//------------------------------//
// CHAPTER 14 [FINAL/TW] 
// Story: EntiQuest [OLD] 
// by Sputniik 
//------------------------------//

At that sudden moment, I'd finally understood what claustrophobia was. To sum it up in one word, would go beyond the simple term of 'Horrifying'.

Here I was, stuck in a dirt-hole space that could probably hold only two of me, and a long way from the top; at least a good number of meters before you could see the grass again. And no, It... wasn't that deep. Honest, I was just paranoid, and I can't help but not see it any other way. Like being at the end of a tunnel and looking at the exit just so far away, and not being able to get to it... you know?

I was on my back, curled into as tight of a ball as I could so it didn't look like I was in such a small space. I could barely mode my neck, pressing the back of my head against the dirt wall only unnerved me further. All the while chunks of dirt and rock sprinkled from the 'roof' an inch above my head. I'd already lost the hat and placed in beside me, not exactly where I could see it, but where something couldn't snatch it up this time. 

My heart leapt into my throat as a loud rumbling erupted from the surface, sending more grains of dirt in my direction. It seemed to pass by in a rush; because for a short second I could've sworn the sound was right on top of me.

I lost control of my breathing, covering my mouth and huffing through my fingers. I didn't want to be heard. 

I'd too soon wished I was back at home. Supposing Ivor just may have come back home by now, and I could've been in the safety of his house in the woods, sleeping, or having dinner... A nice, warm, welcoming dinner... 
Even the sound of chamomile tea was music to my ears...

The walls began crumbling again, sending me back to reality. I'd had to hold back a sneeze or two, hoping being covered by my shirt would muffle it out. And on top of that, I was getting tired. And maybe I should've mentioned a little bit of damage done on me by the fall?

I was trapped, tired, and somewhat injured, in a claustrophobic space in the ground, probably still being hunted down by that creepy ghost-guy in the forest.

I really did suck at making decisions, didn't I?

I can't ever explain how much I'd wanted to scold myself for ever thinking it was a bright idea to leave the house-- or even, to pass that territory that belonged to the goat-guy. As much as I wanted to claw my way up and out of the hole, despite being utterly impossible, and I almost hate to say it, but not enough time had passed down there.

Everything afterwards just seemed to go downhill.


About ten minutes in, I swore I could've heard footsteps. Fast, light ones that thumped on the grass overhead. At first, I thought I'd been hallucinating. But at this point, I wouldn't have been too surprised to see anyone-- or anything-- else in these woods. 

My pulse probably stopped for a good couple seconds because my vision became dotted when I saw dirt scrape off the surface, as if someone had been standing right over me. I bit my lip, restraining a shout for help, or a yell, or something. Then that was when Danny leapt down.

I could've cried, but I was too shaken up and aching to do anything other than try to hold myself together while Danny hauled himself and his backpack down with him.

It was a second before he'd fixed himself in the corner, in the tight space I was crammed in, obviously taking up more space than he was. He looked me over, straight-faced.

"You okay?" It was dark, but I could still see him place his bag in his lap, and unzip the front. And he didn't wait for a response. "I'm going to get you out of here."

My eyes darted around until he grabbed my leg and I could hear the zipper of his bag again. I wanted to complain, about fixing up my sprained leg instead of getting us both out of here, but my throat was still tight in bitter relief, and at the same time I couldn't complain. I just held the book over my chest, and waited, until it was so dark that I couldn't see past my nose.


A few moments passed before I'd sensed something... odd. Danny gasped, and I heard the sound of the bag again. At first, I thought he was in pain, or something, but before I could ask, he shuffled closer, backpack still in hand.

"Danny..." I tried, now admittedly a bit uncomfortable in the blind silence. "Is..."

Just as I'd trailed off, I heard something power on.

My eyes dodged to the first source of light I'd seen in what felt like ages. But it probably wasn't the kind of light I'd wanted to see. 

Peeking just halfway out the front of the bag, was a hand-held Inverse Portal gun that Twilight had lectured me on about a week or two ago. Not the wrist-gun, with considerably smaller features, and a tiny, almost unnoticeable tank-containment for the Nitro-plasma. No, this was the real thing. Certainly not the largest I've seen, according to Twilight, but it was definitely serious technology.

Then I frowned. How did Danny manage to grab this from Twilight, anyway? And... why?


I didn't speak my worries, though, and instead glanced back up at Danny, hoping for an answer. A chill swept through me once I realized the glow of his eyes in the dark even stood out from the bright light given off of the brightly powered IP.

He didn't meet my gaze though, and looked away when I stared a bit too long. 

"Alright, look..." he started, looking down at his bag, slowly dragging the zipper across the line. "That guy's still out there. And..." 

Danny paused, playing with his hands that I only now noticed he'd gloved, though the marks that reached his fingertips were still visible. He took the entire Portal out and onto his palm, seeming mesmerized by the electric-looking morphing shapes and blobs of chemical that resembled a cheap lava lamp. 

He placed a hand over it, watching the liquid colors dance on his fingers. For a second, it looked like he'd smiled. But it was too short-lived.

"And I.... Need to do something. In order for you to... to get out of here. Alive." There was both urgency and strictness in his tone that I wasn't too used to. "I want you to swear to me that you'll follow my lead?"

I nodded. Of course I was; I was going to follow Danny out of here. I was going to get back home. No matter how stupid it sounded, I'd do just about anything to get back. I swallowed, realizing how desperate I sounded. I stuck my hand inside the book fishing for the study-leaves to keep my mind occupied.

Another clicking sound.

This time, a brighter, blue light stretched across the silver part of the Portal, signalling it's powering-up stage had been completed. Danny finally met my gaze.

"He can sense me. And he's coming closer-- but he can't sense you because he's blind." I nodded in understanding, believing he was referring to the ghost-guy. "I w-- need you to stay down here, and stay silent. No matter what happens up there, you stay down here, completely still and quiet."

He kind of glared at me, but I could tell he was just worried. 
But where would Danny be? Would he go to get help? Or had he just wanted me to shut up so this ghost didn't track us down? And if this spirit could sense other ghosts, was Danny going to lead him off or something, and leave me down here? I was conflicted with questions that I didn't have any answers to. And I was going to find out, not a moment too soon.

The Inverse Portal whirred, making me flinch, but Danny only stared at the device in his hands. Finally, I mustered up the courage to ask what the heck he was doing with it down here.

"Isn't that like... a portal-spurting device or something...?" I asked, not wanting to be too direct. Danny shrugged. "A few other things, yeah.

"I... heard people used to use it to tranquil ghosts back in the day,"


My mind had seemed to take an eternity to process what had just been thrown at me. Did that mean--


"What?!" I exclaimed, a moment before a hand cupped my mouth. Suddenly, the eerie presence had returned. 

"Shhh!" Danny hissed, glancing back up at the hole. "He can hear heartbeats from a mile away-- Just listen to me!"

I instantly shut up, removing his hand from my face. 

"Listen." he whispered again, gripping the handle and pointing it to the ground. "You stay down here until I wake up. When I do, by then, he'll have left, and I can bring us both back home."

He stared me in the eye. "Do you not know how much of a risk I'd be taking, letting you out there while he can sense every strand of grass around us?"

My throat had tightened again, and I nodded weakly instead. I'd choked back a sob of both fear and... something else I couldn't place. I was pulled into a quick embrace before we both heard the rumbling again, not too far from the hole.

There really wasn't much time left, was there?

I refused to loose my gaze, hoping to stall Danny as long as I could without putting us in any real danger.

"Wh-what does that thing do, exactly?" I tried to hide the shakiness in my voice, but I knew the rest of me was quivering, too. Danny almost looked solemn, but glanced away again.

"Shuts down a ghost's core in a quick second. It won't... it shouldn't hurt me, though. Don't worry about that." I half expected him to wave it off like it was nothing, but his tone told me anything else but that. I wasn't satisfied at all. Danny wasn't going to let me hurt myself out there, or risk my life; I wasn't going to allow him to, either.

So I sent him a stone stare until he finally noticed that I'd been watching and waiting for him to look back up at me. If he was going to put down ground rules, so was I.

"If it's going to hurt you..." I grumbled in a low tone, that the Portal's soft buzzing sounded louder than anything else. "Then... it's not worth it. Then you can go home, a-and I'll wait here for you in the morning."

But Danny shook his head, "No. It's too dangerous having that guy out here. I would never want to live with the guilt of--"

"Yeah, I know." I shook it off, hoping to glide the topic away. Somehow I found it exhausting for me, having Danny over my shoulder and being so overprotective with everything. Specifically lately. And with everything going on, I hadn't really taken enough notice to it. 

We both heard the rumbling this time, and exchanged glances. There was barely any time to spare, if Danny was right. Thing was, at the time, I hadn't thought much of it. About the whole plan to get us out of here before that stupid ghost guy finally traced us down. And he was close. I was too paranoid at the time to really think about what Danny was really going to do. 

I should've. 

I really should've. 

Because if I had decided to use a single cell of my brain that moment, I might have prevented... a lot of issues. A lot of... a lot of other things that came up due to Danny's literal sacrifice to 'save' me.

But I didn't.

He didn't look at me when he grabbed it by the handle again. Then activated something on it-- probably a specific setting or power level, something of the sort-- and a brighter light emitted form it. Instead of a plain, bright blue, it was a mix of the previous color, and a lime-green, and some quiet beeps that you'd have to lean close enough to hear. 

"Remember what I told you?"

I nodded, my eyes still glued to the Portal. His hand was shaking, but it was just barely noticeable. I even told myself that I was shaking, and that it just looked like that Danny had been. It wasn't too hard to fool myself into thinking that, since I was frightened out of my wits, myself. I could convince myself that I was hallucinating. But he was definitely scared. Some reason I felt that it was something about me, being there. Because he couldn't make eye contact with me.

"Don't... let it hurt," I whispered, hoarsely. I couldn't tell if he heard me or not. I still, to this day, hope he did. I hope he didn't think I took this with a grain of salt. I really wasn't. Even now, I still can't.

My heart sank to where I couldn't bring it back up to my chest, when Danny didn't reply.

There was a final rumble; and I was bit with guilt, knowing I'd had a hand in stalling it for so long. And now it was so dark... I swear that spirit was right on top of us.

The IP clicked, flickering my attention back to it. I couldn't breathe.

I really didn't like the place he put it.

It was directly over his core, and pressed so close to his chest that I could hear the excited buzzing of both the Portal and the unsuspecting core. Danny still didn't look at me. I felt sick to my stomach. Somehow he'd seemed to read my mind, because he knew-- He just knew.

"You swear to me, Dipper?" his eyes still cast down, as if he just counted the seconds until he'd go. "That you'll do exactly what I told you?"

I didn't answer. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping this was all a bad dream. Hoping I could go back in time again.

"Dipper..."


I couldn't answer.
But I nodded, covering my face with my hands, hoping I wouldn't have to see anything. I was still shaking. I scolded myself for being so weak.

Everything was silent for a minute. I only heard shuffling, before I opened my eyes again, but didn't lift my gaze.


"Stay safe, Dipper." 





I loved a lot of things about Danny. I loved him like a brother. Of course, there's always things you aren't too fond of with someone, no matter how much you love them. Because yes, everyone has flaws. Somethings you really hate about people don't always have to be flaws. Sometimes it's... other things. 


And there was one thing I hated about Danny; his scream.