The Fell Voice

My aunt, uncle, and cousins were spending the weekend with us at our holiday home.

“Aria, let’s play hide and seek,” said my cousins, Tamara and Leo. I smiled and joined them. Leo decided to be the first seeker and asked Tamara and me to go hide. I was looking for a place to hide when my hand struck a bookshelf. Suddenly, it moved to a side, opening a secret entrance to a long tunnel made of orange clay.

I walked through the entrance, only to have the bookshelf seal me within the darkness. I banged on the bookshelf and screamed for help, but no one came. I kept calling out to everyone, but it all seemed futile. I decided to walk ahead and find my way out. I didn’t know for how long I walked aimlessly in there, but at one point, I sat down and closed my eyes, unable to advance anymore.

I must have passed out for hours, because I woke up to rumbles from my stomach. To my surprise, I was at another end of the tunnel, with a door before me. The door slowly creaked open, leading me to the other side. However, what I found was not the holiday home; I didn’t know where I was anymore. I was surrounded by ruins. I heard whimpers nearby and rushed to see who was there. It was Tamara and Leo; they were stuck under some rubble. I pulled them out of the rubble and, together, we decided to look for our parents.

Another hour must have passed whilst we wandered aimlessly in search of them. But what we found was a harsh reality: all our parents were dead among the ruins. We wept without knowing what to do or where to go. Our only hope was to find our way back through the tunnel. Tamara and Leo also said that they had walked through the mysterious passage behind the bookshelf. We headed back to the tunnel and stepped back inside. The doorway closed behind us and, suddenly, a voice crept from the shadows.

“Do you want to save your parents?” it asked. It was a faint voice, like a whisper in the wind.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I’m the keeper of this tunnel. To cross this tunnel bears a heavy toll—one that must be paid in souls.”

“What do you mean?”

“You crossed this space, so I took your parents’ lives. And here you are again. I’ll let one of you go if two of you are willing to give me your souls.”

“What? We didn’t know about this place, and we didn’t ask to be here!” I said. And as I did, the tunnel began to tremble.

“Witch, I’ll kill you!” the voice bellowed.

A sudden gust of wind pinned the three of us against the wall. My heart started to race, and my body began to shake. I didn’t want to die. I clenched my fists and screamed; before I knew it, the tunnel began to crack and crumble.

“No!” I heard the voice scream as the roof came crumbling down. The next thing I remember was Tamara and Leo waking me up. I was back in the house, lying on the floor next to the bookshelf. I staggered to my feet and hugged Tamara and Leo. They were both surprised at my sudden gesture.

“What’s wrong, Aria?”

“I’m glad we made it out of there.”

They both looked confused. “Out of where?” Tamara asked.

I tried to explain to them about the tunnel and the evil voice, but they didn’t seem to remember anything. Tamara said Leo found me on the floor after he found Tamara in the closet. She said I probably hit my head and dreamt the entire scenario. But was it truly so? Their parents suddenly called out to them and they ran out the door immediately, leaving me confused in that room. The back of my head hurt, so I rubbed it. I felt that there was something stuck in my hair, so I pulled it out: it was clay.