Danger

• Annabelle Windsor, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2017

The eerie, greenish light flickered and buzzed throughout the corridor, as my every step echoed. I was on a mission. A great, deep, dark mission. I could feel the fragile cobwebs brush against my face, and the cold floor under my bare feet. With no source of heat, I became an ice block, frozen in temperature and time.
I turned around a dull corner, and stopped abruptly, for I had come to a door. I fished around in my pocket until I found it. My long-lost great-aunt's pearl necklace. 'It will bring you good luck,' she had said, before I set off, before I left her forever. But that was yesterday. It was time to think present.
I wrapped the necklace tightly around the lock; it was the key. I gripped it. I was in agony. But I loved it. Click! The door was unlocked. I cautiously unravelled the beads, slipped them back into my pocket and stepped inside the room. The step that would change my life forever.
I took my first look around the empty space, not noticing the following figure or shadow. I felt a rush of exhilaration flow through my body. It was a new experience. But I knew that I would have to get used to it, since I had escaped from my home town.
The path twisted and turned underground, was narrow and wide, it travelled upwards, and downwards. I thought that it would go on forever, until I saw hope: light.
I started to sprint towards the heavenly glow, but I didn’t get further than a few steps, for I stumbled upon a muscly leg. Had I seen it, and my quest would have been a whole lot easier. “Who-who are you?” I stuttered, struggling to get my own words out of my mouth. “Never you worry about that,” a harsh voice scowled. ‘You’re coming with me.’ ‘But…’, but I never finished my sentence, for a cloth was wrapped around my face, as I was dragged into a foul-smelling, bare room.
As I scrambled around, trying to find a door or window, I saw a light flickering, turning off, and turning back on again. I knew I recognized it, I knew I had seen it before… And then I realized! It was a lantern, which meant other people were around! I crawled towards the glow, and bumped my head on something hard. Round. Cold. They felt like bars. And suddenly, I realised where I was.
“Help!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “You’re staying here, missy,” a rather chubby-looking policeman said. “What have I done?” “You and I know the answer to that quite well.” A transceiver in his pocket started to buzz. “What is it?” I heard stifled mumbling, and then silence. “Missy,” he said to me, “it looks like we’ve caught the wrong person.” With a grin on my face, I sprinted out for the city, for I had a chance to find what I wanted most. A family.