sketching something creatively in a notebook, or yelling at me to shut up.

   No, this wasn't anything like the Sabine I know. Although, I didn't know Sabine very well at all. The only thing I do know is that she has some kind of grudge with me and likes to drawl a lot. She wasn't an open book but more like a locked chest. I just need to find all the right keys to unlock it.

"Sabine..." I began. She either ignored or didn't hear what I said because there was no response. I continued still, asking, "...why do you hate me?"

Sabine froze on spot, hesitating to move her next leg. Her head bowed and both of her hands clenched into fists at her sides. The fire flickered and for a moment, I though it changed colors.

I gulped a little and stopped walking, thinking that I said the wrong thing. At least it was a different reaction than telling me to shut up and leave her alone. Yet, this could be a worser reaction.

I pushed on and said, " Come on, Bean. Please-"

"Don't call me that!" She raised her voice, cutting me off.

"Why? What's so bad about a little..." I trailed off when hearing shaky breathing and a sniffle.

"Just. Don't," she spoke, lowly, continuing down the dark tunnel. I followed.

   After a moment of silence between us, I spoke, "I'm sorry. I didn't...I didn't mean to make you upset. It's just..."

   I trailed off and tried to think of the right words to say.

   "Just what?" She asked, questionably.

"Its just that...you guys are the only ones who've cared about me and...I don't deserve it," I admitted. This got Sabine's attention.

"When living on the streets, people only ever saw me as a pest but you guys saw me for what I actually was. A lonely child," I explained. I hated to admit all of this but it helped lessen the weight off of my shoulders more. I glanced up to see Sabine looking right back.

   She seemed stiff, almost frozen in her spot. She turned around and said under her breathe, "I know how that feels."

  She sounded so depressed. I almost gaped in shock when realizing that she was finally opening up to me! I didn't know whether to be happy or sad in the moment. It was one giant, emotional storm inside her and one thing could lead to another. Good or bad.

We kept walking silently when I noticed the cave was widening. I jumped when hearing whispering getting louder and louder. I wasn't able to understand the language the whispers spoke.

My eyes quickly averted around the cave to see no one but Sabine. She kept walking and didn't seemed to be dazed by the echoey voices. I kept looking around while walking closer to Sabine.

"Do you here that?" I asked her, muscles tense.

"The dripping water?" She questioned, "Don't tell me you're afraid of dropping water."

"No," I said, a little annoyed, "The whispering."

Sabine looked over her shoulder in confusion and was about to say something when her fire went out. The whispering ceased and darkness engulfed us. The only thing to my acknowledgement was the sound of dripping water and the cool, thick air.

"Ugh!" I heard Sabine struggle.

"Sabine? What's wrong?" I asked, worried.

"My powers aren't working," she stated then cursed under her breathe. A small breeze formed and the whispering came back. The voices came from everywhere and I couldn't help but try to look for them in darkness. The whispering kept getting louder until I had to cover my ears and squat down.

Suddenly, the disembodied voices silenced and a light burst with a blinding glow. The force of it made me fall on my behind. I uncovered my ears and gasped for air, not realizing that I was suffocating.

   "You okay?" Sabine asked.

   "Y-Yeah, just swell," I responded, standing up and brushing some dirt off. Really though, I still could feel chills running up and down my spine. My eyes wandered to everywhere else except for Sabine. That's when catching a glimpse of something that wasn't there before.

   "Okay. Now I know you're just lying to me-hey, are you even listening?" Sabine asked. I held up my pointer finger, telling her to wait a moment. I walked closer to the wall and scrunched my eyes to see the faint markings on the wall but it was to dark.

   "What are you looking at?" She asked a little grouchily.

   "Come here," I said, waving her over, not looking away from the wall. Sabine huffed in annoyance but walked over. The pictures came into better view with many different symbols in an ancient language.

   "What is that?" She asked, raising her hand, that was on fire, higher to see more.

   "I don't know," I replied, lightly brushing my fingers over the wall.

   "Wait..." she suddenly spoke, "It's telling a story."

   "You can read this?" I questioned in disbelief.

   "Hello, I studied a lot of different languages at the-" she immediately clasped her mouth shut, not wanting to finish the sentence. I was slightly disappointed at that but didn't let it show by looking back at the wall.

   "Can you read it to me since I can't?" I asked, changing the subject. Sabine reluctantly nodded and tense muscles soon relaxed as she skimmed the wall.

   "Ok," she began, "Just...give me some time to find the beginning."

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