Prisoner (The Contractors Book 2) by Andrew Ball

Author:Andrew Ball [Ball, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Games in the Dark

The path was hard beneath Daniel’s feet, no dirt, no give. There were pebbles, bits and pieces here and there, but nothing was scattered by his passing, like it was all cast from one huge mold instead of naturally formed.

Everything sounded confined and muffled. His footfalls were heavy and dull; his breaths were hushed; the sound of his jeans brushing together was a bare whisper. Noises traveled out, then went dead, as if the air was so thick they couldn’t make it back to be heard. It seemed like the loudest sound was his heartbeat, pumping in time to his arms and legs.

As he moved forward, more of the path showed up, rolling in pace with him out of the darkness. Outcroppings of rock, rough patches, divots, and potholes threatened to trip him up. He kept his steps light and careful, one eye on the darkness. A glance told him that the path vanished into the gloom behind him at the same rate, as if he was the center of a twenty-foot bubble of visible reality. It was almost like running on a treadmill—only the uniqueness of the coming path ahead gave him any hint he was making progress.

Beyond that, a silent void.

Without any obstacles or points of interest to slow him down, Daniel kicked up the pace a little, channeling some magic into his legs. His power felt sluggish, difficult to draw out, like trying to suck a too-thick ice cream shake through a thin straw. But the effort kept him energized, made the feeling of his brisk jog seem as easy as a slow meandering walk. He felt like he could maintain it for hours.

He ground on.

And on.

The slog continued. He built a light sweat; his breathing was harder than at the beginning, but even. At first, he’d been catching the sides of his cross trainers on the rock, but now he was getting a bit more used to the terrain.

Daniel started to notice a change. The path was wide enough for four people at the start, standing shoulder to shoulder. Now three people would have a hard time. And then, after he passed a particularly large boulder on the left side, it noticeably shrank to just three or four feet across.

The void loomed underneath him, empty and waiting. Taunting at him to trip. Just once.

He started to imagine shapes in the dark. Faces, eyes. Swirling shadows. He blinked a few times, trying to chase the visions away.

Daniel realized this was part of the challenge. Staying focused, staying on track, not letting his mind drift. He clenched and unclenched his hands a few times, using the sensation to bring him back to the moment.

It was hard to keep himself on task. Alone in the black, with no reference other than the churning path, the time ticked by slowly. Someone could have told him it had been five minutes, or five hours—he would have believed either explanation.

A barrier emerged ahead of him.

Daniel could see it

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