“What’s in here?” I asked Hattie.
“No idea…let’s go find out.” Hattie grinned.
Even though we weren’t supposed to be in the forest we were. I wondered why we weren’t allowed to be here. It was so cool, even cooler now that we’d found the big hole. It had a three meter radius and it was dark.
I slid down after Hattie. About six meters down we straightened, looking down at a tall, dark tunnel. Whoever had built this had too much time on their hands. Walking down the tunnel, we remained silent, staring. Support beams had been put in place. Fumbling a phone out of my pocket, I opened it, seeing no end to the tunnel in its dim light.
“Isa?” Hattie asked me.
“What?” I was busy looking around. Who knew a big hole could be so interesting, especially one with nothing but dirt walls and support beams?
“Do you hear that?” Hattie bit her lower lip.
“Hear what?”
“That.”
We stopped and listened. It was a small echoing sound. Like crying and every few moments a small plea for help.
“What is it?” I whispered to Hattie. Her eyes were wide with fear, mirroring my own.
“Not what!” Hattie gasped. “Who! Someone’s stuck down here!”
We started running down the tunnel. The farther in we got the louder the sound got. The louder the sound got the more I realized it wasn’t just one sound, it was many. There were so many children down here. Crying and calling for help. None of them sounded older than twelve. We kept running until the sounds began to die down.
“Wait,” Hattie grabbed my arm and pulled me back the other direction. “We passed them.”
“There was nothing but walls.” I protested.
“I think they’re in the walls.” Hattie gasped.
“In?...As in, in!”
Hattie ignored me and tried to narrow down the location.
“Hello?” She called, her voice echoing on the walls. “Can anyone hear me?”
“Help!” Small voices sounded back. “We’re in here! Help!” The cries of distress got louder.
Hattie started to bash at the wall, frantically digging at it with her fingers, sending a scattering of dirt everywhere.
“Isa, help me!” She pulled me closer.
I began scraping at the wall with my hands, kicking at it, bashing it with rocks. We took a lot of dirt away before I stopped Hattie.
“Wait.” I took her arm.
“What?”
“If they’re stuck inside the wall, how are they breathing?”
“There’s another oom on the other side. Cave in.” She tried to go back to digging at the wall.
“When things cave in they don’t leave walls so smooth, they had to be put there.” I pointed out.
Hattie turned back to the wall. She opened her mouth to shout but it wasn’t her voice that came to my ears.
“Hey!” An old man was running up to us.
I flashed the phone light at him.
“What are you doing?” He yelled at us.
“Hattie.” I warned.
It was him. It had to be the person that had sealed the children inside, for whatever sick reason.
“Don’t do that! You’ll let out-”
The wall shook.
Hattie and I screamed, jumping away from it.
“It’s too late,” I heard the old man whimper. “Run!” He turned around and sped back toward the entrance.
Hattie and I started to follow him, glancing fearfully back at the quaking wall. It gave another violent shudder and we screamed again.
A monster came out of it, then more. So many mutated things came out. They had horns and tails, pointed teeth and faces set in an avenging way. Some had the characteristics of a wolf. Others were made of stone. Everyone’s nightmares came out.
“Thank you,” The one in front said with a deep voice. “For opening H*ll.”