Chapter 1 - The Revelation
I waited until the sound of my father and brother's footsteps completely disappeared into the heavy mountain silence.
The damp air of the mine shaft settled around us like a thick, suffocating blanket of dirt and decay.
My ribs screamed in absolute agony as I slowly pushed myself up from the freezing mud.
I reached out into the shadows and desperately pulled Sophie tightly into my arms.
She was shaking violently against my chest, but she didn't shed a single tear.
"Sophie, are you badly hurt?" I asked in a panicked, trembling whisper.
She shook her head slowly, burying her dirty face into my torn jacket.
"Why did you tell me to play dead?" I asked, gently stroking her tangled hair.
She looked up at me with wide, terrified eyes that seemed far too old for an eight-year-old.
"Because of what Uncle Daniel said right before he pushed us over the edge."
My heart hammered violently against my ribs like a trapped bird.
"What did he say, baby?"
Sophie swallowed hard, her voice dropping to a barely audible whisper.
"He whispered that they had to make sure the GPS tracker was active before we hit the bottom."
I froze completely.
A tracker meant they weren't just trying to make us disappear into a forgotten hole in the ground.
They wanted someone else to know exactly where our broken bodies were.
I frantically patted down my pockets, my heavy winter jacket, and my denim jeans.
My fingers brushed against something hard and metallic stitched deeply inside the lining of my coat pocket.
I ripped the fabric seam open and pulled out a small, blinking black disc.
It was transmitting a bright red light every three seconds into the absolute darkness of the pit.
I stared at the tiny device in complete, nauseating horror.
"Mom, someone is coming," Sophie suddenly whispered, pointing her shaking finger into the dark tunnel behind us.
May you like
I turned my head and saw a faint yellow light bobbing ominously in the pitch black.
Whoever they wanted to find us was already here.
