With Sin, Condemn You

The rest of the ride was a blur. I was too shocked to take anything in. I was just lucky we didn't get attacked again. Otherwise, I would have been toast.

My daze was finally interrupted by a loud, "Hey!" from in front of me.

I blinked a few times. "Huh?" I asked, dumbly.

Shadows sighed and calmly replied, "We're here." I looked up in front of us and took in a large entrance to a cave. I peered inside and saw nothing but blackness. I wondered if any light in there would do any good; it seemed like any light would just be swallowed by the darkness.

"So you remember what I told you back at the mansion right?" Shadows conjured a little bubble of light in his palm.

I nodded. "Don't look straight at the thing for too long or I'll end up splattered on the cave walls. I got ya Shadz." I heard Zacky snort from behind me and Johnny chuckle at the nickname I gave Shadows.

"Exactly," muttered Shadows, slightly annoyed. "That goes for the rest of you as well. I don't want to have to find replacements." As he said the last statement he stared directly at Zacky, a small smirk on his face.

I glanced back and saw Zacky glaring daggers at Shadows. Shadows just chuckled and started for the mouth of the cave. Once I was sure the others weren't paying attention, I stole a glance up at Jimmy who gave me a reassuring smile and led me to join the others.

The moment we stepped into the cave, a fowl stench filled my nostrils and I outwardly gagged. "Holy fuck!" I exclaimed, clapping a hand over my nose and mouth. "It smells like the whole world died in here."

Brian punched me in the shoulder. "Shut up!" he hissed. I couldn't see the look on his face but I'm sure it was annoyed. "Do you want the timore to hear you and attack now?"

I growled softly at him. Sometimes I just wanted to tear his arms off. I felt a hand from my left grasp mine and I instantly calmed down, knowing it was Jimmy's. I smiled to myself and laced our fingers together, glad for the pitch blackness covering our actions.

Shadows suddenly stopped and extinguished the light. I stood on my tip toes and peaked around him. A faint, purplish light was pulsating in a nearby chamber ahead of him. As I stared at it I felt like I was being pulled toward it, like I was hypnotized. I felt Jimmy suddenly tug on my arm, pulling me back. I guess I had started walking forward without realizing it.

With two fingers, Shadows beckoned us and we followed him into a round chamber, lit by the mysterious glow. I searched the room for the source of the light and found it in a corner. A blob-like creature resided there, emitting the purple light. I stared at it curiously. Was the the terrible timore?

I felt Jimmy's hand leave mine so he could prepare himself for a fight. the pulsating of the purple light was drawing me in again, and I found I couldn't look away. Panic crept in, but it didn't last long. As I stared at the blob, it began to change shape. The thing was no longer a blob, but an exact replica of Jimmy.

Unknown to me, I was smiling and heading toward "Jimmy". When I came within inches of "him", his eyes turned read and an evil smirk graced his wonderful face, contorting it to the face of a cold blooded killer. A lump formed in my throat and I wanted to scream but couldn't. "Jimmy" reached out a hand and stroked my cheek. "It's alright Alex," he whispered in my ear drawing me closer, "this will all be over soon."

In my peripheral vision, I saw "Jimmy" pull out a jagged dagger and held it over my back. I finally found my vocal chords and screamed louder than I thought possible. Suddenly, "Jimmy" disappeared as I was tackled to the ground. I hit the cave floor hard and blinked up at the cave ceiling for a second. My breathing was harsh and irregular.

"Are you okay?" someone asked from next to me.

I turned my head and saw the real Jimmy lying next to me. I flinched away and before I could think about it anymore, Jimmy rolled on top of me. A second later, something like a whip came down on Jimmy's back. He hissed in pain. Just by this saving me like that I knew he was the real Jimmy. "Are you okay? And what'd I miss?"

Jimmy smiled weakly at me. "Yeah and have a look for yourself."

The two of us stood up and I came face to face with exactly what I missed. The blob had indeed transformed, but not into Jimmy. In reality, it had grown many tentacles that could apparently change into anything. I followed one up and saw the whip-like one that had hit Jimmy. Two more of them were like thorny vines, three or four were sword-like, and the others were just dark tentacles. Its eyes were just red pits like the ones "Jimmy's" eyes turned into and a round hole with sharp teeth all around it was just below it. Zacky, Shadows, Johnny, and Brian were trying to get the cut in, but kept getting thwarted.

Jimmy ran over to help the others. I was about to join them, but was slapped to the ground again by one of the timore's many tentacles. I pushed myself up on my hands and found a stalagmite which gave me an idea. I reached out a hand and turned the stalagmite into a sword. I quickly picked it up and hopped to my feet.

Without thinking, I ran straight for the thing, sword raised above my head. I was just feet away and was about to slice into its flesh, but I was pulled by my foot and fell to the ground. The next thing I knew I was being hoisted in the air by my ankle. The timore swung me around and I'm pretty sure I felt my ankle snap. I yelped and just remembered I had the sword still clutched in my hand. I leaned up and sliced at the tentacle. A dark purple liquid flowed from the severed arm as I fell to the ground again. I hissed in pain then sat up, watching the timore shriek in pain.

It was my turn to yell at someone. "Well, are you guys going to stand there and gawk or are you gonna get the blood we need?!"

Zacky was the one to react; he quickly grabbed the vial from from Shadows and ran at the timore, his own sword raised. He cut the timore while it was distracted, causing it to screech even louder, and collected the blood.

Jimmy dashed over to me and picked me up bridal style. The others were heading for the exit and Jimmy ran after them, me still held tightly in his grip. The six of us bolted out of the cave, leaving the wounded, screaming beast behind.