Chapter 13

The dark walls closed in on me as I followed the others down the ladder, and only the faint light of the torch far below me forced me to continue, too afraid to lag behind and lose sight of the only light we had.

When my feet finally touched the concrete floor at the bottom, I shivered and instinctively shuffled closer to the others. We stood at the end of a tunnel, and I peered into the darkness beyond the reach of Xiaolian’s torch.

"Do...do people know about this?”, I whispered when the silence became too unbearable.

Xiaolian shook her head, and I glanced at Farah.

“It’s not a secret. But the institute never mentions it to prevent adventurous students from exploring it and getting lost down here."

“So… how do you know about it?”

She ignored my question and instead took the torch from Xiaolian and began walking into the darkness. Xiaolian continued after, and, not wanting to be left alone, I was forced to follow.

We continued down the dark tunnel when Farah suddenly halted, and a pang of fear shot through me at the sudden stop. The torchlight revealed an old, rusty door blocking the tunnel in front of us. I wondered for a moment if that was the end, suddenly hoping it wouldn't open so we could go back. But Farah put her hand on the lock and pushed, and I braced myself for the grating of rusty metal rubbing against each other, but the door opened without a sound.

I could feel Xiaolian standing next to me in the darkness, and I instinctively reached out and took her hand. She shuffled closer in response, and the soft scent of roses filled the air around me. Her hand felt warm in mine, and I suddenly smiled. It felt nice and not as awkward as I would have imagined.

“Are you okay?”, I whispered to her.

She gently squeezed my hand in response, and we followed as Farah stepped through the door.

We continued in the almost pitch-black tunnel when I suddenly became aware of the soft hum of machinery in the distance. I glanced at Farah, but she gestured for me to stay silent.

We turned left as we came to a crossroads, and soon the passageway became so narrow that its sides scraped against my shoulder, and a cold draught sent chills through my body as I tried to squeeze myself through, not daring to take my eyes from Farah’s torch. My breath became heavy, and I struggled to inhale the damp air that filled the darkness. Suddenly, Farah halted and gestured for us to come closer.

“I will turn off the light," she whispered, and before I had time to object, the tunnel fell dark, and the uneasiness instantly turned into panic, and it took me all the willpower not to scream.

I heard her take a few steps, then the rustling of plastic, and moments later, a faint light streamed from what seemed to be an open vent hole. Xiaolian hesitantly shuffled closer, but Farah took her hand and pulled her back.

“Be quiet, okay?”

She let her go, and I slowly moved closer and peered through the metal grate in the wall. The room on the other side was bathed in a cold neon light from the monitors lining its walls. I could see someone standing with their back to us, reading from what I assumed must be a tablet in their hands. What was this place? I glanced at Farah, but I couldn’t read her expression in the darkness.

Suddenly, the figure stepped aside, exposing the rest of the room, and I gasped in shock. It was filled with endless rows of cylindrical tanks, each lit by a cold blue light that revealed a limp human body floating inside.

They looked like… I gasped for air. They looked like Xiaolian…or a version of her, but some of them… Some of them looked like… Suddenly, there was a muffled shriek, and Farah instantly covered Xiaolian’s mouth, and the figure turned her face towards us, attracted by the sudden noise. Before I could scream, Farah’s hand covered my mouth as she pulled me away from the vent.

“It’s okay… it's okay, you need to be quiet,” she whispered, but I barely heard her words as my aunt stepped over to the vent and peered into the darkness for a few moments before walking back to the machinery and adjusting something on the control panel.

“We need to go,” Farah urged, but my body refused to move, and I could hear Xiaolin’s sniffle echoing in the darkness so close to me.

“We need to go! She could have seen us,” Farah hissed, but my mind went blank.

Why…why was my aunt here? What had she done to me…? No, I... I wasn’t real... I was…

“Yuna!”, Farah whispered into my ear, and the sound of her voice startled me.

I turned to her and instantly regretted it as her deep yellow eyes met mine, and a wave of fear flashed through me.

“We need to go. I will look after Xiaolian, but you need to help me!”, she whispered and pressed her torch into my hand. “Don’t turn it on yet."

She took my hand and pulled me into the dark tunnel, and my shallow breaths and Xiaolian’s sniffles echoed against the walls.

“Turn it on,” she said after a while.

I fumbled with the torch in my hand. Everything was blurry, and I still fought for air with every breath, but the sudden cold light as I managed to turn it on brought some relief. Farah stood next to me, but she avoided my gaze, and Xiaolin was leaning on her, breathing heavily.

"What…?”

I stared at Farah with rising panic, but she hushed me.

“We need to get back to the mansion. They cannot find us here.”

A wave of pure terror shot through my body at the thought of what would happen if… What did they do there? What did my aunt…? Suddenly, I remember her studies and talks about… No, it couldn’t be... She would never… Not to me… I sniffled as tears filled my eyes, but Farah yanked my hand and looked at me with a frown.

“We need to go...”

She turned to Xiaolian. She was staring in front of her with empty eyes, mumbling to herself,

“I am not real… I am not real…”

I wished I could help her, but I could barely stand up, and my hands were trembling, making the torchlight flutter across the walls.

“Yuna…”

Farah reached out and put her hand on my shoulder, and I nodded and forced myself to follow her as we set out again. I don’t know how long we walked until the light of my torch revealed the rusty ladder in front of us.

Farah paused and turned to us.

“I will go first.”

She put her hand on the rusty rung and began to climb, leaving us alone. Xiaolian leaned on me, and I put my arm around her, feeling her cold body shivering at my touch.

“It’s okay," I tried to whisper.

I glanced back at the tunnel we’d come from, trying to listen for any sound that would indicate we were in danger, but only our uneven breaths could be heard in the darkness.

“I am not real Yuna… I am not real…”

Her words spread through the emptiness in my chest, like a wave that threatened to pull me under and never let me out. The cold cement walls closed around me, threatening to crush my body and forever bury me in this cold, damp tunnel that would become our grave. Suddenly, something damp and cold brushed against my legs, and the pang of fear shut my screaming mind.

“I am not real…”, she sobbed quietly, burying her face into my chest.

No… Another wave of emptiness rose in front of my eyes, and the veil of light cracked open, even if I felt it rather than saw it this time. No…

"No, Xiaolian... No, you are real...", I muttered with rising panic.

"No… I am not. You saw it too. I never was real…”

"You…you are real. You are real to me…”

With a shaking hand, I brushed off a damp strand of hair from her cheek.

“You are real for me…but we need to go."

I don’t know how I found that strength. Was it me, or was it the fear of the cold and damp presence brushing against my legs…? I didn’t dare to shine my torch on it, afraid of what I might see, and when Xiaolian started to climb the ladder, leaving me alone, I clenched my hand around the metal rung until my knuckles went white, making me feel that I, too, was real.