Unchained Instinct ( Complete)
folder
X-Men - Animated Series (all) › Slash - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
91
Views:
21,435
Reviews:
76
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
X-Men - Animated Series (all) › Slash - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
91
Views:
21,435
Reviews:
76
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own X-Men Evolution, or any of the characters from it. I make no money from from the writing of this story.
Chapter 23
Sorry it's taken so long to post again. 10 and 12 hour work days this week have taken their toll on me. But, it's the weekend, so I should be able to get some chapters posted. Still writing...still editing.
Thanks for all the reviews. As I said before, it makes my day. This is a short one, but more to come.
Chapter 23
Cassie lay with her cheek pressed to the cold stone. With futile hope, she opened her eyes but only the same impenetrable darkness greeting her gaze.
She had cried herself sick then had begun to crawl, keeping the wall to her right. Whether the direction was right, Cassie had no way of knowing, but she had to try something. Pain and exhaustion finally forced her to stop for rest. Sleep had come over her after hours of endless crawling, her terror growing and her sense of despair that anyone would ever find her or she’d ever find her way out.
Imagination working overtime, her mind spun out ugly scenarios of some spelunker finding her decaying body months from now...that she’d die of starvation or thirst...or fall into some bottomless pit, never to be found.
Tears tried to overwhelm Cassie again, but she fought them off and pushed up with her good arm, steadied herself and began to crawl.
Her knees felt shredded, her pants torn. Her shin hit a sharp outcropping of rock and Cassie cried out and fell forward, palm skidding on stone out into nothingness.
Cassie caught her breath lying on her stomach then reached out and felt the floor fall away. Reaching down, she felt nothing but cold air wafting up from below. Scrambling around with a hand, Cassie found a rock the size of a baseball and dropped it over the edge, listening intently for the sound of stone hitting bottom.
One, two, three, four, five, six.
The sound finally echoed up to her and Cassie knew there was a formula for figuring distance by seconds, but at that moment she couldn’t remember what it was.
Six seconds was a long way down though.
That despair washed over her again. She’d spent hours crawling this way, now her only choice was to follow the wall back the way she’d come and hope that way lead to a way out of this cave. Oh there were other choices, but striking out across the cave floor without anything to guide her seemed far too dangerous to contemplate.
She rolled back against the wall and pushed up to sit then away from the edge of the abyss. She’d have to keep her knee close to the wall with her left arm incapacitated. Cassie’s arms ached, one from overuse, the other from the fracture...or break. She had no way of knowing that either. And her knees and back throbbed.
She could try to get to her feet, but the thought terrified her, the fear of tripping...falling far outweighed her soar knees and tired arm.
Water dripping caught her attention, waking her thirst. Listening, Cassie guessed the sound about ten feet away at around twelve o’clock which meant to get to the water she’d have to move away from the “safety” of the wall and out into the unknown.
Paralyzed, Cassie sat, her body frozen with fear. But her mind continued to work, scrolling out one terrible scenario after another.
What if there was another drop off? What if there was a lake rather than a shallow pool and she fell in? With one arm she couldn’t swim or she might not be able to climb back out if the water was deep.
But if she sat here doing nothing, she’d die. If she didn’t get some water, she’d die. If she didn’t take a chance....
Cassie sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, calming her terror and screwing up her courage. Once again, she maneuvered to her knees and one good hand. Waiting out the sudden throbbing of her broken arm, Cassie began crawling away from the wall and what she hoped was the blessed nourishment of clear cold water.
Thanks for all the reviews. As I said before, it makes my day. This is a short one, but more to come.
Chapter 23
Cassie lay with her cheek pressed to the cold stone. With futile hope, she opened her eyes but only the same impenetrable darkness greeting her gaze.
She had cried herself sick then had begun to crawl, keeping the wall to her right. Whether the direction was right, Cassie had no way of knowing, but she had to try something. Pain and exhaustion finally forced her to stop for rest. Sleep had come over her after hours of endless crawling, her terror growing and her sense of despair that anyone would ever find her or she’d ever find her way out.
Imagination working overtime, her mind spun out ugly scenarios of some spelunker finding her decaying body months from now...that she’d die of starvation or thirst...or fall into some bottomless pit, never to be found.
Tears tried to overwhelm Cassie again, but she fought them off and pushed up with her good arm, steadied herself and began to crawl.
Her knees felt shredded, her pants torn. Her shin hit a sharp outcropping of rock and Cassie cried out and fell forward, palm skidding on stone out into nothingness.
Cassie caught her breath lying on her stomach then reached out and felt the floor fall away. Reaching down, she felt nothing but cold air wafting up from below. Scrambling around with a hand, Cassie found a rock the size of a baseball and dropped it over the edge, listening intently for the sound of stone hitting bottom.
One, two, three, four, five, six.
The sound finally echoed up to her and Cassie knew there was a formula for figuring distance by seconds, but at that moment she couldn’t remember what it was.
Six seconds was a long way down though.
That despair washed over her again. She’d spent hours crawling this way, now her only choice was to follow the wall back the way she’d come and hope that way lead to a way out of this cave. Oh there were other choices, but striking out across the cave floor without anything to guide her seemed far too dangerous to contemplate.
She rolled back against the wall and pushed up to sit then away from the edge of the abyss. She’d have to keep her knee close to the wall with her left arm incapacitated. Cassie’s arms ached, one from overuse, the other from the fracture...or break. She had no way of knowing that either. And her knees and back throbbed.
She could try to get to her feet, but the thought terrified her, the fear of tripping...falling far outweighed her soar knees and tired arm.
Water dripping caught her attention, waking her thirst. Listening, Cassie guessed the sound about ten feet away at around twelve o’clock which meant to get to the water she’d have to move away from the “safety” of the wall and out into the unknown.
Paralyzed, Cassie sat, her body frozen with fear. But her mind continued to work, scrolling out one terrible scenario after another.
What if there was another drop off? What if there was a lake rather than a shallow pool and she fell in? With one arm she couldn’t swim or she might not be able to climb back out if the water was deep.
But if she sat here doing nothing, she’d die. If she didn’t get some water, she’d die. If she didn’t take a chance....
Cassie sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, calming her terror and screwing up her courage. Once again, she maneuvered to her knees and one good hand. Waiting out the sudden throbbing of her broken arm, Cassie began crawling away from the wall and what she hoped was the blessed nourishment of clear cold water.