100 Trapped

Aston and I both turn and look at Vance in unison. Vance smirks at us and says, "What? I'm being serious." He leans in a little and lowers his voice as he says, "Plus, I don't tire easily." He then winks at me, making me lean back.

Aston shoves his hand in front of Vance's face and says, "Pull it back in Casanova. You're making me sick." I smirk and say, "I don't care who the human latter is, I just need to reach the ceiling." Aston sighs and asks, "You can't poof us out or use your magic to blow a hole in the wall?"

I give him a dry look as I say, "Look... if I could use my magic to do that, I would have done it already. I'm struggling to even keep the small light we have. Dark Artifacts are made with ancient, complex, and powerful magic. It's not easy breaking out once you're in."

Vance suddenly lifts his hand and says, "Wait, wait, wait... is there a chance we can't get out of this thing?" I blink a few times before saying, "Technically, yes. If I were a normal witch, we would all be screwed but I think I can bust us out."

Vance's eye twitches as he asks, "You think? Think!?" I nod, ignoring his growing panic as I turn back to Aston and say, "Get on all fours." Aston sighs and mutters, "Not what I had in mind when I envisioned the first time a woman tells me that..."

As he gets on all fours, I quickly untie my boots and toss them to the side. I may not be super fond of the guy, but I wasn't a bitch... well, not completely. As I climb on his back, I try to balance myself. Vance reaches out and grabs my hand, helping me.

I reach up with the other hand but no matter how hard I stretch, I can't quite reach! I sigh and say, "I'm still too short." Aston growls out, "Get down, I have a better idea." Vance helps me step down as Aston rearranges himself into a crouching position.

He turns to me and says, "Climb up on my shoulders." I arch a brow as I ask, "Are you sure?" Vance instantly echos, "Yes, are you sure? I don't mind having her on my shoulders and her thighs crushing my head."

Aston and I both slowly turn to look at Vance once again. I narrow my eyes on him, looking him up and down with suspicion. He better not get any weird ideas... With us being trapped in here, I don't have my magic to defend myself.

I turn back to Aston and crawl onto his shoulders. When he stands, I feel my legs instinctively tightening out of fear and stability. Vance's words flicker across my mind making me uneasy. I clear my throat and focus.

My hand touches the cold stone and I push. I push in several different places, but nothing was happening. I start to curse but when I see a small corner of the stone, I lightly press on it. I hear a click and then something like gears.

I stare up at it for a moment before quickly tapping Aston's head and saying, "Put me down." He squats down and I quickly climb off as more sounds can be heard. Now it sounds like stones are grinding together!

All three of us stand close together as we stare up at the ceiling. It was making so much noise, but nothing was happening. Vance mutters, "I'm getting a bad feeling about this..." I swallow hard as I softly say, "I'm starting to get the same feeling..."

Suddenly, holes in the ceiling appear as sand starts pouring in! We all flinch, trying to cover our eyes and mouths. Aston curses and yells, "Was it a trap!?" I quickly run over to my boots, dumping the sand as I quickly slip them back on and tie them as fast as humanly possible.

Vance yells, "Witch! Was it a trap?" I look up with a conflicted look on my face as I yell back, "Does it look like I know!? I was thrown in here at the same time! I don't know any more than you two!" The sand continues to pour, quickly coming to our ankles.

I try to step up and on top of the sand but it's so loose, it's impossible. I stumble to the wall, bracing myself as I try to squint past all the sand. Vance curses as he runs over to another wall and starts punching it.

No doubt trying to use his Vampire strength to burst through the wall, but this was a magic Artifact. Even if he had a stick of dynamite, he wouldn't be able to break through. My mind races, trying to come up with something or trying to think if I've missed something but I can't!

All I can think about is being buried alive in all this sand!

It was now up to my hips, and quickly getting heavy. I struggle to keep climbing on top of the sand but it's still a lost cause. I mean... It's kinda working but as more and more sand pours in, the harder and harder it is to move.

Aston fights his way over to me, trying to help pull me up but it doesn't help. I'm the shortest and weakest one... which means I'm going under first. Aston reaches out and grabs my face with both hands, forcing me to look at him as he says, "Think! I know you must have something."

I want to scream in frustration, but a thought suddenly hits me. There was no other way out of this room so, in theory, that was the correct answer. So why all the sand? The sand was now up to my chest and making it hard to breathe.

Vance roars in anger when he notices that he can't even make a dent in the wall. All he managed to do was bloody his fists. I squint up at the ceiling once again before looking back down and the growing sand.

I yell out, "Wait! Wait... I think... I think this might be just part of us leaving." Vance turns around with wild eyes and yells, "I don't want to die again, Witch!" I purse my lips and say, "I don't know if you can even die in here."

Vance's yell takes on a higher pitch as he says, "So you're saying we'll just be stuck in here, buried alive for eternity!?" I nervously lick my lip before instantly spiting. Bad idea...

I shake my head as Aston tries to pull me up further, but even he was struggling now. I look at both of them and say, "I think the room has to fill before it opens." Vance groans in annoyance as he repeats, "Think, think, think! Do you have nothing else!?"

I grit my teeth as the sand reaches my chin. I keep trying to climb up with them and it works to some degree, but we were about to hit the ceiling. I struggle to breathe as the weight of the sand presses against me but before I completely go under, I tell them both, "Hold your breath!"