Atlantis

Prologue
Heartbeats.

Darkness.

Cold.

Trapped.

Heartbeats....

Chapter One
They sent me away.

"Find us treasure! A fortune!"

And I was in the woods.

I stared at my map. It was stained at the corners and smudged, hard to read. I was supposedly trying to find a house, filled with treasure, but the superstition was that it was haunted. My satchel slapped against my back as I walked.

The Lost Cabin.

I didn't really want to go.

But they forced me, saying that if I didn't, they'd lock me away.

So I went.

I walked through the woods, feeling extremely uneasy. I jumped at the softest of sounds.

Soon I was lost and exhausted. Frustrated, I threw down my map and sat down, putting my head in my hands.

"Why are you so far from home?" a strange, watery voice asked.

I scrambled upright, gasping. "Wh-who's there?"

The forest was bleak and empty as always. I panted, heart racing.

"You've wandered very far."

I started laughing, almost giggling, hysterically. "Y-you think? I'm lost in a freaking mess of jungle, looking for something that doesn't even exist!"

"Then why are you here?" it asked quietly.

"Th-they'll lock me up if I--" I stopped. Was this really what it was asking?

I waited a moment for a response.

"Well?"

The forest was eerily silent.

I wondered if I was hallucinating from lack of sleep.

Dusting off my knees, I got to my feet and walked off.

~*  ~*~  *~

I probably looked horrible. I could hardly keep my eyes open and they felt bloodshot. I had cut my arm on some thorns and my jacket was torn and tattered. My hair was tangled and I had lost all common sense.

"Poor child, where are your maps?"

I stiffened. I left it!

"Wandering souls can only find home when they do not seek."

I pushed aside the leaves of the bush and gaped.

A huge mansion, ruined, towered over me. The clearing used to be a garden, with broken walls and overgrown, greyed-out flowers. The cracked path was sharp and slippery. The wood was covered in ivy and metal bars, long ago rusted out, half-covered the windows.

The Lost Cabin stood before me.

Chapter Two
I struggled to open the door, which seemed fused in place. Finally I took a wrench out of my satchel and hit the door. It broke and turned to dust.

Huh. That actually worked.

I walked inside, boots tracking dirt and dust.

There were two ways to go, two hallways to the left and to the right. The wall in front of me had an old, cracked mirror. I looked at myself and sighed. Was I a mess.

I decided to go left and right, and see what they held.

The left had some sort of... dining room? I saw rusted, broken mechanics in the corner, and a huge table with a few broken dishes on it.

Not much of interest.

I walked out of the kitchen. A cold breeze blew through the hallway and I shivered. I turned the corner to the right.

A staircase.

It looked broken. I didn't fancy going up them.

Then again, I didn't fancy getting locked up, either, and going home saying 'I found a plate!' would not exactly be a smart idea.

So I went.

Chapter Three
I stepped up to the staircase, but my attention was drawn to a lump in the corner. It was the colour of dust, with patches of darker colour.

I shrugged it off and started up, but froze after two steps.

Something was moving at the corner of my eye.

I turned.

The dust pile slowly moved and stared at me with light, orange eyes.

My heart pounded.

It rose, dusty fur matted and ragged.

Some sort of strange wildcat. I wished I knew more about animals. It looked familliar, with tufty ears and large paws.

A... lynx!

The lynx slowly got up.

I backed up the stairs.

It snarled.

I went faster, then tripped and fell down the stairs, slamming into it. I let out a very undignified scream and the lynx yowled.

And then I heard something in the kitchen break. It sounded like a plate being dropped.

That was the final straw. I kicked the lynx away and scrambled up the stairs on all fours.