When you Gaze into the Abyss...

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"Johny, come here! I found something!"

"Whoah!"

The two boys found what they were looking for - the entrance to a secret dungeon! Or, at least, that's what they hoped. It was a hole in the ground surrounded by stone bricks, and a stairway leading down. Tommy found it by accident.

"Told you there's something special about these woods!"

"It's really dark -" cough, cough "- and dusty..."

They were in the old woods. A place often used to scare or threaten naughty children. Tommy and Johny were not said children, but they were curious: why are the old woods forbidden? The only logical answer was they were hiding something.

"You got the flashlight?" Tommy asked enthusiastically, this was his idea after all.

"Yeah... but we can't use up the battery too much or my mom will notice." Johny, being a good fiend, usually got in trouble because of Tommy's antics.

He couldn't help it though, he loved seeing Tommy smile.

"Gimme, gimme. Come on, stick close, ok? We don't know what monsters can be waiting inside?"

"M-monsters?" But Tommy had already entered the darkness, forcing Johny to leap after him.

The narrow entrance soon expanded into a spacious hallway. Small critters scurried back in their holes at the sight of the new source of light. The boys had their shirts over their nose to prevent inhaling all the dust they were kicking up. They were smart kids, raised well.

Their path was soon cut short by a huge iron gate. It had markings on it unseen by the two adventurers.

"Whoah!" Johny let his shirt fall.

"You know the password?" Tommy touched the strange symbols.

"Password?"

"Gates like these always need a magic word that will open them..."

"Oh."

"One time, I saw this movie -"

Tommy's hand pressed a symbol, turned it, and the door started to laboriously open.

"The password was movie?" Johny asked with eyes wide.

"I... don't... know?"

The two boys now stood in front of the real entrance. And the fun of exploring ancient ruins suddenly didn't feel as fun. Both were utterly scared, but both were proud boys that didn't want the other to know they were scared. So Tommy took the lead, flashlight in hand, and Johny followed with a timid step.

What they discovered was undoubtedly some ancient ruin. The dust here was an inch high, and the cobwebs were vast and sprawling. The structure was tall, with metal intrusions at its top. These stood in contrast with the old, carved, white stone that the structure was made off. To each side, there were tens of passageways, shrouded by blackness, and voiced by the thousand whispers of the damned. Or at least, that's what Johny thought.

"Tommy... we should go back..."

"Yeah - I mean.. what? Why?"

"I - I'm scared." The passageways seemed to call to the young ones. "Let's, let's get out dads to come with us. We can have weapons and fight off -"

"No!" Tommy turned on his best friend. "This is our only chance to have some adventure, Johny! We've talked about this all summer! Come on! Don't be a wuss! There's nothing here but bugs and dust anyway."

Tommy didn't mean to to yell, but he was overcompensating. Truth was, he was terrified of going forward. He was just more terrified of letting Johny find out.

Johny grabbed his friend's sleeve. "One more room. And we're going back. We can... finish the scouting for when we come back."

Tommy nodded and pushed forward. The two boys were now progressing through the ruin at a snails pace. Constantly jumping at shadows - and dust.

At the far end of the hallway lay a strange... alter. Covered in cobwebs, it was a crystal ball held up by two...giants? They looked like giants at least, with their crude clothing and oversized hands that gripped the sphere from each side. Tommy cleared the cobwebs with the flashlight, and after a fit of coughing, the two friends stood in awe of it alter.

"What's that..." Johny said with transparent awe.

"Treasure..."

The crystal ball was blue, but the rest of the alter was chalk white. There were symbols at the bottom surrounding the two giants, symbols that looked like the ones at the gates of the ruin entrance. They also flowed with a blue tint.

"Tommy, you were right. This is super cool."

"I know..."

The fear was gone now, surpassed by childish glee and curiosity. Of course, they started examining the alter with precision, staring at every nook and cranny of the ancient obelisk.

"Hey, I think the eyes have blue in them as well. See, Johny?" Johny was gazing at the blue sphere, his face a mask of astonishment. "Johny? What are -"

Before Tommy could move, his friends skin started to whiten. The whiteness began cascading over his body at a rapid pace. Johny's stunned expression never changing.

"Johny! Don't looka t it! Johny!" Tommy cried, grabbing his friend. His skin was hard, like pottery. Tommy released him on reflex, and parts of Johny shattered as he hit the floor. "Johny!"

Johny's skin continued to harden, and harden, the broken parts growing back with startling speed. Tommy dropped his flashlight, picked it up. His tears streaking down his cheek, his mind - empty.

Tommy ran, the echoes of his cries reverberating through the ancient ruin.

Johny lay at the foot of the alter. His expression slowly but surely turning to one of sorrow.

This was a 'Picture is wroth a Thousand Words' contest entry. The contest image being:

Describe what you see: I see a hapless victim | Describe what you feel: I feel sad

Obligatory shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙

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Cover image source.

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