The Valley

Something cold and wet was falling onto Annie's arm every now and then; it stirred her from her sleep. She felt that it was odd that she had been sleeping. Hadn't she been with David before?

Her eyes opened slowly, though she found that she could not see a thing; wherever she was, there wasn't any source of light. Annie sat up slowly, careful to avoid hitting her head on anything. Now the coldness was dripping into her hair.

She realized that she must have been in someplace similar to a cave; she could hear the echoes of liquid slowly dripping into puddles around her. There was another sound that caught her attention as she moved away from the dripping: a man's faint groans of pain.

"David?" she called out. "David, is that you?" Annie began to feel around in the darkness for her companion.

"A-Annie?" the man groaned again. He definitely sounded like David.

"Are you alright?" Annie asked, moving closer to where she had heard his voice echo from. "What happened?"

"I'm fine," he ground out, and Annie could hear the wry smile in his voice. "They just... hit my head pretty hard after I lunged at them. Annie, they- they injected you with something, and you were out cold in a second. I suppose they brought us here while we were both unconscious."

Annie's fingertips brushed against David's arm, and she did the best she could to help him into a sitting position.

"The flashlight- here." She heard the rustle of clothing, and not too long after she was handed a familiar object.

"They didn't take it from you!?" she exclaimed, flipping the little switch on the side of the object.

"They didn't bother checking for anything." David was grinning and holding his head when Annie aimed the light at his face. He squinted against the brightness.

"You're bleeding," Annie gasped as she stared at the blood that was trickling down the younger man's forehead.

"Yeah, but I'll be fine," David shrugged it off. This caused Annie to give him a disapproving look. "What? I really will be."

She heard something ripping, and glanced down to watch David tear off a strip of fabric from his shirt. The fabric was then wrapped around his head. He gave a quick yank as he tied it, making sure it was tight enough to stay in place and cover the wound.

"See?" he was grinning again. "Good as new."

Annie rolled her eyes and was about to speak when a harsh grinding sound met her ears. David took the flashlight from her and shut it off, pulling her close to him.

As the noise continued, a square of light began to grow on the floor before them. The noise then stopped and one of the beasts stuck their head in and sniffed the air. It grunted something in a language the two couldn't understand, and then disappeared from sight.

Several minutes must have passed by with the two trying to remain calm, before David decided to stand up and wander over to the new entryway.

"Wait!" Annie whispered. She grabbed onto David's arm and walked with him. "Do you really think it's safe?"

"Of course not," David said in a hushed voice. "It's just... weird that they left the door open like that, you know?" Annie nodded, though she felt nauseous.

"Are you sure you're okay to be walking-" David held a finger up to silence the woman. He stuck his head out of the doorway, looking down both ends of the strange-looking hallway.

The area was lit up by glowing, green orbs placed along the walls. There was no one in sight and David took the chance to step out into the hall. He allowed himself to relax, seeing as there was no immediate threat.

"Is it safe?" Annie asked and followed him out, after a moment's hesitation.

"For now," David nodded. "Hey, I thought you hated me and would rather die than be around me?"

"I do, and I would," the petite woman held her head up high. As David was much taller than she was, he found the movement amusing. Annie glared at him. "Which way should we go?"

The man's facial expression changed as the humor dropped from it, and he brought a hand up to his face, the other on his waist as he looked down both ways again. At first glance, each path looked exactly the same. This time David thought he could see a flickering orange light at the end of the hall on the right.

"That way," he said and pointed toward the light. He began walking toward it, and Annie shook her head and followed.

"If this leads to a horrifying death, I want you to know that I fully regret going on this adventure with you, and that I should have stolen the ring from you while you slept at my house that night," Annie told him honestly.

"Wow, I definitely feel more motivated to get us out of here alive now," David said sarcastically. The words had hurt him a bit more than he cared to admit.

"Hey, it's a team effort!" Annie felt slightly offended.

"Quiet," David whispered, holding his arm out to stop Annie from walking any further. He pulled them into a shadowed area against the wall.

Hissing could be heard up ahead, closer to the orange light. David narrowed his eyes, straining to see if there was anything there. What appeared to be a giant lizard tail swished into view then. Annie let out a yelp, which David muffled with his hand. Annie's own hands flew up to grasp David's.

"Quiet," he whispered again, holding her tighter to him.

More of the creature came into view, and the two noted that it looked very much like a much larger version of the beasts from before. Annie's eyes widened as she stared at it.

The being's head turned about, and its gleaming red eyes seemed to focus on them in the dim light. Annie struggled against David's hold, but he only held tighter onto her. Though the beast appeared to begin moving toward them, it suddenly changed course and headed back into the direction it had come from.

The companions both visibly relaxed. David pulled his hand away from Annie's mouth and allowed her to step away from him.

"Would you quit grabbing me?" she whispered angrily. The man stuck his tongue out at her.

"You're a noisy girl; I have to keep us from getting caught somehow," he shrugged.

"Did you see the way it looked at us? I'd say we've already been caught. We were brought here by those things, after all," Annie sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You're right, we should keep moving," David nodded and started off toward the orange light again.

"What, are you crazy!? We can't go that way!" Annie exclaimed, though she followed the man anyway.

"Sure we can," he nodded his head. "The thing is gone, and I want to see what's causing that strange light."

"Why did I even ask if you're crazy?" Annie let out an aggravated sigh as they approached the light. "I must have forgotten that you're David freaking Andrews."

"Hey! I am truly wounded that you think so little of me!" He placed his hand over his heart.

"It must have something to do with how shallow you are," Annie rolled her eyes; she was still hurt from the comment he made about her scar.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about that," he sounded slightly pained then. "I honestly didn't mean that, I just... I didn't mean it."

"Sure." Annie still doubted his sincerity.

"And I did pretend to be your husband for a short while, right?" he looked over his shoulder with the question.

"In order to pay less for a hotel room," the woman raised an eyebrow at him. David rolled his eyes and sighed in irritation.

A doorway came into view as they stepped closer to their destination, and it became clear that the monster from before was truly gone. Still the two kept to the shadows when they could, and moved as silently as they could. Upon reaching the doorway, David stopped Annie and peered inside.

There was no sign of a threat in the room; however, strangely glowing... things seemed to be moving everywhere. Their glow matched that of the waters in the cave system Annie and David had traveled through to get here.

Annie leaned over his shoulder, peering into the room herself. Her eyes widened at what she saw. The peculiar life forms were not the only thing to marvel at.

The room appeared to be a rather large library; there were at least three floors to it- open to the room. Shelves upon shelves of all sorts of writings lined the walls wherever they could. Four other doorways lead into the place.

"It's beautiful," Annie breathed. David nodded in agreement, wishing he had the time to read through and absorb the information from each and every book in the place.

"I wish we weren't being held captured here," he sighed and stepped into the room. Annie walked in after him, once again holding onto his arm.

"How about you wish we weren't being held captive at all?" the woman raised an eyebrow.

"I suppose that does sound better," a grin formed on David's face.

Annie released his arm and made her way over to one of the shelves. "How many books do you suppose are in here?"

"Hundreds... at least," David continued to gaze about the room.

"They should call this place the City of Knowledge," Annie joked, fancying herself humorous. David pinched her arm and shook his head at her. "Ow. What?"

"Nothing," the man sighed. Annie shrugged and ran her fingertips along the spines of the books on one shelf, then attempting to tug one off.

A low rumbling sounded behind them, and they both turned to see what was causing it. A pedestal rose up out of the ground in the center of the room. On top of the pedestal rested a rather large tome, and even from where they stood Annie and David could see the writing on the cover.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Annie asked, looking up at David.

"That is certainly a possibility," he nodded. His eyes widened as he gaze at the wonder.